Shows
The Art AngleWho's Behind the Changing Tastes in the Art Market?For the latest edition of the Artnet Intelligence Report, which is now free to download, Artnet columnist Katya Kazakina wrote a wide-ranging cover story about the state of play in the art industry. Titled “New Money, New Taste,” it charts a revolution that is underway in the market, amid what has been dubbed the Great Wealth Transfer.Economists, Kazakina reports, believe that $84 trillion in assets will change hands over the next 20 years—that's trillion... with a T. Gen Xers will inherit $30 trillion, millennials $27 trillion, and Gen Zers $11 trillion, according to one study. (Huge amounts of money!) She writes...2025-03-2040 min
The Art AngleThe Round-Up: L.A.'s Art Scene Rallies, an Art Fraudster Speaks, a Fugly 'Van Gogh'It’s the end of February 2025, and we are back for our Roundup podcast, talking about some of the news of the month.Today, we’re going to talk about:—the Frieze week of art fairs in L.A., which went ahead in the wake of the horrible fires that have mauled the city—some updates on the disgraced art adviser Lisa Schiff, who is back in the news—and the debate over whether a painting purchased for $50 at a Minnesota garage sale is actually a Vincent Van Gogh painting worth millions...2025-02-2738 min
The Art AngleThere's a Lot to Say About the 'Small Art' TrendArt comes in all shapes and sizes, of course—but recently it has been getting smaller. Or at least that is what is argued in an article by Kate Brown, Artnet Senior Editor and Art Angle co-host. It's called "Why is Small Art So Big Right Now?"Not so long ago, the trend was in the other direction. Gigantism and grandiosity were the rage, and artwork stretched to environmental scale. There's still plenty of that, of course—don't worry. But Kate gathers together a number of signs and talks to a number of artists and...2025-02-0634 min
Art Market MinuteFrieze Week RecapIf you'd like to get the Asia Pivot Newsletter, be sure to join Artnet Pro. If you're already a pro member, make sure you subscribe. And make sure to see our full coverage of Frieze Week and Art Basel Paris this week by going to news.artnet.com.2024-10-1405 min
The Art AngleThe Round Up: Lowry Leaves MoMA, the Artists All Over Museums, a Long Lost GentileschiIt is time once again for our Round Up episode for the month of September, where we talk about some of the most interesting and timely art news stories of the last month with our writers here at Artnet. This month, Art Angle co-hosts Ben Davis and Kate Brown are joined by senior writer Sarah Cascone, and the three stories they discuss all center around museums.The first is the announcement that longtime director of New York's Museum of Modern Art Glenn Lowry will retire after 30 years, which marks the end of an era, and perhaps the...2024-09-2637 min
The Art AngleThe Great Art Market ResetIf you've been keeping an eye on the art market, you know that the industry has been going through some turbulent times... there's really no other way to say it: It's been a tough year, as the frothy post-pandemic surge in the art business has fully retreated. Amid this market slowdown comes our latest data-packed and information-rich issue of the Mid-Year Intelligence Report, which is appropriately titled The Art Market Reset: Riding the Waves of Change.This Fall issue looks at the numbers behind the mood, and it is packed with relevant insights that will help buyers, s...2024-09-1248 minArt Market MinuteArt Market Minute TrailerWelcome to Art Market Minute: Your weekly snapshot of the art market's essential news, from the editors of Artnet PRO. Join Margaret Carrigan and stay ahead with exclusive market news and analysis, powered by Artnet’s unparalleled market data. Receive up-to-the-minute insights, insider takes, and actionable intelligence ensuring you navigate the ever-changing art market with confidence. Tune in every Monday and become an art market insider with Art Market Minute, only from Artnet PRO. 2024-08-2900 min
The Art AngleThe Roundup: Basel Breakdown, Art and Algorithms, Remembering Barbara GladstoneAlthough the art business world may be on holiday right now, we're still pounding the (international) pavement to bring you a report of the most important and talked-about events in the art world right now. This week, hosts Kate Brown and Ben Davis are joined by Artnet's London correspondent Vivienne Chow for the monthly roundup.Just two short weeks ago collectors, curators, museum bigwigs, and celebrities arrived in Basel Switzerland for Art Basel's flagship event. Dealers were quick to announce big-ticket sales, but there was an undercurrent of conversation regarding the so-called "doom porn" narrative swirling in...2024-06-2739 minThe Art AngleThe Art Angle Presents: How Curator Yung Ma is Redefining Contemporary Exhibition ModelsWho are the rising talents in the art world poised for greatness? Discover them in ‘Up Next’, Artnet’s popular series of profiles introducing you to key visionaries on the verge of stardom. This month, we’re airing two special Art Angle episodes spotlighting two figures shaping their fields in innovative ways. Subscribe to The Art Angle wherever you get podcasts to hear both episodes, and visit News.Artnet.com to catch the latest up-and-comers we’re celebrating in ‘Up Next’.Yung Ma is an international curator who has held positions at some of the world's most prestigious ar...2024-05-2142 minThe Art AngleWhat 'Good Taste' Looks Like in 2024What is a connoisseur? Who can be one? What role do they play in shaping tastes of the art market and the large expanse of art history?There's perhaps no better place to ask these kind of questions than at TEFAF, the many splendored Dutch fair where art, antiquities, and antiques take center stage. Each spring, the event returns to New York City and a swath of visitors—international and local, new and returning, celebrity and, well, not—flock to the storied Park Avenue Armory. Last week amid those festivities, as dealers sold every kind of treasure from...2024-05-1640 minThe Art AngleThe Art Angle Presents: How Dealer Alexander Shulan Is Building New Markets for Underrecognized ArtistsWho are the rising talents in the art world poised for greatness? Discover them in ‘Up Next’, Artnet’s popular series of profiles introducing you to key visionaries on the verge of stardom. This month, we’re airing two special Art Angle episodes spotlighting two figures shaping their fields in innovative ways. Subscribe to The Art Angle wherever you get podcasts to hear both episodes, and visit News.Artnet.com to catch the latest up-and-comers we’re celebrating in ‘Up Next’.Alexander Shulan has a knack for spotting emerging talents. The founder and curator of Lomex Gallery is a born-and...2024-05-1426 minThe Art AngleWhy Are Art Resale Prices Plummeting?The art press is filled with headlines about trophy works trading for huge sums: $195 million for an Andy Warhol, $110 million for a Jean-Michel Basquiat, $91 million for a Jeff Koons. In the popular imagination, pricy art just keeps climbing in value—up, up, and up. The truth is more complicated, as those in the industry know. Tastes change, and demand shifts. The reputations of artists rise and fall, as do their prices. Reselling art for profit is often quite difficult—it’s the exception rather than the norm. This is “the art market’s dirty secret,” Artnet senior reporter Katya Kazakina wro...2024-04-1845 minThe Art AngleTwo Critics on the Whitney BiennialEvery two years, the Whitney Museum of American Art returns with its signature and much-anticipated biennial. Founded in 1931, the Whitney Biennial is one of the most historically important art events in the United States, a survey that brings together artists from throughout the country, and more recently, from around the world. Often controversial, the Whitney Biennial is viewed by art fans as more than just a show to enjoy. It is closely scrutinized as a statement about art now.Well, the 2024 edition of the Whitney Biennial has just opened here in New York, with the title “Even Be...2024-04-0449 minThe Art AngleDamien Hirst's Formaldehyde Fail, a Photo Star Rediscovered, and Artnet News Turns 10Well, it is the end of March, spring has sprung, and April showers are coming in fast and furious. We're back with the monthly Art Angle Round Up, where we focus our attention on three headline-making