Art market

Van Gogh's $30m riverscape with an absinthe-coloured sky comes up for sale at Christie’s

The story of Le Pont de Trinquetaille—with the young female mudlark and the ruffians from the red-light district

a blog by Martin Bailey

Taxidermy flying kittens, Irish giants and Queen Victoria's knickers: the world of Viktor Wynd

The artist, writer and dealer is selling a selection of bizarre pieces from his London-based Museum of Curiosities on 6 May

Stand and deliver: the $950m ‘art hostage situation’ involving paintings by Malevich and Goncharova

In a long-running legal battle, the Shchukin Gallery seeks the return of five paintings worth $63m that the gallery says were taken by a Russian financier

Art marketanalysis

Busy Gallery Weekend Beijing brings city's art scene back to life

This year's event, delayed from March, included 30 galleries and museums across the city

White Cube announces exclusive worldwide representation of Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi

British gallery will work in collaboration with the Noguchi Museum in New York

Phillips names Stephen Brooks, a former Christie's financial officer, as new chief executive

The current chief, Edward Dolman, will shift in September to a new role as executive chairman of Phillips’ holding company

'I was brought here to get the company sold privately and that is done': Amy Cappellazzo to leave Sotheby's in July

Brooke Lampley and Mari-Claudia Jiménez will step up into new roles in the global fine art division, while Gregoire Billault is the new chairman of contemporary art

Basquiat NFT withdrawn from auction after artist’s estate intervenes

“No licence or rights were convened to the seller,” estate says

Mexico City galleries come together for homegrown Zonamaco Art Week

Despite postponing the traditional art fair, organisers found a way to hold shows and create a sense of occasion

Flight of the Balloon Dog: Jeff Koons leaves Gagosian and David Zwirner galleries for Pace

The gallery will now represent the shiniest and most expensive living artist worldwide

Colnaghi gallery to lead research into €1,500 painting now believed to be by Caravaggio

Established dealership will manage restoration and authentication of disputed work offered at auction for €1,500

Andy Warhol Foundation fights back in fair use case

Lawyers for the foundation claim a US Court of Appeals decision conflicts with precedent and threatens historically significant contemporary art work

Art marketanalysis

NFTs in IRL: the rise of digital art galleries in physical spaces

Bricks-and-mortar commercial spaces are bringing crypto art to life, "providing an experience beyond the artwork living on a cell phone”

Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu’s greatest work is much loved by the art market—but it should mean more to art history too

Editions of the Anyanwu sculpture always attract attention at auction, but the legacy of the work and its maker are largely ignored both in his home country and the international art scene

Looted artcomment

Is there loot lurking in your collection? Find out—before someone else does

Do your research and and check whether you unwittingly own stolen works, otherwise it could tarnish your reputation

Gettin' biddy wit it: Will Smith handprint painting to appear alongside works by Hockney and Picasso in Dubai auction

Charity sale is in aid of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's "100 Million Meals" campaign

Art shipping sector consolidates as Crozier buys Martinspeed

With much-reduced travel and events, the pandemic has been tough on the logistics business and will have lasting effect, Crozier chief says

Christie's to offer Xu Beihong painting for £41m—highest estimate put on an Asian work by a Western auction house

It could become the most expensive Asian work sold by a Western auction house. Meanwhile, young contemporary names proved popular at last night's Sotheby's sale in Hong Kong

Art marketanalysis

As the market for their artists booms, African galleries take control by expanding to the West

With outposts springing up from London to Los Angeles, dealers are putting their artists on the global map

Gallery Climate Coalition expands to Berlin

The London-based eco-friendly initiative aims to reduce galleries' carbon footprints by at least 50% over the next decade—now German galleries are getting involved too

UK treasure items cleared for sale may soon face problems with export to the EU

New licensing regulations for cultural property may hamper metal detectorists' ability to sell legitimate finds on the European market

Paula Cooper names four new partners in her New York gallery

The announcement bolsters Cooper’s legacy and sets up a possible line of succession

From heartstrings to purse strings: nostalgia and the art market

Sometimes the wistful memory of time long past is all one needs to spend a few hundred thousand.

Sotheby’s launches first auction dedicated to women artists—but why do we still need a segregated sale in 2021?

Online sale will span the 17th to the 21st centuries featuring artists including Dorothea Tanning, Hannah Höch and Barbara Hepworth

Sotheby's to sell Robert Colescott's take on George Washington crossing the Delaware River

The painting's low estimate of $9m is ten times the artist's record at auction

Art marketanalysis

The cost of a single tulip bulb surged to the same price as a mansion 400 years ago: are NFTs the ‘tulipmania’ of the 21st century?

Similarities between the new digital technology craze in the art world and the surge in value of tulips in 17th-century Holland suggest that it could all end in (real) tears

Phillips starts 2021 sales with a 17% leg up on last year

Despite the “headwinds” of Covid-19 and an extended UK lockdown, the firm raised £24.8m in its three-city livestreamed auction

Chips are down: Hauser & Wirth opens in Monte Carlo

The new space will open with an exhibition of work by Louise Bourgeois in June

NFTnews

A grey single-pixel 'work' sells for $1.3m at Sotheby’s maiden NFT sale

Over 3,000 bidders purchased nearly 24,000 digital works in a three-day, multi-facted sale on Niftygateway