How to Extract the Story of Appalachia

The artist collective GRIT has issued a sharp critique of Fia Backström’s exhibition, "The Great Society," currently on view at the Queens Museum. The authors argue that Backström, a European artist, engages in "extractive" storytelling by focusing exclusively on trauma, environmental disaster, and poverty in West Virginia. They contend that the exhibition’s aesthetic choices—such as inverting landscape photographs and omitting human subjects—flatten the region's complexity into a spectacle of misery that alienates the very community it claims to represent.

what would happen to auction houses if luxury art sales

Major auction houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips are experiencing a significant shift as luxury goods—such as cars, watches, handbags, and jewelry—see explosive growth while fine art sales decline. In 2025, fine art sales at the 'Big Three' fell by 35% to $7.04 billion, whereas luxury auction sales rose 18% to $1.84 billion. This trend is most visible at Sotheby’s, where luxury now accounts for a third of total revenue, driven by massive private sales and strategic expansions into sectors like collector cars.

brussels nativity scene stolen baby jesus

Belgian police are investigating the theft of the infant Jesus figure from a controversial Nativity scene at a Brussels Christmas market. The installation, created by German artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, features faceless cloth figures intended to allow all Catholics to identify with the biblical story, but it sparked a national scandal and political backlash, with critics calling the design zombie-like and the €65,000 cost exorbitant. The figure was stolen from its manger in the early hours of November 29, and authorities have since replaced it with a new model.

churchill marrakech heffel sale 2025

A Winston Churchill painting, *Churchill’s Marrakech* (circa 1935), sold for $1.3 million at Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Toronto, more than double its high estimate of $600,000. The work was the top lot in a 27-lot sale of deaccessioned works from the Hudson’s Bay Company corporate collection, which realized $4.9 million in total hammer price. Churchill had gifted the painting to his wife, Lady Clementine Ogilvy Spencer-Churchill, who donated it to Hudson’s Bay in 1956.

phillips juvenile triceratops november sales

Phillips will auction a juvenile triceratops skeleton nicknamed "Cera" during its modern and contemporary art sale on November 18 in New York. The 66-million-year-old fossil, excavated in South Dakota in 2016, is the first full juvenile triceratops ever discovered and the first triceratops to come to auction in the US in over a decade, with a presale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million. The auction house is also introducing a new section called "Out of This World" within the sale, featuring natural history objects including a Steneosaurus bollensis fossil and a golden nugget, in partnership with Zurich-based art dealer Christian D. Link.

phillips auction house new priority bidding structure

Phillips auction house will launch a new "priority bidding" fee structure this September, offering a lower buyer's premium rate to bidders who place a binding written bid at least 48 hours before a live auction, provided the bid meets or exceeds the lot's low estimate. The standard buyer's premium will remain at 29/22/15 percent for New York sales, while priority bidding rates drop to 25/20/14 percent. The policy applies to live auctions across New York, London, Hong Kong, Geneva, and Paris, but excludes watch auctions and timed online-only sales.

phillip hoffman ed dolman patti wong consultancy new perspectives

A group of high-profile art market veterans—Ed Dolman, Alex Dolman, Brett Gorvy, Philip Hoffman, and Patti Wong—have launched a new collaborative consultancy called New Perspectives Art Partners (NPAP). Unlike traditional advisory firms, NPAP operates on a flexible, project-based model where partners retain their existing roles and assemble only for high-level, specialized challenges. The consultancy aims to advise collectors, fiduciaries, and family offices on managing, growing, or dispersing significant collections, leveraging the partners' deep experience across auction houses, galleries, institutions, and advisory, with a global footprint spanning Hong Kong to Doha.

the view from jonathan crockett

Jonathan Crockett, deputy chairman of Phillips in Asia, reflects on the auction house's 10-year journey in the region, from a small Hong Kong office to a major presence in the West Kowloon Cultural District. He recounts his career path from Christie's and Sotheby's to founding his own advisory firm, then joining Phillips to launch its Asian operations, overcoming brand confusion and building a robust client network.

