Olympia Auctions will hold a sale of Modern & Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art on 29 October 2025, featuring 66 lots curated by specialists Janet Rady and Elikem Logan. Highlights include works by Ben Enwonwu, Oluwole Omofemi, Johnson Ocheja, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, and South African women weavers from the Rorke’s Drift Art and Craft Centre, with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £25,000.
Art Basel Paris held its fourth edition with a new VIP preview slot called Avant Première, where galleries nominated six key collectors to enter the fair on Tuesday afternoon before the main opening. Major sales were reported, including a $23 million Gerhard Richter painting at Hauser & Wirth, a Modigliani for nearly $10 million at Pace, and a $7.5 million Ruth Asawa sculpture at David Zwirner. CEO Noah Horowitz discussed the rationale for the exclusive preview, the renaming of the VIP relations team to 'collector and institutional relations,' and the viability of the upcoming Art Basel Qatar fair amid growing competition in the Gulf region.
Tate Modern's exhibition "Nigerian Modernism" showcases over 300 works by 59 Nigerian modernist artists, curated by Osei Bonsu and Bilal Akkouche. The show follows the 2018 record sale of Ben Enwonwu's portrait "Tutu" at Bonham's for £1.2 million, which highlighted the neglect of modern African artists in art history. It features pioneers like Aina Onabolu, the first African student at an English art school, and Uche Okeke of the Zaria Art Society, whose work blends Western techniques with Nigerian traditions, Islamic aesthetics, and uli mural painting.
Property developer Rajan Bijlani, based in north London, has turned his home Fonthill Pottery—formerly the residence and studio of ceramicist Emmanuel Cooper—into a showcase for his collection of 20th-century design, sculpture, and paintings. His focus is Modernist furniture, particularly works by Pierre Jeanneret, one of the architects of Chandigarh, India. Bijlani owns over 500 pieces, including Jeanneret's 1960 Dining Table and Easy Chairs (1956), as well as works by Le Corbusier and George Nakashima. He staged his first home exhibition last year featuring South Asian diaspora artists, and this year presents 'Electric Kiln,' pairing Jeanneret and Le Corbusier pieces with works by Cooper, Lucie Rie, and Frank Auerbach. Some works are for sale to fund future shows, including a Japan-themed exhibition and one timed to London Gallery Weekend.
Frieze London 2025 returns for its 23rd edition from October 15-19 in Regent's Park, featuring over 280 international galleries. Major auction houses are staging blockbuster sales during the week, including Sotheby's evening and day sales in partnership with Celine, Christie's 20th/21st Century Evening Sale and a trilogy of drawings from the Klaus Hegeswich collection, and Phillips' Modern & Contemporary sales. Highlights include a Jean-Michel Basquiat rarity, Banksy's spray-painted flag, a Francis Bacon portrait, a Picasso etching, and a Lucian Freud self-portrait estimated at up to $16 million.
The Art of Wishes charity auction, founded in 2017 by Batia Ofer, is holding its fifth gala in October 2025 at the Chancery Rosewood in London. Artists Zadie Xa and Dominic Chambers have contributed works: Xa's 'Worlding (2025)' (estimate £30,000-£50,000) and Chambers' 'In Safe Keeping (2025)' (estimate £50,000-£70,000). Other consignments include pieces by Ron Arad and Deborah Azzopardi. The 22 works will be viewable at Phillips auction house in London from 9-12 October and online. The auction has raised over £13 million for Make-A-Wish UK since 2017, granting over 5,000 wishes to critically ill children.
Christie's will hold a series of modern and contemporary art auctions and events in Paris during late October 2025, coinciding with the fourth edition of Art Basel Paris. The sales feature major works including a monumental Yves Klein monochrome (estimate on request), Alberto Giacometti's 'Femme debout' (€5-7M), Paul Signac's 'La Passerelle Debilly' (€4-6M), and pieces by Pierre Soulages, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and others. The week opens on October 23 with 'Moderne(s), une collection particulière européenne,' a private collection of 40 European avant-garde works, followed by the flagship 'Avant-Garde(s) including Thinking Italian' sale.
