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ART

picasso sotheby's

A Picasso Surprise & The Basquiat Boom

The June sales in London are in the midst of being downgraded. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn a thing or two from the tepid results, which show the market is still bottoming. Plus, a preview of the Old Master sales.
Marion Maneker • June 30, 2024
Marion Maneker • June 25, 2024
Little Britain Sales
Bruce Nauman Double Poke in the Eye II 1985
A preview of the Phillips and Christie’s London sales, including a number of important works that may define—or rewrite—the narrative coalescing around the current art market.
Marion Maneker • June 23, 2024
London Art Fog
Jean-Michel Basquiat "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict"
The London sales may not have headline lots, but there are still plenty of opportunities for surprises… and this market sure needs surprises.
loic gouzer
Marion Maneker • June 18, 2024
Loic Gouzer’s Imaginary Collection
What’s the solution to the art market’s demand doldrums? If you ask Loic Gouzer, it’s a “conviction-based auction house.” A look at how his business, Fair Warning, is succeeding where the rest of the market is struggling.
larry gagosian
Marion Maneker • June 16, 2024
Basel’s New Money & A Gagosian Ouster
Behind the usual scrum of buyers and sellers, a pair of dueling narrative vie to define Basel and the broader market. Also: inside the executive shakeup at the world’s most enigmatic gallery.
Allison Zuckerman
Marion Maneker • June 11, 2024
Portraits of the Young Artists…
According to proprietary ARTDAI data, we’ve reached the downcycle in the sales of work by emerging artists—further proof, perhaps, that the forthcoming art market revival will coalesce around more prominent historical figures.
art basel switzerland
Marion Maneker • June 9, 2024
The Traveling Art Circus Arrives in Basel
The art market isn’t in as much trouble as everyone seems to suggest. It just isn’t generating much excitement. This week, the big money crowd arrives in Basel. Will they find anything to make them open their checkbooks?
Jean-Michel Basquiat circa 1985
Marion Maneker • June 4, 2024
Is Basquiat the New Picasso?
In both New York and Hong Kong last month, Jean-Michel displaced the Spanish master as the new benchmark for the art world. For years, the artist’s market—driven via headline-inducing purchases by the likes of Ken Griffin and Jho Low—seemed to have exceeded real collector demand. Now that’s all changing.
see stop run christopher wool
Marion Maneker • June 2, 2024
Wool Beyond Words
An unconventionally staged show of Christopher Wool’s work may reset the market for the artist and better frame his career in the contemporary marketplace.
Christie's Hong Kong
Marion Maneker • May 28, 2024
London Falling
News and notes on the art market’s quiet deprecation of London as the big auction houses set up shop in Hong Kong, resize their ambitions in Asia, and attempt to rewrite the auction calendar.
Larry Gagosian
Marion Maneker • May 26, 2024
The Gagosian Succession Sweepstakes
The hiring of Brooke Lampley has raised eyebrows in the art world. Is Gagosian, now in his late 70s, looking to sell or put a succession plan in place? Or is this just a mirage, with the hard-charging micromanager selling to the very end, like Castelli?
Christies Global Head of Private Sales Adrien Meyer sells the top lot of the evening Andy Warhol's Flowers
Marion Maneker • May 21, 2024
Warhol, Basquiat & A $1.4 Billion Question
Exactly how rich are the rich feeling these days? Data from the May sales suggest some reasons to be cheerful—$35 million for Warhol, $28 million for Leonora Carrington, $22 million for Joan Mitchell—despite a 50 percent drop in auction house sales.
pablo picasso
Marion Maneker • May 19, 2024
A $35 Million Monet, Picasso Weakness & Gigaweek Anxieties
Selling art isn’t easy, and it’s a lot harder in a market that appears to be declining. A look back at a week of hard work as the auction houses tried to sell the art they had well while also cultivating growth for a future market.
Joan Mitchell "Ground" sotheby's art auction
Marion Maneker • May 14, 2024
Sotheby’s Case of the Mondays
On Monday night, Sotheby’s posted a strong $267 million sale, up 30 percent year over year, including a record price for Joan Mitchell’s ‘Noon.’ So why did it all seem so depressing?
Frieze New York art fair
Marion Maneker • May 12, 2024
Tenth-Avenue Frieze Out
News and notes on all the shows around New York, what everyone is saying, and not saying, too.
claude monet art auction
Marion Maneker • May 7, 2024
A $364m Auction Backstop & The Irrevocable Bid Dance
Amid this unpredictable art market, nearly a quarter of the work coming to auction has already been guaranteed by third-party bidders. Is that a feat of financial engineering or a sign of the state of the confidence game?
Sotheby's Andy Warhol Jean-Michel Basquiat "Untitled"
Marion Maneker • May 5, 2024
The $1.2 Billion Art Fantasy
As gigaweek begins in New York, the big auction houses are fantasizing about more than a billion in sales—down from last year, sure, but also not terrible for a year without a signature artist or collection in the spotlight.
Inigo Philbrick
Marion Maneker • April 30, 2024
Inigo Time
News, notes, and fresh reporting on Inigo Philbrick’s attempt to rehabilitate himself and get back in the game after his $86 million fraud.