The Back Room The Back Room: Red Alert This week: the war's blowback on the art economy, a CryptoPunk collusion, high-flying auction action, and much more. By Tim Schneider, Mar 4, 2022
Politics Directors of Russia’s Top Art Museums and Fairs Are Resigning En Masse Leaders at the Pushkin Museum, the VAC Foundation, and the Cosmoscow fair have stepped down. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 4, 2022
Art World Art Industry News: Amsterdam’s Hermitage Museum Cuts Ties With Its Russian Counterpart After 30 Years + Other Stories Plus, Donatello bronzes are on the move for the first time since the Renaissance, and have NFTs actually changed art? By Artnet News, Mar 4, 2022
Auctions Despite Talk of a Boycott of the Russian-Owned Auction House, Phillips Cruises to a Solid $40 Million Evening Sale in London The overall results were strong, especially considering challenges in the lead-up to the auction. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 3, 2022
NFTs Kenny Schachter on How the NFT Community Is Organizing to Raise Funds for Ukraine in Record Time Our columnist takes to OpenSea to raise money for Ukraine. By Kenny Schachter, Mar 3, 2022
Auctions Russian-Owned Phillips Will Donate the Full Net Proceeds From Its London Sale—$7.7 Million—to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society Phillips announced the Red Cross partnership the morning of the sale. By Taylor Dafoe, Mar 3, 2022
Politics Russian Oligarch Vladimir Potanin Steps Down From the Guggenheim’s Board After Two Decades Potanin was one of a group of oligarchs who met with the Russian president at the Kremlin last week. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 3, 2022
People ‘I’ve Never Even Been to a Gallery Opening’: NFT Star Beeple on Trading Pixels for Paintings in His First-Ever Gallery Show Mike Winklemann is making inroads to the traditional art world with a solo show at Jack Hanley. By Katya Kazakina, Mar 3, 2022
Art World Art Industry News: Pussy Riot’s Founder Just Raised $6 Million for Humanitarian Aid by Selling a Ukrainian Flag NFT + Other Stories Plus, an NFT vending machine has arrived in New York, and 6,000 Russian architects sign a protest letter. By Artnet News, Mar 3, 2022
Op-Ed Russian Cultural Elites Want to Call This Putin’s War. But They, Too, Bear Responsibility for the Atrocities in Ukraine How the long-running political passivity of many Russian intellectuals paved the way to the current war with Ukraine. By Oleksandr Vynogradov & Lisa Korneichuk, Mar 3, 2022
Auctions Sotheby’s Landed $297.2 Million at Its Modern and Contemporary Sales in London, Powered by a Record-Breaking Magritte So far the art market doesn't seem too disturbed by the unfolding geopolitical crisis. By Naomi Rea, Mar 2, 2022
Politics Russian Billionaire Petr Aven Resigns as a Royal Academy Trustee as Arts Institutions Face Mounting Pressure to Cut Ties with Russia The museum says it returned the donation Aven made to support its current Francis Bacon exhibition. By Vivienne Chow, Mar 2, 2022
Archaeology & History A Stunning Report Has Pinpointed the Long-Unknown Origins of the Venus of Willendorf The figurine, discovered in Austria in 1908, was likely made from stone carried all the way from Northern Italy. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 2, 2022
Art World Art Industry News: 7 Tips to Verify if the Photographs You’re Seeing of Ukraine Are Actually Real + Other Stories Plus, a new digital archive resurfaces the stories of women art dealers, and Dutch officials return a Wassily Kandinsky panting. By Artnet News, Mar 2, 2022
Auctions Powered by a Restituted Franz Marc, Christie’s Inaugural Shanghai to London Sale Brings in a Sterling $334 Million The five-hour production spanned three sales, two continents, and many, many time zones. By Vivienne Chow, Mar 1, 2022