Art News. Vasari Codex

article policy schedule Feb 23, 2026 visibility 16 link 3 artists

high vat rates art sales spain protest reina sofia

Hundreds of artists, gallery owners, and collectors staged coordinated sit-ins at major Spanish museums, including the Museo Reina Sofía, to protest the country's 21 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on art sales. Demonstrators gathered around Richard Serra’s 'Equal-Parallel/Guernica-Bengasi'—a replica of a work that famously vanished from storage—to symbolize the potential disappearance of the Spanish art sector under current fiscal pressures. The protests included demands for the resignation of the culture and finance ministers and calls for tax parity with European neighbors.

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museum exhibitions schedule Feb 23, 2026 visibility 33 link 10 artists, 126 galleries

art basel flagship swiss fair exhibitor list 2026

Art Basel has unveiled the exhibitor list for its 2026 flagship Swiss edition, featuring 290 galleries from 43 countries. The fair, scheduled for June 18–21, will include 21 first-time participants and an expanded 'Premiere' sector for recent works. Notable shifts include four galleries debuting directly in the main sector and the introduction of public commissions by Nairy Baghramian and Ibrahim Mahama as part of the inaugural Art Basel Awards.

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museum exhibitions schedule Feb 20, 2026 visibility 15 link 4 artists, 5 galleries

goodman gallery laura lima

Brazilian artist Laura Lima is currently the subject of two major concurrent solo exhibitions in London. At Goodman Gallery, her show "Communal Nests for Windows, Balconies, Verandas, Gardens, and Forests" features woven, nest-like sculptures made from organic materials like jute and sisal, which she encourages collectors to install outdoors to be used by wildlife. Simultaneously, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is hosting "The Drawing Drawing," a career-spanning survey centered on a site-specific performance piece involving life models and artists on mechanized orbiting platforms.

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trending_up market schedule Feb 19, 2026 visibility 9 link 5 artists

oscar wilde auction bonhams

Bonhams recently concluded a highly successful auction of the Jeremy Mason collection, featuring over 500 items related to the life and legacy of Oscar Wilde. The sale, which coincided with the 125th anniversary of the author's death, achieved a total of £1.6 million ($2.1 million). Highlighting the event were iconic 1882 cabinet card portraits by Napoleon Sarony and a poignant 1900 deathbed photograph by Gilbert Maurice, which fetched £279,800 ($376,250), far exceeding its estimates.

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person people schedule Feb 10, 2026 visibility 20 link 6 artists

art collector john phelan jeffrey epstein private plane

John Phelan, a prominent art collector and the current U.S. Secretary of the Navy, flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private plane in 2006, according to newly released flight logs. The trip from London to New York occurred four months before Epstein's first indictment, and a friend of Phelan's confirmed the flight but stated it was his only interaction with the convicted sex offender.

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trending_up market schedule Feb 6, 2026 visibility 23 link 3 artists

drawing of foot michelangelo record christies

A previously unknown red-chalk drawing by Michelangelo, a study for the foot of the Libyan Sibyl from the Sistine Chapel ceiling, sold for $27.2 million at Christie’s New York on Thursday, far exceeding its $1.5–$2 million estimate. The work was submitted to Christie’s online estimate portal last March by an anonymous owner who inherited it from their grandmother; it had hung on a wall for years, assumed to be a copy. After months of authentication using infrared reflectography and cross-referencing with drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Uffizi Gallery, Christie’s specialists confirmed it as an authentic Michelangelo. The sale set a new auction record for the artist, surpassing the previous $24.3 million record set at Christie’s Paris in 2022.

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trending_up market schedule Feb 6, 2026 visibility 16 link 2 artists

thomas kaplan rembrandt lion drawing sothebys sale

Rembrandt van Rijn's drawing *Young Lion Resting* (ca. 1638–42) sold for a record $17.9 million at Sotheby's New York on Wednesday, the highest price ever paid for a drawing by the Dutch master. The work, which toured Paris, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, and New York before the sale, was offered from the Leiden Collection, the renowned private trove of 17th-century Dutch Golden Age art assembled by Thomas Kaplan and his wife Daphne. All proceeds from the sale will benefit Panthera, the wild cat conservation charity co-founded by Kaplan and Jon Ayers.

