LGD Hammer: Lévy, Gorvy Launch Hybrid Private Auction Platform

A large abstract painting with sweeping, ribbon-like strokes of red, blue, yellow, and gray flowing across a pale background, creating an energetic, loosely intertwined composition. — Willem de Kooning’s *Milkmaid* (1984) will be the first work presented by LGD Hammer (estimate: $10-15 million). LGD Hammer

Recent auctions have made clear that the market’s dynamism is primarily concentrated at the very top, where sustained global demand for art masterpieces is finally colliding with fresh supply as the long-anticipated generational wealth transfer begins to take hold. At the same time, ongoing volatility has accelerated a parallel shift toward private transactions, with both discreet private sales and confidential, invitation-only auctions increasingly shaping activity at the highest tiers—a trend underscored by the latest Artnet Intelligence Report.

Now, seasoned dealers and art market figures Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy and Amalia Dayan, who currently collaborate under Lévy Gorvy Dayan, are venturing together into “the dark side” of private transactions with the launch of LGD Hammer, a bespoke live-bidding platform closely integrated with their gallery program. The platform’s inaugural live sale, scheduled for May 16, will feature an exceptional 1984 painting by Willem de Kooning, Milkmaid, once held by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, with an estimate of $10-15 million.

The aim is to inject urgency—that degree of competitive stamina that auctions generate—into gallery sales, which can otherwise take months or even years to conclude, particularly for multimillion-dollar works. “We recognize that our clients, especially many of our Asian clients, are currently looking to live bidding to validate prices and to have access in order to compete for major works of art,” Gorvy told Observer, framing the move as a natural evolution for the gallery, whose founding partners are all auction veterans uniquely positioned to leverage their experience for the benefit of buyers and sellers. “LGD Hammer is the natural evolution of our gallery and our partnership. Together we have unparalleled auction experience and advise our clients on selling and buying at public auction.”

Gorvy, formerly Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s for more than 23 years, oversaw the house’s first billion-dollar sales and record-breaking prices for artists such as Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol. Amalia Dayan began her career at Phillips, overseeing high-value single-owner and artist-focused sales, while Lévy started at Sotheby’s and later founded the private sales department at Christie’s in 1999 as its international director.

Private sales at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s declined slightly in 2025 compared to the previous year. Christie’s led the field with approximately $1.5 billion in sales—around 24 percent of its total turnover—followed by Sotheby’s at roughly $1.2 billion, or 17 percent. Meanwhile, private sales at Phillips surged by a remarkable 66 percent, reaching approximately $200 million. For all three auction houses, private sales now play a key role in supporting the business.

Private transactions—and now privately held auctions—have become a primary channel for trading the most significant works among top-tier clients. Despite auction houses guarding the secrecy of these sales, some details have entered the public domain. Last year, Christie’s sold No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) by Mark Rothko for $62.1 million in New York, a transaction that contributed to the house’s $1.5 billion in private sales, which reportedly included 17 works priced above $15 million.

According to Adrien Meyer, Christie’s global head of private sales, this growth is closely tied to mounting global uncertainty and broader market volatility. “In that context, private sales offer a particularly suitable selling environment because they provide reassurance to clients,” he recently told ArtNews. “When you sell privately, you know what you’re going to get. By contrast, at auction, the final price is uncertain. Security and confidentiality are key elements of the private sales model.”

Ahead of its Modern and Contemporary evening sale in London, Sotheby’s reportedly staged an invitation-only selling exhibition, “The Apartment,” presenting $40 million worth of art in a domestic setting. Works by in-demand artists, including David Hockney, George Condo, Gerhard Richter and Basquiat, were put on view, with most selling within a few days.

Concurrently, a growing number of invite-only, single-lot auctions are taking place behind closed doors, their results often unreported—raising questions around transparency. Still, details of a few record-breaking transactions have surfaced, including the sale of Frida Kahlo’s Me and My Parrot (1941) for more than $150 million; Rothko’s No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) (1951) for around $195 million; and Vincent van Gogh’s The Zouave (1888) for approximately $200 million.

Discretion and pricing security remain the primary drivers of the appeal of private sales among top collectors, and have similarly underpinned the success of Fair Warning, the digital platform founded by Loïc Gouzer, which hosts its own exclusive single-lot sales—first only on app, and more recently expanding to invite-only in-person events that combine auction and party. Among its recent top sales is a Warhol portrait of Brigitte Bardot, which fetched $16.7 million. In April, Fair Warning also introduced a new format titled “No Warning,” in which a work appears with a fixed price; buyers may either click “purchase now” or submit a single offer. There is no bidding war and no incremental escalation, though it remains an effective mechanism for testing demand on the masterpieces the platform selects for sale.

LGD Hammer, however, positions itself distinctly from both Fair Warning and opaque private auctions. As Gorvy emphasizes, the platform remains deeply tied to the gallery’s core business, simply adding a new format and vehicle to facilitate and accelerate secondary-market transactions. “We have approached the development of our platform through the lens of our gallery and the curatorial focus that we bring to our exhibition program and our booth presentations,” he said, noting that this museum-quality de Kooning was sourced and selected with intention, and strategically presented at the right moment with a starting estimate designed to attract the international market.

“The 80s de Kooning market has been very strong at auction, and this season there will be important works in the Mnuchin sale at Sotheby’s,” Gorvy explained. “We are presenting our work in tandem with these sales in order for clients to choose their preferred painting,” he added, noting that de Kooning has been collected in Asia for the last two decades and that Asian buyers are already expressing interest. In the meantime, Milkmaid will be given its own exhibition for two weeks at the gallery. “We want to invite potential buyers to come and enjoy this beautiful painting,” he emphasized.

Ahead of the sale, the work will be presented in a standalone, by-appointment exhibition at the gallery’s Upper East Side space, alongside a museum-quality exhibition dedicated to Domenico Gnoli on the first and second floors, and “Armig Santos: Baladas” on the fifth. The auction will take place Saturday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m., with Dominique Lévy as auctioneer and bidding conducted exclusively by phone—an intimate, tightly controlled format that underscores the platform’s hybrid ambition: to bring the competitive thrill of the auction room into the traditionally private domain of the gallery.