Galleries ‘I Doubt It Is Worth Reopening’: Art Spaces in Beirut Are Decimated by the City’s Deadly Explosions The blasts left at least 100 people dead, 4,000 wounded, and an estimated 300,000 homeless. By Naomi Rea, Aug 5, 2020
Market To Aid Struggling Local Galleries and Artists, the German Government Will Boost Its Art Acquisition Budget by 600 Percent The ministry has increased its art spending from €500,000 to €3 million. By Kate Brown, Aug 3, 2020
Market Media Scion James Murdoch Now Owns a Controlling Stake in MCH Group, Art Basel’s Struggling Parent Company The decision comes days after the younger Murdoch resigned from News Corp due to "disagreements over editorial content." By Naomi Rea, Aug 3, 2020
Auctions Kneecapped by the Shutdown (But Boosted by Millennials), Sotheby’s Earnings Have Dropped 25 Percent So Far This Year The house boasted extraordinary growth in online sales, which were up more than 500 percent—but that couldn't save it from a shortfall. By Artnet News, Aug 3, 2020
Auctions This Ordinary-Looking Vase Just Sold for Nearly 50 Times Its High Estimate After a 45-Minute Bidding War at Sotheby’s The small vase's high estimate was just $9,000. By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 31, 2020
Art Fairs The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Will Go Ahead in October in London, Despite the Cancellation of Frieze A scaled-down version of the event will return to Somerset House this fall. By Naomi Rea, Jul 30, 2020
Auctions Buoyed by Ronald Perelman’s Meditative Miró, Sotheby’s Cross-Category Hybrid Auction Netted $193 Million in London The sale included works spanning 500 years of art history. By Naomi Rea, Jul 29, 2020
Galleries Meet Thandi Sibisi, the Pioneering Black South African Gallerist Who Is Determined to Draw in a New Kind of Art Collector Thandi Sibisi is hoping to draw in new collectors by offering works at relatively modest prices. By Naomi Rea, Jul 28, 2020
Art Fairs Facing an Empty Calendar, Six Dutch Old Master Dealers Will Launch Their Own Humble Art Fair at an Amsterdam Hotel The Art Affair, as the event is called, will be held in a hotel in Amsterdam. By Artnet News, Jul 27, 2020
Auctions Banksy Is Selling Three Paintings About the Refugee Crisis to Raise More Than $1 Million for a Bethlehem Hospital The works will be offered as part of Sotheby's "Rembrandt to Richter" auction. By Sarah Cascone, Jul 27, 2020
Galleries Top Hauser & Wirth Director Graham Steele Is Leaving the Gallery to Start a Private Dealership of His Own Steele, a sales director who was made partner earlier this year, has been with the gallery since spring 2015. By Nate Freeman, Jul 27, 2020
Art Fairs As Art Fairs Struggle to Adapt to the Social-Distancing Era, Frieze Announces It Will Begin Charging Galleries for Its Online-Only Editions Unlike the May edition of Frieze online, this one will not be free for exhibitors. By Kate Brown, Jul 24, 2020
Auctions A Vampire-Slaying Kit—Complete With 19th-Century Bible and a Small Pistol—Just Sold for $3,100 at an English Auction House It's possible the buyer himself is a vampire seeking to protect himself. We have no evidence—but it's possible. By Tanner West, Jul 23, 2020
Galleries Taste-Making Dealer Gavin Brown Will Join Gladstone Gallery as a Partner, Ending the Decades-Long Run of His Rebel Art ‘Enterprise’ Brown will bring a number of his artists and his Roman outpost to Gladstone, effectively creating a new mega-gallery overnight. By Nate Freeman, Jul 20, 2020
Auctions Christie’s Makes a Bid for the Sneaker Market With a New Michael Jordan-Themed Auction Christie's is collaborating with sneaker purveyor Stadium Goods for a rare sale of Michael Jordan's game-worn shoes and other memorabilia. By Caroline Goldstein, Jul 16, 2020
