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...
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...
Emily in Paris+ There’s a Paris+ by Art Basel effect just like there’s an Emily in Paris effect. In the entertainment world, the sentimental and irreverent TV show has brought about a renewal of mass tourism to the French capital and we might...
Letizia Battaglia The setting of prices Each field of artistic creation is governed, in market terms, by unique rules. So the principles that dictate the setting of prices in photography have nothing to do with the market for paintings, for...
High expectations It’s the question on everyone’s lips: with the arrival of the contemporary art fair Paris+ by Art Basel, which is now organized by the Swiss behemoth, what are the real changes? Expectations are high if we are to believe the...
Covid Crisis Since the Covid crisis New York has lost some of its glamour. There are higher rates of urban violence. Scores of professionals are fleeing the city… The ultra-dynamic metropolis continues, nonetheless, to be the leading city in...
Turbulent times In these turbulent times for the economy, geopolitics, public health, and society, you might be surprised to learn that contemporary art prices are at an all-time high. Within this context we see the opening of Art Basel from 16...
Specialities Each fair has its own speciality. Some, like Frieze in London, New York and Los Angeles, are oriented towards novelties that tend to be very on trend. Art Basel in Switzerland and now Miami primarily displays the “blockbusters” of...
https://youtu.be/WxPCbbmzXOM The Art Basel of photography “Paris Photo is to photography what Art Basel is to contemporary art. You can find the whole world there.” The largest fair in the world dedicated to photography is taking place...
A physical fair It’s almost miraculous. In Dubai, the most commercial city in the United Arab Emirates, where restaurants are open and tourism is flourishing even when it’s coming from Israel (1), the first physical contemporary art...
Saturation of events It’s a radical digital revolution. As the coronavirus crisis settles in for the long term across the globe, the virtual initiatives staged by major art-market players are multiplying. Whereas in France the FIAC – which was...
Crises comes and go Crises in the art market come and go, and no two are quite alike, but they can help us to understand how market values may be called into question. The crisis sweeping the world today and affecting the economy and the art...