Art market

Extent of trade in looted antiquities is exaggerated, report claims

New research conducted by US non-profit RAND suggests illicit market is less extensive and organised than is commonly believed

Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum seeks to recover ancient Egyptian jars before auction

The vessels, containing 2,600-year-old mummified internal organs, are due to be sold in Munich tomorrow

David Castillo is moving his gallery to Miami Design District

The dealer plans to open his new space in the Melin Building in September

Gavin Brown to close his gallery and join Barbara Gladstone’s

The pioneering dealer is bringing ten big-name artists with him, including Arthur Jafa, Joan Jonas, Alex Katz, and Rirkrit Tiravanija

Openings and collabs: how dealers are finding reasons to be cheerful

A spate of activity is helping galleries move forward during the pandemic

Tefaf cancels postponed autumn edition in New York

Citing international travel restrictions and the city's strict reopening plan following coronavirus lockdown, the fair's organisers say too many uncertainties remain

Colville’s Dog and Bridge has its day at Heffel’s live sale in Toronto

But fewer than ten buyers physically attended the auction, with most bidding done over the phone and in the “digital salesroom”

California man sentenced to five years in prison for $6m international art fraud scheme

Philip Righter pleaded guilty to selling works fraudulently attributed to Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, among others

Art marketanalysis

Sanyu, Zao Wou-Ki and Liu Ye: the Asian masters fetching millions at the Hong Kong auctions

Despite pandemic delays and the new National Security Law, the spring sales in the city last week fetched solid results

Lawnews

New York grand jury indicts Inigo Philbrick on federal fraud charges

The dealer was arrested by the FBI on the Pacific island Vanuatu last month and transferred into federal custody

Frieze directors ‘left with no choice’ but to cancel London fairs in October

Continued restrictions on large-scale events and travel due to coronavirus have made the show logistically impossible

How a £3m Soulages almost sank off the coast of Tasmania

The MV Merino had gone aground on its way to Hobart for an exhibition of Modern French art in 1953

Sotheby's to sell Bridget Riley painting from Heathrow executive lounge as British Airways 'fights for survival'

Auction house appointed to sell £1.4m of art from the beleaguered airline's collection this month

Christie's $420.9m global relay sale was ambitious—but did they really need four auctioneers?

The four-hour event was intended to illustrate the auction house's global and democratic nature, but it also showed that less is often more

How the art industry is grappling with its systemic race inequality

Galleries, fairs and auction houses are issuing solidarity statements and re-evaluating the diversity of their staffs. But "performative wokeness” will not fix the market’s whiteness

James Murdoch's firm invests in Art Basel's embattled owner MCH Group

Media and entertainment investment firm Lupa Systems will become the events company's anchor shareholder, holding around a third of shares if approved on 3 August

Tomorrow’s YBAs? White Cube launches series of online exhibitions by London art graduates

Gallery owner Jay Jopling says it is vital to support the next generation during such precarious times

Online marketplaces proliferate as the coronavirus pandemic continues

Dallas Art Fair and Design Miami/ have launched their own year-round sales platforms as art fairs grapple with uncertain futures

Art Basel in Miami Beach waives August withdrawal fee for dealers amid surge in Florida coronavirus cases

Fair organisers say they remain “committed” to the show in December even as the lease for a temporary hospital and Covid-19 testing site at the Miami Beach Convention Center is extended

Monaco court dismisses criminal case against Yves Bouvier

The Swiss art dealer had been accused of fraud and money laundering by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev—a related case in Geneva remains active

Art marketcomment

Can the art market be an ally in the fight for racial equality?

The industry remains subtly discriminatory and must abandon some obsolete ways if it is to truly change for the better

Lawnews

Heirs battle estate over $30m Monet painting from Emden collection sold during Nazi era

Le Palais Ducal is at the centre of an ownership dispute that has kept the work from coming to auction

Art marketcomment

We need to talk about guarantees. And art loans

Dealers who finance deals by taking out loans against art may well find themselves in difficulty because of the Covid-19 pandemic

Sotheby's to auction £4m restituted Bellotto painting that Jewish retail magnate was forced to sell to Hitler

The view of Dresden's Zwinger moat had been returned to the heirs of Max Emden and will now be offered for sale in London on 28 July

'For many in the art world there is no rest for the frazzled'

As galleries and auction houses slowly awaken from lockdown (some of them, at least), this summer will be one of work, not rest

Pandemic pushes gallery districts to decentralise

Dealers are swiftly setting up new spaces in the Hamptons this summer and an increasing number of galleries are taking root in smaller cities

Blue chip artists and dealers benefit from coronavirus relief packages, a federal report reveals

Pace, David Zwirner and Jeff Koons named among the top recipients of US taxpayer-funded forgivable loans, as smaller galleries seek additional aid

Fiac organisers determined to go ahead with Paris fair this October despite coronavirus turmoil

But dealers ponder crucial question of whether US collectors will venture overseas by the autumn

Art marketanalysis

Could Covid-19 kill off the market for the art world’s star names?

Some big artists may be toppled from their pre-pandemic pedestals and new ones promoted to the art-as-investment pantheon

Quran quietly sells for record £7m despite questions over its provenance

Manuscript sold at Christie's first live sale in London since the coronavirus lockdown, but academics say its ownership history should be more transparent