stories that have made the rounds in the last month. This week, Art Angle hosts Ben Davis and Kate Brown are joined by Artnet brand editor William van Meter.First up is the latest from controversy-machine Damien Hirst. The former YBA enfant terrible is back in the news for fudging the dates of his signature formaldehyde animal series, which itself follows...2024-03-2836 minThe Art AngleA Peek Behind the Curtain at Auction HousesA few years back, electrifying bidding wars and monumental transactions routinely had us all on the edge of our seats in the auction room, but this sort of in-room excitement now feels a long way off. Although you wouldn't necessarily know it from the triumphant post-sale press releases that are just as routinely put out by the auction houses who are keen to signal confidence in the market and, of course, in their performance. But in 2023, there's no denying that the art market finally came back down to earth.It took a breather for a combination of...2024-03-2140 minThe Art AngleThe Enduring Obsession With AbstractionThe term “abstraction” gets thrown around a lot in the art world, usually as a vague catchall to describe an otherwise inexpressible style of painting or sculpture. Just going by the dictionary’s definition, “abstract” is described as being disassociated from any specific instance, or having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content.Today, abstract art is not in and of itself considered particularly revolutionary, it is just one of many approaches artists take in pursuit of their vision. But this wasn’t always the case, and the history and tradition of...2024-02-0835 minThe Art AngleArtnet's Writers On The Art That Brings Them Joy"Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness."That's a quote from the great Bauhaus textile artist Anni Albers that gets shared a lot, and is especially relevant for this week's episode of the podcast on the subject of art and joy. It's actually a little bit unclear what Albers means when she says that "art is a different kind of happiness," different from what? While many websites and even an art fair have borrowed this turn of phrase, it's difficult to find the original source. But the sort of fuzziness of t...2023-12-1434 minThe Art AngleThe Art Angle Presents: What's Going On in the Asian Art Market Right NowIn today's global discourse, “Asia” often takes on an expansive, sometimes oversimplified, identity. Especially within the global art market, this vast continent is frequently painted with broad strokes, overshadowing its rich tapestry of cultures, intricacies, and nuances. Over the past two decades, major global auction houses have been touting “the Asian market,” highlighting the fact that about one-third of its sales go to Asia. But exactly where and to who? We always hear about sales of blue-chip western galleries at art fairs in Asia, but little on their counterparts from the region. Is the art fair frenzy even sust...2023-10-3140 minThe Art AngleWhat's Causing the Crisis in Art Criticism?There are endless ways to write about art, but if you tell someone that's your job, the first thing they're likely going to think is that you write art reviews, though the fact of the matter is that very few people actually do. In other words, the art critic is a key character in the mythology of the art world, as a champion who spots talent and interprets art for the public, and simultaneously as a villain who serves as a gatekeeper and a killjoy.Yet the central function of the art writing ecosystem has also been...2023-09-0743 minThe Art AngleWhy Digital Art Lives Fast and Dies YoungToday we're going to be talking about a relatively new and novel career within art, one you might not have thought of because it didn't even really exist until recently. And that is... the conservator of new media art.Anyone who has been to a museum recently will know that contemporary art comes in a dizzying array of forms, an artist today is as likely to be working with computer code or cutting together video in Adobe Premiere Pro as they are to be toiling in front of the easel. At least since the 1960s, artists who...2023-08-2429 minThe Art AngleWhy the Art Market's Struggles Spell OpportunitySo... how is the art market doing these days?If you want to know the answer, you’re in luck, because the latest issue of Artnet’s biannual Intelligence Report just dropped. It’s a special edition, marking the five-year anniversary of the report, which we debuted back in 2018 as a way of fusing Artnet’s unparalleled market data with the industry-leading abilities of our market journalists.Unfortunately, the findings this time around are less than festive—in fact, the art market has taken a major hit this year.To quickly review a few bracing...2023-08-1747 minThe Art AngleThe Pleasures and Paradoxes of Seurat's Iconic 'Sunday Afternoon'In John Hughes's classic 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the cohort of truant teenagers make a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago, and spend some time with the classic painting by George Seurat, titled Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. One one of the most famous artworks in the world even before that star turn, it has been studied and referenced and riffed on endlessly, and is in fact the subject of at least one musical, and a whole host of academic articles.Painted in 1884 when Seurat was just 27 years old in his...2023-08-1029 minThe Art AngleThe Stunning Fall of Lisa Schiff, Art Advisor to the StarsJust about everyone who works in the New York art world knows Lisa Schiff, an art advisor to the rich and famous who worked with celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio for many years. She was a highly visible presence at art fairs, on museum boards, and generally around town, running her glamorous boutique firm from a first floor gallery space in Tribeca whose entry wall was covered with a memorable floor to ceiling plant installation.So media savvy that she had a PR firm on retainer, Schiff was frequently quoted as an expert in the art press, and...2023-07-0633 minThe Art AngleInside the Controversy Over Hannah Gadsby's 'Pablo-matic' ShowThis year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso. To mark the occasion, an international event called Picasso Celebration has been organized, with 50 museums throughout the world running 50 different shows looking at the legacy of Picasso, among the most well-known artists of the 20th century.Certainly the most unusual and most talked about of these is not a “celebration” of Picasso at all. The Brooklyn Museum is hosting “It’s Pablo-matic: Picasso According to Hannah Gadsby.” Brooklyn Museum curators Catherine Morris and Lisa Small have worked with the famous Australian stand-up comedian Hannah Gadsby to create...2023-06-2946 minThe Art AngleWhy This A.I. Art Pioneer Thinks Text-to-Image Generators Are Killing CreativityWhen artificial intelligence first arrived in the art world in 2017, it was received warmly and with open arms. A.I.-generated works by artists like Obvious and Mario Klingemann were fetching hundreds of thousands at auction, art fairs like Scope in Miami welcomed A.I. art, as did institutions, which eagerly staged exhibitions touting the new technology. Artists working with A.I. were embraced; there was no media outrage or backlash—A.I. art, by and large, was seen as a good thing. Not so much today. The latest chapter in A.I. art's story has seen art...2023-06-2229 minThe Art AngleThe Art Angle Presents: How the Intersection of Art, Design, and Technology Is EvolvingThe landscape of technological advancement in the art and design world is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of groundbreaking concepts like the Metaverse, NFTs, and easily accessible A.I. available to anyone with an Internet connection. Amid this rapidly changing landscape, it is crucial to evaluate the success and relevance of these platforms as they exist now, and how they might evolve in a future we are just beginning to comprehend.To delve into the significance of these technologies, Artnet and Morlach Whiskey organized a captivating panel discussion...2023-05-2342 minThe Art AngleHow Does Data Give You the Edge in the Art Market?The art market of today is a thriving global industry with a diverse community of buyers and sellers from all over the world who compete