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museum exhibitions schedule Feb 4, 2026 visibility 13 link 1 artist

bridget riley archeus post modern

London gallery Archeus / Post-Modern has organized a by-appointment presentation titled "Bridget Riley: Sixties. The Complete Black and White Graphic Works." The exhibition brings together a rare, complete suite of seven prints on paper and seven companion works on Plexiglas, known as *Fragments*, all created by the English Op Art pioneer in the early-to-mid 1960s.

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person people schedule Feb 4, 2026 visibility 20 link 4 artists

ronald lauder jeffrey epstein files

Ronald Lauder, the billionaire art collector and heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, is named over 900 times in the recently released Jeffrey Epstein court documents. The emails reveal his assistants frequently scheduling meetings and calls with Epstein in 2017, though the substance of their discussions remains largely unclear. One email suggests Epstein sought to review Lauder's tax returns and will, while another indicates Epstein attempted to arrange a dinner involving filmmaker Woody Allen.

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museum exhibitions schedule Feb 2, 2026 visibility 11 link 3 artists

doha museum shows art basel qatar

Art Basel's inaugural edition in Doha has arrived, bringing with it new collectors and galleries seeking institutional interest. The event has prompted Doha's museums to stage significant exhibitions that emphasize historical depth and architectural legacy, rather than catering to fleeting market trends.

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person people schedule Feb 1, 2026 visibility 26 link 10 artists

collectors steve tisch jean pigozzi jeffrey epstein files

Newly released documents from the Department of Justice, part of the Jeffrey Epstein case, contain email exchanges from 2013 that reference prominent art collectors Steve Tisch and Jean Pigozzi. The emails show Epstein facilitating introductions between Tisch and multiple women, with discussions about their backgrounds and travel arrangements. Tisch has stated the association was brief and expressed regret.

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museum exhibitions schedule Feb 1, 2026 visibility 28 link 18 artists

mexico city museum guide

Mexico City is renowned for its immense concentration of museums, with estimates ranging from 150 to 200 institutions. The city's art scene has been further amplified by the rise of Zona Maco, which has established a major international Art Week each February, drawing collectors and galleries. The article highlights five must-see museums, beginning with the Museo Anahuacalli, a unique museum built by Diego Rivera and architect Juan O'Gorman to house Rivera's vast collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 27, 2026 visibility 14 link 4 artists, 2 galleries

work of the week sesse elangwe

Sesse Elangwe's 2025 painting *True Friends?* sold for $22,000 at San Francisco dealer Jonathan Carver Moore's booth during the opening of FOG Art + Design on January 21. The work, created during a residency run by Moore, was purchased by a local collector. Elangwe, a self-taught Cameroonian artist known for emotionally charged portraits of Black subjects, was the fourth participant in Moore's residency program, which aims to connect artists with Bay Area collectors. Another portrait, *And My Better Half* (2025), was pre-sold for $9,000 to another Bay Area collector.

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article news schedule Jan 27, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

rossett mill jmw turner for sale

A 450-year-old watermill in Wrexham, Wales, that was the subject of a J.M.W. Turner watercolor has been listed for sale at £1.5 million ($2.05 million). The Rossett Mill, built in 1588, has been converted into a four-bedroom home with modern amenities while retaining its historic features, including a restored corn mill. The property is listed with Currans Unique and was previously owned by Celia and Branden Wilson, who restored it after it was rescued from demolition in 1973.

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article news schedule Jan 19, 2026 visibility 11 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

art market minute jan 19

Christie’s has secured the estate of Belgian collectors Roger and Josette Vanthournout, with over 200 works to be sold in its March sales in London, including a René Magritte painting estimated at $4.7 million. Meanwhile, South Africa blames Qatar for the cancellation of its Venice Biennale pavilion featuring a work about Gaza violence by Gabrielle Goliath, claiming Qatar sought to use the pavilion for "proxy power." Art Cologne has announced 88 exhibitors for its revived Palma, Mallorca edition launching April 9.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 14, 2026 visibility 27 link 16 artists, 3 galleries

will the recent art market momentum continue into 2026

Artnet News columnist reflects on the fragile state of the art market as 2025 ends, noting that global instability and troubling news have dampened buyer psychology. Despite this, major auction houses reported strong annual sales—Sotheby's at $7 billion (up 17%) and Christie's at $6.2 billion (up 6%)—and a series of high-profile sales, including the Pauline Karpidas collection auction and Leonard Lauder's Gustav Klimt portrait fetching $236.4 million, have sparked renewed momentum. The article quotes advisors and dealers who sense a market bottom has passed, with buyers returning to auctions and fairs like Art Basel Miami Beach.

