us artists are increasingly self funding institutional projects diriyah contemporary art biennale names artists morning links for january 7 2025 1234769026

The article reports that US artists are increasingly expected to self-fund institutional projects, as illustrated by Dominican American artist Lucia Hierro's 7.5-foot chair commission. Fabrication costs exceeded the museum's budget, forcing her to seek grants from a residency program's fund, which had only $125,000 available against $1.8 million in applicant requests. Separately, over 65 artists have been announced for the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Saudi Arabia, titled "In Interludes and Transitions," with artistic directors Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed emphasizing locally rooted histories. Other news includes artist Thomas McKean using cut-up MetroCards for sculptures, Kenny Schachter reporting a van Gogh private sale above $190 million, an Iron Age carnyx discovery in Norfolk, and critic Ben Luke's critique of uninspired contemporary painting at recent art fairs.

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Kenny Schachter's column reports on the fallout at Michael Werner Gallery following the departure of star artist Peter Doig. Co-owner Gordon VeneKlasen is accused of expensing luxury items—including private jets, Hamptons helicopter rides, and even a solo helicopter trip for his Labrador Retriever—while the gallery faced financial strain. The partnership is dissolving, with VeneKlasen moving to Los Angeles to open his own gallery and listing his West Village home for $20 million. Meanwhile, Schachter also notes Pace Gallery's financial troubles, with founder Arne Glimcher stepping in to stabilize operations.

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Frieze New York 2025 is set to take place at the Shed in Manhattan, bringing together over 65 contemporary art galleries from more than 25 countries. The fair coincides with major institutional shows at the Guggenheim, Whitney Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the recent reopening of the Frick Collection after a $220 million renovation. Notable galleries include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, and David Zwirner, alongside international dealers like Goodman Gallery and Kurimanzutto. The Focus section, curated by Lumi Tan, features 12 young galleries. On the eve of the fair, Frieze itself was sold by Endeavor to former CEO Ari Emanuel for a reported $200 million.

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Kenny Schachter's article for Artnet News draws a parallel between President Jimmy Carter's 1977 energy-crisis plea to lower thermostats and the current art-market response to Trump-era tariff turmoil. He reports that the spring 2025 auction cycle generated $1.25 billion, continuing a decade-long decline from the 2014 peak, with bidders spending less and big-ticket sellers stuck. Schachter also promotes his own no-reserve auction, "Hoarder #6," scheduled for July 8–17 at Phillips, and critiques Trump's economic policies and crypto ventures, name-dropping Justin Sun as a major holder of $Trump tokens.

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Sotheby's will host a landmark exhibition in Abu Dhabi on October 1-2, 2025, at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, showcasing masterworks by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, René Magritte, and Camille Pissarro, collectively valued at $150 million. This marks the first public fine art exhibition ever staged by Sotheby's in Abu Dhabi and the most valuable presentation the auction house has held in the Middle East. Separately, Larry Gagosian discussed the art market recession at Puck's Art of Influence conference, noting that private sales are rising as collectors shy away from auction houses. Other news includes controversy over Cai Guo-Qiang's performance in Tibet, a curator fleeing Thailand over arrest fears, and declining sales at Sydney Contemporary.

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Kenny Schachter, an artist, collector, and art world commentator, writes for Artnet that Larry Gagosian has no succession plan for his mega-gallery, claiming that after Gagosian's death the business will not survive. This contradicts earlier reports that Gagosian had assembled a board of directors—including Evan Spiegel, Jenny Saville, J. Tomilson Hill, Glenn Fuhrman, and Delphine Arnault—to plan for the future. Separately, new research suggests Rembrandt's *The Night Watch* (1642) may include imagery borrowed from a lesser-known Dutch artist, with a barking dog in the painting closely resembling an illustration from a 17th-century manual on resisting sexual temptation. The UK art market is also facing increased anti-money laundering enforcement, with HMRC issuing significant fines, including a £158,679 penalty to London-based DYS44 Art Gallery Limited for procedural failures.

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Artist Joe Coleman is the subject of a new documentary film, "How Dark My Love," directed by Scott Gracheff, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Concurrently, Coleman has curated a group exhibition titled "Carnival" at Jeffrey Deitch gallery, featuring his own hyperrealistic paintings alongside works by artists such as Derrick Adams, George Condo, and Anne Imhof, as well as his personal collection of oddities and ephemera. The film centers on the creation of Coleman's magnum opus, a life-size portrait of his wife, Whitney Ward, titled "Doorway to Whitney," which took nearly four years to complete.

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Kenny Schachter recounts his fraught journey from Newark to London for his curated Paul Thek exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery and the 56th edition of Art Basel in Switzerland, describing a near-crash landing and widespread anxiety among U.S. attendees about returning home amid FAA cutbacks and immigration fears. He highlights Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s presence at Jenkins Johnson as his Basel highlight, dismisses panic over a single unsold Giacometti as overblown, and critiques art journalists for lacking real market experience, while sharing conversations with collectors Mera Rubell and Dakis Joannou.

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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.