privately, and often (very) publicly in the race to acquire art, decorative objects, and even sneakers and watches. That’s why having an edge when it comes to data and information is so crucial, and why Artnet’s Price Database is an indispensable tool for any serious market player.The art market has come a long way from its origins as a small, exclusive business catering to a select group of connoisseurs in m...2023-04-0631 minThe Art AngleRe-Air: Are Climate Activists’ Art Attacks Helping or Hurting Their Cause?In recent months, headlines around the world have blared the news of a startling new trend of activism where protesters physically attack famous artworks with paint, food, and glue. The activists are trying to draw attention to global issues of climate change and museum ethics, and agree or disagree, you can’t argue that their tactics are making waves and fines or jail time aren't stopping them. This week we’re re-airing a conversation that delves into this complicated issue.On October 14, two activists, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, walked into the National Gallery in London and threw...2023-03-3051 minThe Art AngleThe Art Angle Presents: How Three Artists Envision What a Goddess Means TodayIn ancient mythology, figures like Athena and Aphrodite were exalted as paragons of virtue, strength, and beauty. Artnet and Cadillac invited three artists to interpret the goddess theme through their individual lenses and to create new work to celebrate the return of the brand’s Goddess hood ornament on the new ultra-luxury EV CELESTIQ. These images will be offered through an online auction presented by Artnet to benefit the nonprofit organization Free Arts NYC.Last week in Los Angeles, the three contemporary photographers—Ming Smith, Petra Collins, and Dannielle Bowmann—joined Artnet News’s executive producer Sonia Manalili...2023-02-2440 minThe Art AngleWhat Can the Art World Learn From an Occult Practitioner?Here at Artnet, we typically look to thorough data and the hard facts to tell us what to make of the wily, unpredictable art world. But every now and then, it’s important to remember that ours is an industry based on unorthodox minds and a reverence for avant garde expression, so magical thinkers ought to remain a legitimate resource to our team of reporters. To that end, our Artnet News Pro Wet Paint columnist, Annie Armstrong recently spoke with Micki Pellerano, who has earned himself the nickname "The Art Warlock", to discuss the occult's role in the art wo...2023-01-1932 minThe Art AngleRe-Air: What Is the Metaverse? And Why Should the Art World Care?Well, what do you know? The year of 2022 has officially come to a close, and here at The Art Angle, we are in a reflective. It was an amazing year for the show. We interviewed luminaries like Venice Biennale curator to Cecilia Alemani, artist Marina Abramović, critic Jerry Saltz; we delved deep into the scandalous history of Documenta as well as the whole Board Ape Yacht Club phenomenon, and the new revolution and how we think about surrealism today.The turning of the calendar year, however, also marks a big change around here, with Julia Halpern, Artnet Ne...2022-12-2946 minThe Art AngleAn End-of-Year Art-World Quiz Show ExtravaganzaWell, the end of the year is upon us and it is also the end of an era here at Artnet News. Our fearless executive editor, Julia Halperin, is leaving her post. As a sendoff for Julia, we thought we'd in the year, as we usually do with something lighthearted, The Artnet News Year End Quiz. Given the fact that no one has spent more time editing news digests early in the morning, editing art news through the day, and researching the art market, Julia is our perfect contestant and we hope that you at home, our Artnet News...2022-12-2231 minThe Art AngleIs Progress in the Art World Just a Mirage?Inside the art world, one of the defining narratives of the past decade has been a renewed push for gender and racial equity. Much of the attention in this realm has focused on the dramatic overrepresentation of white male artists in everything from museum collections and exhibition programs, to auction sales and gallery rosters.Overtures to correcting the imbalance have been so prevalent in trade-media headlines, institutional marketing, and day-to-day conversations that many, if not most, art professionals seem to be confident that the industry is slowly but steadily reversing generations of deeply embedded racism and sexism...2022-12-1552 minThe Art AngleAre Climate Activists’ Art Attacks Helping or Hurting Their CauseOn October 14, two activists, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, walked into the National Gallery in London and threw a can of tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers while wearing shirts that read JUST STOP OIL. The action was part of a larger cycle of disruptive occupations and direct action by environmentalists in the UK, demanding dramatic action to cut fossil fuels in the face of climate change—but the Van Gogh soup attack by far drew the most media attention. Indeed, the tactic of using attacks on artworks to get their message out has caught on with campaigners this y...2022-12-0851 minThe Art AngleJerry Saltz on What It Takes to Be an Art Critic TodayWhat does it mean to be an art critic today? How do you choose what to write about and how do you even choose what to look at in an age where seeing art in person, which used to be the most common way people encountered art, has now arguably become the rarest?In this episode, Andrew Goldstein speaks with Jerry Saltz, the most famous, most lionized, and arguably the most influential art critic we have. A self-described "failed artist" who only became a professional critic at age 41, Jerry wrote for the Village Voice, Artnet Magazine (the p...2022-12-0155 minThe Art AngleHow the Lucas Museum Plans to Tell Riveting Stories Through ArtIt’s been a challenging few years for art museums. But Sandra Jackson Dumont, the director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, has never felt more energized about their potential. And that feeling is infectious.At the most recent American Alliance of Museums conference, Jackson-Dumont opened her keynote speech with a love song by ’70s soul singer Donny Hathaway. Then she asked the audience: “Don’t you want people to see your institutions that way?” For more than 20 years, Jackson-Dumont has been a force in education and public programming, launching e...2022-11-1039 minThe Art AngleCan Artists Beat Flippers at Their Own Game?"Flipping" was once a dirty word in the art market. But that is no longer the case. Over the past decade, speculative reselling has become big business as the market for ultra-contemporary art has soared. Sales of art sold within three years of its creation date have grown 1,000 percent over the past decade, to almost $260 million. (For context, over the same period, the S&P 500 rose just about 200 percent.)Historically, only collectors have been able to benefit from this practice—not artists or their dealers. In the U.K. and France, artists receive a small resale royalty wh...2022-10-211h 01The Art AngleRick Lowe on How Art Can Solve Real-World ProblemsThe year was 1990, and artist Rick Lowe had invited a group of high school students into a studio. Standing surrounded by his billboard size paintings, one of the kids made a comment that stopped him in his tracks. Why was Lowe illustrating problems everyone already knew about rather than proposing creative solutions? The moment changed everything. It pushed Lowe to create art outside the studio and sent him on a path to becoming one of the leading figures in an art movement known as social practice.The term social practice describes art that is created with, and...2022-09-1542 minThe Art AngleWhat Does the Future of NFTs Look Like Now?It might be the dog days of summer here in New York, but over in the metaverse, we are firmly in the depths of crypto winter.When NFT NYC, the world’s largest NFT conference, descended on Times Square last month, Bitcoin and ether were down more than 70 percent from where they were in November. That put a damper on the proceedings, and it’s had a ripple effect on the once-ballooning market for digital collectibles. In the first half of 2021, Christie’s had sold $93 million worth of NFTs; this year, they’ve sold just $4.8 million.Meanwhile, NFT...2022-07-1542 