Viral image This image went around the world. In November 2017, Christie’s sold a remarkably rare painting by Leonardo da Vinci, a Salvator Mundi painted around 1500, for $450 million, making it the most expensive work ever sold at auction. The fact that this...
Mood of war When the mood is one of war, it is hardly one for buying art. The contemporary art fair Art Dubai was scheduled to take place from April 17 to 19, 2026, in the tourist hub of the United Arab Emirates. On March 2, just two days after the outbreak of the...
Absurd and poetic The world is uncertain. The art market is unsettled. And yet, amid a pervasive sense of insecurity, one artist’s market performance stands out for its strength. Quietly but steadily, his prices continue to rise, reaching colossal sums. His success...
Geostrategic tensions Beyond the acute geostrategic tensions currently undermining the climate across Middle Eastern countries, another, more subterranean conflict is also playing out locally. Its aim is to generate happiness without causing...
https://youtu.be/zekRFFxbzN0?si=ff5Rg3Z-Zgd2TEnI A temptation worth €825,000 “I can resist everything except temptation.” When the legendary Irish man of letters Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) coined this famous witticism in the dialogue of one of his...
https://youtu.be/_RXKYlw-rB8?si=KFONA8qg-OgYqWnS La Boheme At the beginning of the 20th century, Montmartre was a territory of poverty and bohemia, filled with shantytowns, inhabited by street performers, circus people, "grisettes" and other...
Bonnie Brennan has been Christie’s Worldwide Chief Executive Officer since February 2025. Closely tracking new market dynamics, she says she is “very optimistic about 26” . I interviewed her at the end of December. Christie’s communications...
Crisis or not? The United States is the epicentre of the global art market. In 2024, art transactions worldwide were estimated at 57.4 billion dollars, of which 24.8 billion were generated in the United States (1). The crisis, in step with all the economic,...
https://youtu.be/0hmym3W53No?si=5BLGmQ9yZBx3IK1l 236.4 million Rationality is the enemy of artists. They obey more poetic rules, which lend an exceptional magic to the works they produce. As a result, these paintings or sculptures can sometimes...
https://youtu.be/Iyfu93YEhpE?si=gdTfSG7F5LGuNs_6 Generous trustees In the United States, unlike in France, museums are rarely funded by the public sector. To attract ever greater private generosity, they have developed an elaborate system of...
https://youtu.be/Iyfu93YEhpE?si=gdTfSG7F5LGuNs_6 Generous trustees In the United States, unlike in France, museums are rarely funded by the public sector. To attract ever greater private generosity, they have developed an elaborate system of...
Sad Kermit A 19.5-meter-long inflatable frog presides, temporarily, over Place Vendôme in Paris. The American artist Alex Da Corte (born 1980) brought it to Paris with the help of his London gallerist Sadie Coles, at the invitation of Clément...