Christie's will host its 20/21 Marquee Week in London from October 8, 2025, featuring six live and online sales of Impressionist, Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art during Frieze Week. Highlights include works by Lucian Freud, Peter Doig, Paula Rego, Yoshitomo Nara, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Louise Bourgeois, Chris Ofili, Paul Signac, Gerhard Richter, and Pablo Picasso, along with the Ole Faarup Collection. The event also includes a philanthropic initiative called Architects for the Birds, with birdhouses designed by architects including Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, and David Chipperfield, benefiting the Tessa Jowell Foundation; an exhibition of wearable sculptures and an installation by artist Natasha Wightman; and a continued partnership with the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
LA Louver, the longest-running gallery in Los Angeles, is closing its Venice, California space after 50 years in business. Founder Peter Goulds, who turns 77 next month, is transitioning the gallery into a private dealing model with pop-up exhibitions from its Jefferson Boulevard warehouse in West Adams. The Venice space will be listed for sale but remain open by appointment to sell inventory. The gallery is also donating its extensive archive to the Huntington Library in San Marino, which includes papers of writers like Octavia Butler and Christopher Isherwood.
Christie's will auction the collection of Danish collector Ole Faarup during its October 2025 Marquee Week, featuring around 140 lots with an overall estimate of £16–22 million. Highlights include major works by Peter Doig, Chris Ofili, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, alongside Danish and international artists. Proceeds from the sale will benefit The Ole Faarup Art Foundation, which supports emerging artists and cultural institutions.
The legendary Surrealist collection of the late Pauline Karpidas, a renowned art patron and collector, will be auctioned at Sotheby's London in September 2025. The sale spans approximately 250 lots from her eccentric London home, featuring masterworks by René Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and Les Lalannes. The collection is expected to fetch over £60 million ($81 million), the highest estimate ever placed on a single collection at Sotheby's Europe. Highlights include Magritte's 'La Statue volante' (1940–41), estimated at £9–12 million, and works acquired directly from the estates of Surrealist figures like André Breton and Paul Éluard.
Albright College, a liberal arts institution in Reading, Pennsylvania, is selling its entire art collection of mostly works on paper to address a $20 million budget shortfall. The online-only sale, held on July 16 at Pook & Pook auction house, includes 524 lots featuring works by artists such as Karel Appel, Romare Bearden, Jasper Johns, Jacob Lawrence, and Bridget Riley. College administrators, including vice-president James Gaddy, describe the collection as "not core to our mission" and estimate the consigned pieces are worth $200,000, while the cost of maintaining the gallery and collection exceeds $500,000 annually. The sale is part of broader cost-cutting measures that have already included laying off 53 employees and selling non-contiguous properties.
The global art market saw total sales of $57.5 billion in 2024, a 12% decline year-on-year, marking the second consecutive annual drop. Transaction volumes rose 3% to about 40.5 million, driven by works under $50,000 which made up 85% of dealer sales. Sotheby's and Christie's together accounted for roughly half of global fine-art auction turnover, though both saw significant auction revenue declines. The United States led with 43% of global sales, while China's market share fell to 15%, its lowest since 2009. Online art sales grew to 18% of total value, and new buyer momentum was strong, with 44% of dealer buyers being new and 91% of high-net-worth collectors optimistic.
On the second day of the Art Basel VIP preview, sales continued at a slower pace. White Cube sold Michael Armitage's 2015 painting *In the garden* for $3.2 million, while Gagosian placed a large lobster sculpture by Jeff Koons for a seven-figure sum. Pace Gallery reported that a Pablo Picasso painting *Homme à la pipe assis et amour* (1969), priced at $30 million, remains on reserve, though it did sell a 1964 bronze by Louise Nevelson for $850,000. Berlin's Galeria Plan B sold an untitled 2025 Adrian Ghenie painting for €1 million, and Hauser & Wirth sold Frank Bowling's *Iceni* (1975) for $1.8 million, with Felix Gonzalez-Torres's *"Untitled" (Go-Go Dancing Platform)* (1991), priced at $16 million, placed on serious hold for an institution.