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person people schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 25 link 14 artists

prix marcel duchamp 2026 nominees

The Prix Marcel Duchamp, France's most prestigious art prize, has announced its 2026 nominees: Joël Andrianomearisoa, Josèfa Ntjam, Laura Henno, and the duo David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin. The five nominees will exhibit together at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris in October, with the winner receiving €35,000. The jury is led by Centre Pompidou director Xavier Rey and includes prominent curators, collectors, and past winners such as Kader Attia.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 17 link 4 artists

christies h1 2025 auction sales report

Christie’s announced a projected sales total of $2.1 billion for the first half of 2025, matching its H1-2024 figure. While art categories like Impressionist, modern, and Old Masters saw modest growth—Old Masters sales rose 15% to $55 million—luxury categories (handbags, watches, cars, jewelry) surged nearly 30% to $468 million, now accounting for 22% of the total. Notable sales included René Magritte’s *La reconnaissance infinite* (1933) for £10.3 million and Piet Mondrian’s *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Grey, Yellow, Black, and Blue* (1922) for $46.7 million. Guaranteed lots remained low at 1.5%, and the sell-through rate held steady at 88%.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 17 link 7 artists

sothebys abu dhabi collectors week results

Sotheby's held its inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week at the St. Regis Island Resort on Saadiyat Island, transforming the venue into a luxury showcase with handbags, diamonds, watches, a non-selling art display worth $500 million, and rare cars. The week culminated in open-air auctions under a full moon, netting $133 million—far exceeding the $17 million from Sotheby's first Middle East luxury sale in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. Highlights included a 1994 McLaren Formula 1 car sold for $25.3 million, a Jane Birkin Hermès handbag that fetched $2.9 million, and a 31.68-karat pink diamond called The Desert Rose that went for $8.8 million. A jewelry and timepieces sale achieved white-glove status, taking $25.4 million.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 10 link 4 artists

re air why no one trusts art prices anymore

Artnet News revisits a podcast episode featuring editor-in-chief Naomi Rea, who examines the breakdown of traditional art pricing logic amid a cooling market. The episode explores how the rules that once governed art valuation have eroded, leaving dealers, advisors, and collectors struggling to navigate a market described as being in a "danger zone." Rea discusses how mega-galleries, emerging dealers, and advisors are quietly recalibrating their strategies as speculation dries up and confidence wanes.

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article culture schedule Dec 29, 2025 visibility 14 link 16 artists, 1 gallery

artists business art

Artnet News asked several working artists—Manuel Mathieu, Hanna Salomonsson, Aki Sasamoto, Nigel Hall, Sharmistha Ray, and Miljohn Ruperto—to share the practical and philosophical lessons that sustain their creative practices. Topics include building trust with collaborators, navigating financial uncertainty, setting up shared studio spaces, using recycled materials, maintaining optimism at age 82, reframing rejection, and adapting to the expectation that artists must act as entrepreneurs before their first gallery show.

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article news schedule Dec 26, 2025 visibility 26 link 4 artists

collector leslie wexner denies being jeffrey epsteins co conspirator

A recently released set of files related to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein has implied that his ties to collector Leslie Wexner, the former Victoria's Secret CEO, ran deeper than previously thought. An FBI email released by the Department of Justice referred to potential “co-conspirators” who worked with Epstein, and while heavily redacted, the message clearly references Wexner, the namesake collector behind the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. Wexner's spokesperson denied the implication, stating that he was “neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect” in the inquiry.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

sothebys 2025 sales results analysis

Sotheby's is projecting $7.0 billion in consolidated 2025 sales, a 17% increase over the previous year and the strongest result in the company's history. Auction sales rose 26% to $5.7 billion, driven by high-quality consignments including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection and a $236.4 million Klimt painting. Luxury sales climbed 22% to $2.7 billion, while RM Sotheby's surpassed $1 billion for the first time. The opening of Sotheby's new global headquarters at the Breuer Building was a commercial centerpiece, generating $1.17 billion in its inaugural week. The company also expanded rapidly in the Middle East, staging the first international auction in Saudi Arabia and launching Collectors' Week in Abu Dhabi.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 19 link 10 artists

