Figures are going beserk for work that looks good on Instagram—but the market struggles to find the same fervour for conceptually ambitious, politically engaged art

Despite what hyperbolic marketing might suggest, sales of 20th-century titans are failing to reach expected price points

Christie's made a perky £28.1m while Sotheby's raised only £7.1m—a dramatic drop from pre-pandemic totals

In the wake of Russia’s invasion, some of the spending power at the exhibition is being directed towards good causes

For decades Russian billionaires were feted for their free spending on the arts. Now, they are officially personae non gratae. But what of the other individuals and regimes with dubious reputations?

After Fiac is muscled out of Paris, just two big players are left in the Modern and contemporary events market

With the forced shift to online sales due to Covid-19 restrictions, global sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips boomed in 2021, with an increased focus on luxury goods as the rich get richer

In the current climate, where a teenaged NFT artist can sell for $2.9m and Old Masters have fallen out of fashion, the fickle art market has become the presiding judge of aesthetic achievement

The star of the sales was a pair of half-length portraits by Van Dyck that sold for £6.2m at Sotheby's, the second-highest price for the artist at auction

The inexorable rise of the art market this century has put paid to art movements

New York's "gigafortnight" sales of the Cox and Macklowe collections showed there is still a market for classics—even while a Beeple sells for $29m to a tweeting tech entrepreneur

Western liberal democracies have long called the shots when deciding what is “good” art. But that could be about to change

Auction house will sell the painting in January and is dubbing it "The defining masterpiece of Botticelli's late career". But what exactly does that mean?

Asian buyers are now the biggest spenders at international auctions and these digitally-native collectors are happy to splurge online

When prices and cultural value are so easily confused, there is a case for the return of critical evaluation—in updated form

The European Super League, an elite alliance betraying football’s roots, was scuppered by fans. These same power structures exist in the art world – so where’s the resistance?

As people pay eye-watering crypto-sums for digital art, many see losses as well as gains in this brave new intangible world

Similarities between the new digital technology craze in the art world and the surge in value of tulips in 17th-century Holland suggest that it could all end in (real) tears

The cult of the individual reigns supreme but in reality Renaissance works were often not made by one hand

While today’s art world has been shaped by the prism of price, our current economic model may not be inevitable

Art as a blue-chip investment has had its day, as buyers chase the latest "red-chip" names

In an increasingly asset-driven art trade, collecting by listening to the buzz is fast becoming the norm

Christie's and Sotheby's have rapidly adapted to 'bricks and clicks' sales, but they will need to do more to attract top-notch consignments and the experience-hungry generation

The Covid-19 crisis presents an opportunity for artists to reclaim power from the institutions that buy, sell and show their work

16th century Italian marble attributed to Antonio Lombardo steals the show, but auction house's digital face is showing its age against stiff competition

Some big artists may be toppled from their pre-pandemic pedestals and new ones promoted to the art-as-investment pantheon

Digital transactions cannot replicate the social cachet of buying art at exclusive events—and prices will inevitably slide as a result

Inequality is rife in British society, not least in the arts, where decades of ‘class-cleansing’ policies have made it harder than ever to be an artist and designer

While auction houses are more aggressive and newer works dominate the global market, Tefaf’s exhibitors remain resolute

Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art auction last night made £106.8m, 35% down on last year—but with three works sold for over £10m