News US politics
Artists are "Biden the bullet" to support the 2020 Democratic ticket in the lead up to the US election
Pat Steir, Betye Saar and Julie Mehretu are among hundreds of artists donating work to raise funds as the art world rallies to support the Biden-Harris campaign
InterviewArt market
'I'm always amazed, in this business, by how seriously some people take themselves': Stephen Friedman on 25 years as an art dealer
The Canadian came to London as a 22-year-old, fell in love with the city and never left
NewsArt market
Cowan’s auction house returns indigenous war god sculpture to a Zuni Pueblo
The figures, carved by tribal members every winter and left in ceremonial shrines atop a mountain, have regularly been stolen and made their into museums and private collections throughout the US and Europe
AnalysisArt market
V.S. Gaitonde's £3.4m record-breaking painting leads strong South Asian sales season
Glut of collections have come to auction this month, with strong results for lesser-known Indian Modernists broadening a narrow market
NewsArt market
Art Basel in Hong Kong and Art Central—under one roof in 2021
The two fairs will take place at the same time in the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre in March
NewsThe Art Newspaper Live
Sign up for our third and final 'New Models for New Times' event on 22 October: Clare McAndrew in conversation with Georgina Adam
In the culminating talk of our latest event series, economist Clare McAndrew and Georgina Adam discuss the future of the art market. Presented in partnership with Cromwell Place
NewsThe Art Newspaper Live
Sign up for our first 'New Models for New Times' event on 8 October: Is the new spirit of collaboration lip-service or game-changing?
Galleries are increasingly teaming up to stay afloat—but for how long? Featuring Pilar Corrias, Caroline Douglas, Sunny Rahbar and Neil Wenman. Presented in partnership with Cromwell Place
NewsThe Art Newspaper Live
Sign up for our second 'New Models for New Times' event on 15 October: Breaking boundaries—local is the new global
Globalisation has shaped the art market we know today, but will the current shift to the local be a help or hindrance to emerging markets in Africa and Asia? Featuring Rachel Lehmann, Sundaram Tagore, Rakeb Sile and Ayo Adenyinka. Presented in partnership with Cromwell Place
NewsThe Art Newspaper Live
The Art Newspaper Live returns! Registration now open for 'New models for new times: Rethinking the art market in a changing world'
Join industry thought leaders like Sunny Rabhar, Ayo Adeyinka and Clare McAndrew in conversation with our art market experts in a three-part series of events beginning 8 October. Presented in partnership with Cromwell Place
NewsAuctions
This $80m Botticelli could be one of the most expensive portraits ever sold at auction
The painting, to be offered at Sotheby's New York in January, is estimated to sell for 100 times more than the owner paid for it in 1982
NewsLawsuits
Insurers fight $107m claim for Modigliani paintings seized by Italian police
A US dealer says he is owed millions by insurance brokers for 12 works that were confiscated by authorities from the Palazzo Ducale in 2017 as suspected fakes
NewsAuction houses
Hedge fund manager Alexander Klabin buys stake in Sotheby's financing arm
Now the chairman of Sotheby's Financial Services, Klabin was previously approached to back a competing offer to block last year's buyout of the auction house by Patrick Drahi
NewsArt market
Class of 2020: five picks from Art Basel's online viewing room (another one)
The latest virtual fair, OVR:2020, limits 100 galleries to showing six works each, all produced this year—we pick our highlights
NewsBrazil
Court-ordered auction of works from disgraced Brazilian banker's collection prompts new controversy
The Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of São Paulo claims it is owed $3.6m for conserving and storing around 1,600 works repossessed from bankrupt Banco Santos president Edemar Cid Ferreira
NewsArt fairs
Online market place for art continues to grow as new digital fair announced during Frieze week
Daata fair is dedicated to video and digital works and aims to reach collectors who “simply don’t have the patience” to watch films at real-life fairs
NewsArt market
Controversy erupts over Fiac cancellation
Paris's major contemporary art fair has been scrapped due to Covid-19 fears, but galleries are divided over whether the decision was wise or "lacking courage"
NewsArt market
Lisson, Sadie Coles HQ and Stephen Friedman to open (temporarily) on London's Cork Street during Frieze week
In lieu of an October fair, the blue-chip galleries will congregate around the Mayfair street during what would—under normal circumstances—be the London art market's busiest month
NewsArt market
UK High Court ruling could be 'welcome news' for arts organisations denied Covid-19 insurance payout
Judgment this week ruled in favour of the Financial Conduct Authority's test case seeking clarification of policies as many insurers refuse to pay out during the pandemic
AnalysisArt market
The fairs are back in town: greater China reopens for business
Art021, West Bund Art & Design Fair and Art Taipei among fairs due to open in the region this autumn despite travel restrictions, shipping woes and Covid-19 fears
NewsArt fairs
Fiac cancelled as new travel restrictions are imposed across Europe
The Paris art fair had seemed defiant in the face of coronavirus but organisers say they could not “meet the legitimate expectations of its exhibitors”
NewsArt market
2021 art fair calendar already in flux after Taipei Dangdai moves from January to May
Delay and cancellation of events early next year prompts the question: will Frieze Los Angeles still take place in February?
