wassily kandinsky painting worth 15 5 m to headline christies 20 21 spring evening sale in london alongside henry moore work

Christie's London will offer Wassily Kandinsky's painting *Le Rond Rouge* (1939) with a high estimate of £15.5 million ($21.3 million) in its 20th/21st Century evening sale on March 5. The work, a key piece from the artist's Paris period, has been in prominent collections and was last sold at Sotheby's New York in 2018 for $20.6 million. The sale will also feature a fresh-to-auction Henry Moore bronze sculpture, *King and Queen* (1952-53), estimated at up to £15 million.

henry moore sculpture worth 15 m to headline christies 20th 21st century evening sale in london this spring

A major bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, 'King and Queen' (1952-53), will be the top lot at Christie's 20th/21st Century evening sale in London on March 5. The work, estimated at £15 million ($20.5 million), is the first cast from an edition and the only one remaining in private hands, having been acquired directly from the artist by its current anonymous owner.

ken griffin basquiat stephen friedman gallery

London's Stephen Friedman Gallery is facing serious financial difficulties, with its 2024 financial reports overdue and its 2023 accounts revealing a loss of £1.7 million. The gallery, which recently expanded with a large new London space and a New York outpost, is reliant on external financing and negotiations with creditors to continue operating, casting significant doubt on its future viability.

magritte bucksbaum collection sothebys sale

At Sotheby’s Modern evening auction, René Magritte’s 1942 painting *Le Jockey perdu*—which the artist considered a turning point in his career—sold for over $12.3 million, exceeding its high estimate. The work was part of a group of ten consignments from the estate of shopping mall magnate Matthew Bucksbaum and his wife Carolyn “Kay” Bucksbaum, influential collectors and philanthropists who met on a blind date in 1952. Alongside works by Salvador Dalí, Jean Dubuffet, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró, the evening sale netted more than $25 million, with remaining pieces appearing in subsequent day sales.

november marquee auction sales midpoint analysis

Christie's and Sotheby's November marquee auctions in New York generated a combined $1.4 billion, with Sotheby's achieving a record $706 million from a double-header sale. The highlight was Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" (1914–16), sold for $236.4 million from the collection of late cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder, becoming the most expensive modern artwork ever sold at auction. Christie's Monday sale brought in $690 million, falling short of its $731.5 million high estimate but still marking a 42% increase over its equivalent sale last November.

records fall during 706 million night at sothebys turbocharged by blue chip lauder trove

Sotheby's achieved a record-breaking $706 million auction night at its new global headquarters in the Breuer Building, New York, the highest total in the auction house's 281-year history. The sale was propelled by the collection of late art patron Leonard A. Lauder, whose 24 pieces sold for $527.5 million, led by Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* (1914–16) which fetched $236.4 million, becoming the second-priciest artwork ever sold at auction. A subsequent contemporary and ultra-contemporary art sale added $178.5 million.

shanghai art021 west bund art recap

Shanghai's West Bund Art & Design fair and Art021 opened last week with unexpectedly strong sales, despite economic headwinds and regional competition. Many galleries reported brisk first-day sales, with Thaddaeus Ropac placing five works including a Martha Jungwirth painting for €500,000, and Hauser & Worth selling two works for over $1 million. However, major blue-chip galleries like Gagosian and Pace opted out entirely, while others like Almine Rech, White Cube, and David Zwirner scaled back their participation. The fairs took place against a backdrop of China's ongoing property slump and the overlapping Art Collaboration Kyoto, which siphoned attention from international collectors.

marquee art sales fall 2025 christies sothebys phillips

Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips are holding their marquee fall 2025 sales in New York next week, with an unusually high volume of inventory. Christie's alone will offer 80 works on Monday night, and across the week 27 lots carry estimates above $10 million—a stark contrast to the tepid May sales. The season is top-heavy, with the $2 million–$5 million range considered the trickiest. Notable consignments include the estate of Leonard Lauder and the collection of Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, while many discretionary sellers remain absent. Day sales feature works with significant price drops, such as a Steve Parrino painting last sold for nearly $1 million now estimated at $300,000–$500,000, and an Avery Singer work that sold for $3 million in 2022 now estimated at $600,000–$800,000. Several pandemic-era speculative purchases are also returning to market at steep discounts.

