Art World
From Basquiat’s Megawatt Week to the Backlash Over the Turner Prize: The Best and Worst of the Art World This Week
Catch up on this week's news, fast.
BEST?
Basquiat Brings Big Bucks – A red skull painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat fetched $93 million, helping catapult Christie’s megawatt contemporary sale this week.
Sotheby’s Plows Through Marathon Sales – The auction house staged multiple sales to bring in an impressive $567 million.
Mariane Ibrahim on Forging Relationships – The acclaimed art dealer is interviewed as part of Artnet News’s Shattering the Glass Ceiling podcast miniseries.
Sotheby’s Opens a Store – The auction house has opened a store called the Emporium, where you can buy sneakers, diamonds, and luxury handbags.
Pace Nabs Another Star – The mega gallery is on a roll, nabbing representation of Robert Longo, who was previously repped by the soon-to-be-shuttered Metro Pictures.
Ropac Expands East – Thaddaeus Ropac is opening a gallery in Seoul, following the tide of Western expansion in South Korea.
Naked Giant Once Had Pants – The famed Cerne Abbas giant, an earthwork in the English countryside, once wore pants, researchers have found.
WORST?
Dutch Directors Decry Mandatory Testing – A group of Dutch museum directors are condemning a proposed law that would force visitors to undergo health screenings.
Hockney’s Tube Design Falls Flat – Beloved British artist David Hockney’s new design in the London tube is being widely mocked on the Internet.
Court Denies Restitution Request – A French court denied a Holocaust survivor’s claim to a looted Camille Pissarro painting.
Turner Nominee Blasts Process – The nominated art collective Black Obsidian Sound System criticized the Tate for what it called its exploitative practices surrounding the Turner Prize.
Remembering Richard Nonas – The artist died at age 85 after a career of seamlessly blending anthropology and sculpture.
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