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NADA Miami 2025 opened at Ice Palace Studios with strong early sales and a buoyant mood, as crowds streamed through the aisles on Tuesday morning. Dealers reported brisk business, with Polina Berlin selling multiple works by artists including Tamo Jugeli, Parmen Daushvili, and Casey Bolding, while Charles Moffett sold ten paintings by Kenny Rivero. The fair, hosting around 140 exhibitors, saw participation from galleries like Deanna Evans Projects, Alice Amati, and Gladwell Projects, with many dealers expressing relief and confidence after a multi-year contraction in the art market.

Bruno Bischofberger, Art Dealer of Stars Like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dies at 86

Bruno Bischofberger, the legendary Swiss art dealer who championed American artists like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in Europe, has died at age 86. His Zurich-based gallery announced his death on Saturday. Bischofberger founded his eponymous gallery in 1963, which became one of Switzerland's most important blue-chip art spaces. He forged deep personal and professional relationships with artists, including acquiring a stake in Warhol's Interview magazine, producing Warhol's film L'amour, and famously proposing the collaborative paintings between Warhol and Basquiat in 1984. Bischofberger also maintained a decades-long tradition of placing advertisements on the back page of every Artforum issue.

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Jeff Koons will present his first solo show at Gagosian in seven years, titled “Porcelain Series,” opening November 13 at the gallery’s 541 West 24th Street location. The exhibition features new and recent sculptures and paintings that explore beauty and mythology, including mirror-polished stainless steel figurines modeled on 18th- to early-20th-century porcelain and oil paintings incorporating historical engravings. Koons, who left Gagosian in 2021 for Pace and returned in 2025, debuted new work at Frieze New York in May.

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Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested on suspicion of starting the Pacific Palisades fire in January, which killed 12 people and destroyed over 6,000 homes. Authorities discovered evidence on his phone, including a ChatGPT query where he asked the AI to create a "dystopian painting" depicting a class war during a fire, as well as questions about legal culpability for starting a fire with cigarettes. The fire also damaged the grounds of the Getty Villa, forcing a four-month closure.

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Gagosian Gallery will once again represent Jeff Koons, the star sculptor who left the mega-gallery to join Pace in 2021. The announcement completes a return that began in May with a solo presentation at Frieze New York, where Koons showed three sculptures from his “Hulk Elvis” series. Koons had also been represented by David Zwirner at the time of his departure from Gagosian, but he does not appear to have rejoined Zwirner. Reports indicate that Koons split with Pace after a costly Meissen-inspired sculpture series required $50–100 million in investor support, which fell through when additional funds were needed.

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Jeff Koons will reunite with Gagosian for a solo presentation at Frieze New York 2025, less than four years after leaving the gallery. The booth will feature three sculptures from his Hulk Elvis series—Hulk (Organ), Hulk (Tubas), and Hulk (Dragon and Turtle)—staged against a custom backdrop from his painting Triple Hulk Elvis III. All works come from Koons's personal collection, and he supervised every aspect of the presentation. The reunion follows a turbulent period: Koons left Gagosian and David Zwirner in 2021 to join Pace Gallery exclusively, but that partnership ended after three years amid reported financial disputes over a Meissen-inspired sculpture project that involved $50–100 million in investor funding.

Gallery Not Paying? Call Kenny Schachter’s Kollection Agency. He Gets Results!

Art world provocateur Kenny Schachter addresses the current climate of anxiety within the industry, touching on everything from the existential threats of advanced AI tools like Anthropic’s Mythos to the 'doomster' narratives of market analysts. Amidst reports of dwindling demand and galleries struggling with non-paying clients, Schachter highlights the enduring value of historical works, such as a 1799 Goya etching, while dismissing claims that screens are replacing physical art in the home.

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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.

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Rashid Johnson's mixed media work *Untitled Escape Collage* sold for $292,100 at Phillips's Modern and contemporary art day sale in New York on May 14, falling short of its low estimate and representing a 72 percent loss in value for the consignor, who had purchased it for $816,500 at the same auction house in 2022. The disappointing result coincides with Johnson's solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

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Mitch and Emily Rales, the billionaire founders of the Glenstone Foundation and its private museum in Potomac, Maryland, are divorcing. The foundation, established in 2006, holds net assets of $4.6 billion and an endowment rivaling that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The article revisits longstanding criticisms of private art museums, including Glenstone, arguing they function as tax shelters, social climbing tools, and competitors to public institutions. It notes Glenstone's restrictive policies—appointment-only access, a ban on visitors under 12, and a prohibition on gum chewing—and references past unionization efforts by its workers.

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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.

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The article profiles billionaire Greek Cypriot collector Dakis Joannou, focusing on his superyacht *Guilty*, painted by Jeff Koons in dazzle camouflage, and his Deste Foundation's project space on Hydra. It describes the 2023 group show "Dream Machines," co-curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Massimiliano Gioni, featuring works by Koons, Andro Wekua, Mire Lee, and others, and includes an interview with Joannou about the yacht's design and his art collection.

