Art Business News

How Auctions Became the Ultimate Form of Art Market Theater

The Gray Market: Anyone Wrestling With Money's Influence On Art Has 800 Years Of Company; Show At The Morgan Library & Museum Traces The Modern Economy's Emergence In The Middle Ages—And How It Influenced Art From The Start

Interview with Margo McDaid: ‘I Paint Daily, No Matter What’: How One Woman’s Coping Mechanism Became A Global Business

I Speak for the Rainmaker; Performing the Fundraiser Role In The Nonprofit Art World

Backstory: How Gagosian’s Blockbuster LA Basquiat Show Happened; Stars and billionaire lenders had to align for the mega-gallery’s museum-quality show of the late artist’s work, currently on display in Los Angeles

New Pay to Pay to Play Plan! Bond Actor Pierce Brosnan Gets First Uk Solo Show – – With A £500 Meet ’n Greet; Nottingham Gallery Is Showing Paintings By The Irish Star

Prints and multiples may finally be ready for the market spotlight—it only took a few hundred years of confusion; Latest edition of the IFPDA Print Fair in New York and a slew of moves by mega-galleries look set to reshape this long-overlooked category

'Where The Museum and The Market Blend': Third Edition Of Art Week Tokyo Attempts A More Holistic Way To Measure Success; Some 50 galleries and institutions participated this year in the Art Basel-backed event

Panic at The House Museum! Can Today’s Tame Tastes Satisfy The Public’s Appetite For Historical Homes?

What Makes A Masterpiece? It Depends Who Is Selling... Traditionally reserved for an artist’s greatest works, the term “masterpiece” now appears routinely in auction catalogues, and may just mean a work is good, novel—or expensive

In Los Angeles, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Opens a Bar That Transforms as the Night Wears On; With the help of advanced projection and audiovisual work, the whiskey brand has invented a new kind of night out

Off the Court and Field, Top Athletes Become Players in the Art Market; Sports figures are increasingly becoming serious collectors, helping drive interest in contemporary art and particularly in artists of color

On Balance: Hauser & Wirth and Nicola Vassell Unveil New ‘Collective Impact’ Model for Small Galleries; Industry Moves

Billionaire Owner James Dolan in ‘Serious Talks’ About Building Sphere in Abu Dhabi; Amid $225M Feud Over Vegas Tab: Sources

Scheme to sell fractions of Banksy’s Valentine’s Day Mascara could be illegal, lawyer says; Online company managing the Margate mural, intended as a comment on domestic abuse, has already sold more than £250,000 in shares

‘It’s an Enormous Level of Excitement’: In Paris, a Second Wave of Gallery Arrivals Is Under Way as International Dealers Flock to the City; “When I used to visit Paris in the '90s, it was more provincial,” said Hauser & Wirth's Marc Payot

‘We’re Not Chasing Novelty at Any Price’: The Grand Palais’s New Director Didier Fusillier Reveals His Ambitious Vision for the Prestigious Paris Institution; Since taking on his role earlier this fall, Fusillier has been eager to revive the “magnificent memory” of the Grand Palais

Why Collectors are Increasingly Gifting Significant Artworks to University Museums

The Van Gogh Museum Has Scrapped Its Pokémon Card Giveaway Due to Unmanageable Crowds; Cards have been selling on secondary markets for hundreds of dollars

On Balance: What a Difference A Year Makes In Auctionland; Industry Moves

Activist Artist Lauren Halsey Becomes Part of Gagosian Gallery

Memoir Revue: In Art Conservation, There Is No Perfect Solution; Conservator Rosa Lowinger reflects on her time working at LACMA in the 1980s in an excerpt from her new memoir, Dwell Time

Doug Aitken is creating a series of large-scale works will be moored off the coast of St Barts; Swim-through underwater sculptures in the Caribbean aim to draw attention to perilous state of the oceans

Hauser & Wirth Lands in Paris and Inaugurates Its New Digs With a Highly Anticipated Henry Taylor Show

