prominent art advisory implodes after 37 years as ex partners fire off lawsuits

Art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher, who ran the blue-chip advisory Guggenheim Asher Associates for 37 years, are now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court allege fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation. Guggenheim claims Asher misappropriated over $20.5 million in revenue, while Asher counters with accusations of unethical behavior, including using sex and kickbacks to secure artworks and lying to collectors. The firm’s clients included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and corporations such as Sony and Coca-Cola.

for asias art market 2025 has been about rapid fire change

Art Basel has concluded and the London sales have wrapped, marking a busy first half of 2025 for Asian art markets despite economic uncertainties and geopolitical challenges. New players and trends have emerged: international auction houses aligned their Hong Kong sales with Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time, South Asian art has had a banner year at auction and in institutions, and West Asia is rising with Sotheby's inaugural sale in Saudi Arabia and Art Basel's planned Qatar fair. Asian galleries are expanding into Western capitals, while Western galleries are picking up Asian talent, such as Korean artist Anna Park joining Lehmann Maupin and Rim Park partnering with Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler. Japanese artist Yu Nishimura had his first U.S. solo show at David Zwirner, and the Labubu plush toy by Kasing Lung became a pop culture sensation.

are trophy lots losing their luster

New York's marquee spring auctions in May 2025 tested the theory that strong supply drives demand, but results were mixed. Alberto Giacometti's *Grande tête mince* (1955), estimated at $70 million, failed to sell at Sotheby's, while Christie's withdrew a $30 million Andy Warhol electric-chair painting. The top lot of the week was Piet Mondrian's *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue* (1922), which fetched $47.6 million from the collection of late Barnes & Noble founder Len Riggio. However, Christie's pre-sold 93% of that collection's value to third-party backers, and the house fell $26 million short of its guaranteed amount. Sotheby's avoided financial risk on the Giacometti by not guaranteeing it, still earning $34.4 million in buyer's premiums. A new record for a living woman artist was set when Marlene Dumas's *Miss January* (1997) sold for $13.6 million at Christie's, though adjusted for inflation it fell short of Jenny Saville's 2018 record.

by the numbers christies riggio

Christie’s New York held the spring season’s largest single-owner auction, the Leonard & Louise Riggio collection, on Monday evening. The sale achieved $271.9 million total with a 97% sell-through rate by lot, led by Piet Mondrian’s *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue* (1922) at $47.6 million. However, a detailed analysis reveals that the hammer total fell $26 million short of the guarantee, and 93% of the value was pre-sold to third-party backers, leaving Christie’s with a razor-thin margin of roughly 7.8% before marketing costs and guarantor fees.

rachofsky house dallas for sale

The Rachofsky House, a landmark contemporary art residence in Dallas designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier, has been quietly listed for sale off-market by Compass agent Faisal Halum. The 9,000-square-foot home at 8605 Preston Road has been owned for decades by prominent collectors Howard and Cindy Rachofsky, who annually hosted the Two x Two gala there, raising over $130 million for amfAR and the Dallas Museum of Art. Howard Rachofsky confirmed the sale, citing his age (81) and ongoing estate planning.

who will art basel draw to doha

Art Basel will launch a new fair, Art Basel Qatar, in Doha in February 2025, featuring around 50 exhibitors. The expansion into West Asia follows the fair's earlier move into Hong Kong in 2013 and reflects the region's growing wealth and cultural development. Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel's director of fairs, stated the company aims to attract collectors from the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as South Asia. The announcement has drawn interest from collectors and curators across Asia, including those from the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and India, who see the fair as a potential turning point for Doha's art scene.

five art world power players form new advisory firm

Five major art world figures have formed a new advisory firm called New Perspectives Art Partners, aimed at serving high-end collectors and institutions. The founders include former Christie’s and Philips CEO Ed Dolman and his son Alex (Dolman Partners), Brett Gorvy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan, Philip Hoffman of the Fine Art Group, and former Sotheby’s rainmaker Patti Wong of Patti Wong and Associates. All five will maintain their existing roles while collaborating on complex, project-driven client needs, leveraging their collective expertise and regional networks.

