Tehran Auction, Iran's premier auction house, held a $1.5 million art sale at the Azadi Hotel in October, selling 120 works by top Iranian Modern and contemporary artists. This strong domestic performance contrasts sharply with the weak showing of Iranian art at Sotheby's and Christie's in London, where prices have slowed amid sanctions and geopolitical isolation.
Pilar Crespi, a Miami-based philanthropist and former fashion executive, discusses her art collection and Miami recommendations in an interview with The Art Newspaper. She recounts buying her first artwork—an oil painting by Tano Festa—while living in Rome, and her most recent acquisitions include works by Sidival Fila and Yoan Capote. Crespi also shares her regret over not purchasing a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting at a Christie's auction 30 years ago, and names a Caravaggio from the Galleria Borghese and Jackson Pollock's *Two* as her dream museum pieces.
A rare Fabergé Imperial egg, the Winter Egg, sold for £22.8 million ($30.2 million) at Christie’s London on December 2, 2025, setting a new world auction record for any Fabergé work. The egg was a 1913 Easter gift from Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, and was designed by Alma Pihl, one of the few women working in Fabergé’s St. Petersburg workshops. It had previously sold at Christie’s in 1994 and 2002, each time setting records.
New York's spring auction season concluded with a dramatic five-day marathon across Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips, generating a combined $2.2 billion. Sotheby's led with $1.17 billion in total sales, fueled by Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* (1914–16) from the estate of Leonard A. Lauder, which sold for $234.6 million—a single work accounting for 20% of Sotheby's total. Christie's followed with $962.6 million, and Phillips added $92.1 million. Notable highlights included Frida Kahlo's *El sueño (La cama)* (1940) achieving $54.7 million, a new record for the artist and the highest price for a female artist at auction in raw dollars, and a triceratops fossil named Cera selling for $5.4 million at Phillips.
Christie's will auction a collection of Tiffany Studios glassworks on December 12 at its Rockefeller Center headquarters, led by works from the collection of literary agent Albert Zuckerman. The star lot is the landscape window "Birches and Irises" (estimate $400,000–$600,000), alongside a daffodil chandelier ($300,000–$500,000) and a tulip floor lamp ($100,000–$150,000). The sale also includes pieces from other private collections, such as a rare landscape floor lamp estimated at $500,000–$700,000.
The article reports on the upcoming Art Basel in Miami Beach and the improved mood in the art market, driven by strong auction results. Sotheby's emerged as the clear winner over Christie's in the fall 2024 auctions, achieving over $2.2 billion in total sales across Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips. Key consignments included the Leonard Lauder Collection, featuring a record-making Klimt, a Frida Kahlo that became the highest-selling work by a woman artist, and Maurizio Cattelan's golden toilet. The article credits Sotheby's move into the Breuer building—formerly home to the Whitney, the Met, and the Frick—for enhancing the presentation and aura of the previews.
French artist JR has announced plans to wrap the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris in June 2025, as a tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The project, titled "Pont Neuf Cavern," marks the 30-year anniversary of the couple's original wrapping of the same bridge in 1985. JR was approached by Christo's nephew Vladimir Yavachev, director of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, to take on the challenge. The 761-foot bridge will be swathed in fabric, recalling the couple's signature monumental interventions.
A wave of exhibitions and projects is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the births of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the late husband-and-wife duo known for monumental environmental installations. Their nephew Vladimir Yavachev, who directs their foundation, is overseeing the realization of their final permanent work, *The Mastaba* in Abu Dhabi, while temporary works like *The Gates* in Central Park are being revived through augmented reality. The anniversary also marks 30 years since *Wrapped Reichstag* and 20 years since *The Gates*.
Christie’s held a groundbreaking two-city auction, "20th Century: Hong Kong to New York," on 2 December 2020, achieving USD $119.3 million (HKD $920.4 million). The sale connected two major art hubs, selling 90% by lot and 97% by value, and opened Christie’s Marquee Week in New York. The auction featured works by artists including Pablo Picasso and Joan Mitchell, and the house is now inviting consignments for its 2021 auctions.
WV Art Advisory, in partnership with Masterwork Studios, is hosting two community-focused events in downtown Tulsa during the first weekend of December. On Friday, Dec. 5, the gallery opens 'Southern Realism,' a First Friday exhibition featuring Oklahoma artists Harriet Derrevere, Taylor Hoffer, Cody Jensen, and Andrew Nimick, with Jensen debuting two limited-edition photography books. On Sunday, Dec. 7, the space transforms into a Christmas Market with local vendors offering handmade gifts, live caroling, and family activities. The events take place at Masterwork Studios, owned by Tim Clement and operated through his nonprofit Artists for Christ and Community.