NewsArt market
Keeping it in the family: Charles Saatchi’s daughter to open huge London gallery
Phoebe Saatchi Yates has collaborated with her husband and father to launch 10,000 sq ft Mayfair gallery focused on “unknown” artists
NewsObituaries
Forrest Fenn, known for burying $2m worth of treasure in the Rocky Mountains, dies at 90
The controversial yet colourful Santa Fe-based art and antiquities dealer announced that his treasure had been found shortly before his death
NewsArt market
Cosmoscow determined to be first major fair to go ahead
Event still plans to run this week and hopes for a less distracted local Russian collector base, starved of international art travels
NewsArt market
Galleries cast doubt on the return of fairs in 2021 in latest Art Basel and UBS report
Covid-19 has forced galleries to cut staff by 33% on average as sales plummet 36% in the first half of 2020—and optimism is dwindling for next year
NewsCommercial galleries
Hauser & Wirth appoints Fortnum & Mason head as first global chief executive
Ewan Venters will join the mega gallery in January with a focus on leading the business while co-presidents concentrate on the artists
AnalysisArt market
The art market is more neoliberal factory farm than finely balanced ecosystem: now is the time to 'rewild' it
The Covid-19 crisis presents an opportunity for artists to reclaim power from the institutions that buy, sell and show their work
NewsAuctions
Shipwrecked, disinherited, imprisoned, accused of being a Gunpowder Plotter: Tudor adventurer’s portrait hits the block
Portrait thought to be of Thomas Arundell is to be auctioned at Woolley & Wallis this week
NewsContemporary art
Berlin Art Week: shows in disused airports and nightclubs defy gloomy predictions
From Berghain's lockdown exhibition to the Brücke Museum's Vivian Suter display, here's what to see in the reigning contemporary art hub this week
NewsArt market
Manhattan's first and only freeport to close
Arcis, a high-tech $50m art storage facility in Harlem, opened in 2018 and allows for tax-free transactions
NewsArt market
Status of $4.8m Modigliani painting challenged as legal battle over artist's catalogues raisonnés ramps up
French expert Marc Restellini claims substantial modifications to Italian painter's 1915 portrait of Beatrice Hastings were not mentioned by Christie's when the picture was sold—twice
NewsArt fairs
Art Basel cancels Miami Beach edition in December
The fair's organisers say they have "no other option" as Covid-19 cases in Florida stay stubbornly high and US travel restrictions remain in place
PreviewCommercial galleries
Private view: must-see gallery shows opening in September
From Danh Vo in London to Linda Stark in Los Angeles
NewsArt fairs
Unrepresented minority artists get a boost at virtual edition of SP-Arte
In light of recent social shifts, major market events "need to rethink, reinvent and rejuvenate" by including more under-represented classes of artists, director says
NewsAuctions
Sotheby’s teams up with the Keith Haring Foundation to auction Haring’s personal collection for charity
All works—by artists such as Basquiat, Warhol and Rammellzee—will make their auction debut in the sale, which is expected to make $1m for the LGBTQ nonprofit the Center
News#ArtistSupportPledge
#ArtistSupportPledge—what happened next to the ‘lifeline’ that helped artists survive during lockdown?