literature james cahill the violet hour book

James Cahill's new novel *The Violet Hour* opens with a young man falling to his death from a London balcony, unraveling a mystery that draws readers into the lives of three figures in the global blue-chip art market: a tormented abstract painter, his estranged first dealer, and a billionaire collector. Cahill, a writer and critic who spent 12 years at Sadie Coles, explores the fraught relationships where creativity, money, friendship, and sexuality collide, offering a more empathetic take than typical satires of extreme wealth.

culture harmonia rosales ingrid best interview

Harmonia Rosales, an Afro-Cuban artist known for reimagining Renaissance and baroque iconography with Black bodies, and Ingrid Best, an Afro-Latina wine entrepreneur and art collector, discuss their friendship and mutual support in an interview for Cultured. They first connected at Rosales’s 2022 show at UTA in Los Angeles, where Best was part of a collective that purchased Rosales’s work, including the piece *Strangler Fig: Adam and Eve*. Rosales later became the first artist to invest in Best’s wine business, IBEST Wines, which sources from underrepresented regions. Their conversation covers ownership, community, and creating structures that sustain women’s legacies beyond mere representation.

parties art corita art center gala melissa mccarthy kathryn hahn

The Corita Art Center held its first benefit gala at the Marciano Art Foundation in downtown Los Angeles, celebrating the legacy of artist and nun Corita Kent. The event drew a high-profile crowd including actors Melissa McCarthy and Kathryn Hahn, artists Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie, and Laura Owens, along with patrons, chefs, and designers. Guests enjoyed a new exhibition of Kent's work, a family-style dinner, and a performance by musician Natalie Bergman, with a 'GIVE A DAMN' tote bag as a parting gift.

parties art artwalk sheree hovsepian auction gala

The Artwalk NY gala and auction raised over $8 million on Tuesday, November 19, 2025, to support the Coalition for the Homeless. Presented by Max Mara, the event at the Grill and the Pool in the Seagram Building featured a live auction of artist-designed plates from the Artist Plate Project, along with works by Sheree Hovsepian and Ed Ruscha. Honorees included artist Sheree Hovsepian and Artist Plate Project Founder Michelle Hellman, with remarks from Coalition Executive Director Dave Giffen and a DJ set by AKU. The evening drew a crowd of artists, collectors, and philanthropists, including Rashid Johnson, Joel Mesler, Thelma Golden, and Don Lemon.

Phillip Lai at Spike Island

The contemporary art space Spike Island in Bristol is hosting a solo exhibition by artist Phillip Lai titled "Rain / Ruin." Running from January 30 to May 10, 2026, the exhibition features a series of sculptural installations and works that engage with the architectural environment of the gallery. The presentation is documented through a comprehensive suite of installation photography by Rob Harris, capturing the spatial relationship between Lai's objects and the industrial character of the venue.

Julia Phillips “Inside, Before They Speak” at Barbican, London

The Barbican in London opens the first UK institutional solo exhibition of German-American artist Julia Phillips this Friday. The show, titled "Inside, Before They Speak," is installed in The Curve gallery and features newly commissioned works that span sculpture and drawing.

Kellogg Gallery spotlights unconventional, colorful artists

Cal Poly Pomona's W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery is presenting "Color & Quirk," an exhibition running from August 25 to November 18, 2025, curated by Michele Cairella Fillmore. The show features unconventional, colorful artists who avoid white, black, and gray, including Megan Geckler, known for immersive flagging tape installations like "You can never quarantine the past," Colin Roberts, who creates plexiglass sculptures inspired by glass architecture, and Seda Saar, whose work explores perception, light, and color through interior architecture and themed entertainment design.

Sotheby’s London Notches $63.3 Million Contemporary Sale, as Francis Bacon Portrait Soars

Sotheby's London held a contemporary evening sale on Thursday, totaling £47.6 million ($63.3 million), a significant increase from the £37.6 million ($49.2 million) achieved in the same Frieze-timed sale last year. The auction featured 27 lots, with a sell-through rate of 89%, and was led by Francis Bacon's *Portrait of a Dwarf* (1975), which sold for £13 million ($17.5 million), well above its high estimate. Tom Eddison, Sotheby's co-head of contemporary art, took the rostrum for his first marquee evening auction, guiding measured bidding that saw confident competition, including a cross-Channel contest for the top lot, ultimately won by Johan Nauckhoff for a client.