minThe Art AngleIs the Venice Biennale Any Good? Here’s What Three Art Critics ThinkAt long last, this week the 59th Venice Biennale has officially thrown itself open to the world in Italy. The Biennale is always a big event for the art world. The 2022 edition may be even more anticipated than usual. Because of the pandemic, it was delayed a year—the first time that has happened since World War II. And it emerges in a moment of global turmoil and uneasiness, when everyone is wondering how art might respond to the challenges of the present.The Artnet News team was on the scene last week for the Biennale previews, cr...2022-04-2939 minThe Art AngleIs Fractional Art Investing the Future of the Market? Or a Scam?So want to buy a Picasso? No, it's too expensive? Want to buy a teensy-weensy, tiny little microscopic flack of a Picasso? That sounds better, doesn't it? Believe it or not, that kind of sales pitch is actually gaining traction in a big way. In the wild world of fractional art sales, where massive new startup companies are buying up the bluest of blue chip art, think Basquiat, Joan Mitchell and Ed Ruscha, and selling what are essentially shares in these pieces to speculative investors.It's rapidly becoming a big business. But what you do you actually g...2022-04-2139 minThe Art AngleHow to Become a Successful NFT ArtistAsk fans of crypto and NFTs why they think blockchain is such a revolutionary technology, and it probably won’t be long before they mention large-scale data transparency, a concept near and dear to our own hearts here at Artnet.Since the blockchain permanently and publicly documents key information about every transaction it hosts, then people with the right know-how and technical resources could theoretically map the entire history of any given crypto platform or project. And the wild, wooly market for NFTs is no exception.That’s where Laszlo Barabási comes in. Laszlo is th...2022-03-1057 minThe Art AngleHow the Artist Pension Trust Became a Gigantic FiascoEveryone knows the dirty little secret of the dog-eat-dog art market, which is that while an artist creates the artwork, the vast majority of the value of that artwork is created—and captured—by others, from the 50 percent that goes to the dealer to the multiples made by the collectors who flip if the artist gets hot.But what if there was a way for artists to protect themselves from this kind of exploitation, by banding together and pooling their art together into a fund to provide a safety net against the vicissitudes of the market, where all...2022-01-1335 minThe Art Angle6 Predictions on How the Art Industry Will Transform in 2022Here we are, at the beginning of a new year, a time that, at least in the past, used to be full of hope and anticipation, but after the last two years requires a deep breath and a brace for impact. But, there are still many fascinating and encouraging developments underway all around us, and there's an awful lot to be grateful for. We're all grateful to work alongside an authentically magical human being, known to mere mortals as Tim Schneider, Artnet News's art business editor.As longtime listeners know, Tim undergoes a mystical transformation at the b...2022-01-0631 minThe Art AngleWhere Do NFTs Go From Here? An Interview With Christie’s Noah DavisThe NFT market exploded this spring and has kept on exploding all year long. Artnet News Editor-In-Chief Andrew Goldstein is joined on the show by one of the guys who lit the fuse on NFTs, Noah Davis, the head of digital sales at Christie’s, who listeners may know best as the guy who sold the Beeple NFT this spring for $69.3 million, waking up the world to the dizzying potential of crypto art. It's a busy time for Noah. Right now. Christie’s first on-chain NFT sale on the crypto platform OpenSea is taking place with some of the...2021-12-0239 minThe Art AngleHow the CryptoPunk OGs Lit the Fuse for the NFT BoomIn 2017 Canadian software developers, Matt Hall, and John Watkinson debuted what would become a landmark project in the early crypto art movement, the CryptoPunks. Released through their company Larva Labs, the CryptoPunks consisted of 10,000 unique collectible characters whose chain of title would be tracked on the Ethereum blockchain. Each punk is a 24 by 24 pixel avatar whose individual traits were generated algorithmically. From Mohawks to shaved heads, from eye patches to colored eyeshadow and even from human men and women to apes, zombies, and aliens, every punk is one of a kind, but all would look perfectly at home intimidating a...2021-11-1149 minThe Art AngleHow a Fiery Breakup Sparked the Biggest Art Auction in DecadesThis week we aren't so much going down to earth as we are climbing up into the art market stratosphere, where only the wealthiest collectors reside. All eyes are on this tip top of the market as the art world prepares for what may be the biggest auction of the decade, Sotheby's sale of the Macklowe collection.This star studded group of works was assembled over 50 years by the billionaire couple Harry and Linda Macklowe, but those were happier times. Over the past five years, their divorce has grown so acrimonious that a judge ordered 64 of their m...2021-11-0437 minThe Art AngleWhy Horror Movies Keep Haunting the Art WorldIf you consider yourself a dedicated fan of contemporary art, then you're probably no stranger to watching things onscreen that the average person would find bizarre, upsetting, or even downright gruesome. So it should come as no surprise that the art world––and the Artnet News staff––contains more than a couple die-hard fans of horror movies, too.But what's more surprising than the contemporary art world having an interest in Hollywood horror flicks is that Hollywood horror flicks increasingly seem to have an interest in the contemporary art world. Over the past few years, big-name s...2021-10-2842 minThe Art Angle5 Technologies That Will Transform the Art World by 2030This week, we're hopping into a time machine and traveling to the not so distant future to answer this question, how will the technological tools being developed today shape the art world of tomorrow. It's a question we delve into in the fall 2021 edition of the Artnet Intelligence Report, which is out now. The theme of the issue is the roaring 2020s and inside we introduce you to the collectors who are looking to shift the axes of power in the art world, the galleries that will serve as social hubs once we get back out and a...2021-10-1446 minThe Art AngleElusive Artist Ryoji Ikeda Wants You to Bask in His Data-VerseIt’s hard to describe the experience of a work by Ryoji Ikeda. The Japanese artist has worked as an experimental musician, performer, researcher, and art-maker, and he brings it all together for immense, immersive installations that fill the senses. But while the word “immersive” has come to connote Instagram bait, Ikeda’s works are anything but lowbrow. The experience of a Ryoji Ikeda work is both brainy and very visceral, intellectual and awe-inspiring.With a background in experimental sound, Ikeda puts you in touch with sonic experiences that your body probably hasn’t had to process before. Wi...2021-10-0735 minThe Art AngleWriter Roxane Gay on What Art Can Teach Us About Trauma and HealingFor the 100th episode of the Art Angle, Artnet News’s Style Editor, Noor Brara had the pleasure of speaking with critically acclaimed author, professor, and social commentator Roxane Gay, whose writings on feminism, politics, intersectionality, and culture have made her one of the keenest and most important observers of our time. Gay is also an avid art collector and appreciator who, along with her wife Debbie Millman, has in the last few years years amassed an impressive personal collection and has been outspoken about the not-always-nice nature of the New York gallery scene. She discusses her forthcoming essay fo...2021-09-2326 minThe Art AngleHow Monaco and Accra Are Spinning the Art World in Opposite DirectionsIt’s late August, and for the first time in two years, it looks like the fall art season could be jam-packed with major in-person art-market events––even if some of them don’t normally happen at the same time as Starbucks is trying to coat the globe in pumpkin spice.But this summer, art-world trends and circumstances way beyond the industry’s control have led to some of the most noteworthy market activity happening in two destinations we’re not so used to seeing make headlines: Monaco and Accra, the capital of Ghana. What’s so interesting ab...2021-08-1951 min
