Sotheby’s London Notches $63.3 Million Contemporary Sale, as Francis Bacon Portrait Soars

Sotheby's London held a contemporary evening sale on Thursday, totaling £47.6 million ($63.3 million), a significant increase from the £37.6 million ($49.2 million) achieved in the same Frieze-timed sale last year. The auction featured 27 lots, with a sell-through rate of 89%, and was led by Francis Bacon's *Portrait of a Dwarf* (1975), which sold for £13 million ($17.5 million), well above its high estimate. Tom Eddison, Sotheby's co-head of contemporary art, took the rostrum for his first marquee evening auction, guiding measured bidding that saw confident competition, including a cross-Channel contest for the top lot, ultimately won by Johan Nauckhoff for a client.

Exhibition | Huang Hankang, 'The Sky Remains as the Bird Departs' at Arario Gallery, Shanghai, China

Arario Gallery Shanghai presents Huang Hankang's solo exhibition 'The Sky Remains as the Bird Departs,' running from May 15 to July 4. The show uses Shanghai as a dynamic 'processing system' where images, histories, and cultures are constantly received, translated, and reorganized. Through installations and paintings, the exhibition compresses multiple visual and historical threads, featuring works such as 'Gate of Flesh and Soul,' which juxtaposes Giuseppe Castiglione's hybrid visual language with the Cathay Theatre and fragments of George Washington's dentures, and 'Overlaid Life,' which contrasts a Song Dynasty crystal rabbit with cultivated orchids. Other pieces like 'Void Resonance' and 'Nameless Mark' explore perception, the body, and cultural mediation.

rare mellon blue diamond 2025 sale christies 1234760992

A rare blue diamond pendant known as the Mellon Blue, owned by art collector Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon, sold for $25.5 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on Tuesday. The 9.51-carat fancy vivid blue, internally flawless pear-shaped diamond had a pre-sale estimate of $20–30 million. This price is 22 percent less than the $32.6 million it achieved at Sotheby’s in 2014 as part of Mellon’s collection sale, and nearly 60 percent less when adjusted for inflation. The buyer was not disclosed.

‘Was she going to an appointment, maybe even a romantic one?’: ASA’s best phone picture

ASA, an anonymous photographer, captured a candid iPhone X image in Bastia, Corsica, during the summer of 2018. The photograph shows a woman walking through strong sunlight, reduced to a silhouette against burned facades. ASA waited patiently for the right passerby, later imagining the woman might be heading to a romantic appointment, though they emphasize the work is about shape, movement, and contrast rather than identity.

The language of termites: Liss Fenwick’s The Colony – in pictures

Artist Liss Fenwick has created a photobook titled 'The Colony' by feeding a collection of historical Australian novels, described as 'settler fan fiction,' to a colony of termites. The insects consumed the books over several years, leaving behind hollowed, sculptural remains that Fenwick photographed. The resulting work documents this process of organic transformation, where the physical texts are digested and reshaped.

‘The happiness on their faces pulled me back to my own childhood’: Mark Linel Padecio’s best phone picture

Photographer Mark Linel Padecio captured his 10-year-old daughter, Xianthee, and her five-year-old cousin, Zack, playing joyfully in the mud of a riverbed on the family farm in Dapdap, Philippines. The moment occurred after a brief rainfall ended a severe drought, transforming a landscape of hardship into one of relief. Padecio, initially surprised by his usually serious city-dwelling daughter's abandon, was moved by the children's authentic happiness to document the scene with his phone instead of stopping them.

‘Prince laughed like a kid as I painted “Free” on his stomach’: Steve Parke’s best photograph

Photographer Steve Parke recounts the story behind his iconic 1999 photo shoot of Prince for Notorious magazine. The singer rejected the magazine's initial concept of painting "1999" on his stomach, instead insisting on the word "Free" to reflect his ongoing battle for artistic freedom from record labels. Parke, who was Prince's in-house art director, ended up painting the word on the singer's stomach himself with gold paint, causing Prince to laugh like a child from the cold sensation.