Christie’s has announced its London Summer Season, running from June to August 2025, with the Post-War to Present sales as a central highlight. The season includes live and online auctions, selling exhibitions such as 75 Years of New Contemporaries and Modern British Art: A Selling Exhibition, and cultural partnerships. Key auction highlights include Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's '8pm Zaragoza' (estimate £500,000–700,000), Victor Man's 'The Chandler' (estimate £300,000–500,000), and works by David Hockney, Cecily Brown, KAWS, and Georg Baselitz. The live sale takes place on 26 June, with online bidding from 17 June to 1 July.
Digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, is expanding his practice beyond the record-breaking NFT sale of *Everydays: The First 5,000 Days* (2021) into interactive video sculptures and public art. His latest works, *The Tree of Knowledge* (2024) and *Diffuse Control* (2025), debut this month at SXSW London and The Shed in New York, respectively. These generative pieces allow ongoing collaboration between artist, owner, and public, building on his earlier kinetic sculpture *Human One* (2021), which has toured globally. Beeple continues his daily social media posts (Everydays) as a form of satire and commentary on technology and media noise.
Phillips has appointed Robert Manley as chairman of modern and contemporary art and Miety Heiden as chairman of private sales, following the departure of Cheyenne Westphal and Jean-Paul Engelen. Manley, who joined Phillips in 2016, has secured major consignments including the collection of Francesco Pellizzi and the Pop Art trove of Miles and Shirley Fiterman, while Heiden has driven a 46 percent growth in annual private sales. The appointments come after Phillips' $51.9 million Modern and Contemporary Evening Sale, which reinforced the auction house's strength in the contemporary segment.
During New York's spring auction week starting May 12, 2025, major houses Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips, and Bonhams collectively brought in $1.27 billion, slightly above the estimated $1.25 billion but down 17% from the previous year. The top lot was Piet Mondrian's *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue* (1922) at $47.56 million, but the mood was tense as trophy works like Andy Warhol's *Big Electric Chair* (1967–68) were withdrawn and several top lots, including Alberto Giacometti's *Grande tête mince* (1955), failed to sell. Amid this volatility, 11 new artist auction records were set, five of which were for women artists, notably Marlene Dumas's *Miss January* (1999) selling for $13.65 million—the most expensive work by a living woman artist at auction.
Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art sales in New York from 12-15 May 2025 achieved a total of $693 million across six sales, reaching 123% of the low estimate. The top lot was Piet Mondrian's 1922 painting *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue*, which sold for $47.56 million. Other highlights included Claude Monet's *Peupliers au bord de l'Epte, crépuscule* (1891) at $42.96 million, and Marlene Dumas's *Miss January* (1997), which set a record for a living female artist. The Leonard & Louise Riggio collection alone brought $272 million, while the 20th Century Evening Sale achieved $217 million with a 100% sell-through rate. New artist records were set for Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, Louis Fratino, Simone Leigh, and Emma McIntyre.
Christie's 21st century evening sale on Wednesday achieved $79 million ($96.5 million with fees), falling within revised estimates but below original projections and prior sale totals. The standout lot was Marlene Dumas's 1997 painting *Miss January*, which sold for $13.6 million with fees, setting a new auction record for any living female artist. The sale saw three of four records set for women artists, including Simone Leigh, Emma McIntyre, and Louis Fratino, though bidding was subdued overall with heavy reliance on third-party guarantees.
Phillips’s evening sale of modern and contemporary art in New York on May 13 achieved a total hammer price of $44.2 million ($52 million with fees), falling just below the low pre-sale estimate of $45.3 million. Four works were withdrawn before the sale, and five lots failed to sell. Despite the subdued overall results, the auction set new auction records for four women artists: Kiki Kogelnik, Ilana Savdie, James Turrell (Light and Space artist), and Grace Hartigan. Other strong performers included works by Yu Nishimura, Olga de Amaral, Barbara Hepworth, and Danielle McKinney. The top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s *Untitled* (1984), formerly owned by David Bowie.
The article previews five major lots coming to auction in New York in May 2025, spanning Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams. Highlights include Gerhard Richter's 'Mann mit zwei Kindern' (1966), a portrait of Sigmar Polke estimated at $4–6 million; Frans Post's 'View of Olinda with Ruins of the Jesuit Church' (1666), estimated at $6–8 million and expected to break the artist's record; Andy Warhol's 'Big Electric Chair' (1967–68), estimated around $30 million; and Fernando Botero's 'The Bed' (1982), estimated at $700,000–$1 million. Each work is making its auction debut or is a rare market appearance.