tiffany magnolia lamp sothebys sale

Sotheby's sold a Tiffany Studios Magnolia floor lamp for $4.4 million at its Dreaming in Glass auction in New York, making it the most expensive leaded lamp by the decorative arts studio ever sold at auction. The lamp, manufactured around 1910, features a patinated bronze stand and a 28-inch colored glass dome depicting magnolias, and was crafted by Agnes Northrop, Tiffany's star designer, rather than Clara Driscoll. The bidding battle lasted 10 minutes, surpassing the $3 million high estimate.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 19 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

lalanne hippopotamus bar 31 million record

A 1976 Hippopotamus Bar by François-Xavier Lalanne sold for $31.4 million at Sotheby's after a 26-minute bidding war, setting a new auction record for the French artist. The hand-wrought copper, steel, and wood piece, commissioned by art patron Anne Schlumberger, is the only copper prototype from the series and features concealed compartments for bottle storage, ice bucket, and glassware. The sale was part of the Schlumberger collection, which also included a gold-patinated bronze armchair by Claude Lalanne that fetched $1 million and a pair of bronze gates that sold for $787,400.

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person people schedule Dec 11, 2025 visibility 20 link 13 artists

hamza walker winner 2026 audrey irmas award ccs bard

The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) has awarded its 2026 Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence to Los Angeles–based curator Hamza Walker. Walker, executive director of the Brick (formerly LAXART) since 2016, will receive $25,000 and be honored at CCS Bard’s spring gala in April. He is recognized for exhibitions featuring artists like Elizabeth Paige Smith, Gregg Bordowitz, and Postcommodity, and for cocurating the acclaimed "Monuments" exhibition with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which examines artists' responses to Confederate monument removals. Walker also secured a $1 million donation from collectors Jarl and Pamela Mohn to fund the Brick's move to a new Hollywood space and its rebranding.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 11, 2025 visibility 23 link 13 artists

ultra contemporary chinese artists market

The article analyzes the auction performance of Chinese artists born after 1990 (post-90s) in the first half of 2025, based on data from the Artnet Price Database and the Artnet Intelligence Report. It highlights a shift from short-term speculation to longer-term competition, with the market showing more robust structure including stratified pricing and wider transactional geography. Key figures include Li Hei Di, whose large-scale painting sold for HK$2.67 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, and other artists like Zhang Zipiao, Yuan Fang, and Wang Qianyao achieving consistent mid-range prices between HK$300,000 and HK$800,000. Sales in Hong Kong reached HK$12.4 million, while artists also entered Western markets in New York and London.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 20 link 10 artists, 2 galleries

warhol portrait muhammad ali art basel miami

A 1977 Andy Warhol portrait of Muhammad Ali, priced at $18 million, will be the centerpiece of Lévy Gorvy Dayan's booth at Art Basel Miami Beach. The 40-inch acrylic and silkscreen canvas, featuring a royal purple background, was previously purchased for $18.1 million at Christie's in 2021. The work is part of a series of 10 Warhol portraits of sports stars commissioned by collector Richard L. Weisman, and is autographed on the back by Ali.

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person people schedule Dec 2, 2025 visibility 15 link 10 artists

komal shah making their mark foundation forum launch

Komal Shah, a prominent art collector, announced the renaming of her Shah Garg Foundation to the Making Their Mark Foundation, coinciding with a three-day forum in Washington, D.C., scheduled for March 2025. The foundation takes its name from the traveling exhibition "Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection," curated by Cecilia Alemani, which highlights women artists from Shah and her husband Gaurav Garg's collection. The forum, held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, will feature panels, keynotes, and performances organized around themes like Visionary Voices and Changemakers, with Alemani as curatorial director and Loring Randolph as director.

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article local schedule Dec 1, 2025 visibility 17 link 10 artists

miami water taxis basel

Miami is expanding its free water taxi service and shuttle routes for Art Week 2024, which coincides with Art Basel Miami Beach. The city will increase the number of water taxis from four to seven, operating between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park and the Venetian Marina, with service running from December 1 to December 7. Shuttles will connect the convention center to the Design District, mid-beach, and South Beach, where fairs like SCOPE, Untitled Art, SATELLITE, and Aqua Art Miami are held. The Transit mobile app will track all services in real time.

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