Frieze New Writers Pick Vienna’s Must-See Exhibitions

Andrew Durbin reviews national pavilions at a major art event, contrasting a vacuous US presentation with incisive and moving installations from Britain and Germany. The piece is part of Frieze's 'Critic's Guides' series, offering a pointed critique of the US pavilion's lack of meaning against the strength of its European counterparts.

Afton's Third Friday Night Art Exhibits Run From May To November

Afton's Third Friday Night Art Exhibits return for the 2025 season, running from May 15 through November at 146 Main Street in Afton, New York. The monthly events, held in the HUG/HALos building (formerly the Great American Food Store), feature rotating selections of artwork from local artists, with the first exhibit showcasing youth art from Afton students. Gallery curator and artist Michael Bolde, who launched the series three years ago, organizes the shows in a community room provided free of charge by Joyce Humphrey, founder of the HALos grief counseling program. Artists who sell work contribute a 20% commission to HALos, far below the typical 50% gallery split, supporting both creators and local programming.

New works by oil painters Betz Green and Jim Green at Stover Mill Gallery

Oil painters Betz Green and Jim Green will showcase their work at the Stover Mill Gallery in Erwinna, Pennsylvania, on weekends from May 9 through May 31, with an opening reception on May 9. Betz Green creates representational, portrait-oriented still lifes with whimsical narratives, while Jim Green works in an impressionistic and expressionistic style with vibrant colors and exaggerated forms. Both artists have won top awards at local venues such as Phillips Mill and Stover Mill.

Delhi exhibition spotlights oneness through an exploration of opposites

A new exhibition titled 'Dvaita: Dualities' has opened at The Lexicon Art in New Delhi, featuring works by ten artists exploring the concept of oneness through opposites. The show includes paintings, murals, and installations that examine contrasts like black and white, geometry and abstraction, and the relationship between humanity and nature.

Phoebe Boswell’s ‘Art on the Underground’ dives into why the majority of Black British adults don’t swim

Artist Phoebe Boswell has unveiled a major public art commission for Art on the Underground, installed across the escalators of Bethnal Green and Notting Hill Gate stations in London. The immersive photographic series features Black subjects moving underwater, captured in a stop-motion style that responds to the physical movement of commuters. The project was inspired by the statistic that 95 per cent of Black British adults do not swim, a reality Boswell links to generational trauma and structural inequality.

'Echoes of Home' at Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa on 28 May–2 Jul 2026

Christopher Moller Gallery in Cape Town is set to host "Echoes of Home," a group exhibition featuring the works of Mpho Feni, Lionel Mbayiwa, and Olamide Ogunade. The show explores the evolving concept of identity and heritage across the African continent, contrasting traditional ancestral knowledge with contemporary lived experiences. Each artist provides a unique lens: Mbayiwa focuses on Shona cosmology, Ogunade utilizes introspective symbolism to capture the fragility of memory, and Feni documents the communal rituals of everyday family life.

Exhibition of art from local Limerick artist on display at Dooradoyle Library

Limerick-based artist and retired civil engineer David Murphy is presenting a solo exhibition titled "One Minute to View a Lifetime" at the Dooradoyle Library. The collection features paintings that are the result of a meticulous, month-long process per piece, emphasizing the contrast between the speed of modern observation and the duration of creative labor. The exhibition is scheduled to remain open to the public until March 7.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Bellarmine Hall Galleries at Fairfield University Art Museum will host an exhibition from September 18 to December 12, 2026, exploring 'Egyptomania'—the 19th-century European fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture. The show features paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art from the early 19th century to the present, including works like Charles-Théodore Frère's *Along the Nile* (ca. 1870). Curated by Megan Paqua, the exhibition examines how Egyptian symbols and motifs were adopted, exoticized, and commercialized, often erasing the ancient Egyptian people themselves. It aims to contrast simplified or stereotypical narratives with current archaeological understanding.

