British artist Poppy Jones has seen a meteoric rise in market and institutional recognition over the past year. Her enigmatic still lifes, created by mono-printing photographic images onto found materials like silk and suede, have resonated with collectors, leading to a major jump in searches on the Artnet Price Database and auction results that have tripled estimates, with her record now over $60,000.
A collection of 206 sold-out estate prints by photographer Vivian Maier is being offered as a single lot in Artnet's Important Photographs auction, with an estimate of $1–1.5 million. The trove, which includes gelatin silver and archival pigment prints from the 1950s to 1980s, represents a rare opportunity to acquire a comprehensive group of her work that is no longer available through primary market galleries.
Bonhams has announced an online auction titled “A Lasting Impression,” featuring 21 previously unseen or little-known paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. These works originate from the personal collection of Gabrielle Renard, the artist’s longtime muse and his children's nanny, who sat for the Impressionist master nearly 200 times. The sale, scheduled for May 10–20, includes intimate portraits of Renard, landscapes, and a floral still life, with estimates ranging from $220,000 to $700,000.
Dorothea Tanning's small 1942 Surrealist painting, 'Children's Games,' sold for £3.8 million ($5 million) at Christie's London, nearly quadrupling its low estimate. With fees, the final price reached $6.26 million, setting a new auction record for the artist and achieving a remarkable price of approximately $120,000 per square inch.
Art Paris, un bilan meilleur que prévu
The 28th edition of Art Paris concluded with stronger-than-expected sales despite a sluggish start and a volatile global climate. Featuring 165 galleries, the fair solidified its position as a key regional event for French collectors, offering a price range typically between €10,000 and €40,000. While mega-galleries like Almine Rech participated with accessible works, the fair also welcomed newcomers like Esther Schipper and In Situ-Fabienne Leclerc, who reported positive results across various media including ceramics, photography, and painting.
Art market expert Georgina Adam's new book, 'NextGen Collectors and the Art Market,' analyzes the industry's struggle to attract and retain younger buyers like millennials and Gen Z. She examines the difficulty in defining this demographic, their shifting tastes away from traditional blue-chip artists, and their volatile, less loyal market behavior.
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired two significant 17th-century Dutch still life paintings. The first is Jan Davidsz. de Heem's 'Glass Vase with Flowers and Fruit' (c. 1673–74), a work the museum had sought for over twenty years, which recently emerged from a private German collection. The second is Pieter Claesz's 'Still Life with Assorted Fruit' (1597/98–1660), a 'fruitagje' painting purchased at a Sotheby's auction for $1.64 million.
Sotheby’s kicked off the spring auction season in London with a Modern and Contemporary Evening Sale that generated £131 million ($177.4 million) including fees. The auction saw a high 98 percent sell-through rate, bolstered by the sale of four significant works from the collection of financier Joe Lewis. The top lot was Francis Bacon’s 1972 "Self-Portrait," which fetched £16.03 million, while a new auction record was established for Leon Kossoff.
Christie’s London achieved a robust £197.5 million ($265 million) across a triple-header of evening sales, including the 20th/21st Century, Art of the Surreal, and the Vanthournout Collection auctions. The evening was headlined by a record-breaking £26.3 million sale of Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture 'King and Queen', alongside new auction highs for Surrealist artists Toyen and Dorothea Tanning. Despite some pre-sale withdrawals and a marathon four-hour runtime, the house achieved a 96 percent sell-through rate by lot.
Christie’s London achieved a robust £197.5 million ($263.8 million) across three evening sales, marking a significant 52 percent increase over the previous year. The marathon auction event included the 20th/21st Century sale, the Art of the Surreal sale, and a dedicated session for the Roger and Josette Vanthournout collection. Highlighting the evening was a record-breaking £26 million sale for Henry Moore’s sculpture "King and Queen," alongside strong performances for works by Dorothea Tanning and Toyen.
michaelina wautier market appraisal 2742009
The 17th-century Flemish Baroque painter Michaelina Wautier is experiencing a significant rediscovery following centuries of obscurity and misattribution. Long overshadowed by her male contemporaries and her brother Charles, Wautier's diverse oeuvre—ranging from still lifes to monumental allegorical scenes—is being re-evaluated through major exhibitions at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Royal Academy of Arts in London. This scholarly revival is correcting the historical record, as works previously attributed to artists like Artemisia Gentileschi are being rightfully returned to her catalog.
The former owners of The Art Newspaper and L’Officiel are embroiled in legal disputes with the Hong Kong-based AMTD Group, alleging they have not received full payment for the sale of their publications. Russian publisher Inna Bazhenova, who sold The Art Newspaper for an estimated $16–17 million, and the Jalou family, former owners of L’Officiel, claim that AMTD owes significant buyout funds despite the media brands being used to anchor high-profile IPOs on the New York and London stock exchanges. Bazhenova specifically alleges that shares provided as part of the payment have been 'parked and frozen' by a brokerage linked to AMTD, preventing her from accessing her capital.
Gustav Klimt's final portrait, 'Dame mit Fächer (Lady With a Fan),' sold for £85.3 million ($108.4 million) at Sotheby's London, setting a new record for the most expensive work of art ever auctioned in Europe. The painting, which was still on Klimt's easel when he died in 1918, surpassed its pre-sale estimate of over £65 million after a ten-minute bidding war.
The Winter Show at New York's Park Avenue Armory features a standout booth by the gallery French and Company, presenting a darkly themed collection. The eclectic offerings include Old Master still lifes by Willem Kalf and Willem Claesz Heda, a Victorian ceramic peacock, a 1979 painting by Susan Rothenberg, and a "horror wall" with works like Pasko Vucetic's *Hatred and Madness* and Wilhelm Trübner's *A Gorgon's Head*, all curated by the gallery's Henry Zimet.