Major auctions almost exclusively accept art by artists with established track records of selling for substantial prices at major auctions, and of those, tend to focus heavily on artists who are hot at the moment. Yes it’s a Catch-22, but auctions are in business to make money and they want to be as sure as possible that every piece they sell nets a certain minimum dollar amount. Depending on the parameters of a particular auction house or sale, that amount might be $5000, $10000, $50000 or more.