Instagram scheme rallying art community in the wake of the pandemic has so far generated £60m
NewsArt market
Undeterred by pandemic and political tumult, Western galleries expand to Greater China
The New York dealer Edward Ressle opens a space in Shanghai, in the footsteps of the UK's Flowers Gallery and France's Villepin ventures in Hong Kong
NewsArt market
Christie’s to hold marquee sales in New York in early October—but will Sotheby's follow suit?
With no Frieze Art Fair, contemporary art London sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips will now take place at the end of October, when Fiac is due to open in Paris
NewsArt market
Phillips rolls out 'Articker' to predict the next hot artists through exhibitions and media coverage
Like a stock ticker, the new data platform scrapes the internet to give users a constant stream of information about art
NewsMuseums
Whitney Museum cancels show following artists' accusations of exploitation
Many black artists objected to an exhibition after they discovered their work had been acquired by the museum through discounted sales to benefit anti-racism causes
NewsArt market
London's £20m Cromwell Place gallery hub to open on 10 October
Complex, housed in five townhouses in South Kensington, was due to open in May but the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown
NewsFrieze London
Alberta Whittle named the winner of this year's Frieze Artist Award
Exploring themes around the fear of contagion and xenophobia, the new film commission will debut online as part of the virtual edition of Frieze London
NewsLaw
Bathurst family sues art lender over Gainsborough painting offered as collateral by disgraced dealer
The noble family, whose ancestors are depicted in the work, says Art Finance Partners should have known Timothy Sammons did not legally own the painting
NewsArt market
Belarus art collector Viktor Babariko, rival to President Alexander Lukashenko, jailed before election
Former chairman of Belgazprombank, which owns works by Chagall and Soutine, was arrested in June on charges of laundering $430m but many suspect it was politically motivated
NewsArt market
Photo London abandons socially distanced fair to go online
Decision "feels like natural progression for the market”, exhibitor says
CommentArtists
Remembering the beautiful melancholy of Matthew Wong
The astronomical increase in the value of works by the Canadian artist, who died by suicide last year, is driven by morose opportunism
AnalysisArt market
In the first partnership of its kind, Phillips and Poly Auction set their sights on Hong Kong
Mutually beneficial collaborations between Western and Chinese auction houses are on the rise
NewsArt market
It’s official: galleries and art fairs at risk of collapse can apply for UK’s £1.57bn rescue package
Priority will be given to institutions of regional and national significance
NewsArt market
Lisson Gallery announces representation of US painter Van Hanos with Hamptons show
As Manhattan’s wealthy prolong their stays on Long Island, executive director Alex Logsdail says he is likely to extend his lease until September 2021
NewsArt market
War declared over lucrative Modigliani 'monopoly' as Wildenstein Plattner Institute fights back at Marc Restellini
Institute is claiming copyright ownership and right to publish expert’s research, alongside share of profits from Institut Restellini which it claims charges €30,000 per inquiry
NewsArt market
All change at Tefaf: finance chief takes on managing director role as art fair reduces New York staff
Charlotte van Leerdam will take on additional role as organiser of Maastricht and New York events as Sofie Scheerlinck steps down and chief executive is not replaced
NewsArt market
Douglas Latchford's death reignites unresolved controversy over alleged smuggling of Cambodian antiquities
News of the death of dealer and expert in South East Asian art raises strong reactions and unanswered questions
NewsLawsuits
Art adviser sues Rudy Giuliani for $15k in unpaid fees
The former New York City mayor and Trump's personal lawyer allegedly hired the firm to appraise the value of his collection during bitter divorce battle
NewsCommercial galleries
Chicago galleries eat up restaurant reservation app to buoy business
After a months-long shut down of in-person visits, a group of dealers have turned to online reservation systems initially built to support restaurants
NewsArt & Technology
Superblue experiential art centre to launch in Miami this December
New commercial venture aims to capitalise on the rise of immersive artworks by selling tickets rather than objects
NewsArt law
Yves Bouvier evaded paying taxes on £276m of art sales, Swiss authorities claim
Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court ordered documents unsealed that call into question whether the dealer declared all profits from sales made to Dimitry Rybolovlev
NewsArt market
Christie's exhibition of Black art is not about virtue signalling, curator says
Destinee Ross-Sutton has co-organised the online selling show Say It Loud which features works by 22 artists including Nelson Makamo and Yoyo Lander
NewsArt market
Sotheby's racks up $2.5bn of sales so far this year—down 26% on 2019
Value of private sales at auction house remain around the same as last year at $575m but number of online auctions more than doubles
NewsCommercial galleries
Gogo Greece lightning: Gagosian opens new gallery in Athens
Gallery has had a premises in city since 2009 but will open bigger space this September with exhibition of Brice Marden's work
NewsArt market
Senate investigation finds art market secrecy allowed Russian billionaire brothers, friends of Putin, to evade government sanctions
A detailed report calls the trade “the largest, legal unregulated industry in the United States” and recommends increased transparency and government oversight
NewsArt market
Christies winds up belated summer auction season with £21.2m Classic Art sale led by £4m Rubens
16th century Italian marble attributed to Antonio Lombardo steals the show, but auction house's digital face is showing its age against stiff competition
NewsArt fairs
Scaled back 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair will go ahead in October—despite Frieze cancellation
Smaller fair and online collaboration with Christie's planned as UK government says trade fairs can resume from 1 October
NewsArt market
Restituted Renaissance battle scene highlight of Sotheby’s pick-and-mix £150m evening sale
Six works were withdrawn by nervy vendors just before the start but Rembrandt to Richter sale still totalled nearly £150m, topped by a £22.3m Joan Miró
NewsArt market
Extent of trade in looted antiquities is exaggerated, report claims
New research conducted by US non-profit RAND suggests illicit market is less extensive and organised than is commonly believed
NewsArt market
Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum seeks to recover ancient Egyptian jars before auction
The vessels, containing 2,600-year-old mummified internal organs, are due to be sold in Munich tomorrow
NewsArt market
David Castillo is moving his gallery to Miami Design District
The dealer plans to open his new space in the Melin Building in September
NewsArt market
Gavin Brown to close his gallery and join Barbara Gladstone’s
The pioneering dealer is bringing ten big-name artists with him, including Arthur Jafa, Joan Jonas, Alex Katz, and Rirkrit Tiravanija
NewsArt market
Openings and collabs: how dealers are finding reasons to be cheerful
A spate of activity is helping galleries move forward during the pandemic
Newscoronavirus
Tefaf cancels postponed autumn edition in New York
Citing international travel restrictions and the city's strict reopening plan following coronavirus lockdown, the fair's organisers say too many uncertainties remain
NewsAuctions
Colville’s Dog and Bridge has its day at Heffel’s live sale in Toronto
But fewer than ten buyers physically attended the auction, with most bidding done over the phone and in the “digital salesroom”
NewsArt crime
California man sentenced to five years in prison for $6m international art fraud scheme
Philip Righter pleaded guilty to selling works fraudulently attributed to Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, among others
AnalysisArt market
Sanyu, Zao Wou-Ki and Liu Ye: the Asian masters fetching millions at the Hong Kong auctions
Despite pandemic delays and the new National Security Law, the spring sales in the city last week fetched solid results
NewsLaw
New York grand jury indicts Inigo Philbrick on federal fraud charges
The dealer was arrested by the FBI on the Pacific island Vanuatu last month and transferred into federal custody
NewsArt market
Frieze directors ‘left with no choice’ but to cancel London fairs in October
Continued restrictions on large-scale events and travel due to coronavirus have made the show logistically impossible
NewsArt market
How a £3m Soulages almost sank off the coast of Tasmania
The MV Merino had gone aground on its way to Hobart for an exhibition of Modern French art in 1953
NewsArt market
Sotheby's to sell Bridget Riley painting from Heathrow executive lounge as British Airways 'fights for survival'
Auction house appointed to sell £1.4m of art from the beleaguered airline's collection this month
NewsArt market
Christie's $420.9m global relay sale was ambitious—but did they really need four auctioneers?
