Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco presents 'Bay Area Then,' an exhibition running from August 1, 2025, to January 25, 2026, that surveys the Northern California art scene between 1990 and 2005. Guest curated by Eungie Joo, the show features works by nineteen artists or collaborations, including Manuel Ocampo, Margaret Kilgallen, Bill Daniel, Ruby Neri, and Carolyn Castaño, mixing historical pieces with recent productions by artists who emerged during that era.
Auction sales at Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips fell to $3.98 billion in the first half of 2025, a 6% decline from the same period in 2024 and the lowest total in at least a decade excluding the pandemic. Postwar and contemporary art, the traditional growth engine, dropped 19%. ArtTactic cites lingering concerns over global economic growth, inflation, and geopolitical tensions as dampening confidence, even as wealthy individuals' personal wealth and stock markets reach record highs.
The article highlights standout works at Osaka Art & Design 2025, including Maki Takato's 'Yokai Unity' installation at Nankai Namba Station, Shotaro Sanada's 'Next Landscape', and alan's 'Re:Re:' piece. It also promotes designboom's upcoming guides and exhibition roundups, such as the Venice Art Biennale 2026 and a monthly selection of global art and design shows.
The article reflects on the art market's turbulent 2025, marked by gallery closures, weak auction results, and canceled art fairs. Rather than viewing this as a collapse, the author argues it represents a necessary "right-sizing" of an industry that over-expanded during boom years. Key figures like Philip Hoffman of the Fine Art Group advocate for leaner, more agile business models, such as his new advisory firm New Perspectives Art Partners. Meanwhile, dealers in New York and Los Angeles are adapting through shared exhibition spaces and strategic mergers, including Marian Goodman Gallery hosting Jenkins Johnson Gallery and the formation of Hoffman Donahue.
Serakai Studio presents 'dreamedcore', its second exhibition at GOLD in Hong Kong's Wong Chuk Hang district, running from June 6 to August 1. Curated by Shirley Lau and Tobias Berge, the show blends an art exhibition, concept store, and runway format to explore digital-age nostalgia through the lens of 'dreamcore' aesthetics—drawing on 1990s and early 2000s visual textures. Featuring 22 emerging multi-disciplinary artists and creative practitioners from across Asia, including Li Shuang, Wong Ping, and Peng Ke, the exhibition is divided into two chapters: 'The Lure' and 'The Twist', with a central runway stage, ambient lighting, and a mini cinema screening a video by Wong Ping.
The next Wilmington Art Loop, a free citywide art exhibition, opens on Friday, June 6, 2025, from 5–9 PM. Now in its 38th year, the event is a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Out & About Magazine. Participating venues include The Delaware Contemporary (featuring RADIUS and ARC 25 exhibitions), Wilmington’s Redding Gallery (hosting the City of Wilmington Employee Juried Art Show and a display on the Tubman-Garrett statue), The Mezzanine Gallery (showcasing Jen Hintz Eggers), MKT Gallery (presenting Troy Jones’s “Ancestral Echoes: Masks We Wear”), and Bridge Art Gallery. A free shuttle, provided by the City of Wilmington Parks & Recreation Department, will run from The Delaware Contemporary parking lot, with riders voting on additional gallery stops.
A federal judge in New York has approved a final settlement in a lawsuit between the two pseudonymous figures behind the record-breaking $69.3 million purchase of Beeple's NFT "Everydays: The First 5000 Days." The agreement legally prohibits Anand Venkateswaran (Twobadour) from claiming any involvement in the 2021 Christie's purchase, confirming that Vignesh Sundaresan (Metakovan) was the sole buyer. Venkateswaran must also pay an undisclosed sum, dissociate from related online profiles, and correct third-party biographical information.
The article reviews 'Forge', a new crime thriller directed by Jing Ai Ng, which follows Chinese American siblings Coco and Raymond Zhang who forge early 20th-century landscape paintings and sell them as authentic works in South Florida. The film features FBI agent Emily (Kelly Marie Tran) investigating the scheme, while the forgers navigate a world of wealthy collectors, a hurricane-destroyed art collection, and a family legacy of deception. The movie is described as 'Miami Vice' for the art-world crowd, with a dusky palette and pulsing soundtrack set against the backdrop of Art Basel Miami Beach's booming art market.
A distinctive bicorne hat belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte, worn during his final exile on Saint Helena, has been rediscovered after more than a century in storage at the Condé Museum. Curators found the beaver pelt hat, made by his official hat-maker Poupard, while preparing for an upcoming exhibition, and its provenance has been confirmed through extensive study.
