Getting a Literal Bird’s-Eye View
If a badger can get credit as an archaeologist, a cockatoo can undoubtedly be a judge in an art contest, right? Well, one art competition in Australia certainly thinks so. The Archibald Prize is awarded by the Art Museum of … More…
Ukraine’s Latest Loss
A video circulating on social media shows a museum on fire due to the current conflict in Ukraine. According to locals, within the first days of the invasion, Russian troops set fire to the Ivankiv Museum, about 50 miles north … More…
Par For The Course: Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale
Wednesday’s Modern & Contemporary evening sale at Sotheby’s London showroom saw fifty-four works from some of the most recognizable names in the visual arts come up to the auction block. But while an auction like this typically has the wealthy … More…
New Record Price For Pokémon Illustrator Card
Is inflation that bad, or has the world gone mad?? A new record auction price was achieved in the world of Pokémon this week when a 1998 Pokémon Illustrator card went under the hammer. In November of 2019, you may … More…
Christie’s Evening Sales – 20th/21st Century & The Art Of The Surreal
On March 1st, Christie’s offered a set of three auctions between Shanghai and London, which lasted some 5 hours. (Prices shown are with the buyer’s premium) The first auction took place in Shanghai and featured 20 lots, with the top … More…
A Deal Too Good To Be True
News broke about a German collector who thought he was getting the deal of a lifetime in early February. It appears that Gallery T293, based in Rome and offering works by several in-demand artists, had been hacked. Cybercriminals accessed their … More…
Saving A City One Painting At A Time
Save Venice is a US-based nonprofit that works to preserve and educate about Venetian cultural patrimony. The organization raises money to fund the restoration of paintings, sculptures, and public monuments in Venice that have deteriorated over the centuries. In one of … More…
CryptoPunk NFT Sale – A No Go
Over the past few weeks, there has been much publicity surrounding the single lot CryptoPunk sale at Sotheby’s. In a tweet, they stated: “CryptoPunks get the Sotheby’s treatment. Our next #SothebysMetaverse sale ‘Punk It! 104 CryptoPunks. 1 Lot.’ will be … More…
This Month’s Great British Break-Up
British Petroleum (BP) has sponsored an annual portrait competition awarded by London’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) for the past thirty years. But after December 2022, that partnership will come to an end. While the Turner Prize is often considered the … More…
Man Ray’s Record-Setting Violin
I took an art history elective in high school, and that’s where I saw Man Ray’s work for the first time. It was his 1921 readymade sculpture The Gift, consisting of thumbtacks glued to the bottom of a flatiron. I … More…
Museums Betting Big
This past weekend, Cincinnati and Los Angeles got all the attention as their respective football teams faced off in the Super Bowl. Millions of dollars are lost and gained in betting on the Super Bowl every year, and it seems … More…
A Million Dollar Mistake
We all do stupid things at work from time to time. Sometimes it’s something harmless like online shopping or listening to podcasts, only serving to relieve some boredom. But in other instances, the way you kill time can be inconceivably … More…
Nike ‘Air Force 1’ Sneakers Fly By Estimate
Virgil Abloh was an American fashion designer, and in 2018 he became the artistic director for Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection. He was a rising star, and Time Magazine named him one of the most influential people in 2018. Tragically, in … More…
China’s Dissident Artist Who Built The Beijing Olympic Stadium
I first saw the work of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei years ago at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) when I saw parts of his Study of Perspective series. A few black-and-white photographs of different world landmarks hung … More…
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Personal Library Smashes Estimates
Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have been petite, but she was a powerhouse. Ginsburg confronted many obstacles in both her personal and professional life yet worked to overcome them. She passed away in September 2020, and recently many items from her … More…
US Treasury Report: Nothing To See Here, Folks
A report compiled by the US Treasury Department highlights some of the art world’s most significant flaws exploited by criminals. Congress initially commissioned the report as part of anti-money laundering legislation from 2020. It states, “the high-dollar values of single … More…