sara friedlander christies chairman post war contemporary art

Sara Friedlander has been named chairman of Post-War & Contemporary Art for the Americas at Christie's. In an interview, she discusses her philosophy of prioritizing client relationships and the art itself over market speculation, criticizing the trend of 'wet paint' sales that inflate young artists' prices. She has overseen major private collection sales including the Edlis | Neeson Collection, which will anchor Christie's 21st Century Sale, and has set records for artists like Ernie Barnes and Joan Mitchell.

stretch of downtown manhattan renamed jean michel basquiat way

A stretch of Great Jones Street in downtown Manhattan between Bowery and Lafayette has been officially renamed "Jean-Michel Basquiat Way" in a ceremony co-organized by the Basquiat estate and the New York City Council. The street naming honors the late artist, who lived and worked in a second-floor space at 57 Great Jones Street from 1983 until his death in 1988, a property he rented from Andy Warhol. The event featured remarks from Basquiat's sisters Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, along with city officials and cultural figures.

phillips london evening sale frieze results

Phillips’s Frieze Week evening sale in London totaled £10.33 million ($13.88 million) across 22 lots, a 32% decline from last year’s £15.1 million on 31 lots. The sale was 82% sold by lot and 84% by value. Highlights included a new world auction record for Emma McIntyre, whose painting *Seven Types of Ambiguity* (2021) sold for £167,700, and strong results for Martha Jungwirth and Flora Yukhnovich. However, major lots by Banksy, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat underperformed or failed to sell, and four lots went unsold, including works by Andreas Gursky and Sigmar Polke.

judge denies motion to dismiss swizz beatz 1mdb case

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss music producer and art collector Kasseem Dean, known as Swizz Beatz, from a bankruptcy case tied to the 1MDB scandal. Dean and his two companies, Monza Studios and Swizz Beatz Productions, were named as defendants in a suit filed in October 2024 by joint liquidators Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla, seeking to recover $7.3 million allegedly transferred to Dean from entities controlled by Jho Low, the mastermind of the $7.65 billion 1MDB fraud. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled that the plaintiffs' claims are not time-barred, that they have standing, and that sufficient facts have been pleaded to proceed to discovery.

warhol photographer billy names estate under dispute

A jury trial is underway in Kingston, New York, to determine who will control the estate of Billy Name, the artist and photographer who lived with Andy Warhol in the 1960s and documented the Factory scene. Name died in 2016, and two competing wills have emerged: one from 2011 naming his niece Suzette Linich as executor, and another from 2015 naming his agent Dagon James. Linich argues Name lacked mental capacity when signing the later will, while James insists Name was lucid and fit.

man crushed to death by warhol painted bmw art car after winch fails in washington d c

A man was killed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., while unloading a 1979 BMW Art Car custom-painted by Andy Warhol. The accident occurred when a winch securing the vehicle on a flatbed truck failed, pinning the unidentified man beneath the car. The sports car was to be featured in a pop-up exhibition called “Cars at the Capital,” organized by the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, which has since canceled the event out of respect for the deceased.

christies kawamura memorial dic museum art monet renoir

Christie’s has been consigned to sell works from the collection of the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, including pieces by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore, as part of its fall marquee auctions. A top highlight is Monet’s oil painting *Nymphéas* (1907) with a low estimate of $40 million. The museum, located in Sakura, Japan, and owned by the DIC Corporation, decided last December to downsize and relocate, selling 75 percent of its 384 artworks valued at $77.5 million. The sale includes eight works in Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale in November, with additional pieces in day sales for Impressionist and Modern Art as well as Post-War and Contemporary Art.

basquiat biopic samo lives filming the east village tompkins square park

Filming has begun on the long-awaited Jean-Michel Basquiat biopic *Samo Lives* in New York City's East Village, specifically around Tompkins Square Park. Directed by Julius Onah and starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Basquiat, the film was first announced in January 2022 but faced delays. Grainy photos from local blog EV Grieve suggest an actor has been cast to play Andy Warhol, Basquiat's friend and collaborator. The production is shooting in the neighborhood where Basquiat once lived and worked, including his former studio at 57 Great Jones Street.

