Anna Brady

Christie's closes access to historic archive due to staff cuts

The vast collection of auction catalogues dates back to Christie's very first sale in 1766 and has been an invaluable resource for dealers and academics

'The London art world we started in could fit in a single pub': Frieze turns 30

The magazine and fair brand celebrates three decades with an online festival this month and launch of new membership programme

Botticelli portrait sells for record $92.1m at Sotheby's in New York

A portrait of a Young man holding a roundel (around 1470-80) by the Renaissance master seemingly sold to a Russian buyer

Tefaf Maastricht 2021 postponed again—this time to September

Dutch art fair will now run immediately before the delayed Art Basel, while Tefaf New York Spring has been cancelled altogether this year

Déjà vu: Art Basel postponed from June to September—again

Swiss fair was also delayed from June to September in 2020, before being cancelled altogether due to coronavirus

UK Supreme Court judgment on pandemic insurance payouts 'not a blank cheque' for art organisations

Some insurers using "aggressive tactics" to reduce barrage of claims following rejection of appeal on clarification of business interruption cover

Art marketgallery

Illustrator Pierre Le Tan's enormous collection to be sold by Sotheby's

Auction includes 40 drawings by Le Tan and over 500 eclectic lots from his Parisian apartment

Art fairs in 2021—expect spring jitters, a summer crush and maybe even a return to some normality

After a year marked by cancellations, international fairs such as Art Basel, Frieze and Tefaf are vying for attention in an already crowded year

Tech-savvy Sotheby's $5bn global sales beat Christie's $4.4bn in 2020

The two rivals have made record online and private sales as pandemic overturns traditional live auction format

Kabir Jhala. with additional reporting by Anna Brady
Podcastspodcast

2020: the year in review

The Art Newspaper team picks apart this year's biggest art stories, from the art market heading online to the fight for racial justice

Hosted by Ben Luke. with guest speakers Anna Brady, Louisa Buck and Gareth Harris. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

Grime stars: paintings set new records for Domenico Ghirlandaio and Jan Davidsz de Heem despite being covered in dirt

Christie's end of season Old Masters evening sale in London totals £22.8m, despite last-minute withdrawal of Bernadino Luini's Nativity

Art marketanalysis

‘We have to broaden our reach, be more interesting’: the year the Old Master trade went digital

The pandemic has forced a resolutely analogue trade to go digital. Despite the technical hurdles, the results have surprised even traditionalists

Rare Georges de la Tour painting sells for record €4.3m—the most expensive Old Master painting ever sold at auction in Germany

The 17th century painting of a young girl blowing on brazier by the French baroque painter sold at Lempertz in Germany today

Frieze takes gallery space on London's Cork Street for 'ambitious' exhibitions

Magazine publisher and fair organiser plans to rent the premises on a permanent basis

Art marketanalysis

Six of the best catalogues raisonnés

From Leonardo to Bacon, take your pick from a selection of essential texts on leading artists

This Hans Memling painting failed to sell at Christie's—now its owner has given it back to Bruges where it was painted over 500 years ago

The work was offered for sale at £1.5m to £2.5m in 2019 but US collector Bill Middendorf has decided to give it to the Belgian city

Instagram rules but don't expect loyalty: new report analyses our online art buying behaviour

The latest Hiscox Online Art Trade Report found that online only art sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips more than tripled at $597m

New gallery platform South South launches to promote art from outside the dominant US-Europe axis

Goodman Gallery's Liza Essers came up with the idea in lockdown and plans an online selling event, called Veza, using auction technology in February

Art marketanalysis

'One of the most shocking, tumultuous years on record': art market figures reflect on 2020—and guess at what 2021 might hold

The pandemic has ripped apart the industry as we know it this year but it has sparked innovation and conversation like never before

Art marketanalysis

Art market 2020: the year of cancel culture and bricks-and-clicks

A year marked by wholesale event cancellations and job losses has also seen the art market innovate to keep businesses going.

Carphone Warehouse billionaire David Ross did buy the Royal Opera House's $12.8m Hockney—now he is loaning it back

The portrait of David Webster will return immediately to the opera house before going to the National Portrait Gallery in 2023 for its reopening exhibition

Rediscovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci's 'little devil' lover and collaborator sells for record €1.7m in France

Penitent Magdalene by Salaì, who entered Leonardo's workshop at the age of ten, was estimated at €100,000 to €150,000 and is one of only a handful of known works by the artist

Pace to take over Blain Southern's former gallery in London expansion

Announcement comes as two of the gallery's presidents in the US are facing allegations of abuse in the workplace

New York state sues Sotheby's for allegedly helping collector evade tax on $27m of art

Auction house "vigorously refutes the unfounded allegations" made by the attorney general, who claims the auction house knowingly aided the offshore company Porsal Equities

Artistsinterview

‘Prison is boring as hell’: Sarah Lucas on isolation and judging art by inmates

The artist speaks about her role in judging the Koestler Awards for art made by UK prisoners and the importance of creativity in confinement

Gagosian director Sam Orlofsky let go following allegations of ‘unacceptable and repugnant’ misconduct against women

Gallery brought in outside counsel to investigate claims against the senior New York-based digital-focused director, who was suspended without pay last month

Our pick of must-see gallery shows opening around the world in November

From new works by the emerging artist Collins Obijiaku in Accra to a pre-election tribute to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Los Angeles

French and German art fairs forced to cancel as new national lockdowns come into force

Fine Arts Paris and Art Cologne boldly believed they could run Covid-secure events in November, but both have had to relent to new restrictions

Ancient Greek bust of Hercules dug up in a garden will now appear in virtual reality at Tefaf Online

ArtAncient has created a VR experience of the marble bust to enliven the digital version of the now-cancelled New York fair