Lines Redrawn: How Artists And Auction Houses Are Shaking Things Up With New Ways Of Working Together; Phillips’s recent private selling exhibition of Damien Hirst works marked 15 years of artists collaborating with auction houses, with or without gallery cooperation

On Balance: As Paris+ Opens, France’s Art Market Thrums With Excitement; Industry Moves

Rainey Knudson: Art Rental Service; "How fun, how joyful"

London Gallerist Pilar Corrias on Why She Chose to Double Down in Mayfair With a Capacious New Flagship Space

Julie Mehretu Painting Sets New Auction Record For An African-Born Artist

Lacklustre results for highly anticipated auction from Long Museum collection in China—experts weigh in on why; Despite a slew of records set for Western art in Asia, including new highest prices for Modigliani and Mark Bradford, the Hong Kong sale made below its low estimate

On Balance: As Frieze London Opens, an Uncertain World Awaits Outside; Industry Moves

How Colossal Media Has Kept Art In Advertising For The Last 20 Years; What Was Once Billed As A “Hipster” Trend Has Proved Its Staying Power, With Murals Selling For As Much As $200,000 per month

The Art Market is on a Bumpy Ride in 2023; Major auction houses have posted steep falls in turnover for the year so far—but some categories, such as luxury goods, are booming

Pace Gallery's Marc Glimcher Surveys An Asian Art Scene In Flux; Which Market Shall Prevail?

Podcast: Grow or Go? In an Uncertain Market, Three Art Experts Debate the Future; Collector Alain Servais, advisor Megan Fox Kelley, and dealer Suzanne Vielmetter weigh in

Does this Mean New Life for Superblue? Former Global Director of Art Basel Marc Spiegler Joins Superblue Board of Directors

What David Zwirner’s recent surprise losses reveal about the high-stakes art market; The dealer remains “cautiously optimistic” about the trade’s prospects this autumn

Hauser & Wirth to open in Basel—taking over Galerie Knoell's space in 2024; Mega-gallery will also welcome Knoell's founder as a senior director, in a move that will "extend its commitment in Basel"

What's behind China's spate of museum closures and downsizings? As the country's economy takes a nosedive, its institutions face fiscal freeze and covert control amid an increasingly chaotic and arbitrary government censorship regime

On Balance: Court Documents Show Christie’s Fighting Back Against US-China Trade War; Industry Moves

Gagosian Wins an Initial Victory in a Long-Running Lawsuit Brought by a Photographer Who Claims Richard Prince Stole His Work; Prince's series, which depicts appropriated Instagram photos, has been at the center of an ongoing copyright debate

John Baldessari Estate Beleaguered by Lawsuits Over Damaged Art and Canceled Exhibition

Gagosian Gallery Lures Eminent Sculptor Carol Bove Away From Rival Mega-Gallery David Zwirner; Gagosian will start exhibiting Bove's sculptures this fall at its New York gallery and at Paris+

Market for photography is on a roll; Launch of Photofairs New York during Armory Week reflects a resurgent market for photographs and related media

Here’s How Much Money U.S. Museum Directors Make —— But a Growing Backlash Could Soon Change That; Disparity between directors' salaries and that of rank-and-file workers is huge

Armory Show Director Nicole Berry on Hiring Women Curators to ‘Challenge the Canon,’ and What’s in Store for the Fair Now That It’s Owned by Frieze; Berry has helmed the fair through numerous crises since 2017

Leaning Into Its Florentine Heritage, Ferragamo Staged Its New Campaign by Tyler Mitchell Against the Uffizi Gallery’s Renaissance Masterworks; Nine Renaissance masterworks, including two by Sandro Botticelli, are featured in the striking imagery

‘It’s About Working Together in a Celebratory Way’: Robbie Fitzpatrick on Founding Art-Fair Alternatives, From Basel Social Club to Salon d’Été; Inaugural Salon d’été took place this summer in a village near Versailles