Perkins Center in Collingswood Opens Winter Gallery Season With Dual E...

Perkins Center for the Arts in Collingswood, New Jersey, opens its winter gallery season with a joint artists' reception on January 10, 2026, featuring two exhibitions. In the Main Gallery, 'Room For My Lens' surveys the first 20 years of photographer Liz Wuillermin's career, pairing images with personal stories. Upstairs in the Loft Gallery, 'The Untitled Art Exhibition' presents oil, acrylic, and mixed-media works by Anthony Charles Christopher Johnson and special guest artist Jamil Ameer Cobb, exploring freedom of expression, transformation, and truth through layered surfaces and reimagined found objects. Both shows run from January 5 through February 27, 2026.

Despite years of political and economic turmoil, Iran’s art market is thriving

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.

Art exhibit honors Maine’s Deaf community, victims of Lewiston shootings - Portland Press Herald

An exhibition titled “Unspoken Resilience: Healing from the Lewiston Shooting Two Years In” is on view at the University of New England Art Gallery in Portland, Maine. Co-curated by Michelle Ames and Meryl Troop, the show features work by deaf artists and craftspeople alongside color photographs of Lewiston by Michael Kolster. It was created in response to the October 2023 mass shooting at Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, which killed 18 people, four of whom were deaf. Ames, co-director of deaf services at Disability Rights Maine, was frustrated by the lack of ASL interpreters in media coverage and helped organize community support. The exhibition includes pieces that explore Deaf culture, healing, and the concept of De’VIA (Deaf View/Image Art), a term defined in 1989 by deaf artists to express the Deaf experience through high contrast, intense colors, and symbolic imagery.

Trento, Studio Raffaelli brings Silas and Angus Borsos' painting and photography to Italy

From September 25 to December 15, 2025, Studio d'Arte Raffaelli in Trento, Italy, presents a double solo exhibition by Canadian brothers Silas and Angus Borsos, titled 'Broadway Dreams and the Vancouver Void.' Silas Borsos, a painter based in Brooklyn, shows small-format impressionistic works focused on theater, film scenes, and New York subway glimpses, alongside a large wall installation on paper. Angus Borsos, a photographer and former music video director, exhibits black-and-white analog photographs capturing Vancouver's urban landscapes and existential atmosphere. The exhibition marks the brothers' first joint presentation in Italy and includes a catalog with contributions by Virginia Raffaelli, Camilla Nacci Zanetti, and Gian Marco Montesano.

Collectible design fair’s second New York outing marries ‘folly’ and practicality

The Collectible design fair returns to New York for its second edition, taking place from September 4-7 at the WSA building in the Financial District during Armory Week. Founded in Brussels in 2018 by Clélie Debehault and Liv Vaisberg, the fair brings together international galleries, designers, and architects for a curated showcase of 21st-century design. This year's edition occupies the 39th floor, spanning over 30,000 square feet, and features six curated sections including a buzzy section titled "In Praise of Folly" curated by Architectural Digest's Hannah Martin. Around 60% of exhibitors are from the United States, with the rest from Europe and beyond, including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, South Korea, and Turkey.

In the new documentary Architecton, buildings collapse and stones dance

Victor Kossakovsky's new documentary *Architecton*, opening in US theaters on August 1, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film is a silent, drone-shot meditation on the destruction of the built environment, showing war-ravaged buildings in Ukraine, earthquake ruins in Turkey and Lebanon, and the violent process of stone being blasted for concrete. It contrasts modern structures that collapse within decades with ancient buildings that still stand, and features architect Michele di Lucchi as a quiet voice for thoughtful, enduring design. The film's score is by Russian expatriate composer Evgueni Galperine.

