Hassan Hajjaj, Kesh Angels series (2014)
Clockwise from top left: A rare penny sold at Heritage auctions; still from Velvet Buzzsaw featuring Rene Russo and Jake Gyllenhaal; Jonas Wood, Bullets (mini) (2017), one of the fastest rising artists of the decade; Hassan Hajjaj, Kesh Angels series (2014), a pick for artwork of the decade; and a AI-powered Mona Lisa, one of our most talked about stories.

The end of the year marks two things: holiday vacations and list time, when websites go into a frenzy of retrospection, looking back on the year that was. Artnet News put together a boatload of end-of-year features, which we’ve gathered all together here for your convenience. From the most enlightening discoveries to the worst art we saw, take a look back at the best and worst of 2019—before we move headlong into the next.

 

BEST?

Which Emerging Artist Dominated 2019? 12 Art-World Players Share Their Thoughts

Here Are the 10 Best Works of Art We Saw in 2019, as Chosen by the Artnet News Staff

11 of the Most Groundbreaking Discoveries of 2019, From the Priceless Painting in Grandma’s Kitchen to the Secret of Stonehenge

These Were the 15 Most Popular Artnet News Stories of 2019, From Finding Salvator Mundi to One Very Expensive Penny

We Published More Than 2,700 Stories This Year. Here Are 22 of Our Favorites

9 Leading Advisors, Dealers, and Art-World Insiders Tell Us Which Artists They Think Are Poised to Break Out in 2020

 

WORST?

It Was a Year of Turmoil. Here Are the 11 Biggest Controversies That Rocked the Art World in 2019

Here Are the 8 Absolute Worst Works of Art We Saw in 2019, as Chosen by the Artnet News Staff