The Art AngleShattering the Glass Ceiling (Re-Air): Curator Lauren Haynes on Working to Forge a Fuller Story of American ArtFor the past couple of weeks, we’ve been running a little experiment here at the Art Angle—namely our first-ever breakout mini-series, called Shattering the Glass Ceiling, dedicated to remarkable women in the art world who have succeeded in changing the game in their respective arenas. It’s such a good group of interviews, and we want to make sure you have a chance to hear it. We also, it so happens, are taking a little Memorial Day vacation to rest up after the launch of Artnet News Pro, our brand-new members-only offering for participants in the ar...2021-06-0332 min
The Art AngleHow Kenny Schachter Became an NFT Evangelist OvernightAs much of the art world is beginning to rebound from the pandemic, the art market got a major shot in the arm itself: in little more than a week, New York’s big three auction houses held a spate of absolutely mammoth art sales, bringing in a cumulative $1.3 billion and showing, pretty unequivocally, that the art business is back, baby. But, to me at least, one of the most remarkable things about these historic sales was that Artnet News’s veteran market columnist Kenny Schachter didn’t seem to care, or even pay them much mind. That’s...2021-05-2136 min
The Art AngleShattering the Glass Ceiling: Art Dealer Mariane Ibrahim on the Power of the Right RelationshipsIn the final installment of our mini-series Shattering the Glass Ceiling, Artnet News's art and design editor Noor Brara spoke with pioneering gallerist Mariane Ibrahim, founder of her eponymous gallery. Ibrahim opened her first outpost in Seattle, later launching another outpost in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Now, as the last year's turbulence begins to level off, Ibrahim is taking another giant leap—this time, overseas—to open a location in Paris. Ibrahim is known within the industry for nurturing an exceptional roster of artists, all of whom she retains a fiercely close relationship with. Though many consider her t...2021-05-1231 min
The Art Angle'Art Detective' Katya Kazakina on How She Lands Her Epic ScoopsThe biggest story at Artnet HQ this week is not, as you might imagine, the opening of the first IRL art fair in more than a year, it's the launch of Artnet News Pro! After being in the works for literally years, we have unveiled a very exciting new members-only section of the website dedicated to covering the inside-baseball nitty gritty at the heart of the art market. It encompasses exclusive data-driven reports on the behind-the-scenes machinations driving the sector, together with our popular industry-leading market columns like Tim Schneider's 'Gray Market,' Nate Freeman's 'Wet Paint...2021-05-0734 min
The Art AngleShattering the Glass Ceiling: Art Collector and Media Executive Catherine Levene On Empathetic LeadershipThe second installment of this four-part podcast miniseries features Artnet News senior writer Sarah Cascone's interview with art collector and media executive Catherine Levene. Levene's 25-year career runs the breadth of the media space, beginning at the New York Times Company in both the corporate sales realm and later as part of its burgeoning digital strategy. After obtaining her MBA, Levene ventured into media startups, and ultimately started a new company, Artspace, alongside business partner Christopher Vroom in 2011. Artspace was one of the first platforms to introduce e-commerce to the art market, and in 2014 the publishing house P...2021-04-2730 min
The Art AngleShattering the Glass Ceiling: Curator Lauren Haynes on Working to Forge a Fuller Story of American ArtWelcome to Shattering the Glass Ceiling, a podcast from the team at the Art Angle where we speak to boundary-breaking women in the art world and beyond about how art has shaped their lives and careers. In the first episode of this four-part podcast mini series, Artnet News executive editor Julia Halperin spoke to Lauren Haynes, the director of artist initiatives and curator of contemporary art at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary in Arkansas. In June, she will take on the role of Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasser senior curator of...2021-04-2233 min
The Art AngleKAWS Is the World's Most Popular Artist. Why?Art shows are a thing again! At least in New York, at least for now, and at least in the socially distanced way that we've come to see as normal. But it's really great news for the art museum-going crowd. And it's even better news that some of the shows on view are really, really good. Without question, one of the buzziest shows of the season is the Brooklyn Museum's sweeping survey of the street artist and late capitalism prodigy known as KAWS, one of the most popular artists in the world. So, is his...2021-04-0839 min
The Art AngleHow the Pandemic Totally Changed the Art MarketAmazingly enough, it's now the spring of 2021. That means the weather is warming, the grass is greening, and the little buds are drinking in the cool rain. But more to the point, it means that we've made it through the terrible pandemic winter and are emerging into a strange new world that is very much changed after a full year under the shadow of the coronavirus. In the art industry, normality is still far in the distance, but we've learned a whole slew of lessons that have perhaps made us better adapted for the future ahead. 2021-04-0236 min
The Art AngleHow NFTs Are Changing the Art Market as We Know ItAs we all now know, NFTs are the talk of the art world these days—they're everywhere. It's gotten to the point where you can't have a simple conversation with someone without them bringing up NFTs, or trying to turn the conversation in that direction. Due to an unusually hectic few weeks on the work and home fronts, our illustrious host, Andrew Goldstein, has been hunkered down at home with his wife as they prepare to welcome their first baby to the world, and has managed to drown out the oceanic wave of NFT news, and came in...2021-03-2650 min
The Art AngleThe Surprising Lessons of FDR’s New Deal Art ProgramsShockingly enough, we are now coming up on the one year anniversary of the lockdown of the United States. At this point last year, a creeping dread had begun to blanket the globe. And then in March it happened: COVID hit the East Coast and fanned out across the country, and within weeks whole areas of society were slammed shut like windows during a hurricane. In the art world, as everywhere else, the costs of the closures were immediately palpable with widespread furloughs and job cuts across the sector, enormous projected financial pain, and predictions of museums and...2021-02-1839 min
The Art Angle5 Steamy, Whirlwind Romances That Changed Art HistoryIn case you’ve forgotten—in which case, shame on you!—Valentine’s Day is right around the corner again, and we here at the Art Angle are all atwitter.We just love love, particularly when it comes to art history, which is about as full of steamy, sensational, and downright scandalous love affairs as your heart could desire. Luckily, Artnet News just so happens to be equipped with an expert on this subject in Katie White, a journalist who knows an alarming amount about the love lives of the artists—the fascinating affairs, marriages, breakups, and obsessions that shape...2021-02-1137 min
The Art Angle8 Predictions on How the Art World Will Shift in 2021No one could have foreseen the giant boomerang of a year that was 2020. With its trifecta of health, financial, and social crises, it could not have been predicted by even the most studied of sages. No, not even Artnet News's resident forecaster, art business editor Tim Schneider. But that didn't stop Tim from embarking on his annual tradition, formulating highly specific predictions for the art market in the coming 365 days. In the early days of 2021—before the angry mob of protestors stormed the Capitol, inciting a riot and leading to the historic second impeachment of President Trump; befor...2021-01-1437 min