2025 Art21 at the Movies

2025 Art21 at the Movies

On October 8 and 10, 2025, Art21 hosted its second 'Art21 at the Movies' event in New York. The two-day program featured film premieres, artist talks, and screenings at venues including the Metrograph and the Museum of Modern Art. It highlighted artists from the 'Art in the Twenty-First Century' series and included discussions with filmmakers and curators.

15 Artists Explore the Potentiality of Fabric and Fiber in ‘Textile Art Redefined’

The Saatchi Gallery in London is hosting 'Textile Art Redefined,' a group exhibition featuring 15 artists who push the boundaries of fiber and fabric. Curated by Helen Adams, the show includes diverse works ranging from Ian Berry’s immersive installations made of recycled denim to Kenny Nguyen’s undulating silk wall pieces and Anne von Freyburg’s textile reinterpretations of Rococo paintings. The exhibition coincides with the release of Adams' new book, 'Textile Fine Art,' which explores the medium's evolution from functional craft to a celebrated pillar of contemporary art.

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Justin Vivian Bond, a multidisciplinary artist and performer, is profiled in ARTnews as part of their Newsmakers series. Bond, who received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2024, discusses their upcoming performances at Joe’s Pub in New York, including a show titled “Well, Well, Well” inspired by lesbian singer-songwriters and the novel *The Well of Loneliness*. They also mention resurrecting their duo Kiki & Herb in London, and reflect on their 2017 exhibition at the New Museum, “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon,” whose wallpaper is now installed at the V&A East Storehouse.

Understanding Nifty Gateway’s demise is paramount for NFTs’ fans and critics alike

Nifty Gateway, a once-prominent curated NFT marketplace, has announced its closure after failing to achieve its ambitious goal of converting one billion people into NFT owners. The platform, which initially succeeded by focusing on digital art sales, leveraged social media metrics like Instagram popularity to select artists such as Kenny Scharf, Filip Hodas, and FVCKRENDER, favoring a pop-centric, visually digestible aesthetic.

Billionaire Collector Ken Griffin’s Basquiat Buying Spree Continues

Billionaire collector Ken Griffin has significantly expanded his holdings of Jean-Michel Basquiat, notably acquiring the 1983 masterpiece 'In Italian' from the collection of Peter Brant. The acquisition came to light through press materials for an upcoming exhibition at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) titled "Basquiat: Figures, Signs, Symbols," which will showcase nearly a dozen works from Griffin’s private collection. The show, curated by PAMM director Franklin Sirmans and Griffin’s curator Megan Kincaid, includes other high-profile acquisitions such as the 1982 'Untitled (Skull)' previously purchased from Yusaku Maezawa.

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Kenny Schachter's column reveals that Jeff Bezos secretly bought Frida Kahlo's 1941 painting *Me and My Parrot* for over $130 million in a private auction hosted by Christie's in 2021, and that Mark Zuckerberg recently purchased René Magritte's 1964 painting *Le fils de l'homme* (The Son of Man) for roughly $150 million in another private treaty sale negotiated by Christie's. The article also discusses a new private auction Christie's is organizing for a major Magritte work valued north of $50 million, and critiques the growing influence of tech billionaires—the "Magnificent 7"—on the art market.

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A Frida Kahlo painting, *El Sueño (La Cama)* (1954), sold at Sotheby’s New York for $54.7 million, setting a new auction record for the most expensive artwork by a female artist. The article, using data from the Artnet Price Database, lists the ten most expensive women artists at auction, including Lee Krasner ($11.6 million for *The Eye is the First Circle*), Jenny Saville ($12.4 million for *Propped*), Marlene Dumas ($13.6 million for *Miss January*), and Agnes Martin ($18.7 million for *Grey Stone II*).

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The article reports on a record-breaking auction sale of a 4-foot-4-inch Labubu doll, which sold for RMB 1.08 million ($150,300) at Yongle International Auction in Beijing, with premium reaching RMB 1.24 million ($174,000). The character was created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, who also collaborated with Art Basel on a limited edition. Other key developments include the closure of the Art Basel Hong Kong satellite fair Supper Club after two editions, Frieze announcing a new year-round space called Frieze House Seoul in Yaksu, and Blum gallery taking on global representation of Japanese ceramic artist Kimiyo Mishima's estate. The article also covers upcoming exhibitions by Christine Ay Tjoe at White Cube New York, Seulgi Lee at Ikon Gallery Birmingham, Kenny Scharf at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, and Trevor Yeung's adaptation of his Venice Biennale show at M+ Hong Kong.

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The Marfa Invitational, a small art fair in West Texas, has sparked controversy after pivoting to a new format called the "Marfa Invitational Open." The fair issued an open call to Texas-based artists, charging a $75 application fee and later requiring an additional $150 "installation fee" not disclosed in the original terms. Over 500 artists applied, but many dropped out after the hidden fee was revealed, leading to a boycott campaign. Approximately 160 artists ultimately exhibited at the Saint George Hotel last weekend. The fair had previously faced scandal in 2023 when its tax-exempt status was revoked due to cofounder Michael Phelan's failure to file required paperwork.