Sotheby's attempted a private auction of Jackson Pollock's "Number 19, 1951" at its Manhattan headquarters on June 2, with an asking price of $50 million, but the sale collapsed due to insufficient bidders. The work was owned by Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher, and Sotheby's star auctioneer Oliver Barker was flown in from London for the event. In other news, Pace Gallery downsized by cutting 50 artists and laying off 50 staff, Sotheby's London announced a Lewis Collection sale headlined by a Modigliani estimated at over £45 million, and Freeman's appointed Muys Snijders as CEO. The British Art Fair returns to Saatchi Gallery in September, and Art Basel released its "Basel Exclusive" artist list.
This matters because the failed Pollock auction signals potential softening in the high-end art market, where even a blue-chip name like Pollock failed to attract buyers at a $50 million price point. Pace Gallery's drastic downsizing—with CEO Marc Glimcher declaring the current gallery model "unfixable"—reflects broader structural challenges facing mega-galleries in a shifting art world. Meanwhile, institutional moves like Philippe Vergne's appointment at the Bass Museum and Makeda Best's departure to MoMA highlight ongoing leadership changes across major museums.