6 Questions for Dealer Simon Miccio on Why He’s Betting on Aspen With the Opening of His New Gallery; Simon Miccio Gallery aims to bring a new dynamic to the art world outpost

With a New Milan Space, Phillips Opens a Fresh Front in the Scramble for European Collectors; Phillips Milan is located in the historic heart of the city

Photofairs Founder Scott Gray Celebrates Every Win (Big or Small), Covets Danish Design, and Believes in Investing in a Good Surfboard

Mega Gallery Pace Is Expanding to Tokyo; After a decades-long relationship with Tokyo, the gallery is making its commitment to the city's art scene permanent

What the Latest US Court Ruling Means For Ai-Generated Art’s Copyright Status; Judge said the absence of a “guiding human hand” disqualified the AI-generated image from copyright protection, but other generative art may still qualify

Twin Brothers and Gallery Partners Sam and Daniel Kapp Prioritize Pork Buns, Glitter, and an Inherited Collection of Southern Folk Art; We asked the founders of Kapp Kapp, a New York and Philadelphia gallery, about the things they value most—in art and in life

Arts Journalist Writes, "What Have I Learned About the Art Market Since January 2018? A Look Back and a Farewell"

Banksy’s 'Valentine’s Day Mascara' mural to be sold back to the public for £120 a share

Gallerist Enrico Polato's Tastemaking Gallery Capsule Shanghai Champions Talent over Trends

Art Market: Art Collector Insights 2023

NFT Market Has Tanked. So Why Is This Major Hollywood Talent Agency Still Betting Big on Web3 Artists? William Morris Endeavor boasts a roster of some 50 Web3 creatives, including Claire Silver and Krista Kim

On Balance: Seoul’s Rising Importance to Asia’s Art Market Is Clear At 2023 Fairs; Industry Moves

AI-Created Art Isn’t Copyrightable, Judge Says in Ruling That Could Give Hollywood Studios Pause; Federal judge on Friday upheld a finding from the U.S. Copyright Office that a piece of art created by AI is not open to protection

How to Own a Van Gogh for Less; Art Share Exchange (aShareX Inc.) Debuts; First auction on Aug. 30 in partnership with Bonhams

Venture Capital And Other Tech-Industry Funding Methods Come To The Art World; More Variety Than Ever In How And Why Art Is Funded And The Silicon Valley Models Have Arrived

Billionaire Founders of China’s Long Museum Plan to Sell Off an Estimated $150 Million Worth of Art at Sotheby’s This Fall; Chinese taxi driver-turned-billionaire, began turning heads in the art market by paying tens of millions of dollars for Chinese art with his credit card

Marketers Want One Piece of The Anime Pie; Brands Are Leveraging The Genre In Campaigns To Court Gen Z

Acura Auto and Anime

New Experimental Art Center Has Opened in Bethlehem, Palestine; It Hopes to Bring the Art World to the West Bank; Founded by Palestinian architects Elias and Yousef Anastas, Wonder Cabinet aims to encourage the local art scene and lure creatives from around the world

To Do the Fun Stuff! Jeff Poe steps down from Blum & Poe, a mainstay of the Los Angeles gallery scene; Jeff Poe and Tim Blum have been running the gallery together since 1994

How Has the Art World Changed Since 1983? On the 40th Anniversary of His Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac Has Some Ideas; Stalwart gallerist on shifting art-world centers, tastes, and the enduring vision for his gallery

How Much Branded Merch?! Vodka, Sex Toys, Rugs and Barbie Dolls: Does Posthumous Use Of Artists’ Work Risk Cheapening Their Legacies? Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat has taken the possibilities of licensing to astonishing lengths

Merch: New Augmented Reality App turns objects at the Metropolitan Museum into digital gaming accessories; The app, Replica, is a partnership with Verizon that lets visitors deploy works from the museum’s collection in the popular game Roblox

How Istanbul Gallery THE PILL® Became a Trendsetting Force

Artnet 'The Intelligence Report' Mid Year Review 2023: The Market Has Taken a Hit. Welcome to Bargain City?

