Popular Culture

Popular Culture at Sotheby’s is the destination for buying and selling high-quality, fully-provenanced art and objects from the most legendary, enduring, and culturally significant moments of our time. Since 1988—marked by the triumphant, four-part, 2000-lot auction of the Sir Elton John Collection—Sotheby’s has offered exclusive opportunities to collect at the vanguard of music, film, entertainment, and celebrity artifacts and collectibles.

Officially inaugurated as a luxury category in 2021 and lead by Global Department Head and Senior Specialist, Cassandra Hatton, Popular Culture at Sotheby’s specializes in offering unique luxury artifacts in tightly curated, experiential and innovative sale venues across our global sites. Alongside our decades of expertise in the sale of traditional pop culture artifacts— from film and screen-worn costumes and props, vintage film posters and original artwork, iconic instruments, manuscript lyrics, and personal fashion from music’s greats—Popular Culture is also dedicated to forging new pathways with new-to-market categories. Under Hatton’s leadership, Sotheby’s became the first auction house to introduce sales celebrating the history and impact of Hip Hop, bringing the subcultural music movement behind the rostrum for the first time. The most recent Hip Hop sale held in honor of the movement’s 50th anniversary in 2023 saw the record-setting sale of Tupac Shakur’s self-designed crown ring for just over $1 million. Hatton’s team at Sotheby’s also held the first sales dedicated to the birth of the internet and the metaverse, with landmark moments such as the sale of the Source Code of the World Wide Web for $5.4 million, and the groundbreaking sale of 6 items relating to the cult classic Cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, selling together for $1.5 million.

From the landmark sales of property from the estate of Freddie Mercury—which drew record crowds and realized in excess of £40 million in 2023—to the record-shattering “Buzz Aldrin: American Icon” sale, which totaled $8.2 million for just 68 lots, the Popular Culture team at Sotheby’s regularly sets category records in this fast-expanding market.

Popular Culture auctions take place year round in New York and online.

Notable sales include:

• The landmark sale of the collection of Freddie Mercury, which drew record crowds and totaled £40 million over 6 sales, with highlights including; the piano Mercury used to compose “Bohemian Rhapsody” for £1.7 million, his handwritten lyrics for “Bohemian Rhapsody” for £1.4 million, Mercury’s iconic silver snake bangle worn in the video for “Bohemian Rhapsody” £698,500, and his signature cloak and crown ensemble for £635,000.

• The record-shattering “Buzz Aldrin: American Icon” sale, which totaled $8.2 million for just 68 lots, including the record for any space-flown artifact at $2.8 million for the jacket Aldrin wore to the moon and back

• The first auctions to focus on Hip Hop as a cultural movement, setting records with items such as Tupac Shakur’s crown ring for just over $1 million, and Biggie’s iconic crown for $600,000

• Eddie Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher” stage-used and filmed guitar which sold for $3,932,000 – one of the highest auction results achieved for a guitar

“From the Vault: Property from the Grateful Dead and Friends”, which totaled over $4 million

• John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ hit “A Day In The Life” which realized $1,202,500

• Sid Vicious’ personally owned God Save The Queen poster £44,100

•Sales such as: The Collection of Gianni Versace; Bowie / Collector; The Vivien Leigh Collection; Creating a Stage: The Collection of Marsha and Robin Williams; KARL: Karl Lagerfeld’s Estate; and the Joanne Woodard and Paul Newman auction of fine watches.