Eyes Wide Open! Kenny Schachter Dishes on Delinquent Dealers, Secret Deals, and That Other ‘Salvator Mundi’

Kenny Schachter offers a sardonic, first-person account of the spring 2025 art season in New York, weaving together observations from auctions, art fairs, and gallery openings. He notes brisk business at Sotheby's and Phillips, citing specific sales like James Ensor's tiny "Still life with Stingray" ($140,800) and Georgia O'Keeffe's double-sided "Maple Leaves and Flowering Cactus" ($1.68 million). Schachter also recounts his experience at Larry Gagosian's new Madison Avenue gallery, where security guards outnumbered the artworks, and reflects on the broader economic climate, including a tax lawyer moonlighting as a 3-D printer for his own sculpture project. He contrasts the wealthiest collectors—one driving a Lamborghini but staying at a Holiday Inn Express—with dealers wearing grim faces at TEFAF, painting a picture of a bifurcated art economy.

gene hackman collection auction bonhams

Selections from actor Gene Hackman's personal collection, including artworks and film memorabilia, were sold across a series of auctions at Bonhams in New York from November 19 to December 4. The three sales collectively realized $3 million, with all 400-plus lots finding new homes. Highlights included a Milton Avery painting that fetched $508,500, a Richard Diebenkorn etching that sold for $419,600, and Hackman's Golden Globe awards, with his trophy for *The Royal Tenenbaums* bringing in $51,200. Hackman, who died in February at age 95, was also an artist himself, having studied at the Art Students League of New York and maintained a studio in Santa Fe.

bottega veneta max lamb chairs

Bottega Veneta unveiled its Winter 2025 collection at Milan Fashion Week, staged within the brand’s new headquarters at the historic Palazzo San Fedele. Creative director Louise Trotter collaborated with British designer Max Lamb to create a massive site-specific installation consisting of 421 sculptural white chairs for the audience. The set design drew inspiration from Lamb’s "60 Chairs" project, where he rapidly fabricated furniture from polystyrene slabs.

magritte drawing ebay rago wright auction

An anonymous buyer purchased an untitled René Magritte drawing on eBay for $1,580 in January 2025. The work, executed in ballpoint pen, colored pencil, and pencil on paper, will be auctioned by Rago/Wright in Lambertville, New Jersey on May 21 with a high estimate of $150,000—a nearly hundred-fold increase. The drawing depicts three giant white chess pieces towering over a landscape and once belonged to Mora Henskens, companion of Harry Torczyner, a friend and collector of the artist. It was acquired by Henskens from Magritte's widow, Georgette Berger Magritte, and later sold through VanDeRee Auctions before appearing on eBay.

damien hirsts colorful spin painting of leonardo dicaprio just raised 1 3 million for charity

An enormous painting of Leonardo DiCaprio by Damien Hirst, titled *Beautiful Leonardo DiCaprio Looking Away Painting* (2016), sold for $1.3 million at the amfAR Gala in Cannes, France, on May 25. The work, a colorful spin painting signed by both the actor and artist, was donated by collector Christian Levett and auctioned by Simon de Pury. The gala raised $17 million total, with the top lot being a $1.6 million Aston Martin DB12, and also featured artworks by Claire Tabouret, Cecily Brown, Andres Valencia, and Robert De Niro.

In Paris, Highly Mobile Gallerists

À Paris, des galeristes très mobiles

The Parisian art scene is experiencing a significant wave of gallery expansions and relocations across both the Right and Left Banks. Major developments include Kamel Mennour acquiring the former Malingue gallery space on Avenue Matignon for secondary market masterpieces, and Christophe Person moving from the Marais to a redesigned space on Rue du Bac with the backing of collector Jean Claude Gandur. Other notable moves include London-based Waddington Custot opening a Parisian branch, Singapore's Cuturi Gallery settling in the Palais-Royal, and Vincent Sator inaugurating a new space in the David Chipperfield-designed Morland Mixité Capitale complex.

tate acquires works 2025 frieze london

On the VIP day of Frieze London 2025, Tate acquired three new works by female artists for its collection: Lubna Chowdhary's ceramic and wooden sculpture *Assembly* (2025) from Jhaveri Contemporary, Barbara Walker's drawing *End of Affair II* (2025) from Victoria Miro, and Madge Gill's *Untitled (Venus Mid Heaven)* (1920-30) from the Gallery of Everything at Frieze Masters. The purchases were made through the Frieze Tate Fund, which provides £150,000 in philanthropic support, previously funded by Endeavor and now by Mari, Ariel Emanuel's newly formed company that recently acquired Frieze.

Tracey Emin | Sunday Morning with You (2015) | Available for Sale

The British artist Tracey Emin’s 2015 monotype titled "Sunday Morning with You" has been listed for sale through Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art. The unique work on Somerset paper, priced at $25,000, exemplifies Emin’s signature confessional style and intimate draftsmanship.

Sotheby’s Shatters Records at Its Breuer Debut as a $236.4M Klimt Leads the $706M Evening Sale

Sotheby's held its debut evening sale at the Breuer building in New York on November 18, achieving a record-breaking $706 million total. The highlight was the white-glove auction of Leonard A. Lauder's collection of 20th-century masterpieces, which alone brought $527.5 million. Gustav Klimt's portrait *Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer* (1914-16) sold for $236.4 million, setting a new record for the artist and for Sotheby's Modern category. The evening also included a strong Contemporary sale led by Maurizio Cattelan's golden toilet at $12.1 million, with active bidding from Asian collectors.

young dealers old masters art market

A new generation of young gallerists is revitalizing the art market by specializing in historical art forms—from ancient jewelry and Old Master drawings to Art Deco and overlooked women Impressionists. The article profiles seven dealers who launched their businesses between ages 22 and 41, with half based in London. Notable figures include Pauline Pavec and Quentin Derouet (co-founders of Pavec, focusing on 19th- and 20th-century women artists), Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza (Kallos Fine Jewellery, ancient jewelry), and Maxime Flatry (20th-century art and design). Two of the dealers will exhibit at Frieze Masters this October, directed by Emanuela Tarizzo, who emphasizes that collectors and institutions increasingly seek cross-century narratives.