3 key insights from the art business conference new york

The sixth edition of the Art Business Conference took place in Midtown Manhattan on May 22, drawing over 200 art professionals including gallery staff, auction-house specialists, and lawyers. Chaired by former Artnet executive editor Julia Halperin and founded by Louise Hamlin, the event featured keynotes and panels addressing the state of the art market, legal challenges, and the impact of tariffs. Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan reported a $700 million haul from recent auctions, noting a thin top end but strong activity for female Surrealists and Simone Leigh sculptures. Advisors Megan Fox Kelly and Alex Glauber described the market as 'recalibrating' rather than in crisis, with buyers showing increased selectivity.

10 most expensive lots sold auction march 2025

In March 2025, major auction houses, particularly in London, achieved strong sales despite the month typically being quiet. Christie’s and Sotheby’s sold ten high-value lots, led by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s *Sabado Noche* (1984) at £8.4 million ($14.5 million). A standout result was M.F. Husain’s *Untitled (Gram Yatra)* (1954), which sold for $13.75 million at Christie’s New York, marking the first time an Indian Modern artwork exceeded $10 million at auction. Other notable sales included works by René Magritte, Yoshitomo Nara, Francis Bacon, Tamara de Lempicka, Amedeo Modigliani, Paul Delvaux, Michael Andrews, and Lisa Brice.

The Art Diary May 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens

The article titled "The Art Diary May 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens" appears to be a diary or column by Revd Jonathan Evens, published on Artlyst, covering art-related events, reflections, or commentary for May 2026. The specific content is not provided in the snippet, but the format suggests a curated overview of exhibitions, cultural happenings, or personal observations from the author's perspective.

Chiharu Shiota Stages First New York Solo Museum Show—and a Rundown of the Latest in Asia’s Art World

Chiharu Shiota is staging her first solo museum show in New York, marking a significant milestone for the Japanese artist known for her immersive thread installations. The article also provides a comprehensive rundown of recent developments across Asia's art world, including gallery expansions, new exhibitions, art fairs, and institutional news. Highlights include Mire Lee's Los Angeles solo debut at Sprüth Magers, Bluerider Art's new U.S. outpost in Manhattan Beach, and Lisson Gallery's first show with Shanghai-based artist Ding Yi in London. Art fairs such as Frieze House Seoul, Tennoz Art Week, Art Busan, Tokyo Gendai, and Art SG are also covered, alongside the relaunch of New York's Art in General under curator Xiaoyu Weng.

new wealth 2026

The article examines the art market's struggle to attract new wealthy buyers despite a surge in global wealth. Marc Spiegler, former global director of Art Basel, argues that galleries have failed to recruit the newly wealthy, noting that inflation-adjusted art sales have declined over the past 15 years. He suggests the industry needs to reposition art as 'magical' and transformative to appeal to potential patrons.

asian artists under 35 are doing at auction

A new analysis by The Asia Pivot reveals that total global auction sales for Asian artists born between 1990 and 1999 dropped to $9.7 million in 2024, the lowest level in three years. The market for these young artists shows clear signs of cooling, with 696 lots sold out of 1,128 offered, a 62% sell-through rate, and an average price per lot falling 26.5% year-over-year to $13,905. Top-ranked artists like Raghav Babbar and Anna Park saw steep price declines, while a few consistent performers like Yukimasa Ida, Sun Yitian, and Chris Huen Sin-Kan maintained strong market recognition.

takahashi mizuki textile art

In a recent edition of Artnet Pro's newsletter 'The Asia Pivot', the director of CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) in Hong Kong reflects on highlights from Art Basel Hong Kong, including textile-based works by Movana Chen, Huan Po-Chi, and Ade Darmawan. The article discusses the growing engagement of contemporary artists with traditional craft practices like weaving, embroidery, and dyeing, particularly during the pandemic, and notes the distinct lineage of fiber art in Asia compared to the West, where it emerged as a subgenre of Modernism in the 1960s.