Aiming to Stoke Global Demand for Middle Eastern Art, Christie’s Is Hosting a Major Exhibition of Contemporary Arab Art in London

Art and Bollywood go off to the races: Mumbai to get first major art fair this November

On Balance: Interview with Gallerist Thaddaeus Ropac Surveys the Art World After 40 Years in Business; Industry Moves

New museum in Saudi Arabia bolsters collection after inking partnership deal with Centre Pompidou; Contemporary art institution is one of 15 “cultural assets” in development in the Arabian state’s AlUla heritage region

MOCA Buys Pope.L's "Trinket"

‘I Wanted to Be a Treasure Hunter’: Dealer Bernie Chase Tells All to Kenny Schachter About a Career Selling Cars, Jewelry, Art, and... Other Substances; Chase Contemporary dealer also opens up about rubbing shoulders with Brunei princes, the Queen, and a Rolling Stone

This Tiny B.C. Canadian Town Is Now Home to a Massive Art Gallery Unlike Anything You've Seen Before

Phillips Is Going Into the Direct Art Sales Business, Commissioning Monthly Drops From Artists and Collaborators; New platform launches this month, offering work from Brooklyn-based artist Cj Hendry

If You Build It: The Austin School of Furniture

Guggenheim latest NYC museum to hike admission costs as art institutions across US struggle to regain visitors

Is Metalabel, From the Former CEO of Kickstarter, the Cure for the Ills of the Creator Economy?

Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) the Devishly Tasmanian Art Museum Is Creating Culture Deep Down Under

He Overpaid, Bid Against Himself, and Hid a Monet in His Basement. Here’s What We Still Need to Learn From Visionary Art Dealer Joseph Duveen

Artists Have Come Forward Claiming Non-Payment From Simon Lee Gallery Following News of Its Financial Insolvency; Doors of the gallery's Mayfair space remain shut and the lights were off as of Thursday afternoon

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: New York Dealer Rob Dimin on Flying Solo and the Risks and Rewards of Shaping His Own Program; Dimin wasted no time in opening his own Tribeca gallery after a split with his longtime partner last year

After His Landmark $120 Million Counterfeiting Victory, Artist Michael Moebius Is Now Suing Fast-Fashion Retail Giant Shein

These Are the Most Expensive Museums in New York City; Whitney Museum of American Art has just raised its general admission tickets to a whopping $30, topping our list of the priciest cultural institutions

Frieze buys The Armory Show and Expo Chicago; London-based franchise expands further into the US market with the acquisition of two of its largest fairs

It’s a Spike Lee Joint: A Major Show at Brooklyn Museum Will Exhibit the Acclaimed Filmmaker’s Collection of Art and Objects; 'Spike Lee: Creative Sources' gathers more than 300 objects that capture the director's creative inspirations

What Goes Around Comes Around: The Art of Finance; As a show at the Monnaie de Paris explores how money and creativity have been intertwined since the early 19th century, Sotheby’s is set to move into the Whitney’s former home; Some view this as a symbolic moment. A revered public museum turns into a sales outlet for art, sneakers, handbags, watches, jewels and other luxury stuff for the rich

WSJ: The Art Market Hits a Wall; Christie’s sold $3.2 billion in art during the first half of 2023, a 23% drop from the year before as sellers held onto more of their art trophies

Phillips launches annual David Hockney auction in London; Standalone sales come off the back of numerous high-profile projects involving the British artist

Special Report: Funding cuts and weak economy send UK’s visual arts into crisis; From regional galleries becoming “unsustainable” to brutal cuts to funding of museums, galleries and arts and humanities education, the sector is in an increasingly perilous state

Jackson Pollock’s Paint-Splattered Studio Floor, Caked With Residues of His Artistic Activity, Will Be Featured in a New NFT Collection; For the Ab-Ex star’s first Web3 outing, collectors will receive a NFT and a hand-numbered museum-quality print

