Art market

European auction houses weather crisis as customers spend millions on art online

Expecting the worst, French, German and Austrian auction houses have been surprised by how well sales have held up through the pandemic

Warhol, Oldenburg, Fontana: star works from Christo and Jeanne-Claude collection go on the block

Proceeds from the pieces sold at Sotheby’s Paris in February will go towards the artist duo's estate

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

1-54 Contemporary African art fair pops up at Christie’s in Paris as Marrakech edition is postponed

French fair is a “one-off”, according to its founding director, though a good opportunity to “test the market”

Art marketcomment

How art world leaders can embrace new money laundering regulations and create a 'think risk' culture

Punishment for the new rules now falls on the art market's top dogs, says Sotheby’s founding global compliance director Rena Neville

Asian art market flies in the face of coronavirus

Why are Asians in hot pursuit of art, and what are they buying?

Organisers confident physical Art Dubai fair will go ahead in March 2021

It will be the first major international art fair to return to the art world calendar since the pandemic upended business around the world

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

With new Chelsea space, Nara Roesler expands Brazilian presence in New York

Gallery moves from Upper East Side to larger Chelsea space and will launch residency program to promote Brazilian curators in the US

Podcastspodcast

Brexit: how will it change the art market?

Plus, Neville Wakefield on John McCracken's planks

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson
Diaryblog

Abso-lot-ely fabulous: Joanna Lumley tries out her auctioneering skills at Christie’s

Star sold seven illustrations in aid of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity

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

Union League Club of Chicago considers selling a prized Monet to stay afloat

The decision has divided members, but there are hopes the work might stay in the Windy City

Record for Barkley Hendricks and $18.2m Calder at otherwise unremarkable Sotheby’s sale

Almost half of the auction's total sales value was bought by Asian buyers, but 12 lots sold below their estimates

Courtney Willis Blair becomes partner at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

She is one of a small few Black partners at white-owned galleries in the US

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

New online platform puts London’s emerging art scene on the map—literally

Credit X has created digital map and database of less established art spaces and galleries in the hopes of balancing out an art world "shaped by market forces", it says

Christie’s and Sotheby’s ordered to disclose dealings with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

Sales of paintings by Cézanne and Picasso worth a combined $139m are also under scrutiny by the US Virgin Island attorney general

Art marketcomment

The art trade benefits from the UK's low import duty. What will happen to it after Brexit?

As talks with the EU resume to reach a last-ditch trade deal, the lawyer Louise Williamson looks at what UK import rules might look like after 1 January

Poignant Van Gogh watercolour of a windmill coming up for sale

Sheltering from a rainstorm at the mill, Vincent and his brother Theo made a teenage pact

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 fairsanalysis

The art world's Miami vice: bored with OVRs, galleries return with some physical events in lieu of Art Basel—but should they?

While the city’s flagship art fair was cancelled this year, other in-person events and pop-up projects abound despite rising coronavirus cases

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

A tale of two cities: Christie's 20th-century relay sale sees six records set in Hong Kong before slower New York finish

In demand contemporary artists hit big in Asia but several Modern stalwarts failed to make a splash in multi-city hybrid auction

In Nigeria, art is spreading the word about police brutality

Opening online today, Art X Lagos fair to show more than 100 works about #EndSARS protests

Art marketcomment

Provenance: the Trojan horse that can make or break a work of art

The who, where and when of ownership can lead on to scholarly, ethical, legal and existential issues

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

Fraudnews

Client confidentiality overturned by London High Court, as Dickinson forced to reveal buyer of $4.85m Signac painting

US collector Linda Hickox is seeking to recover the work which was sold via broker by the now jailed art dealer Timothy Sammons

It is time for catalogues raisonnés to join the digital age

Printed publications can quickly become obsolete, so the ease with which a digital document can be revised is a godsend—and that is what makes many uneasy