Illustration major Justine Massabny has gained extensive professional experience at the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) through a series of roles including Education Intern, SummerArt Associate, and currently Education Design Intern. She led the redesign of the Family Learning Lab in conjunction with exhibitions featuring Tom Nussbaum and Christine Romanell, managed the project from concept to completion, and assisted with installation of educational vinyls. Her work also includes designing educational materials, supporting events like exhibition openings and docent training, leading gallery tours, and exhibiting her own artwork in MAM's Summer Staff Gallery. She discovered the internship through Handshake, supported by Montclair State University's partnership with MAM.
Artnet News reports on the rising market for African American painter Bob Thompson, who died at 28 in 1966 but produced thousands of works in a five-year span. His vibrant, narrative paintings—inspired by Old Masters, Greek mythology, and Modernism—have long influenced artists and curators, yet only recently commanded high auction prices. In 2024, all 16 lots offered sold, totaling $4 million, with a record $1.26 million for *Music Lesson* (1962) at Christie’s. The article traces his career from Louisville to Europe, his estate history with dealer Michael Rosenfeld, and current interest from collectors and institutions like the Whitney Museum and Smithsonian American Art Museum.
A long-lost painting by Peter Paul Rubens, unseen for four centuries, was sold at auction in Versailles for €2.94 million ($3.4 million), nearly double its high estimate. Created in 1613, the work depicts Jesus Christ on the cross and was discovered in a private Paris townhouse by auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat. The painting was authenticated by German art historian Nils Büttner through X-ray imaging and pigment analysis, and its provenance traces back to the 19th-century French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
A new gallery space has opened above Conways Opticians on George Street in Oxford city centre, featuring the work of five established Oxfordshire artists. The exhibition includes sculptures, prints, paintings, and wood carvings by Henrietta Bud, Martin Barfoot, Andrew Binnie, John Hounam, and Nigel Williams, with Bud debuting sculptures made from eco-friendly polymers. The show runs until January 10, and all works are available for purchase.
The parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla are hosting a Christmas Tree Festival at St Brigid’s in Castleknock from November 28th to 30th, featuring decorated trees that tell the Christmas story. Alongside the festival, an annual Arts and Craft Fair will take place on Saturday, November 29th, from 12pm to 4pm in the Parish Centre, including an art exhibition and sale by local artists and crafters, plus refreshments, cake stalls, and family activities like Santa’s Grotto and face painting.
The Portland Art Museum is currently featuring an installation by artist Christopher Myers titled *Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me* (2022), which serves as the centerpiece of the exhibition *Global Icons, Local Spotlight*. The work consists of stained glass lightboxes arranged in an octagonal structure, depicting Black life and water symbolism, including images of a Black mermaid, fire hydrant scenes, and references to the water spirit Mami Wata. The installation incorporates objects like gas cans, oars, life jackets, and votive candles, transforming the space into a shrine-like environment.
Christie’s London will auction the third and final part of Sam Josefowitz’s Rembrandt print collection on December 3, featuring 101 etchings by the Dutch master. The sale, titled “The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn – Part III,” follows two previous installments that together brought £13.5 million. A highlight is the rare portrait *Arnout Tholinx, Inspector* (circa 1656), estimated at up to £2.5 million, described as the last impression in private hands. The collection was amassed by Josefowitz, a Lithuanian-born entrepreneur who built a mail-order business before his death in 2015.
René Magritte’s *L’empire des lumières* series, comprising 17 oil paintings and 10 gouaches created between the late 1940s and early 1960s, juxtaposes a nocturnal street scene with a bright daytime sky. The article explores the origins, meaning, and market performance of these works, noting that they were inspired by a line from André Breton’s poem *L’Aigrette* and reflect Magritte’s own Brussels neighborhood. Recent auction sales have shattered records, including a 1954 version that sold for $121.2 million at Christie’s New York in November 2024, making it the most expensive Surrealist artwork ever sold at auction.
Artnet News reports that David Hockney's 1968 double portrait *Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy* sold for $44.3 million at Christie's on November 17, becoming the artist's third-most expensive work at auction. The painting had previously failed to sell at Sotheby's in 1985, bought in at $570,000. Artnet's reporting revealed that the Christie's catalogue omitted the name of Andrew Crispo, a once-prominent New York dealer, from the painting's provenance. The article details Crispo's meteoric rise from a troubled youth in Philadelphia to a savvy art dealer who championed American Modernism, his important clients including Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, and his dramatic fall due to tax fraud, a prison sentence, and the IRS seizure of his inventory.
A rediscovered Renoir painting, *L'enfant et ses jouets – Gabrielle et le fils de l'artiste, Jean* (created before 1910), sold for over €1.8 million ($2 million) at Hôtel Drouot in Paris on November 25. The intimate portrait of Renoir's young son Jean with his nursemaid Gabrielle had remained in the same private collection for over a century, never before published or exhibited. It was offered by auctioneer Christophe Joron-Derem in the "Tableaux Modernes" sale and purchased by an international buyer, with the hammer price of €1.45 million falling within the presale estimate.
