Apr 23rd, 2026 - Heralded as the most valuable single-owner design sale in Sotheby's history , the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg lived up to expectations. The April 22 Collection of Jean & Terry de Gunzburg – Design Masters sale at the auction house's Breuer headquarters closed white glove with a total of $96 million across 107 lots against an initial estimate of $28.5-42.5 million to become the most valuable design collection ever sold in the U.S. With 94 percent of lots selling above their ...
Apr 23rd, 2026 - A new initiative for this year's fair in Switzerland, Basel Exclusive aims to "restore the value of being present" by promoting works that are withheld from pre-fair previews and publicity How do you keep people turning up to an event, year after year, in an age when we can see almost everything online without the financial outlay? That is the conundrum facing all art fairs, a problem exacerbated by social media and the phenomenon of galleries prepping—or even concluding—sales by ...
Apr 23rd, 2026 - A recent gallery exhibition on abstract art and self-taught artists proposes a new story for the rise of abstraction. Bluesky In the winter of 2012, New York's Museum of Modern Art mounted a blockbuster-scale exhibition titled "Inventing Abstraction, 1910–1925"—a celebration of the centenary of one of the most astonishing turns in European and American art. From the Renaissance on, European fine art had been profoundly oriented toward narrative, illustrating biblical stories, the ...
Apr 17th, 2026 - Two of the arms dealer's Van Goghs could be the subject of Nazi-era restitution issues The Emil Bührle Collection has been completely redisplayed at the Kunsthaus Zurich, where it is on long-term loan. Opening this week, there are 205 works on show, including five paintings by Van Gogh, along with one fake. A sixth Van Gogh is being conserved, while a seventh has been withdrawn due to a Nazi-era issue. The Bührle pictures arguably represent the world's greatest private collection of ...
Apr 17th, 2026 - A revelatory show, which has been years in the making, stretches across three venues in the birthplace of the Renaissance Total star rating: ★★★★★ The works: ★★★★★ The show: ★★★★★ In the hushed, monastic cells of Florence's Museo di San Marco, Mark Rothko's canvases pulse with spiritual intensity. The permanent works of art in these small abodes, within a former Dominican convent, are Fra Angelico's ...
Mar 6th, 2026 - Picture: Agnew's Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz: This is the exciting time of year when dealers begin revealing their top pictures for the upcoming art fair TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) in Maastricht. News from Agnew's today that they'll be bringing the De Ganay Salvator Mundi , given to the Studio of Leonardo Da Vinci, which according to their press release has 'been considered the best of the versions known, and by some to be the prototype [of the famous 2017 Christie's picture].' ...
Feb 12th, 2026 - From Yoko Ono to Frida Kahlo, from Louise Bourgeois to Artemisia Gentileschi, women have long been capturing the unvarnished truth about their own bodies – and that's why my novel Female, Nude weaves them into the plot f you want to paint, put your clothes back on!" That was how Carolee Schneemann summarised the critical response to her 1975 performance piece Interior Scroll, which she had performed nude standing on a gallery table. After making a series of life model poses, she removed a ...
Nov 20th, 2025 - A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.66 million in New York on Thursday, setting a new record for the price of a painting by a woman, the auction house Sotheby's said. The sale of Kahlo's 1940 artwork, titled "El sueno (la cama)" — which translates to "The dream (The bed)" — breaks the previous record in this category, set by American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, whose 1932 painting "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," sold for $44.4 million in 2014. Kahlo's ...
Nov 13th, 2025 - From the Mona Lisa to the American Gothic, these famous paintings don't just grace museum walls; they offer a glimpse into the past and define entire generations. Although most of these masterpieces are centuries old, they continue to fascinate art buffs and collectors alike, with each piece telling a captivating story. Whether they're on display for the whole world to see or hidden behind closed doors, these paintings prove that art has the power to create and sometimes, even change history. ...
Oct 27th, 2025 - The momentum in Paris generated last week by Art Basel—and the strong sales and dynamic activity across all the fairs—culminated in the Paris evening auctions, where results exceeded estimates and expectations at both Christie's and Sotheby's. Buyers who seemed hesitant in the days leading up to the art weeks regained confidence after seeing the positive results in London. "They called back, asking for guarantees or pre-auction bids," Alessandro Diotallevi told Observer ahead of the ...
Oct 18th, 2025 - Morgan Library & Museum, New York Famed impressionist painter's lesser-seen drawings are the focus of a major new exhibition that invites us into the stages of his artistic process is luminous colours and sensual brushwork adorn countless mugs, posters and tote bags as well as blockbuster exhibitions . But the commodification of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and his fellow impressionist painters has been missing something. Renoir was an accomplished draftsman who produced a distinguished but largely ...
Sep 16th, 2025 - With Sotheby's landing the $400 million Leonard A. Lauder Collection and the Pritzkers' modern masterpieces, and Christie's securing the Weis and Wynn estates, November's sales may yet rescue the slumping auction market. It has become clearer in these past few years that the real battle between auction houses isn't about results but in the race for consignments. Yesterday, Sotheby's landed a knockout: the $400 million Leonard A. Lauder Collection , set to hit the rostrum during November's New ...
