Art market

The five year warranty on the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo is about to run out—could the buyer have asked for their money back?

Warranties of authenticity offered to buyers can be hard to enforce when auctioneers can fall back on the “generally accepted opinion of scholars and experts”

Covid fears shut Shanghai's West Bund Art & Design fair early

Decision came one day after authorities dramatically closed Art021 fair over a single positive case

Art marketanalysis

Why the global explosion of billionaires will keep auction houses afloat—for now

Record-breaking sales from the collections of Microsoft founder Paul G. Allen and the acrimoniously divorced Macklowes herald the start of a 20-year bonanza for auction houses

Shanghai's Art021 fair closes after just one day, apparently due to a single positive Covid-19 case

Event's founders says the decision was made to "effectively protect the health and public health safety of the exhibitors"

Cache of leaked documents reveal Sotheby's owner Patrick Drahi’s $750m art collection—and his tax affairs

Billionaire businessman has amassed a treasure trove of more than 200 prime works of art, many bought through his auction house

Art fairsanalysis

France's answer to Tefaf? Inaugural Fine Arts Paris & La Biennale stakes its long-term ambitions

While sales weren't spectacular, dealers were overwhelmingly positive as to the future of the fair, and its potential for further growth

LVMH and Gagosian: why the rumour of a buy out makes sense, even if it isn’t true

A shared client base, product exclusivity and international reach—just some of the reasons why these two brands are perfect bed fellows

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's collection brings record-smashing $1.5bn at Christie's evening sale in New York

A $149.2m Seurat studio scene and $137.7m Cézanne landscape led the 60-lot, white glove sale

UK government launches inquiry into risks posed by NFT market and crypto

Department for Media, Culture and Sport is asking public for evidence related to the safety of current blockchain regulations

Shanghai looks to West Bund and Art021 fairs for economic boost as fresh lockdowns leave buyers cautious

Week-long hotel quarantines are still required of all international and Hong Kong arrivals to the mainland, deterring all but the most determined dealers

How does the market judge 'juvenile' work by name-brand blue-chip artists? Two early Warhol paintings are about to find out

Offered next week at Phillip's New York, the works were made during Warhol's student days and bear no resemblance to his signature styles

Institutional critique artist Andrea Fraser joins Marian Goodman gallery—her first US commercial representation in more than a decade

For more than 30 years Fraser has used performances to draw attention to power structures within cultural organisations

Art marketcomment

Five years after #MeToo, what has changed for female artists?

Recently, some major galleries have signed high-profile women, many of whom launched artistic careers long before the industry cared

New York to get major photography fair in September 2023 at Javits Centre

Photofairs New York is the sister event of Photofairs Shanghai, East Asia's largest commercial photography event

Art fairsanalysis

Artissima fair in Turin returns with zero Covid restrictions and moderate sales

As with year's previous, work at lower price points does well at Italy's most cutting-edge commercial art event

Art marketanalysis

Art Week Tokyo’s perfectly orchestrated official launch leads some gallerists to ask—do we really need a fair?

As the city attempts to grow its position as a global art hub, some dealers express a preference for gallery-hopping events

Yinka Shonibare's ecological farm residency in Nigeria launches ahead of biggest-ever Art X Lagos fair

A buzzing art week signals sustained investment in West Africa's financial capital

Art marketfeature

Russian oligarch and art collector creates Bond-style lair on Greek island

Dmitry Rybolovlev’s private island is being transformed into a resort patrolled by snipers—but will it be an "art island"?

London's National Gallery revamp row: is it a sensitive makeover or like 'an airport lounge'?

Plus, contemporary art in Lagos and Chagall's falling angel

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
Sponsored byChristie's

Qatari sheikh’s rare ivory mask, stolen from Benin City by the British, is one of five on public display—none in Nigeria

The 16th-century mask was withdrawn from sale at Sotheby’s over a decade ago amid escalating calls for restitution

At the ADAA Art Show, dealers make the case for under-appreciated bodies of work by beloved artists

The fair, which coincides with the Art Dealers Association of America’s 60th anniversary, remains an elegant showcase for under-exposed bodies of work by familiar names, among other discoveries

Crisis, what crisis? Global import and export of art set to hit record levels by the end of 2022, according to Art Basel/UBS report

Demand from collectors remains “extremely resilient”—but survey asks how long can the current model be sustained?

Disgraced antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor sentenced to ten years in prison by Indian court

The ruling culminates an extensive investigation into a smuggling ring headed by Kapoor

Art marketcomment

Pakistani artists raise money for its devastating floods—and question which causes garner art world support

Osman Yousefzada and nine others sold specially created prints, but Pakistan’s worst natural disaster in living memory has yet to galvanise the industry

Relief for Art Week Tokyo galleries as Japan eases travel restrictions

Second edition comes as Tokyo attempts to regain its lost status as an international art hub amid a booming contemporary market and a forthcoming fair

NFTnews

Painter Loie Hollowell, who is launching an NFT series to support abortion funds, discusses politics, motherhood and her market

The Contractions series, based on the artist's experience giving birth to her daughter, will be sold on the blockchain to help those affected by the overturning of Roe v. Wade

The first mega-gallery for design? Inside Carpenters Workshop’s ambitious expansion

The gallery is planning a major, multivalent location to open in London in the spring of 2023, adding to locations in Paris, New York and Los Angeles

Revealed: When lightning struck, rescuers of Van Gogh's works were rewarded with a drawing

Coming up at Christie’s and estimated at around $4m, the sketch given to neighbours who doused the fire and saved the Van Gogh family home and collection in 1941

a blog by Martin Bailey