The Art AngleRe-air: The New Yorker's Peter Schjeldahl on His Adventures in Life as an Accidental Art CriticAs 2020 draws to a close, the Art Angle team is taking some time off to reboot for the new year and prepare for a lineup of exciting new episodes. In the meantime, we've prepared this throwback from April, which is one of our favorite episodes of the year. In his 2019 essay "The Art of Dying," acclaimed critic Peter Schjeldahl describes Patsy Cline's voice as "attending selflessly to the sounds and the senses of the words... consummate." The same could be said about Schjeldahl's incomparable writing about art, most notably during his 22 years (and counting) as the art critic...2021-01-0132 min
The Art AngleI Survived Zombie Art Basel Miami BeachEvery December for the better part of the past two decades, a throng of well-heeled dealers, collectors, artists, celebrities, publicists, and lookie loos descend on a small stretch of Miami Beach coastline for a final year’s-end bacchanal. Art Basel Miami Beach has long been considered the art market’s Black Friday, when dealers are able to sell enough wares to put them in the black for the year and close the books on a high note.So what happens when it all goes virtual? Despite the fair having called off most in-person activities this year, Artnet News’s intrepid...2020-12-1033 min
The Art AngleThe Rise and Fall of Anne Geddes, Queen of Baby PhotographyThe Art Angle team is taking this week off for Thanksgiving, but we thought we'd share one of our favorite episodes from the past year to see you through this unconventional holiday weekend. Picture this: a doughy, apple-cheeked infant nestled in between the soft petals of a dew-kissed flower, sound asleep, like the start of a real-life fable. Almost everyone who conjures that mental image will do so using a nearly identical aesthetic—and whether you realize it or not, that’s almost entirely because of the work of legendary baby photographer Anne Geddes. After her d...2020-11-2526 min
The Art AngleWhy New York’s Art Scene Will Reign Supreme Post-COVIDThe news cycle for the past seven months has been dominated by staggering data points that seek to quantify the scope of the pandemic's effects on the United States and beyond. Within the art world, statistics detailing layoffs and furloughs, museums facing imminent closure, and galleries struggling to make ends meet add to the collective fear and anxiety gripping the world at large. But there have also been bright spots in both the broad economy, and, surprisingly, within the art market itself. A new study commissioned by the Independent art fair and Crozier Fine Arts...2020-11-2048 min
The Art AngleHow Does the Art World Feel About Joe Biden’s Victory?Well, it finally happened. Former vice president Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have won the United States presidential election. They ran on the promise of a return to democracy and decency—as well as a repudiation of the past four years under Donald Trump. After all of the hand-wringing, punditry, and poll watching, we're now left to consider what this regime change actually means. For artists and art workers, the jubilation of a Biden win is tempered by a healthy dose of skepticism. Both Biden and Harris have expressed general appreciation for the arts, but...2020-11-1346 min
The Art AngleHow Pepe the Frog Explains America's Toxic Politics When San Francisco-based artist Matt Furie created a zine in 2005 featuring a rag-tag group of immature adolescent animals, including a heavy-lidded frog named Pepe, he had no idea that his humble drawing would become a flashpoint for roiling cultural and political tensions across the world. A new documentary titled Feels Good Man, directed by Arthur Jones and produced by Giorgio Angelini, charts the story of Matt Furie and his creation. On this week's episode of the Art Angle, Jones and Angelini speak with Artnet News's chief critic Ben Davis about cultural appropriation, freedom of speech, and the power of images in t...2020-11-0530 min
The Art AngleWhat New York's Art World Looks Like Post-LockdownTo call the mood of this past spring in the New York art world "apocalyptic" would hardly be an exaggeration. Although it was on March 22 that the rapid spread of COVID-19 pushed governor Andrew Cuomo to order the closure of all non-essential businesses in New York state, the renowned museums and galleries that make New York City the beating heart of the US art world had already started voluntarily shutting down almost two weeks earlier out of concern for public safety. As spring unfolded, furloughs and layoffs devastated the for-profit and nonprofit sides of the arts workforce...2020-10-0232 min
The Art AngleHow a Powerhouse Hollywood Agency Is Turning Artists Into StarsIt used to be that even the biggest, brawniest Hollywood talent agencies restricted their clientele to... well, Hollywood. That meant actors, filmmakers, screenwriters, and not much else. But Tinseltown's 10-percentaries have been playing by a new set of rules for years now. Nowhere is this truer than at United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the entertainment industry's "big three" representation houses, where the daily schedule of client meetings has expanded to include pop stars and hip-hop legends, professional athletes and prominent anchormen, and yes, even major contemporary artists including Ai Weiwei, Rashid Johnson, and Shirin Neshat. In 2015...2020-09-2533 min
The Art AngleHow the World Health Organization Is Using Art to Fight the PandemicAsk the average informed citizen what the responsibilities of the World Health Organization are, and they're likely to name initiatives like funding medical research and coordinating with politicians and diplomats across the globe to hone optimal public-health policy. So it may surprise you to learn that the WHO also maintains an entire program dedicated to the study and support of the arts as integral tools in human well-being—and that it sees culture as a crucial force in combating the coronavirus crisis that has engulfed much of the planet in 2020. Christopher Bailey, the WHO's arts and health le...2020-09-1827 min
The Art AngleThe Secret Art History of Burning ManToday, practically everyone on earth knows about Burning Man, the countercultural extravaganza that draws tens of thousands of true believers to a barren landscape in Nevada's Black Rock Desert every August to create a temporary city full of monumental art installations and mind-expanding experiences. But far fewer people know that this zeitgeist-shaping powerhouse was created by a small group of artists in the California Bay Area as an ad hoc beach party with a few big ideas under the surface—and one very important cobbled-together sculpture going up in flames at its end. One person who knows the...2020-08-2834 min
The Art AngleHow Rupert Murdoch's Son Became Art Basel's SaviorEarlier this summer, rumors emerged that a member of the Murdoch media dynasty—most (in)famous for building the far-right Fox News—may be sniffing around a major investment in the MCH Group, the financially beleaguered parent company of mega-fair Art Basel. Initial fears that the interested party was ultra-conservative family patriarch Rupert Murdoch soon gave way to official news that it was instead his son James, a billionaire in his own right who has been referred to as "the smart one in the clan." The media scion's interest represented a lifeline for the MCH Group, which had...2020-08-2141 min
The Art AngleHow Black Women Are Leading a Grassroots Art RevolutionJust days into the start of 2020, CityLab published an article analyzing which major American cities are the best, and the worst, for Black women residents. The report took into account a variety of metrics measuring "livability," and the consensus was that Midwestern metropolises including Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit were the among the most inhospitable in the nation. Despite the systemic sexism and racism reflected in the bleak findings, however, Black women artists within these same cities have been driving growth and change in their local art communities—often by rejecting conventional thinking about funding, institutions, and the ma...2020-07-2430 min