Paintmaker, Prankster and Artist Stuart Semple Is Releasing a ‘Barbie-Ish,’ Ultra-Fluorescent Pink Paint to Protest Mattel’s Trademark on the Color

Prominent Collector and Dealer Adam Lindemann Arrested After Alleged Altercation at His Montauk Neighbor’s Art ‘Ranch’; Dealer allegedly trespassed onto Max Levai's art gallery in Montauk, The Ranch

The U.K. Has Slapped an Export Ban on a $2.9 Million Alberto Giacometti Chandelier to Allow a Local Institution to Acquire the Work

Succession: the art gallery as a family business; Four gallerists – Nicolo Cardi, David Juda, Urs Meile, and Lucy Mitchell-Innes – discuss family values in the art business, and what the younger generation brings to the table

Famed Art Dealer Massimo De Carlo Has Revealed Plans for a Monumental Private Art Foundation in Italy. Here’s What We Know; "Center has been “dream in the making for many years.”

On Balance: Hamptons Art Scene Has Shrunk Back to Its Pre-Covid Size; Industry Moves

Arts-Minded Billionaire François-Henri Pinault of Kering Eyes $7B Majority Stake in Talent Agency CAA

Fashion Kering and the Many Houses

On Balance: Major Staffing Changes Hit Sotheby’s, Phillips; Industry Moves

Bitter row rages over ownership of marble sculpture of Indigenous man; Restitution dispute between Chrysler Museum of Art in Virginia and Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association came close to a deal in 2020; Peter Stephenson’s The Wounded Indian (around 1850)

Smart Marketing! With a Focus on Sustainability, the New Louis Roederer Photography Prize Is a ‘Party with a Purpose’; Darius Sanai, co-creator of Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability, shares his ambitions for the prize

7 Questions for Entrepreneur Bryan Verona on His Mission to Get Art Out of Storage and Onto Walls; Up My Art is a first of its kind platform dedicated to facilitating peer-to-peer fine art lending—tapping a new value potential in fine art

Poet and translator to sue British Museum for copyright and moral rights infringement Vancouver-based Yilin Wang has raised more than £15,000 via Crowd Justice to begin legal proceedings

New Orleans Museum of Art faces public outcry for hiring white curator of African art; Museum is facing heated critique on social media over the appointment of Amanda Maples, a white woman, to oversee its African art collection

Stromberg: MFA Programs in LA See Enrollment Dip as Costs Rise; Programs, often considered a foundation for a career in the arts in the US, are still popular, but many are questioning whether they can be sustainable

Southwest Museum in Los Angeles Is Down the Memory Hole illo southwest-museum-staircase

This Time, The Architects Are On Exhibit: Architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron

New Gov! Australia Has ‘Paused’ Its Prominent Public Art Program, Scrapping Sculptor Alex Seton’s Commission for Hyde Park Barracks; Seton was 18 months into work on the program’s next commission when his project was canceled

LG, the Nation’s Fourth-Largest Conglomerate, Bets Big On Art To Enhance Brand Identity

Gallery Harkawik Announces New Acquisitions at The Hammer Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art

Meet the Power Players Driving Tokyo Gendai, From the Dealer Who Discovered Yoshitomo Nara to a Psychiatrist Art Collector; Orchestrators of Asia’s latest bluechip fair hope to elevate Tokyo on the world stage; Tim Blum Selection Committee

On Balance: A Summer Day at the Ballpark with Art Dealer Jeffrey Loria; Big Number; Industry Moves

Soho Gallerist Leo Rogath Treasures Emerging Artists, a Watch He Bought for Sentimental Reasons, and His Dog Named ‘Maybe’; Founder of Prince & Wooster about the things he values most—in art and in life

Artist Flora Yukhnovich, painter reinterpreting Old Master imagery, joins Hauser & Wirth; British artist’s work—which reframes art history through abstraction, feminism and pop culture—has been on countless collectors’ wishlists in recent years

Dorothy Miller, the groundbreaking curator who joined the Museum of Modern Art in its early years, building, over the course of decades, an innovative and remarkable program promoting contemporary American artists

Smart Marketing: Get a Rembrandt Tatt at Amsterdam’s Rembrandt House Museum!