taylor swift ex neighbor sentenced selling fake picassos basquiats

Carter Reese, a 77-year-old former teacher and college admissions consultant from Reading, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 days in prison, two years of supervised release, a $50,000 fine, and $186,125 in restitution for selling forged artworks attributed to Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Joan Miró. Reese pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud in May, admitting that from 2019 to 2021 he sold or attempted to sell counterfeit pieces using false affidavits and signatures, and claimed he acquired them from a supplier using the pseudonym 'Ken James'—who had previously been convicted for selling $1 million in fake art.

basquiat picasso works linked to global 1mdb scandal net 36 m in auction by us marshals

Four artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, and Diane Arbus, seized by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, sold for a combined $36 million in an online auction conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. The lots included Basquiat's *Self Portrait* (1982) for $8.3 million and *Red Man One* (1982) for $22 million, Picasso's *Tête de taureau et broc* (1939) for $5 million, and Arbus's *Child with a Toy Hand Grenade* for $500,150. The auction, held by Gaston and Sheehan in Texas, ran from July 16 to September 4.

uk high court rejects artists final appeal after he issued fake apology for fishing firms alleged role in fishrot scandal

The UK High Court has rejected a final appeal by Icelandic artist Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson, known as ODEE, to retain ownership of his conceptual artwork *We're Sorry* (2023), a fake website that mimicked Iceland's largest fishing company Samherji and apologized for its alleged role in the Fishrot corruption scandal. Judge Anthony Mann upheld a previous order requiring ODEE to surrender control of the domain, ruling that the site was not a parody and constituted an instrument of fraud, thus not protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act.

maripol sophie bramly joopiter marketplace sale

Maripol, the French-born photographer who documented downtown New York's 1980s cultural scene, is selling selections from her archive through Joopiter's Marketplace platform in a sale titled "Downtown Archive: '80s – '90s New York." The sale includes her Polaroid portraits of icons like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna, Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, and Andy Warhol, as well as ephemera such as an invitation to Fiorucci's 15th anniversary party at Studio 54. Also featured are artifacts from Sophie Bramly, creator of "Yo! MTV Raps," including her custom bomber jacket and photographs of hip-hop pioneers like Kool Herc, Run-DMC, and Keith Haring. The sale is rounded out with vintage designer fashions from Chanel, Thierry Mugler, Bob Mackie, and Donna Karan, curated by retailer Vintage Grace.

ronald perelmans 410m trial finally begins

Billionaire collector Ronald Perelman's $410 million insurance trial has finally begun after seven years of litigation, over 1,500 court filings, and a 2018 fire at his East Hampton estate. The dispute centers on five paintings by Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, and Andy Warhol that survived the fire but were exposed to smoke and sprinklers. Perelman claims the works lost their market appeal—their "oomph"—while insurers at Lloyd's of London dispute any detectable damage and allege Perelman quietly tried to sell some of the pieces. The trial has also revealed that Perelman sold over 70 works from his collection after a margin call from Deutsche Bank, with some contested paintings used as collateral.

global auction sales h1 2025 arttactic analysis

Global auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips fell 6.2% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, while the number of lots sold rose 1.3%. ArtTactic’s analysis reveals significant category shifts: post-war and contemporary art dropped 19.3% to $1.22 billion, impressionist and modern art fell 7.7% to $989.5 million, and luxury sales were nearly flat. In contrast, Old Masters surged 35.6% to $171.2 million, and design, decorative arts, and furniture rose 20.4% to $172 million. The decline in high-value trophy lots, including the withdrawal of Andy Warhol’s *Big Electric Chair* and Alberto Giacometti’s *Grande tête mince*, contributed to the slump in contemporary sales.

art lending hong kong real estate sothebys

A high-profile Hong Kong real estate family, the Parkview group, explored an art-backed loan with Sotheby’s earlier this year, offering over 200 works by artists including Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Yue Minjun, Qi Baishi, and Zao Wou-Ki. The deal collapsed due to logistical challenges around transporting and warehousing the large collection at Sotheby’s facilities. Parkview clarified that no agreement was reached and no loan is expected, while Sotheby’s did not comment.

pennsylvania man pleads guilty fake picasso basquiat

A 77-year-old Pennsylvania man, Carter Reese, pleaded guilty on May 29 to wire fraud and mail fraud for selling artworks falsely attributed to major modern and contemporary artists including Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Fernand Léger, and Francis Bacon. The scheme ran from February 2019 to March 2021, and was uncovered by the FBI's Art Crime Team in Philadelphia and Miami. Reese, a former teacher and admissions director at Pottstown's Hill School, also claimed a personal collection of 17,000 antiques valued at over $6 million.