sothebys newly relocated to the breuer building reintroduces itself to new york

Sotheby's has relocated its New York headquarters to Marcel Breuer's iconic Brutalist building on Madison Avenue, formerly home to the Whitney Museum, the Met Breuer, and a Frick Collection outpost. After a renovation by Herzog & de Meuron that restored original gallery proportions and upgraded infrastructure, the auction house is inaugurating the space with a series of exhibitions featuring three major single-owner collections—Leonard A. Lauder, Cindy and Jay Pritzker, and Exquisite Corpus—estimated at over a billion dollars. Highlights include Gustav Klimts from the Lauder trove, a Van Gogh still life from the Pritzker collection, a Frida Kahlo painting expected to set a record for a woman artist, and a Basquiat work in the contemporary evening sale.

sothebys matthew carolyn bucksbaum magritte jean dubuffett

Sotheby's will sell ten works from the Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum collection in its fall auctions, with six pieces by René Magritte, Jean Dubuffet, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Paul Klee featured in the Modern Evening auction on November 20. The group of six works carries a total estimate of $18 million to $24 million, led by Magritte's *Le Jockey perdu* (1942) at $9–12 million and Dubuffet's *Restaurant Rougeot II* (1961) at $6–8 million. Sotheby's executives Julian Dawes and Grégoire Billault emphasized the rarity and importance of these works, noting that the Magritte is the only oil version of its subject and the Dubuffet is one of just three paintings of the iconic Paris restaurant.

art world figures remember late patron agnes gund a legend and icon

Agnes Gund, a towering art collector and patron of New York's Museum of Modern Art, died Thursday in Manhattan at age 87. Following the announcement, artists and cultural workers including Roxana Marcoci, Glenn Ligon, Lorna Simpson, and Hoor Al Qasimi honored her memory on social media, recalling her friendship, generosity, and commitment to social justice. Gund spearheaded MoMA's 1990s expansion, founded the arts education nonprofit Studio in the School in 1977, and in 2017 sold Roy Lichtenstein's "Masterpiece" (1962) to launch the Art for Justice Fund, a $100 million grant initiative for criminal justice reform.

kenneth griffin 13th amendment emancipation proclamation sothebys

Billionaire hedge funder and art collector Kenneth Griffin revealed he was the buyer of record-breaking copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, both signed by President Abraham Lincoln, at a Sotheby's New York auction. The Thirteenth Amendment sold for $13.7 million, more than five times the previous record, while the Emancipation Proclamation fetched $4.4 million. Griffin, founder of Citadel, is an avid collector of rare historical documents and high-value art, having previously purchased a copy of the U.S. Constitution for $43.2 million and major works by artists like Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

jeff koons split rocker lacma resnicks

Lynda and Stewart Resnick have donated a monumental Jeff Koons sculpture, *Split-Rocker*, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The 37-foot-tall work, made of a metal skeleton and planted with 50,000 flowers, resembles a hybrid toy head—half rocking horse, half dinosaur. It will be installed near a new group of galleries endowed by trustee David Geffen. The Resnicks listed an unnamed piece given to LACMA on their 2023 tax filings valued at $9.6 million. The donation is part of director Michael Govan’s long-term plan to add another major sculpture to LACMA’s campus, alongside works like Chris Burden’s *Urban Light* and Tony Smith’s *Smoke*.

art basel 2025 sales report

Art Basel 2025 in Switzerland, now in its 55th edition, opened with 289 exhibitors amid a soft and unpredictable art market. Major sales included a Ruth Asawa sculpture for $9.5 million at David Zwirner, a Gerhard Richter painting for $6.8 million, and a Keith Haring from 1983 for $3.5 million at Gladstone. The top reported sale was David Hockney's 'Mid November Tunnel' (2006) for $13-17 million at Annely Juda Fine Art. Hauser & Wirth headlined with a moody Mark Rothko from the early 1960s, while galleries adopted strategies of offering wide price ranges and diverse styles to hedge against market uncertainty.

art basel 2025 major works sales

Art Basel 2025 opened in Basel, Switzerland, with nearly 300 leading galleries showcasing high-value artworks despite a turbulent art market. Major works include a Gerhard Richter abstraction (1987) at David Zwirner, priced around $30 million, a Ruth Asawa hanging sculpture sold for $9.5 million, and Picassos at Pace and Helly Nahmad Gallery, with the latter's *Femme nue couchée jouant avec un chat* (1964) listed at $28 million after fetching $21.2 million at auction two years ago. The fair runs through Sunday, offering rare opportunities to view and purchase blue-chip pieces.