With the investment from Christie's Ventures, Art Money launches a new Buyer's Premium program. Now it's easier! Buy art, interest free, and pay over time

Meow Wolf Wins a Partial Victory in a Copyright Lawsuit Brought by an Artist Who Made Work for Its Santa Fe Flagship; Motion brings the knotty lawsuit one step closer to conclusion, though many claims in the case still need to be resolved

The Baby Boomer Wealth Transfer Is Upon Us—But How Long Will Demand Last For Their Post-War Taste? Boomers may do well to sell their acquisitions sooner rather than later, as tastes in art are changing

“I’m Not Thinking About Buying”: Meet the Gallerists Reviving NYC’s Art Scene; Taylor Trabulus, K.O. Nnamdie, Hannah Traore, Yve Yang and Chando Ao

McLennon Pen Co. Gallery Opens its Doors in Austin; An impressive introduction

Gustav Klimt painting 'Lady with a Fan' fetches $108M, a European record

On Balance: This Week’s London Sales Are Another Data Point for the ‘Market Correction’; Industry Moves

An IPO for a Painting? This $55 Million Masterpiece Is Going Public; Portrait by British painter Francis Bacon will be publicly listed this summer, even as rising interest rates blur the case for investing in art

The Freshman Class of Art Basel: Meet 7 Dealers Making Their Debut at the 2023 Swiss Fair; Dealers are poised to hit one of the art world’s biggest stages. Here’s how they’re preparing

Let's put on an art show! "Close to Vermeer" Official U.S. Trailer

Florida judge squashes copyright infringement lawsuit over Maurizio Cattelan’s banana; The judge dismissed a suit brought by artist Joe Morford claiming he had made the original taped-banana work in 2001

Gustav Klimt's last portrait has highest estimate ever put on a painting in Europe at over $65m; 'Lady with a Fan' (1917) was last sold for $11.6m in 1994 and will be offered at Sotheby's in London

Perrotin Gallery Is in Talks to Sell a Majority Stake to Investment Firm Colony to Fund Further Expansion; Emmanuel Perrotin, who predicts increased gallery consolidation, even floated the idea of buying up rivals

Qatar Museums Plan to Transform the Country Into a ‘Vast Outdoor Museum’ Ahead of the Soccer World Cup in 2022; Gulf nation is adding 40 new works to its nationwide public art program

Brookfield Real Estate Sees Art as a Key to Return to Office

Mega-Gallery Pace Expands Its International Footprint With a New Office in Berlin Led by Former König Partner Laura Attanasio; "There still is so much untapped potential in Germany and German-speaking Europe," the gallery says

Venice Biennale: Lesley Lokko, the Woman Behind The Whirlwind Festival

Behind the Business: Why Robert Baumann is re-branding his architecture firm; As he reaches his 20th year, the architect looks back on his career and ahead to what’s coming next

A History: Janne Sirén is the director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, a 161-year-old institution with one of the most important collections of American Abstract Expressionism

Video: 'Every day a Revolution': the first Black woman to open a Chelsea gallery shakes up the art world

What’s the Secret to Dealer Charles Moffett’s Success? For Starters, He Pays On Time; As the gallery celebrates 5 years in business and expands, artists tell us what sets him apart

KAWS wins nearly $1m in damages in counterfeit lawsuit; Artist Brian Donnelly first filed the lawsuit against Dylan Joy An Leong Yi Zhi in 2021

Arts Grantmakers Must Change Their Ways; Nonprofit industrial complex in the US has failed artists

Hauser & Wirth to Open in SoHo, Its Third Space in New York