From £5 to £3 Million: A Scottish Town’s Hidden Masterpiece Faces an Export Ban
In late 2023, the Highland town of Invergordon faced an extraordinary decision: whether to sell an 18th-century marble bust by French master sculptor Edmé Bouchardon after an interested buyer offered £2.5 million for the work. The sculpture, Bust of Sir … More…
Rijksmuseum Set for Major Expansion with €60 Million Sculpture Garden
Thanks to a large donation, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum will soon include a public sculpture garden featuring works by great modernists. The Don Quixote Foundation is the Rijksmuseum’s single largest private benefactor. It is a philanthropic organization co-founded by Dutch aristocrat and … More…
Artist Spotlight: Bryan Larsen
Bryan Larsen’s paintings are grounded in realism yet driven by imagination, curiosity, and an enduring sense of optimism about the future. As a child, Larsen might have said he wanted to be an astronaut, but drawing quickly became his true … More…
Artist Spotlight: John Bentham-Dinsdale (1927–2008)
John Bentham-Dinsdale occupies a distinctive place in twentieth-century British maritime painting, combining rigorous draftsmanship, architectural training, and a historian’s respect for accuracy. Born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, Dinsdale was educated locally before attending Leeds School of Art, where he earned … More…
Top 10 Art World Moments of 2025
2025 saw many highs and lows in the art world, but which ones will be remembered as some of the most remarkable moments of the year? 1. The Louvre and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year 2025 … More…
Theaster Gates Chosen for Major Commission at the Obama Presidential Center
American artist Theaster Gates has been selected to create a new work for the Barack Obama Presidential Center, set to open in Chicago in spring 2026. Gates is a professor in the University of Chicago’s Department of Visual Arts, as … More…
Notre Dame’s New Stained Glass
The designs for Notre Dame’s new stained glass windows are on display at the Grand Palais in Paris. Clair Tabouret was selected from a field of more than 100 artists in a juried competition to create the new contemporary stained … More…
Upcoming Installation Honors Christo & Jeanne-Claude
In a tribute to the late environmental artists Christo & Jeanne-Claude, the French photographer and street artist JR plans to use Paris’s Pont Neuf as a canvas for an installation work. Christo Javacheff became known for large-scale environmental and installation … More…
Fabergé Sold, Fabergé Swallowed
Fabergé was in the news twice this week, for very different reasons. The first was that an incredibly rare Fabergé egg once owned by the Russian Czars sold at Christie’s for an astronomical price. The second was because a man … More…
Louvre Announces Ticket Price Hikes
The Louvre has announced it will raise ticket prices by 45% for non-EU visitors. The Louvre will have to find multiple ways to raise money for the extensive renovations promised by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year. One of … More…
Lost Rubens Sold in Paris
A masterwork by the Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens has sold in Paris for €2.94 million after being lost for centuries. Back in September, I wrote about this lost Rubens painting, Christ on the Cross, and its rediscovery in Paris … More…
Sotheby’s NY Exquisite Corpus Evening Sale
To close out the week of blockbuster New York sales, Sotheby’s hosted a pair of auctions dedicated to surrealist art, titled Exquisite Corpus. This is a rather clever art historical reference to a surrealist practice called the exquisite corpse. This … More…
Christie’s November 2025 – Nearly $1 Billion in Modern & Post-War Sales
Following the momentum from the landmark Sotheby’s sale, Christie’s held its 20th and 21st Century auctions in New York on November 20–21, 2025. According to Christie’s, the combined sales realized $964,536,953, marking the highest total for this category at the … More…
Sotheby’s November 2025 – A Record-Breaking Night with Klimt & the Lauder Collection
On November 18th, Sotheby’s opened its new Manhattan headquarters at the Breuer Building with one of the most significant auctions the art world has seen in years. The evening centered on works from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection and quickly … More…
Painting of the Week: Miyajima by Frank Ernest Beresford
Miyajima shows a waterside scene on the titular island in Japan’s Inland Sea. Frank Beresford (1881 – 1967) attended the Royal Academy in London, with his efforts rewarded with scholarships that allowed him to travel extensively, particularly to Asia. Today, … More…
Sotheby’s London Old Masters Evening Sale
This past week, the major London auction houses hosted a series of Old Masters sales for Classics Week; the Sotheby’s Old Master & 19th Century evening sale on Wednesday was certainly the highlight of the week. Thirty lots crossed the … More…