You Yang, the director of X Museum, discusses the recent surge in new art museums, particularly those backed by tech companies in China's Greater Bay Area, including Shenzhen and Hong Kong. He attributes this boom to a strategic shift in Shenzhen's cultural policy, the city's established cultural foundations, and the region's historical role in cross-cultural exchange, which has created a demand for contemporary institutions.
Nifty Gateway, one of the earliest and most prominent NFT marketplaces, announced it will shut down on February 23, 2026, citing sharply declining activity. The platform, founded in 2018 by twins Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster and acquired by Gemini in 2019, has entered withdrawal-only mode, advising users to move their assets before the deadline. At its peak in 2021, Nifty Gateway reported $300 million in gross merchandise value, boosted by a Sotheby's partnership for a $17 million NFT drop by the artist Pak. The closure follows the collapse of the NFT boom, with trading volumes plummeting and other platforms like Async Art, KnownOrigin, and MakersPlace already shuttered.
Bonhams ended 2025 with $970 million in global sales, one of its strongest recent performances, driven by growth across regions and categories including fine art, luxury goods, and collector cars. The year’s top lot was a 2020 Bugatti Divo that sold for $9 million. However, the results are overshadowed by a Financial Times report of a £213 million pre-tax loss in 2024, largely due to £153 million in impairment charges tied to a change in ownership—the house was sold by private-equity firm Epiris to Pemberton Asset Management in October 2025. Bonhams Hong Kong posted a record $104 million, UK sales rose 4.5% to $285 million, and digital sales accounted for 46% of total value.
Feria Material, a satellite art fair to Mexico City's Zona Maco, is moving its venue just six weeks before its February 5–8 edition. The fair will relocate from Expo Reforma to Maravilla Studios, a renovated historic factory in Colonia Atlampa, because Expo Reforma is hosting "Stranger Things: The Experience," a Netflix immersive activation, through the end of February. Material cofounder Brett W. Schultz told ARTnews that the fair exhausted all options to stay at Expo Reforma but faced limited venue options and skyrocketing rental prices in Mexico City. Maravilla Studios offered a similar price and features a single-level layout with high ceilings, polished concrete floors, and outdoor spaces, which the fair's production team sees as an improvement over the previous two-floor, carpeted venue.
A first-edition copy of "Superman No. 1" from 1939 sold for $9.12 million at Heritage Auctions on November 20, setting a new record for the most expensive comic book ever sold. The comic was discovered in a cardboard box in the attic of a Northern California home by three brothers after their mother's death, preserved in near-mint condition (graded 9 out of 10 by CGC). Alongside it, they found other valuable early comics, including a 1939 Action Comics featuring Zatara ($204,000) and a Superman-focused issue ($264,000).
The Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Dutch national photo collection, has opened in a new, purpose-built home in Rotterdam. The museum, which holds over 6.5 million images, moved from its previous mixed-use location into a converted and expanded former coffee warehouse, designed to offer public views into its conservation archives and featuring interactive displays.
Tehran Auction, Iran's premier auction house, held a $1.5 million art sale at the Azadi Hotel in October, selling 120 works by top Iranian Modern and contemporary artists. This strong domestic performance contrasts sharply with the weak showing of Iranian art at Sotheby's and Christie's in London, where prices have slowed amid sanctions and geopolitical isolation.
Sydney Fringe Festival has announced its full 2025 program, featuring over 460 events and more than 2,900 artists across four precincts and ten festival hubs this September. Highlights include the immersive theatre experience 'When Night Comes' by Broad Encounters, internationally acclaimed shows by storytelling duo Wright & Grainger, the return of the Queer and First Nations Hubs, and the reopening of the Eternity Playhouse as the home of the Off Broadway Hub. The festival kicks off with a free street party at The Rocks on 4 September, and includes SIDESHOW performances, the Cabaret Hub at Marrickville Town Hall, and a new group exhibition by Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative.
The Manchester International Festival (MIF) returns with a new edition featuring three standout art exhibitions. At Aviva Studios, "Football City, Art United" pairs top footballers like Vivianne Miedema and Ella Toone with artists such as Suzanne Lacy and the collective Keiken to create 11 co-produced works exploring gender, ritual, and identity. At the Whitworth gallery, the first international solo show of Indigenous Uitoto artist Santiago Yahuarcani presents over 30 works on bark canvas, addressing ancestral cosmology and the legacy of colonial violence during the rubber boom.
Wirral is hosting the Independents Biennial 2025, a major contemporary art festival running concurrently with the Liverpool Biennial. Nearly 300 artists will exhibit in 120 locations across the Liverpool City Region, including landmarks such as Fort Perch Rock, Hilbre Island, and Hamilton Square. Highlights include a studio group exhibition titled 'Boom' at the Old Fire Station in Port Sunlight, featuring sculptor Emma Rodgers and collaborators, with works by Johnny Vegas. The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum will debut a commissioned piece by Jackie Haynes and Heather Mullender-Ross, and an art market at Birkenhead Market on June 28 will offer works by over 30 independent artists.