dar kuen wu taiwan digital art

The article examines the rise of Taiwanese contemporary art on the international stage, focusing on its growing prominence in digital and technological art. It traces the evolution of digital art in Taiwan through three phases: video art in the 1990s with pioneers like Wang Jun-Jieh and Yuan Goang-Ming, digital media experimentation in the 2000s driven by the tech sector, and a recent phase of internationalization and interdisciplinary integration fueled by the semiconductor industry and government support. Key factors include Taiwan's hardware industry, cultural liberalization after the lifting of martial law in 1987, and sustained policy support from institutions like the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF), the Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB), and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA).

christies hauls in 690 million at robust 20th century art sale led by 62 million rothko

Christie’s kicked off the fall auction season in New York with a two-part 20th-century art sale that brought in approximately $690 million, led by Mark Rothko’s *No. 31 Yellow Stripe (1958)*, which sold for $62.2 million. The evening featured 18 works from the collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis, totaling $218 million, followed by a 61-lot main sale that realized $471.7 million. Other top lots included Claude Monet’s *Nymphéas (1907)* at $45.4 million and a new auction record for Beauford Delaney’s *The Sage Black (1967)* at $1.5 million.

Meet the Lawyer-Turned-Dealer Opening a Jewel-Box Gallery Uptown—and More Juicy Art World Gossip

Artnet News's Wet Paint column reports that former David Zwirner director Felix Rödder is opening his own gallery, Rodder (no umlaut), on September 18 at 22 East 80th Street on the Upper East Side, in the same building as Sprüth Magers. The jewel-box space, formerly Barbara Mathes Gallery, will debut with a solo show of sculptural paintings by Wyatt Kahn. Rödder, a lawyer-turned-dealer, plans to mix contemporary programming with historical exhibitions, keeping overhead low and avoiding art fairs for now. The column also teases a mention of Aby Rosen's involvement in the New York mayoral race.

katya kazakina front page award

Artnet News senior reporter and columnist Katya Kazakina has won the Newswomen’s Club of New York’s 2025 Front Page Award for specialized reporting in arts and entertainment for the second consecutive year. The award recognizes her July story “Keeping Up With the Clients: The Art World Lifestyle Can Be Dangerously Alluring,” which investigated how dealers and advisors overextend themselves financially and legally to maintain social ties with wealthy patrons. The piece grew out of her earlier scoop on dueling lawsuits between ultra-high-end art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher.

cultural projects worth 6 13 billion were finished in 2024 a big drop from 2023 report

The 2024 Cultural Infrastructure Index (CII) reports a 17% drop in completed cultural projects (from 192 to 159) and a 29% decline in total cost, from $8.58 billion to $6.13 billion. However, the value of future projects announced in 2024 rose 47% to $8.32 billion, though the number of announced projects fell from 198 to 175, indicating fewer but more expensive buildings. The report, developed by AEA Consulting, tracks 334 large-scale cultural infrastructure projects worldwide, with museums and galleries remaining the most common building type. The U.S. led with 62 new facilities, while the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza was the most expensive completed project at $1 billion, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new modern wing topped announced projects at $500 million.

How to Keep a Gallery Open: Lessons From One of London’s Longest-Operating Dealers

London gallerist David Juda of Annely Juda, one of the city's longest-operating dealers, shares his strategies for keeping a gallery open amid a wave of closures. He emphasizes staying small, avoiding expensive art fairs for newcomers, and planning succession—handing responsibilities to co-director Nina Fellmann as he approaches 80. The gallery is moving to a new space on Hanover Square, inaugurating with new paintings by David Hockney.

the round up 2025s highs lows and wtfs

In this year-end roundup episode of The Art Angle, co-hosts Kate Brown and Ben Davis, joined by Artnet Pro editor and art critic Andrew Russeth, review the defining trends, themes, and stories of 2025. They cover the art market's slump and subsequent rebound in New York's fall auctions and Art Basel Miami Beach, the political impact of Trump 2.0 on arts funding and museum governance, the question of a 'post-woke' art world, the return of digital art, and the ongoing power of red chip art. The episode also highlights the multi-front crisis facing institutions due to changing public expectations, rising costs, and political shifts, alongside lighter, unusual stories from the art world.