The Art AngleHow the Heck Did Auction Houses Just Sell Almost a Billion Dollars in Art During a Global Pandemic?Each May, as the flowers bloom and the evening light lingers, the world's largest auction houses hold their marquee spring sales in New York, enabling perennial market leader Christie's, its arch-rival Sotheby's, and insurgent Phillips to collectively bring in well over $1 billion in one so-called "gigaweek." But this spring, the COVID-19 shutdown left the Big Three's salesrooms unnaturally quiet in the Empire City and around the world. Starved of vital cyclical revenue, Sotheby's cut hundreds of jobs, while Christie's both restructured and downsized—with all of these moves indicating that blockbuster replacements for the major sales be staged as soo...2020-07-1737 min
The Art AngleHow Hank Willis Thomas Is Making Politics an Art FormHank Willis Thomas is a busy man. The 44-year-old photographer, sculptor, filmmaker, and writer was already a force within the rarefied world of visual art before he decided to embrace politics on a large scale. But during the landmark presidential race of 2016, Thomas and fellow artist Eric Gottesman co-founded an "anti-partisan" political action committee called For Freedoms to empower artists to channel their creative energy into civic engagement. Along with facilitating major public artworks such as murals and artist-designed billboards, For Freedoms has since grown into a larger nonprofit organization that has held townhall meetings, organized voter-registration drives, and ev...2020-07-1032 min
The Art AngleThe Unsettling Truth Behind What Columbus Monuments Really Stand ForIn cities across the world over the past month, activists have been taking aim at symbols of oppression in the form of monuments: splashing them with paint, tagging them with graffiti, and most importantly, tearing them down. Among the most targeted statues in the US are those of Christopher Columbus. While he is still portrayed in American elementary schools as a folkloric hero responsible for "discovering the New World," the grim facts behind the legend have recently led to Columbus monuments being toppled and trampled, tossed into bodies of water, and even beheaded. But there's much more to...2020-06-2631 min
The Art AngleFour Artists on the Front Lines of the George Floyd ProtestsAs American citizens entered Memorial Day weekend this year, the nation was already in turmoil. Nearly 100,000 lives had been lost to a colossal public-health crisis, with a disproportionately high number of the victims being African American; tens of millions of people had filed for unemployment since mid-March; and many states central to the US economy remained largely locked down, with few solid indications of when they would resume anything resembling business as usual. Then, after a Minnesota deli owner accused George Floyd of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill on Memorial Day itself, the four police officers...2020-06-0534 min
The Art AngleThe Rise and Fall of Anne Geddes, Queen of Baby PhotographyPicture this: a doughy, apple-cheeked infant nestled in between the soft petals of a dew-kissed flower, sound asleep, like the start of a real-life fable. Almost everyone who conjures that mental image will do so using a nearly identical aesthetic—and whether you realize it or not, that's almost entirely because of the work of legendary baby photographer Anne Geddes. After her debut photography book, Down in the Garden, soared to number three on the New York Times Bestseller list in 1996, Geddes's wholesomely surreal infant images became inescapable. Oprah went on air to declare Down in the Gar...2020-05-2825 min
The Art AngleHow Marina Abramović Became the Center of a Vast Satanic Conspiracy TheoryJust when you thought the spring of 2020 couldn't get any weirder, a Microsoft ad starring performance artist Marina Abramović caught the attention of conspiracy peddler Alex Jones and his followers, sparking accusations that the artist was practicing satanism and reigniting the "pizzagate" controversy that ensnared Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta four years ago. It all began with a seemingly innocuous commercial put out by Microsoft to advertise a product called HoloLens 2, a newfangled set of mixed-reality smart glasses, which Abramović used to create her augmented-reality artwork The Life. Hours after the ad debuted online, an o...2020-05-0728 min
The Art AngleThe New Yorker's Peter Schjeldahl on His Adventures in Life as an Accidental Art CriticIn his 2019 essay "The Art of Dying," acclaimed critic Peter Schjeldahl describes Patsy Cline's voice as "attending selflessly to the sounds and the senses of the words... consummate." The same could be said about Schjeldahl's incomparable writing about art, most notably during his 22 years (and counting) as the art critic for the New Yorker. And no one expected this outcome less than Schjeldahl himself. A Midwest native who beamed to New York at the dawn of the 1960s with little more than a high-school diploma, Schjeldahl was an aspiring poet who began reviewing exhibitions to pay the...2020-04-3031 min
The Art AngleWhy Germany's COVID-19 Relief Plan Is the Envy of the Art WorldAlthough the coronavirus pandemic is first and foremost a public-health emergency, it rapidly proved to be a deep financial emergency, too. With businesses and cultural institutions around the world forced to shutter en masse in the face of social-distancing regulations, questions loom large about how the global economy and the workforce will endure a prolonged period in which all but "essential" laborers must work from home—or not at all. This proposition is especially worrisome in the art industry, where so many artists and small businesses weather precarious conditions even in the best of times, making them especially vulnerable to...2020-04-0924 min
The Art AngleThree Ways Coronavirus Will Transform the Art WorldIn the past month, the world—and by extension, the art world—has changed so drastically that it is almost unrecognizable. While the novel 2019 coronavirus continues to threaten countries around the globe and industries of all types, major and minor art institutions alike have shuttered until further notice, hundreds of galleries have temporarily closed their doors, and both artists and art lovers have been left to wonder how to respond in the social-distancing era. Like so many other staffers worldwide, the Art Angle team is now working remotely, harnessing the power of technology to bring you a comp...2020-03-2637 min
The Art AngleHow an Art-Dealing Prodigy Became the Market's Most Wanted OutlawA man on the run, millions of dollars missing, major artworks with multiple claims to ownership: these aren't plot points in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, they're elements of the real-life rise, fall, and disappearance of the young art dealer Inigo Philbrick. The son of a lauded museum director and a graduate of the esteemed Goldsmiths University of London, Philbrick got his start in the art market as an intern at the world-renowned White Cube gallery at the tender age of 23. There, under the tutelage of founder Jay Jopling, he quickly rose through the ranks to lead a...2020-03-0327 min
The Art AngleIs the Museum of Ice Cream the Future of Art, or Just a Sugar Rush?There's a buzzy new museum taking over New York, and it boasts the types of specs that would make competitors drool. Now housed in a prime 25,000-square-foot building in the hip SoHo neighborhood, this fresh destination has welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors since it launched as a pop-up back in 2016, and its $39 ticket price is higher than any major museum in America. But it's not the Museum of Modern Art... or a traditional art museum at all. It's the Museum of Ice Cream. This magical cash cow—last year, venture capitalists valued it at more than $200 million—is a...2020-02-2526 min
The Art AngleHow Jeffrey Epstein Made the Art World His Hunting GroundOver the past few weeks, the long-awaited trial of former Hollywood rainmaker Harvey Weinstein has unfolded in harrowing fashion, with one after another of his accusers taking the stand to allege patterns of sexual and psychological abuse. The grim courtroom proceedings are only the latest shockwave from the #MeToo movement, which grew from accusations against Weinstein into a national reckoning with sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other rampant abuses perpetrated by those in positions of power. The art world has not been a safe haven from this heinous activity. In fact, one of the most notorious predators i...2020-02-0423 min