mondrian christies riggio

Christie’s marquee auction on Monday night in New York generated $488.8 million in total sales, led by Piet Mondrian’s 1922 painting *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue*, which sold for $47.6 million—just shy of the artist’s $51 million auction record. The sale featured the Leonard & Louise Riggio collection, the largest single collection of the season, comprising 39 works estimated at $252–326 million; after one withdrawal and one unsold lot, the group achieved $271.9 million. Many high-profile lots, including works by Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Barbara Hepworth, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol, sold on single bids to third-party guarantors, reflecting a cautious market.

phillips nets lean 52 million in new york led by basquiat that david bowie bought for

Phillips’s Modern and contemporary art evening sale in New York totaled $52 million, a sharp decline from $86.3 million last year. Four lots were withdrawn before the sale, including works by Pablo Picasso and Jasper Johns, and five lots failed to sell, yielding an 86% sell-through rate (78% including withdrawals). The hammer total of $41.8 million fell below the pre-sale low estimate of $52.3 million. Notable sales included a Basquiat piece once owned by David Bowie, which sold for $6.59 million (Bowie bought it in 1995 for $93,400), and a Kiki Kogelnik painting that set a new artist record at $356,000. Five auction records were set overall, including for Ilana Savdie, Olga de Amaral, Grace Hartigan, and James Turrell.

Eyecatchers and Discoveries

Eyecatcher und Entdeckungen

The 42nd edition of Art Brussels has scaled down to 138 exhibitors from 165 in 2025, responding to a sluggish contemporary art market and economic uncertainty. The fair introduces a new section called 'Horizonte,' curated by Devrim Bayar of Kanal Centre Pompidou, featuring six large-scale installations including Pao Hui Kao's delicate paper-and-lacquer refuge and Oswald Oberhuber's €380,000 panoramic painting 'Paradiesgarten.' Galleries are now consolidated into one hall, with fewer blue-chip participants but a continued focus on living artists (95% of the 500 shown). Notable presentations include Xavier Hufkens' solo show of Cassi Namoda, Krinziger's works by Marina Abramović and Monica Bonvicini, and Richard Saltoun's historical mix of Fernand Khnopff, Everlyn Nicodemus, and Suzanne Van Damme.

Think you have strong opinions about the 2026 Archibald prize? Check out the portraits that didn’t make the cut | Dee Jefferson

The article explores the annual ritual of the Archibald Prize, Australia's most famous portrait competition, through the lens of the 2026 edition. The author, Dee Jefferson, describes the predictable cycle of public enthusiasm, critical disdain, and media coverage that surrounds the prize, noting recurring trends like brown suits, oversized heads, and the dominance of male artists painting male subjects. The piece highlights specific works in this year's exhibition, including a portrait of musician Keli Holiday by Sindy Sinn that the author finds disorienting, and contrasts the main exhibition with the Salon des Refusés, the showcase of rejected entries, which includes a provocative portrait of Patricia Piccinini by Wendy Sharpe featuring exaggerated anatomy.

Radiohead Brings Its Strange Visual Universe to Life in an Immersive Spectacle

Radiohead has launched "Motion Picture House," an immersive audiovisual installation at Brooklyn Navy Yards in New York, on view through June. The exhibition draws from the band's albums *Kid A* (2000) and *Amnesiac* (2001), featuring glitching televisions, cryptic posters, stick-figure sculptures, and alien landscapes. It culminates in a 75-minute film, *KID A MNESIA*, directed by Sean Evans, originally released in 2021. The show debuted at Coachella Festival and will travel to Chicago, Mexico City, and San Francisco through early 2027.

Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood Plot a Mysterious Art Show in Venice

Musician Thom Yorke and artist Stanley Donwood will present a new exhibition titled “No Go Elevator (not without no keycard)” in a small gallery in Venice next month, coinciding with the Venice Biennale. The show marks their first showcase outside the U.K. and features a mix of drawings and a large painting created in London this year, with cryptic textual components and no unifying theme, according to the artists.

superrare new york gallery digital art

SuperRare, the digital art trading platform, is opening a permanent New York gallery called Offline in the East Village at 243 Bowery, the former home of Salon 94. The inaugural exhibition, “Mythologies for a Spiritually Void Time,” curated by X.S. Hou and Jack Wedge, opens July 8 and features 15 artists working across animation, painting, sculpture, and networked media. The launch includes a week-long festival with dance performances, panels on art and A.I., and a choreographed NFT auction ritual.

richard hambleton obituary

Richard Hambleton, the Canadian street artist known for his iconic "shadowman" silhouettes that appeared on New York City walls in the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 65, as confirmed by Woodward Gallery. Hambleton emerged alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf in the downtown graffiti scene, but a long battle with heroin and crack addiction plagued his life. His career saw a resurgence following a documentary by Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, leading to renewed exhibitions including his participation in "Club 57: Film, Performance and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983" at the Museum of Modern Art.