Galleria brings unique approach with flowing, weaving of art

The Viera Voice reports on a local gallery, Galleria, which is introducing a distinctive artistic approach centered on flowing forms and weaving techniques. The article highlights how this gallery is bringing a unique perspective to the local art scene through its focus on these dynamic, textile-inspired methods.

New Books Provide Divergent Views of the Art Market

Three new books offer contrasting perspectives on the art market, just in time for New York Art Week. The titles include a sweeping work of nonfiction, a cheeky memoir, and a dual biography, each examining the business of buying and selling art from different angles.

Dynamic Artistic Duos are on Display in New York This Spring

Three exhibitions in New York this spring are showcasing the works of artistic duos, pairing artists to highlight how their creations either complement or contrast with each other. The shows aim to explore the dynamics of collaboration and dialogue between artists, offering viewers a unique perspective on creative relationships.

This ‘Sustainable’ Island Is Venice’s Newest Art Oasis

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo has transformed a former gunpowder store on the Venetian island of Giudecca into a new exhibition space for her contemporary art collection. The venue, which emphasizes sustainability and adaptive reuse, will showcase works from her extensive collection in a setting that contrasts with the historic grandeur of Venice’s more famous art institutions.

The Vienna Climate Biennale Contrasts Chaos with Hope

The Vienna Climate Biennale, an art festival addressing ecological, social, and political crises, has opened with a focus on sparking dialogue and encouraging audiences to envision a better future. The event contrasts themes of chaos with hope, using contemporary art to engage visitors in critical conversations about climate change and societal transformation.

CHILE AT THE 2026 VENICE BIENNALE NORTON MAZA PRESENTS INTER REALITY

Chile will participate in the 61st Venice Art Biennale with the exhibition "Inter-Reality" by artist Norton Maza, curated by Marisa Cachiolo and Dermis León, and managed by Claudia Pertuzé. The monumental installation, on view from May 9 to November 22, 2026 at the Sala dell'Isolotto in the Arsenale complex, contrasts an exterior referencing geopolitics, landscape, and ecology with an interior of precarious dioramas blending classical European painting and contemporary issues like fake news, migration, and environmental devastation. The work includes a soundscape of helicopters, airplanes, ancestral chants, and nature sounds recorded in Chile.

Interview with the artist of the Danish Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale who staged the porn stars

Intervista all’artista del Padiglione Danese della Biennale di Venezia 2026 che ha messo in scena i porno divi

The Danish Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale presents "Things to Come," a project by artist Maja Malou Lyse (b. 1993, Denmark), curated by Chus Martínez. The installation combines a three-channel video developed with DIS, materials from Cryos (the world's largest sperm bank), and performers from the porn industry, embedding them within the pavilion's architecture to explore the convergence of pornography, biotechnology, desire, and visual culture as a single system of imaginary production.

IDF Soldiers Hide From Our Gaze

An opinion article on Hyperallergic analyzes official portraits of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers released in May 2025, in which the soldiers are depicted with their backs to the camera. The author argues that this pose is a deliberate tactic to avoid identification and potential prosecution for war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, weaponizing surveillance technologies against the very people they surveil. The piece frames these images as "counter-portraits" that transform individual soldiers into a faceless, intimidating mass, contrasting them with traditional portraiture that invites intimate moral scrutiny.

Vulnerability Seen Through the Eyes of Two Artists on Display in Romagna

La vulnerabilità vista dallo sguardo di due artiste in mostra in Romagna

The Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea Vero Stoppioni in Santa Sofia is hosting "Corpi invisibili, fuori controllo" (Invisible Bodies, Out of Control), a dual exhibition featuring artists Claudia Amatruda and Carla Giaccio Darias. Part of the broader "Un Problema del Genere" festival, the show explores the concept of vulnerability through contrasting artistic methods. Amatruda utilizes photography, sculpture, and video to depict bodies in risky, natural environments that highlight relational dependency, while Giaccio Darias uses archival imagery and painting to present fragmented, anatomical forms that challenge the viewer's gaze.