The Art AngleHow the Art World Fell Under the Spell of the OccultYou don't hear the words "witch hunt" much nowadays, unless they are being deployed by a certain US President. But the term is increasingly relevant—in a much more literal sense—to any tour through the art-historical canon, where witchcraft, paganism, and the occult seem to be more important presences every day. This development is in tune with what's happening in mainstream culture, too. More than one million Americans today identify as Neopagans or Wiccans, and many businesses are riding their broomsticks straight to the bank. In the US, more than $2 billion is spent on "mystical services" each...2020-01-2826 min
The Art AngleWhat Do the Protests in Hong Kong Mean for Art?Above and beyond its well-established status as a global financial center, Hong Kong has spent the 21st century rapidly transforming into an international nexus for the art market: welcoming to both Eastern and Western collectors, appealing to institutions and artists alike for its vibrant economy and cosmopolitan character, and stabilized by its unique embrace of democratic values just a stone's throw from state-dominated mainland China. But since March 2019, Hong Kong has been rocked off its axis by ongoing and increasingly violent political protests, all sparked by what the demonstrators read as aggressive moves by Xi Jinping and...2020-01-1424 min
The Art AngleFour Predictions on How the Art World Will Transform in 2020Whether you ascribe to the centuries-old Georgian Calendar or slept through the clock striking midnight, ushering in a new year is often a time for reflection on what's past, and what is to come. Here at Artnet News, resident business editor and part-time soothsayer Tim Schneider embraces his mystical powers to peer into the future and offer a slew of highly specific predictions for the art world. In this episode, Tim distills some of the broadest issues facing the art world using trend analysis to make concrete statements for 2020, which can (and will) be objectively reviewed as...2020-01-0725 min
The Art AngleHow to Understand the Radical, Viral Artworks That Defined the 2010sAs a barrage of retrospective pieces from countless publications (including Artnet News) made clear throughout December 2019, the opening moments of 2020 signal a new decade, not just a new year. Looking back, the 2010s seem to be defined by one intense development after another, including an ever-expanding digital revolution, an ever-widening chasm between rich and poor, the ever-heightening peril of climate change, and so much more. The art world felt the effects of these changes throughout the decade, but it also sought to grapple with, adjust to, and even counteract them. Artists were at the forefront of this c...2019-12-3129 min
The Art AngleHow an Artist’s $120,000 Banana Ate the WorldAt the start of December, the Art Angle team had other, loftier ideas for the show's first Christmas episode. Maybe we would dig into the most important developments in the art world this past year or examine the growing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and their effect on the city's cultural community. But then, we lived through this year's edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, where superstar Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan duct-taped an ordinary supermarket banana to the wall of his gallery's booth at the fair, declared it an artwork, and priced its first edition at the eyebrow-raising sum...2019-12-2426 min
The Art AngleNew Yorker Art Scribe Calvin Tomkins on What Makes Great Artists TickSix decades ago, an editor at Newsweek magazine summoned a young journalist named Calvin Tomkins out of the foreign-news department to interview the legendary conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp, who had allegedly left art-making in favor of playing chess and... simply breathing. Although it would be years before Tomkins discovered Duchamp had in fact already been at work on his magnum opus, Étant Donnés, for years before their first meeting, this chance encounter altered the trajectory of his career and life. Duchamp was the gateway to what would become a prolific collection of artists—many of them eccentric or otherw...2019-12-1724 min
The Art AngleIs the Art World Causing a Climate Catastrophe?For our latest episode, team Art Angle traveled to Art Basel Miami Beach to examine a much thornier and more urgent issue than the glamorous trade show's business: the art world's impact on Mother Earth. From thousands of deep-pocketed collectors flying in to south Florida for the week's festivities, to the hundreds of black cars and Ubers ferrying attendees from event to event, to the (literal) tons of artworks shipped by air, land, and sea to Miami's convention centers for a scant five days of exposure, the ecologically punishing realities of the art fair demand that we take a...2019-12-1521 min
The Art AngleArt Basel Rules the Art Market. Is That a Good Thing for Art?This week, what seems like the entire art industry, every luxury company, and every celebrity or status-seeker available will be traveling to south Florida for the 18th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the final stop on the annual art-market calendar—as well as a champagne-soaked playground for the rich and famous. And while people love to complain about this particular fair, Art Basel matters to the art business in an enormous, almost existential way. Since its founding in 1970, Art Basel has evolved from a bespoke trade fair for German-speaking art collectors near its namesake Swiss city in...2019-12-0325 min
The Art AngleHow Yayoi Kusama Became an Unlikely Pop-Culture PhenomenonThe 90-year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is an international sensation. Exhibitions featuring her ongoing series of “Infinity Mirrored Rooms” consistently draw tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of visitors from all walks of life, with many enduring multiple-hour wait times for the opportunity to spend as little as a single minute inside the installations (and almost undoubtedly using much of that hard-won time to snap an obligatory selfie). Now, the Kusama phenomenon is electrifying New York once again this holiday season—and at an unprecedented new scale. David Zwirner is currently in the midst of “Every Day I Pray fo...2019-11-2626 min
The Art AngleWho Is Sotheby's Mysterious New Owner, and What Does He Want?Normally, the week following Art Basel in June sees the art market begin its downshift into the summer doldrums. But this year, on what nearly everyone expected to be a quiet Monday, the usual cycle was disrupted by a breaking-news earthquake: Sotheby's, the world's oldest auction house, had struck a deal in principle to be acquired for $3.7 billion by a mysterious telecom magnate named Patrick Drahi. Even more jarring than Drahi's status as a largely unknown quantity in the art world was the announcement that he planned to return Sotheby's, which had been publicly traded on the New York...2019-11-1924 min
The Art AngleHans Neuendorf on 30 Years of Artnet, and What Comes NextHans Neuendorf had already built a storied career as an art dealer by the late 1980s, helping to bring Pop art from the United States to Germany, co-founding the first-ever art fair (Art Cologne), and putting his resources behind homegrown star-to-be Georg Baselitz when the artist was still roundly dismissed. But nothing Neuendorf did earlier changed the art market as drastically or irreversibly as when he founded Artnet in 1989, on the belief that a shared database of the prices achieved by artworks at auction would bring transparency and newfound efficiency to the opaque, antiquated art market. 2019-11-1222 min
The Art AngleAnish Kapoor on "Radical" Art, China, and the Magic Paint WarsAlready one of the world's most renowned and visible artists, Anish Kapoor is entering new territory by opening multiple major exhibitions on opposite ends of the Earth within a few weeks of each other this fall. On October 25, he debuted twin shows of new work at Lisson Gallery's two spaces in New York. And on November 10, he unveils a significant solo exhibition split between Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Taimiao Art Museum of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, making him only the second non-Chinese artist to show at the threshold of the Forbidden City. In t...2019-11-0521 min