Christopher Knight, the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for the Los Angeles Times, is retiring after a 45-year career in criticism, including 36 years at the newspaper. His final day is Friday. Knight, one of the few remaining full-time art critics in American journalism, was praised by colleagues for his encyclopedic knowledge and razor-sharp assessments. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2020, notably for a series of articles that harshly critiqued the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) proposed redesign by architect Peter Zumthor. He also received a lifetime achievement award from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation in 2020, and the College Art Association's Frank Jewett Mather Award in 1997. Before his journalism career, Knight worked as a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and consulted for the Lannan Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art.
The article reports on a vibrant season of exhibitions in Ho Chi Minh City, where artists are turning to abstraction, faith, and innovation to question perception and belief. Key shows include Bùi Thanh Tâm's "Christ, Buddha, and the Jigsaw" at Gate Gate Gallery, which fuses religious iconography, folk traditions, and pop media, and Trần Văn Thảo's "New Moon" at Galerie Quynh, reimagining darkness as creative space. The scene reflects a lineage of defiance dating back to post-war restrictions on artistic expression.
Artnet News reports on the November 2025 day sales in New York, following the evening sales that signaled a market comeback. Hot lots included Gertrude Abercrombie's "Message for Mercy" (1950), which sold for $1.2 million at Sotheby's, setting a new auction record for the artist. Other strong performers were Julia Jo's "Rhyme or Reason" (2022) at Christie's for $203,200 and Mary Abbott's "Forest of Dak" (1965) at Phillips for $167,700. Top flops included Jacques Lipschitz's "Tete" (conceived 1915), which sold for $152,400 against a $300,000–$400,000 estimate at Sotheby's, and Sterling Ruby's "SP44" (2008), which underperformed at Christie's.
Christopher Knight, the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for the Los Angeles Times, is retiring after more than 40 years in the field, with his final day set for November 28. Knight spent 36 of those years at the Los Angeles Times, becoming one of the last full-time art critics at a major U.S. daily newspaper. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2020 for his incisive coverage of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's proposed overhaul, and received a $50,000 Lifetime Achievement Award for Art Journalism from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation the same year. Knight also authored two books and appeared on programs like 60 Minutes and PBS NewsHour.
A five-inch-tall red chalk drawing of a foot, attributed to Michelangelo (1475–1564), is set to be auctioned at Christie’s New York in February with an estimate of $1.5–2 million. The work was discovered when Giada Damen, a specialist in Old Master drawings at Christie’s, flagged it from a public online submission; after extensive provenance research, technical analysis, and comparison with known sketches, Christie’s has declared it a preparatory study for the Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508–1512). If authenticated, it would be one of only two such Michelangelo drawings remaining in private hands.
A Tiffany Studios stained-glass window, the Goddard Memorial Window, sold for $4.2 million at Christie's Design Sale on June 12, 2025, exceeding its high estimate of $3 million. Commissioned in 1909 by Mary Edith Jenckes Goddard for St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, the window features a pastoral landscape with an apple blossom tree, symbolic of youth. The sale follows a surge in the Tiffany window market, including a record $12.4 million sale at Sotheby's in November 2024 and recent acquisitions by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum.
Parisian auction house Gros and Delettrez is offering a 66 million-year-old Triceratops prorsus skull on December 11, with an estimate of €300,000–€500,000 ($345,615–$576,025). The specimen, which surfaced from Wyoming's Lance Formation, is exceptionally complete with over 70 percent of its original bones and all three original horns intact. This marks the auction house's first dinosaur offering and will christen its new Rive Gauche headquarters, with the skull going on view on December 9 alongside works by Pablo Picasso and Pierre Soulages.
The article highlights eight standout art books recommended for gifting this season, covering a range of topics from architectural deep dives and contemporary art to fashion histories and experimental catalogs. Featured titles include "All of Us Stars: Bobby Busnach," a photo book capturing the gritty glamour of 1970s Upper West Side nightlife, and "Christopher Wool: See Stop Run," an exhibition catalog documenting Wool's unconventional 2024 show in a Manhattan office tower. Other books span monographs, boundary-pushing catalogs, and fashion histories, each offering unique perspectives on visual culture.
A four-minute bidding war erupted at Christie’s 20th-century evening sale in New York on November 17 over John Singer Sargent’s watercolor *Gondolier’s Siesta* (1902–03). The work sold for $7.4 million with fees, more than double its $3 million high estimate, setting a new auction record for a work on paper by the artist. Another Sargent painting, *Capri* (1878), also performed strongly in the same sale, fetching $11.5 million with fees.
New York's marquee auction week delivered strong results, with Sotheby's and Christie's posting combined sales of nearly $2 billion. Sotheby's achieved a record $706 million evening at its new Breuer Building headquarters, driven by the Leonard Lauder estate sale, while Christie's $690 million 20th-century sale was up 41.9% from last November. Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* sold for $236.4 million, setting a new auction record for the artist and becoming the most expensive Modern artwork ever sold at auction. Frida Kahlo's *El Sueño (La Cama)* fetched $54.7 million, a record for a work by a woman artist at auction.