Pharrell Williams's auction platform Joopiter has partnered with Martha Stewart for its first contemporary art sale, titled 'The Contemporary Take,' running through May 6. The 48-lot sale features works by blue-chip artists including George Condo, Jeff Koons, and Ed Ruscha, alongside emerging names like Tschabalala Self and Toyin Ojih Odutola. Stewart personally selected six lots, highlighting pieces by Amy Sherald, Damien Hirst, Ai Weiwei, Louise Bourgeois, Roy Lichtenstein, and Alex Katz. Estimates range from $4,000 to $1.2 million, and early bidding has been active, with works by Amy Sherald and Roy Lichtenstein drawing significant attention.
Christie’s is holding its spring 20th and 21st Century Art sales week in New York from 12–15 May 2025, featuring over 500 works across six live auctions. Highlights include the single-owner collection of Leonard and Louise Riggio, led by a rare Piet Mondrian and René Magritte’s *Les droits de l'homme*; the 20th Century Evening Sale headlined by a Claude Monet from his *Les Peupliers* series; and the 21st Century Evening Sale, where Jean-Michel Basquiat’s *Baby Boom* sold for $23.4 million. Other notable consignors include Anne and Sid Bass, Tiqui Atencio, and Ago Demirdjian. The free public exhibition runs from 3–15 May at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries.
The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne has announced that its Yayoi Kusama survey exhibition, titled "Yayoi Kusama," sold 570,537 tickets, making it the most-visited ticketed art exhibition in Australian history. The show, which ran from 15 December 2024 to 21 April 2025, surpassed the NGV's own record of 462,262 tickets for "Van Gogh and the Seasons" in 2017. Featuring 200 artworks spanning nearly nine decades of the artist's career, including ten infinity rooms, the exhibition was the largest the NGV has ever dedicated to a single living artist. The NGV also acquired two major works from the show: "Dancing Pumpkin" (2020) and "Narcissus Garden" (1966/2024).
Christie's and Sotheby's held their spring marquee auctions in Hong Kong and Shanghai, timed to coincide with Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time. Christie's evening sale of 20th and 21st century art in Hong Kong achieved HKD 560 million (USD 72 million) with a 95% sell-through rate, led by Jean-Michel Basquiat's *Sabado por la Noche (Saturday Night)* (1984) at HKD 112.6 million. Other highlights included a new artist record for Zhang Enli's *Intimacy* (2002) at HKD 23.4 million, and strong sales for works by Yayoi Kusama, Zao Wou-Ki, and Adrian Ghenie, though most lots sold near their low estimates.
A new auction record has been set, with a significant artwork selling for a high price at a major auction house. The sale took place recently, drawing attention from collectors and the art market.
DeviantArt has undergone a significant resurgence, reaching over 108 million users by 2026 following a multi-year modernization effort. The platform has pivoted away from traditional advertising models to a creator-centric ecosystem that prioritizes artist monetization through subscriptions, digital tip jars, and low-fee sales. By removing third-party ads and implementing advanced image protection technology, the site has positioned itself as a secure alternative to mainstream social media for digital creators.
Photographer Ron Timehin discusses a standout image from his documentary project in Labadi, Accra, featuring five local community members and a horse against a ruined farm building. The project, commissioned by My Runway Group, aims to move away from traditional documentary tropes by portraying West African communities in a collaborative, dignified, and elegant manner.
London art dealer Oghenochuko Ojiri has pleaded guilty to eight charges of failing to disclose potential terrorist financing after selling artworks to Nazem Ahmad, a collector sanctioned by the US since 2019 for funding Hezbollah. The charges, brought by the Metropolitan Police’s National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit, cover transactions from October 2020 to December 2021, with artwork valued at approximately £140,000 ($186,000). Ojiri, who owned a namesake gallery in East London and appeared as an art expert on BBC’s Bargain Hunt, allegedly filled out paperwork in other individuals' names to disguise Ahmad’s ownership of the works.