most expensive lots sold at auction in 2024

Artnet News analyzed the 10 most expensive lots sold at auction in 2024, drawing on the Artnet Price Database. The top lot was René Magritte's *L'Empire de Lumières* (1954), which sold for $121.2 million at Christie's New York in November, setting a new auction record for the artist and becoming the only work to break nine figures this year. Other notable sales included Ed Ruscha's *Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half* (1964) at $68.3 million, Claude Monet's *Nymphéas* (1914–17) at $65.5 million, and Jean-Michel Basquiat's *Untitled (ELMAR)* (1982) at $46.4 million. Seven of the top 10 lots sold in New York, with Hong Kong, London, and Vienna also represented.

phillips evening sale 2025 stats

Phillips held its Modern and contemporary art evening sale in New York on Wednesday night, achieving $67.3 million in total sales—a 24.4 percent increase from the same auction last November. The sale featured 33 lots with a 94 percent sell-through rate, including a triceratops fossil that sold for $5.4 million through a partnership with natural history dealer Christian Link. Top lots included Francis Bacon's *Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne and George Dyer* (1967) at $16 million with premium, Jean-Michel Basquiat's *Exercise* (1984) at $3.8 million, and two works by Ruth Asawa. Only one artwork, a Jadé Fadojutimi, failed to sell, and there were no withdrawals.

simon de pury artnet hans neuendorf

Simon de Pury pays homage to Hans Neuendorf, the visionary founder of Artnet, following the announcement of Artnet's sale at the end of May. De Pury recounts Neuendorf's background as a successful art dealer who championed underappreciated artists like Francis Picabia, and describes how Neuendorf revolutionized the art world by creating the world's most comprehensive auction results database in 1989 (initially called Centrox). The article contrasts the pre-digital era of manually filing auction results with the instant access Artnet now provides, and notes that Neuendorf later expanded the platform with Artnet News and Artnet online auctions.

by the numbers despite 70 million giacometti failure sothebys made money at modern evening sale

Sotheby's Modern art evening sale in New York generated $186.4 million in total sales after fees, but the headline was the failure of Alberto Giacometti's 1955 sculpture *Grande tête mince (Grande tête de Diego)*, estimated at $70 million, which failed to receive a single bid. Despite the high-profile flop, Sotheby's walked away with $34.4 million in buyer's premium net of fees paid to third-party backers, and because it did not guarantee the Giacometti, it faced no financial risk from the unsold lot. The top seller was Pablo Picasso's *Homme assis* (1969), which sold for $15.1 million with fees. The sale's sell-through rate was 76.9 percent, and the hammer total of $152 million fell $88.3 million below the presale low estimate.

how much should an art fair cost

Frieze, the international art fair group, has been sold to Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood power broker who previously owned it through Endeavor. Emanuel acquired Frieze via a new, unnamed company from his former entertainment conglomerate, which was recently taken private by Silver Lake. The deal, valued at approximately $200 million according to sources, includes all seven fairs, Frieze magazine, and the No. 9 Cork Street exhibition space. Simon Fox will remain CEO. The sale comes just days before Frieze New York’s 2025 edition and follows months of speculation about the fair's future ownership.

One of the Art Market’s Biggest Secrets, Revealed

Global auction totals saw a significant rebound in 2025, rising 13.3 percent compared to the previous year after a prolonged period of decline. The latest Artnet Intelligence Report highlights this recovery while shifting focus toward the increasingly influential world of private auctions, where high-value masterpieces are traded in invitation-only, clandestine settings away from the public eye.

Asia's Biennials Survey: The Asia Pivot

asias biennials survey asia pivot

Asia is experiencing a significant surge in biennial exhibitions, with at least eight major events currently running from Singapore to Riyadh and several more scheduled for later this year. These large-scale exhibitions are increasingly serving as strategic tools for soft power, urban regeneration, and economic promotion, often backed by government funding to elevate a city's global profile.

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.

asian art market

The Chinese art market experienced a 31% year-on-year decline in sales to $8.4 billion in 2024, its lowest level since 2009, according to the latest Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report. The downturn is attributed to slower economic growth, a property market slump, and broader economic uncertainties. However, other Asia Pacific markets showed resilience: Japan saw a 2% increase in sales, Australia's dealer market grew 11%, and China remains the second-largest auction market for postwar and contemporary art. Dealer sentiment is improving, with half expecting stronger sales in 2025.