10 young female artists feminism

The article profiles ten young female artists who are using their work to explore and assert feminist perspectives in the face of contemporary misogyny, particularly referencing the US president-elect's rhetoric. Featured artists include Emma Sulkowicz, known for her durational performance 'Carry That Weight' protesting campus rape culture, and Sarah Maple, a British artist whose multimedia works tackle identity and gender with provocative humor. The piece highlights how these artists address themes such as sexual violence, gender fluidity, and the reclaiming of femininity through mediums ranging from performance and video to painting and photography.

as costs rise dealers in asia take a pragmatic approach to fair participation

The article reports that two major Asian art fairs, Taipei Dangdai Art and Ideas and Art Busan, are currently running through May 11, but both have seen significant drops in exhibitor numbers. Taipei Dangdai is down 32% to 53 galleries, while Art Busan is off 16% to 109 galleries. Dealers cite rising costs, geopolitical uncertainties, and fair fatigue as reasons for a more selective, pragmatic approach to participation, focusing on regional fairs and transactional value over visibility.

pope francis contemporary art obituary

Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at age 88. A Jesuit priest from Argentina, he was the first pope from the Americas and the first from outside Europe since the 8th century. During his papacy, he took progressive stances on social justice, migrants, the environment, and the LGBTQ community, and also engaged deeply with contemporary art. He oversaw the Vatican Museums, ordered the return of Parthenon marble fragments to Greece, restored Raphael frescoes, and became the first pope to visit the Venice Biennale, where the Vatican had its first-ever pavilion in 2013.

British ’90s art and fashion exhibition heading to Tate Britain in fall 2026.

Tate Britain will mount the first major exhibition exploring the transformative impact of fashion, art, and photography on 1990s Britain. Curated by former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, the show titled “The 90s: Art and Fashion” will bring together over 100 works—including photographs, paintings, films, sculptures, objects, and garments—from nearly 70 artists. It runs from August 8, 2026 through February 14, 2027.

The 5 Best Booths at miart 2026

The 30th edition of miart opened its doors at the Allianz MiCo convention center in Milan, marking a significant milestone for Italy’s premier international modern and contemporary art fair. As the city continues its ascent as a global art capital, the 2026 fair attracted a diverse continental crowd of collectors and professionals ahead of the upcoming Venice Biennale.

Tate Britain will Exhibit ‘90s Art and Fashion, and Other News.

Tate Britain will stage "The 90s: Art and Fashion" in autumn 2026, guest curated by Edward Enninful, featuring nearly 70 artists, designers, and photographers including Steve McQueen, Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen, and Vivienne Westwood. The exhibition explores how the decade reshaped British cultural identity through art, fashion, and social commentary, highlighting DIY anti-fashion aesthetics and themes of identity, race, class, and representation. Separately, Gagosian opened a new ground-floor flagship at 980 Madison Avenue in New York, replacing its longtime sixth-floor space after 37 years. A rare 17th-century Mughal astrolabe is heading to Sotheby's London with a £1.5–2.5 million estimate. Fondazione Sozzani launched an award for emerging creative talent. A Manhattan federal jury ordered art publisher Michael McKenzie to pay $102.2 million in damages to the Morgan Art Foundation for producing unauthorized works by Robert Indiana.

Latin American galleries dominate at Frieze New York

Frieze New York 2025 features a surge of 14 Latin American galleries from Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, reversing a trend of withdrawal seen during the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second presidency. Non-profit support from organizations like Latitude, which helped all eight Brazilian exhibitors, and a concerted effort by Frieze’s Americas team have enabled this increased presence, despite ongoing challenges such as high shipping costs, tariffs, and visa denials—exemplified by Mexican artist Dr Lakra being unable to attend his own show at Kurimanzutto.