‘A nuclear explosion of happiness’: Graphic artist Jim Phillips opens first solo gallery in Santa Cruz

Graphic artist Jim Phillips, the 81-year-old creator of the iconic "Screaming Hand" logo for Santa Cruz Skateboards, has opened his first solo gallery in his hometown of Santa Cruz, California. The exhibition, titled "Jim Phillips: New Fine Art Prints and Classic ’70s and ’80s Pen and Ink Drawings," runs at the R. Blitzer Gallery and features 15 new large-scale art prints and 30 hand-drawn pen-and-ink works from 1971 to 2026. The show includes his famous "Screaming Hand" and "Hand Wave" pieces, alongside surf, skate, and rock poster art from his career, which includes work for The Doors, James Brown, and Neil Young.

Danny McBride's company is partnering with Hed Hi Studio on a new project. Here's what to expect.

Danny McBride’s production company, Rough House Pictures, has announced a partnership with Charleston-based art space Hed Hi Studio to launch a series of unconventional, short-lived art exhibitions throughout 2026. The collaboration kicks off in April with a showcase of hand-painted Ghanaian movie posters from Deadly Prey Gallery, followed by exhibitions featuring Brooklyn artist Jake Plissken and animator Jay Howell. These events are designed as "ephemeral" experiences, often lasting only four hours to emphasize the beauty of impermanence.

Morpeth Contemporary presents “An Echo Familiar” paintings and sculpture

Morpeth Contemporary in Hopewell, New Jersey, is presenting “An Echo Familiar,” a solo exhibition of new paintings and sculptures by artist Mare McClellan, running from May 2 through May 24. The show features works inspired by McClellan's recent observations of caterpillars and moths, including mixed-media paintings with layered color and texture, as well as cocoon-like sculptures wrapped in wire and natural fibers. An opening reception will be held on May 2, followed by a Meet the Artist event on May 17.

The Bascom Opens Photography Resident Exhibition April 18 with Free Artist Talk

The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts is set to debut a new exhibition by photography resident Dean Kessmann titled "realism succumbing to abstraction or is it the other way around" on April 18, 2026. The show features medium-format digital photographs captured during Kessmann’s sabbatical residency, focusing on the overlooked textures of urban landscapes such as sidewalks, graffiti, and signage. The exhibition includes unique physical presentations, with some works mounted on oriented strand board to mirror the industrial surfaces depicted in the images.

Silverman Gallery showcases “Jean Childs Buzgo: Dreamscapes & Discoveries”

The Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art is hosting a solo exhibition titled “Jean Childs Buzgo: Dreamscapes & Discoveries,” running from April 11 through May 3. The showcase features a diverse collection of the artist's newest paintings, including large-scale florals, local Bucks County landscapes, and works inspired by her travels to Scotland and Ireland. Many of the pieces originated during the pandemic in 2020 and have been recently revisited and resolved using a mix of oil, acrylic, wax crayon, and collage.

Rooms to Roam in Chicago

The inaugural Neighbors Art Fair has launched in Chicago, situated within a historic residence in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood. Founded by Mirka Serrato and curated by Jonny Tanna, the fair rejects the traditional high-spectacle trade show model in favor of a "micro-fair" format. By utilizing a domestic setting and an invitation-based entry system, the event prioritizes architectural intimacy, timed entry, and deliberate engagement between galleries and visitors.

Black Excellence fills Columbus Arts Council with warmth, artistry and community

The Columbus Arts Council in Mississippi hosted the opening reception of its second Black Excellence Art Exhibition, featuring fiber artist Stephany Brown reading from 'Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South' and a poem by Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley M. Jones. The exhibition showcased a diverse range of works including Brittany Horne's luminous portrait of her daughter, Brown's hand-sewn quilts, Kenneth Smith's stained glass mosaics, and live music by vocalist-pianist Kyia King. Culinary arts students from East Mississippi Community College contributed food honoring Black chefs and agricultural scientists, creating a multisensory celebration of Black artistry and heritage.

