ART
Marion Maneker
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October 29, 2024
The Invisible Wesselmann
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is staging an ambitious, poppy retrospective of the sex-obsessed Midwestern artist—complete with contextual support from Warhols and Lichtensteins—to make the case that Wesselmann does matter, even if he’s not easy to sell. The Mugrabis, one of the biggest holders of his art, are betting on a turnaround.
Marion Maneker
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October 27, 2024
Can a Million-Dollar Banana Save the Art Market?
More than anything, the art market needs a narrative. With a million-dollar banana (plus duct tape) on offer at Sotheby’s, and a $95 million Magritte poised to potentially go much higher, could this be the season that renews the market’s momentum?
Marion Maneker
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October 22, 2024
Still Life With Paris
Absent a unifying theme to the Art Basel Paris auctions, the list of dynamic lots suggest that collectors are following their own paths through these auctions, and looking for works of idiosyncratic value rather than chasing a market trend.
Marion Maneker
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October 21, 2024
Paris When It Sizzles
Sure, Paris pulled out the stops for the Olympics. But for Art Basel, the French seemed determined to put on a cultural spectacle to match the Summer Games this fall—and they did. Is this the beginning of a new art market narrative?
Marion Maneker
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October 15, 2024
Ad Hockney
Reminiscences about the signs of life in London—Christie’s domination, Sotheby’s Hockney success, nostalgia for Koons, Hirst, Ruscha, Prince, Freud, and de Kooning. Next up: Paris!
Marion Maneker
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October 13, 2024
Vanity Fair
Despite an art market downturn, London put on a great week of business that reminded everyone why Frieze has been a pillar of the global art circuit for more than two decades. Herewith, a tale of Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Degas, Hockney, Odundo, Whitten, and more.
Marion Maneker
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October 8, 2024
Frieze Frames
News and notes from the British art fair circuit surrounding Frieze: the biggest sales, the debate over activity in the private market, attendance anxiety, and the battle with Paris.
Marion Maneker
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October 6, 2024
A Midseason Art Market Vibe Check
A quick look at the numbers from New York’s midseason contemporary art sales suggests the market is improving slowly but surely. More money was spent in this year’s sales relative to last year, and the indicators were broadly healthy—even if the sales provided little in the way of excitement.
Marion Maneker
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October 2, 2024
Win, Lose, or Drahi
A 280-year-old company can withstand a lot more than bad press, but it’s undeniably been a rough month for Sotheby’s amid an art market slump, employee jitters, and feverish speculation surrounding fresh Emirati cash. Does Patrick Drahi have a plan, beyond muddling through?
Marion Maneker
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September 29, 2024
Year of the Camel
In the white-hot market for the hybrid sculpture-furniture works by the late husband-and-wife team known as Les Lalanne, nothing is as it seems. Camels are couches, hippos are bars, and the prices always seem to be going higher and higher. This fall, after an opulent show in a Venice palazzo, the auctions may give us even more to talk about.
Marion Maneker
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September 25, 2024
A Tale of Two Sotheby’s
As the world’s largest auction house prepares to move into its new flagship HQ, in the former Whitney, questions abound as to what its new Emirati investors want, whether Patrick Drahi can retain control, and which employees will be sent packing to Siberia (i.e., Long Island City).
Marion Maneker
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September 22, 2024
Fall’s Art Market Awakening
A wealth of new offerings at Christie’s and Sotheby’s aim to rouse the art market from its recent somnolence, with a spate of attractively priced major works in the mid-range. Is the market on the verge of a real rebound, or merely enjoying the artificial uplift of a manufactured narrative?
Marion Maneker
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September 18, 2024
The Artnet Numbers
A new financial report reveals declining revenues at the art market information company, and a latticework of insider deals and loans propping it up. With its largest single shareholder calling for a change of leadership, how long can the Neuendorf family hang on?
Marion Maneker
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September 16, 2024
Kusama’s Jerry Maguire?
Athletes, actors, and authors all have agents. So why don’t artists? That’s the question that UTA tried to answer with its Fine Arts division. Now, the agency has put that initiative on pause.
Marion Maneker
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September 10, 2024
Legends of the Fall
From an exhibition featuring the young Impressionists in their rebel heyday to a show dissecting modern Black representation in the art world, here’s what I’m looking forward to seeing this fall.
Marion Maneker
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September 8, 2024
Gangs of New York
The art world has taken Manhattan, bringing with it some surprises that have provided insight into what’s really taking place in the market.
Marion Maneker
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September 3, 2024
The Art Market’s Lo-Fi Tech Solution
For years, tech platforms have been pining to disrupt the art market with A.I. or blockchain or a jazzy new platform. I came up with a better solution during a chat with the Yale School of Management’s Magnus Resch.