The New York Times reports a significant resurgence in print interior design magazines, with titles like Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and House Beautiful experiencing substantial growth in advertising pages and newsstand sales. This revival is occurring despite the broader print media downturn and a shift towards digital content consumption.
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is currently presenting two distinct exhibitions that explore memory, identity, and historical violence in Latin America. 'Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge' features 35 works by the Peruvian artist that weave together Uitoto cosmology with the traumatic history of the Amazon rubber boom, while 'Video Room: Oscar Muñoz' showcases three video works by the Colombian artist that use ephemeral materials to reflect on political disappearance and the instability of the image.
Tatiana Malinovscaia's painting "Blue Distance in Quiet Light" (2026) is being offered for sale by Artseeker Gallery. The 100x130 cm acrylic on canvas work features a restrained abstract composition with muted blues, ivories, beiges, and charcoals, built through layered textures and tonal contrasts. Malinovscaia, a self-taught Moldovan artist, explores the interplay between architectural clarity and atmospheric abstraction, with light acting as a central structural element that reveals nuanced variations across the textured surface throughout the day.
New York’s mega auction season concluded with mixed results, characterized by volatility and unpredictability. Major auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips held high-stakes sales of Impressionist, modern, and contemporary art, with some lots exceeding expectations while others failed to sell or fell short of estimates. The season was marked by a ‘chaotic’ atmosphere, reflecting shifting collector preferences and market uncertainty.
The New York Times reports on the difficulties faced by new museums opening in the current art landscape, highlighting financial pressures, shifting audience expectations, and geopolitical tensions. The article examines several recently opened or planned institutions, including the Grand Palais in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, and the National Museum of Qatar, detailing how each has navigated issues such as rising construction costs, sustainability concerns, and debates over cultural representation.
The Azerbaijan National Art Museum has opened an exhibition titled 'Chronicle of the City of Winds: Baku in the Works of Artists from the 19th to 21st Centuries,' organized jointly by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the museum. Featuring over 80 works of painting, graphic art, and sculpture, the show traces Baku's historical, architectural, and cultural evolution from the 19th century to the present day. It includes pieces from the museum's collection alongside contemporary works, and is part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), held within the Year of Urban Planning and Architecture in Azerbaijan. The opening ceremony featured speeches by Deputy Culture Minister Saadat Yusifova, museum director Shirin Malikova, and People's Artist Salhab Mammadov, as well as a musical performance by Honored Artist Nargiz Karimova and Zumrud Alizade.
Spalding artist Joey Lowe organized the fourth edition of a local art exhibition at The Sessions House, attracting over 1,000 visitors and gallery owners from Norfolk and Gainsborough. The event featured 50 artists, including local MP Sir John Hayes, and introduced a new 'mini youth exhibition' with artwork from five area schools.
Tasmanian artist Adele Auchterlonie is set to debut her first solo exhibition, "Summer’s Rhythm," at the fortyfivedownstairs gallery in Melbourne. The self-taught painter, based in Lindisfarne, experienced a rapid surge in professional interest after her Instagram following grew from 400 to over 7,000 in just five months. The upcoming showcase features works inspired by the Australian outdoors and nostalgic summer memories, created primarily during her maternity leave.
Tara Long's new installation *La Esquinita (little corner)* has taken over all three spaces at Locust Projects in Miami, transforming the gallery into a shop for sweets and souvenirs with over 500 miniature sculptures for sale. The immersive environment, her first major solo show, unfolds in three acts—seduction, exposure, and collapse—centered on a crumbling room-sized frosted cake. The exhibition draws parallels between Florida's early 20th-century Big Sugar land grab and today's Big Tech boom, reflecting on cycles of extraction and survival in Long's hometown. A pop-up speakeasy will run on Friday and Saturday nights (5 and 6 December).
The article examines the evolution of the Indian Modern and Contemporary Art market over the past three decades, noting a shift in financial power from New York and London to Mumbai and New Delhi. It highlights the pivotal 1997 auction 'The Intuitive-Logic II' organized by HEART (Tuli Foundation for Holistic Education and Art) as a catalyst, and traces the market's trajectory through a boom period (2000-2007), a stagnation and decline (2010-2018), and a current sustained rise.
London is experiencing a surge in South Asian art exhibitions and events, driven by a booming market for Indian modern art. The trend is fueled by young, high-earning collectors entering the market amid India's growing financial confidence, with shows targeting wealthy Indian collectors.