may marquee auctions recap analysis christies sothebys

Christie's marquee auctions in New York generated $489 million across two sales, led by the $272 million 'Leonard & Louise Riggio: Collected Works' sale and a $217 million 20th century art evening auction. The house guaranteed all 39 lots in the Riggio sale and used third-party guarantees on many others to mitigate risk in a soft market. Top lots included Piet Mondrian's *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black, and Blue* (1922) at $47.6 million, Claude Monet's *Peupliers au bord de l'Epte, crépuscule* (1891) at $49.2 million, and Mark Rothko's *No. 4 (Two Dominants) [Orange, Plum, Black]* (1950–51) at nearly $39 million. Two Warhols were pulled before the sale, highlighting ongoing challenges in selling high-value works at auction.

cowley abbott spring auction 2025

Cowley Abbott's spring live auction, 'Select Masterworks of Canadian and International Art,' will take place on May 28, 2025, featuring over 90 lots. Highlights include works by Marcelle Ferron (Sans titre, 1964, est. $300,000–$400,000), Andy Warhol (Ladies and Gentlemen (Ivette and Lurdes), 1975, est. $70,000–$90,000), Emily Carr (Fir Trees, ca. 1935, est. $275,000–$375,000), Henri Le Sidaner (L’Escalier, Beauvais, ca. 1900, est. $100,000–$150,000), and Fernand Léger (Composition, 1950, est. $30,000–$50,000). The sale spans Pop art, Canadian Modernism, Post-Impressionism, and abstraction.

wayne thiebaud pie bonhams

Wayne Thiebaud's 1961 painting *Pie a la Mode* will headline Bonhams' 20th and 21st century sale in New York on May 14, with an estimate of $1.2 million to $1.8 million. The work, which depicts a lone slice of pie with melting ice cream against a stark black background, is making its auction debut after six decades in a private collection. The 25-lot sale also includes works by Willem de Kooning, Alexander Calder, Fernando Botero, Joel Shapiro, and Ernie Barnes.

dutch municipality trashes of andy warhol print

The Dutch municipality of Maashorst accidentally threw out a valuable Andy Warhol silk-screen print of former Queen Beatrix, along with nearly 50 other artworks, during a town hall renovation. An independent investigation commissioned by the municipality, first reported by the New York Times, was inconclusive, and officials acknowledged the error in a letter to the council, stating that recovery of the missing works is unlikely. The Warhol print, from the Reigning Queens series (1985), is valued between $40,000 and $50,000.

One Art Space Tribeca Presents “The Space Between Us”

One Art Space in Tribeca presented “The Space Between Us,” a group exhibition curated by Mitchell Rodbell featuring 13 artists including Rodbell, Miyuki Fuji, Madhu Powar Garg, Marietta Gavaris, and others. The weeklong show ran from January 12 to January 18, 2026, with many works sold during the VIP opening night. Notable attendees included co-owner MaryAnn Giella McCulloh, Dr. Robi Ludwig, Melanie Goodreaux, and Bruce Morrow.

Steven Soderbergh, the Colors of Money

Steven Soderbergh, les couleurs de l’argent

Steven Soderbergh's new film "The Christophers" (2025) is a sharp, chamber-piece drama about art, inheritance, and money. The story follows Julian Skar, a former art superstar from the 1970s now living in seclusion and earning a living by caricaturing himself on social media. His children, Barnaby and Sally, eager to maximize their future inheritance, hire a repentant forger named Lori Butler to secretly complete Julian's unfinished masterpiece, an eight-portrait series titled "The Christophers." The film explores the complex relationships that develop between the four characters in a labyrinthine London house, written in the style of a lively theatrical play.

Online-Only Art Auctions Overwhelmingly Succeed in 2025

A new report from Artnet reveals that online-only auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips, Bonhams, and Artnet Auctions generated $423.9 million in 2025, an 8% increase from 2024. The average price of artworks sold online also rose 8.6% to $14,309, with some platforms like Fair Warning finding success through hyper-specific sales, such as one centered on Andy Warhol’s 1974 portrait of Brigitte Bardot. Christie’s reported that 63% of new buyers made their first purchase online in 2025, where the average price point was $22,700.