INTERSTATE art exhibition set to open this week

Central Washington University's Sara Spurgeon Gallery is hosting a national juried exhibition titled “INTERSTATE: Where I-90 meets I-82,” opening November 6 in Ellensburg. Juror Alexis L. Silvia, Curatorial Assistant at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, selected works by 46 artists from across the United States, including Brandin Barón, Neil Berkowitz, Shivani Bhalla, and others. The exhibition runs through December 6, with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. following a 4 p.m. presentation.

Photography, a rapidly growing market: global auctions up 19% and increasing space for contemporary art.

The global photography market experienced a significant surge in 2025, with auction turnover at major houses like Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips rising 19.1% to $40.4 million. A key trend identified in the Deloitte Private report is the shift away from specialized photography-only auctions toward the integration of high-value photographic works into broader modern and contemporary art sales. This transition has helped drive the average hammer price up by nearly 39%, as seen with million-dollar results for artists like Man Ray, Cindy Sherman, and William Eggleston.

New York's New Museum Unveils $82 Million Expansion

The New Museum in Manhattan has officially unveiled its $82 million expansion, a transformative project designed by architects Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu. The renovation has doubled the institution's footprint, adding three levels of gallery space and a new 'public spine' featuring an atrium staircase. To mark the reopening, the museum launched 'New Humans: Memories of the Future,' a massive 732-object survey curated by Massimiliano Gioni that explores the intersection of art, visual culture, and emerging technologies like AI.

Auctions of the week: Art, design, jewelry and comics

Auctions of the week: Art, design, jewelry and comics

The global auction calendar for the week of March 19–25, 2026, features a dense schedule of sales across major hubs including Milan, Rome, Paris, Hong Kong, and New York. Italian houses like Il Ponte, Wannenes, and Finarte are leading with diverse offerings in Modern and Contemporary art, design, and niche collectibles like European comics and militaria. Simultaneously, international giants Christie’s and Sotheby’s are hosting major sessions ranging from Modern British art in London to luxury spirits and private sales in Asia and the United States.

A Francis Bacon self-portrait and a Surrealist avian painting: our pick of the March auctions

Major auction houses in London are preparing for a series of high-profile sales in March, featuring significant works by Francis Bacon, René Magritte, and Osman Hamdi Bey. Highlights include a 1972 Bacon self-portrait gifted to his doctor following a studio injury, a rare Magritte "leaf-bird" painting appearing at auction for the first time in 25 years, and a monumental 19th-century work by Turkish artist Osman Hamdi Bey being sold by the Penn Museum.

Last Year’s Art Market: Only Works by Proven Artists Survived

The Korea Art Authentication and Appraisal Institute (KAAAI) released its "2025 Art Market Analysis Report" on January 21, 2026, revealing that the Korean art market grew 5.16% in total auction sales to 142.7 billion won, despite a decline in the number of lots offered. The global market saw a similar trend: combined sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips rose 11.1% to $4.56 billion, but the number of works sold fell by 33.3%. Demand concentrated on high-priced blue-chip works by artists like Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet, Mark Rothko, René Magritte, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, while ultra-contemporary art sales plunged 39.1%.

Portraiture and Design at Guild Hall

Guild Hall in East Hampton is opening two exhibitions on Sunday: “Jason Bard Yarmosky: Time Has Many Faces,” a decade-long series of meticulously rendered portraits focusing on the artist’s aging grandparents, and “Liberty Labs: A Decade of Design,” featuring furniture, lighting, and objects by 33 current and former members of the Liberty Labs Foundation design collective. The portraits blend 17th- and 18th-century painting techniques with contemporary, often playful imagery, while the design show highlights collaborative experimentation. Museum director Melanie Crader, who curated both shows, notes that the artists share Brooklyn bases and East End ties.