Art market

‘The world's most expensive banana’: Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian fetches $6.2m at Sotheby’s New York

The buyer, the collector and crypto investor Justin Sun, immediately vowed to eat the banana

Magritte gets star billing at Christie's $410m 'solid as a rock' evening auction

The interior designer Mica Ertegun's Surrealist L'empire des lumières sold for a record $121.1m in New York last night, with a new high also set for Ed Ruscha

Phillips's contemporary art auction in New York, hampered by Basquiat flop, brings in slim $44.2m

The night’s total take took a major hit when it was revealed that its second-biggest lot, a Basquiat self-portrait, had failed to sell

Art marketanalysis

Sotheby's New York delivers white glove auction of Sydell Miller collection but patchy Modern evening sale

Kicking off November's marquee evening sales, the house brought in a total of $268.6m from 49 lots

Art marketanalysis

Bollywood and billionaires: Art Mumbai sees ‘very healthy’ sales at expanded second edition

The fair welcomed 71 galleries this year, while local competition intensifies

Art marketcomment

Comment | EU’s new anti-looting law is another blow for legitimate trade

Though laudible in its aim to kerb trafficking of stolen goods, planned rules will impose unreasonable burdens on lawful and genuine trade

Rudy Capildeo

Sotheby's pays over $6m to settle tax evasion case

The terms of the settlement in New York allowed Sotheby's to resolve the issue without admitting any wrongdoing

Accra Cultural Week shines a light on Ghana’s burgeoning art scene

A host of globally recognised artists, a growing number of art world tourists and a domestic gallery boom are all contributing to the country’s reputation on the international stage

Art marketfeature

Auction houses expect this month's New York sales to bring in as much as $1.6bn

The most valuable lot of the week is a record-breaking Magritte with a third-party guarantee, but the most talked-about is a conceptual still life by Maurizio Cattelan

Yves Bouvier should stand trial over stolen Picassos, court says

Paris prosecutor has requested that the Swiss art dealer and his business partner Olivier Thomas should face charges relating to the disappearance of dozens of works more than a decade ago

Booksreview

The arts should be recognised as a key part of what it means to be human, argues a new publication

An urgent treatise on the decommodification of culture by the professor of cultural economy Justin O’Connor

Painting by Ernst Klimt—completed by his brother Gustav—to be offered at Sotheby’s

After Ernst Klimt’s sudden death at 29, Gustav completed "Hans Wurst Delivering an Impromptu Performance in Rothenburg" and signed it in his brother’s name

Art marketanalysis

How ‘high street’ art galleries are achieving serious sales success

They might not be hailed by the critics, but the likes of Opera and Halcyon are forging ahead

For these US auction houses, Antiques Roadshow-style appraisal days have been a wise investment

“Every now and then you strike gold,” says the general manager of Bonhams Skinner

Painting by the AI robot Ai-Da sells for more than $1m at Sotheby’s

It’s a new record for a work of art created by a robot, the auction house says

A Slevogt triptych, restituted to the heirs of a Nazi-persecuted collector, is to be auctioned in Munich

The painting depicting the prodigal son was sold by Eduard Fuchs, a Communist writer, after his escape into exile in 1933

Korean art market to benefit from new regulations

Restrictions have been eased on the export of post-war Korean art, and artist resale royalties introduced

Art marketanalysis

Christie’s and Sotheby’s pin hopes for New York November sales on single-owner collections

In a subdued market, the season’s most promising auctions are of estates

What's behind Endeavor's plan to sell Frieze?

The art fair's parent company is apparently exploring "a potential sale", but who might buy it?

Art marketcomment

Comment | Popping the hood: what’s driving sales of luxury cars at auction houses

Christie's acquisition of Gooding & Company has renewed focus on collectible automobiles

Sotheby’s to hold first ever commercial auction in Saudi Arabia in February

The auction house will hold the sale in the historic town of Diriyah, offering Modern and contemporary art as well as handbags, cars and sports memorabilia

US judge allows artist Deborah Roberts's copyright infringement lawsuit against New York gallery to proceed

The lawsuit brought by Roberts in 2022 has received a mixed ruling from Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, but she denied dealer Richard Beavers's motion to dismiss it

Isabel Nolan to represent Ireland at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Georgina Jackson, the director of The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art at Trinity College, Dublin, will be the pavilion's curator

‘My poems are as important to sustaining my life as my art’: Rei Naito, one of Japan's best-kept artistic secrets

The enigmatic installation artist shares the thinking behind her minimal yet profound meditations on human existence

In partnership withArt Week Tokyo
Crime news

Co-creator of UndeadApes NFTs found guilty of fraud and money laundering in 'rug pull' scheme

Berman Jerry Nowlin Jr, known in the NFT community as "Repulse" and “Zayous”, faces up to five years in federal prison

Mumbai gallery Mirchandani + Steinruecke to open Delhi location

It is the latest Indian gallery to expand to a second city

Artissimaanalysis

Dealers at Artissima await 'potentially transformative' changes to art tax in Italy

The 31st edition of the contemporary art fair sees Italy's art market players cross their fingers—or fear for the worst

Kyotoanalysis

Art Collaboration Kyoto finds its groove by connecting past and present

The unusual Japanese fair is holding its fourth edition with 69 local and international galleries participating

Nudes by major Indian artists F. N. Souza and Akbar Padamsee embroiled in 'obscenity' dispute

The seven works were seized by Mumbai customs last year due to their sensitive content