Father Daughter Counterfeiting Duo Face Twenty Years in Prison

A father-daughter duo from New Jersey, Erwin Bankowski (50) and Karolina Bankowska (26), pleaded guilty to creating and selling over 200 counterfeit artworks falsely attributed to artists including Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Fritz Scholder, and Banksy. They admitted to wire fraud conspiracy and misrepresentation of Native American-produced goods, defrauding buyers out of at least $2 million. The pair fabricated provenances and collection histories, forged gallery stamps, and attempted to auction the works for up to $160,000 each. They each face up to 20 years in prison.

Philadelphia Museum of Art 'Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments (4/25-8/2)'

필라델피아미술관 '라이징업: 록키와 기념비 제작(Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, 4/25-8/2)' - Lounge

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has announced a major exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," scheduled to open in April 2026. Curated by Paul Farber of Monument Lab, the show will feature over 150 works by more than 50 artists, including Keith Haring, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol. The exhibition uses the iconic Rocky statue—a fictional character that has become one of the city's most visited landmarks—as a focal point to explore the history, mythology, and evolving role of public monuments from antiquity to the present day.

Tutto venduto e il doppio del ricavo rispetto all’anno scorso. A New York fa boom anche l’asta di Phillips

Phillips held its Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on May 19, 2026, achieving a complete sell-out with a total of $115.2 million. All 41 lots were sold, doubling the result from May 2025 ($52 million). Top lots included Andy Warhol's *Sixteen Jackies* ($16.2 million), Claude Monet's *La Route de Vétheuil, effet de neige* ($9.9 million), and Jackson Pollock's *Untitled* (1948) ($9.2 million). New auction records were set for Lee Bontecou, Pat Passlof, P.S. Krøyer, and Joseph Yaeger, while works by Salman Toor and Cecily Brown also sold above estimates.

Jean-Michel Basquiat | FAE Musée d'Art Contemporain (Sans titre) (Untitled) (1993) | For Sale

An extremely rare original 1993 exhibition poster for a posthumous Jean-Michel Basquiat solo show at FAE Musée d'Art Contemporain in Pully-Lausanne, Switzerland is being offered for sale by Graves International Art. The offset-lithograph poster, featuring Basquiat's untitled 1982 painting, was designed by Pierre Neumann and comes from a private collection in Hamburg, Germany. The listing notes that no other example of this poster has appeared on the secondary market or at auction before, and it is issued unsigned and posthumous.

Vancouver Art Gallery gifted more than 800 photographs by Stephen Shore

The Vancouver Art Gallery has received a major gift of over 800 photographs by the acclaimed American photographer Stephen Shore. Donated by the Chan family, the collection primarily features Shore’s seminal series "Uncommon Places" (1973–81), which documented North American landscapes and interiors in vivid color. This acquisition establishes the gallery as one of the world's leading repositories of Shore’s work, with a dedicated exhibition of the series scheduled to open on March 27.

Farhad Moshiri In the Raha Gallery Collection

Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri passed away on July 17, 2024, at age 61. A pioneering figure in Middle Eastern contemporary art, Moshiri made history as the first artist from the region to sell a work at auction for over one million USD, achieving this milestone twice—first with "Love" at Bonhams Dubai in 2008 and later with "Secret Garden" at Christie's Dubai in 2013. The article highlights his work "Toothpicker" (2008), now part of the Raha Gallery Collection, which was exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery in London in 2010 and sold at Christie's Middle East in 2014. Moshiri's practice combined pop art, kitsch, and precious materials like crystals and glitter, earning him a solo exhibition at the Andy Warhol Museum in 2017.

È morto Bruno Bischofberger, il gallerista e collezionista svizzero che fece lavorare assieme Warhol e Basquiat

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist and collector, has died at age 86. A pivotal figure in the contemporary art market, he opened his first gallery in Zurich in 1963 and was instrumental in introducing American Pop Art to Europe, exhibiting Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg. He later championed Minimalism, Land Art, and Neo-Expressionism, representing artists like Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and Francesco Clemente. Most famously, Bischofberger discovered Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981 and orchestrated the legendary collaboration between Warhol, Basquiat, and Clemente. His close relationship with Warhol included a first-refusal agreement on future works and the suggestion of standardized portrait commissions that became Warhol's primary income source.