Despite record-breaking results for four women artists, Phillips’s evening auction in New York sparks few fireworks

Phillips’s evening sale of modern and contemporary art in New York on May 13 achieved a total hammer price of $44.2 million ($52 million with fees), falling just below the low pre-sale estimate of $45.3 million. Four works were withdrawn before the sale, and five lots failed to sell. Despite the subdued overall results, the auction set new auction records for four women artists: Kiki Kogelnik, Ilana Savdie, James Turrell (Light and Space artist), and Grace Hartigan. Other strong performers included works by Yu Nishimura, Olga de Amaral, Barbara Hepworth, and Danielle McKinney. The top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s *Untitled* (1984), formerly owned by David Bowie.

rago wright post war contemporary art auction may 2025

Rago/Wright's Postwar and Contemporary Art sale in New York will take place on May 21, 2025, featuring over 200 lots of 20th- and 21st-century works including painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. Highlights include Nick Cave's *Soundsuit* (2010), Deborah Butterfield's *Red* (1992), Cindy Sherman's *Untitled #416* (2004), Tom Wesselmann's *From Nude Painting Print* (1988/1989), and Bernard Buffet's *Bouquet jaune fond orange* (1966), with estimates ranging from $70,000 to $150,000. Previews will be held in New York and Lambertville, New Jersey from May 13 to May 21.

Modern Art + Design Draw Active Bidders At Eldred’s

Eldred’s auction house held its Modern Art + Design sale on May 7, featuring 245 lots of art, furniture, decorative arts, rugs and collectibles. The sale achieved a total of $221,740 with an 81% sell-through rate, driven by active phone, online, and absentee bidding. Top lots included a Tiffany Studios Nautilus table lamp that sold for $23,040 (more than three times its estimate), a Handel reverse-painted glass table lamp that reached $10,880 against a $800–$1,200 estimate, and Frank Stella’s “Aiolio” from his “Imaginary Places III” series, which fetched $17,920. An abstract oil on canvas by Manabu Mabe also performed strongly, selling for $14,080.

UK council criticised over sale of collection including works by pioneering photographer Tony Ray-Jones

Kent County Council is facing sharp criticism for the deaccessioning and sale of 168 lots from its art collection, including a significant archive of 33 photographs by the influential postwar British photographer Tony Ray-Jones. The auction, held at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, also features works by Andy Goldsworthy and Sidney Nolan. The council cited financial pressures and a lack of viable storage as the primary reasons for the sale, admitting that the works were not offered to local museums or galleries before being sent to auction.

bob ross super bowl giveaway

A Bob Ross painting titled *Authentic Mountain Retreat* is among $1 million in prizes being given away during a live game show hosted by YouTube star MrBeast on the live shopping marketplace Whatnot, airing ahead of the Super Bowl on February 8. The giveaway also includes a Lamborghini Spyder, a Hermès Birkin bag, and a sealed Pokémon Booster Box. The painting, sourced from Minneapolis gallery Modern Artifact, comes as Ross's auction record has surged to $787,900 at Bonhams, driven by renewed market interest.

Paris gallery directors join forces to launch ‘open-ended’ advisory

Two Paris-based art dealers, Samy Ghiyati and Nicolas Nahab, have launched NG, a new multi-pronged art advisory business. The venture combines traditional advisory services with a roving exhibition programme, collection management, and foundation management. Nahab previously led Mendes Wood DM’s Paris gallery and worked at Marian Goodman and Yvon Lambert; Ghiyati was a director at David Zwirner’s Paris gallery after a stint at Kamel Mennour. Their first public project will be a selling exhibition of videos by Meriem Bennani in Essaouira, Morocco, opening in December.

Post War & Contemporary Art

Rago / Wright has announced its upcoming Post War & Contemporary Art auction scheduled for March 18, 2026, in Lambertville, New Jersey. The sale features a diverse selection of works from influential 20th and 21st-century artists, headlined by Andy Warhol’s 1983 screenprint "Parrot" and a late-career acrylic painting by Sam Francis. Other notable entries include two canvases by Gertrude Abercrombie and pieces by contemporary figures like KAWS and Robert Longo.

The rise of contemporary African art in a global market

The article reports on the rapid growth of the contemporary African art market, which has more than doubled in value since 2016 to an estimated annual combined value of $72 million. Sales of ultra-contemporary works by African-born artists under 45 surged from $16.2 million in 2020 to $40.6 million in 2021, and the market could reach $1.5 billion this year. Aspire Art, a South African auction house, has set records for artists like Joseph Ntensibe, whose painting *Forest Scene* sold for R924,200, and Nicholas Hlobo, whose work *Intlambo yochulumanco* fetched R1,479,400.

rare mellon blue diamond 2025 sale christies

A rare blue diamond pendant known as the Mellon Blue, owned by art collector Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon, sold for $25.5 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on Tuesday. The 9.51-carat fancy vivid blue, internally flawless pear-shaped diamond had a pre-sale estimate of $20–30 million. This price is 22 percent less than the $32.6 million it achieved at Sotheby’s in 2014 as part of Mellon’s collection sale, and nearly 60 percent less when adjusted for inflation. The buyer was not disclosed.