The four-hour event was intended to illustrate the auction house's global and democratic nature, but it also showed that less is often more
NewsRacism in the art world
How the art industry is grappling with its systemic race inequality
Galleries, fairs and auction houses are issuing solidarity statements and re-evaluating the diversity of their staffs. But "performative wokeness” will not fix the market’s whiteness
NewsArt market
James Murdoch's firm invests in Art Basel's embattled owner MCH Group
Media and entertainment investment firm Lupa Systems will become the events company's anchor shareholder, holding around a third of shares if approved on 3 August
NewsArt market
Tomorrow’s YBAs? White Cube launches series of online exhibitions by London art graduates
Gallery owner Jay Jopling says it is vital to support the next generation during such precarious times
NewsOnline sales
Online marketplaces proliferate as the coronavirus pandemic continues
Dallas Art Fair and Design Miami/ have launched their own year-round sales platforms as art fairs grapple with uncertain futures
NewsArt fairs
Art Basel in Miami Beach waives August withdrawal fee for dealers amid surge in Florida coronavirus cases
Fair organisers say they remain “committed” to the show in December even as the lease for a temporary hospital and Covid-19 testing site at the Miami Beach Convention Center is extended
NewsArt market
Monaco court dismisses criminal case against Yves Bouvier
The Swiss art dealer had been accused of fraud and money laundering by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev—a related case in Geneva remains active
CommentArt market
Can the art market be an ally in the fight for racial equality?
The industry remains subtly discriminatory and must abandon some obsolete ways if it is to truly change for the better
NewsLaw
Heirs battle estate over $30m Monet painting from Emden collection sold during Nazi era
Le Palais Ducal is at the centre of an ownership dispute that has kept the work from coming to auction
CommentArt market
We need to talk about guarantees. And art loans
Dealers who finance deals by taking out loans against art may well find themselves in difficulty because of the Covid-19 pandemic
NewsArt market
Sotheby's to auction £4m restituted Bellotto painting that Jewish retail magnate was forced to sell to Hitler
The view of Dresden's Zwinger moat had been returned to the heirs of Max Emden and will now be offered for sale in London on 28 July
CommentArt market
No rest for the frazzled for many in the art world
As galleries and auction houses slowly awaken from lockdown (some of them, at least), this summer will be one of work, not rest
NewsCommercial galleries
Pandemic pushes gallery districts to decentralise
Dealers are swiftly setting up new spaces in the Hamptons this summer and an increasing number of galleries are taking root in smaller cities
NewsArt market
Blue chip artists and dealers benefit from coronavirus relief packages, a federal report reveals
Pace, David Zwirner and Jeff Koons named among the top recipients of US taxpayer-funded forgivable loans, as smaller galleries seek additional aid
NewsArt market
Fiac organisers determined to go ahead with Paris fair this October despite coronavirus turmoil
But dealers ponder crucial question of whether US collectors will venture overseas by the autumn
AnalysisArt market
Could Covid-19 kill off the market for the art world’s star names?
Some big artists may be toppled from their pre-pandemic pedestals and new ones promoted to the art-as-investment pantheon
NewsArt market
Quran quietly sells for record £7m despite questions over its provenance
Manuscript sold at Christie's first live sale in London since the coronavirus lockdown, but academics say its ownership history should be more transparent
NewsArt market
Anatole Shagalov must pay Sotheby's $2m for Keith Haring painting, judge rules
Art dealer did not pay up for painting bought at auction in 2017
NewsIndigenous art
As Navajo Nation battles worst coronavirus outbreak in US, artists hope for an Indigenous renaissance
The cancellation of regional markets and fairs have taken a huge economic toll but have also ushered in a "new era of responsibility" to promote Native work
PreviewLondon Art Week
From a £16m Rembrandt to a £3,000 dolphin, London Art Week for every (ok, some) budgets
Highlights from the online version of the “pre-contemporary art” event for galleries and auction houses which launches today and runs until 10 July
NewsArt market
American collector to sue France over restitution of $1.7m Pissarro painting
Real estate developer Bruce Toll claims compensation after French High court confirms return of Pissarro's Pea Harvest to heirs of collector Simon Bauer
NewsFrida Kahlo
Spanish dealer claims to find long-lost Frida Kahlo painting
Missing for six decades, La Mesa Herida (The Wounded Table) may be in a London warehouse, but experts say the work is likely a fake
ReviewArt market
Undeterred by looming National Security Law, Hong Kong's newest art fair draws nearly 3,000 visitors
Twelve galleries ventured out again for the bijou pop-up event Unscheduled
CommentArt market
Gatherings are taboo in the Covid-19 world, so where does that leave experiential art?
New venture Superblue aims to attract younger audiences by selling tickets for immersive events, but its model is at odds with a socially distanced society
Melanie Gerlis