The painting is valued so highly because it carries a deep personal and political history – and because the artist’s incredible skill once helped it serve as a life-saving disguise. - The Convseration
Smaller galleries may be in massive amounts of trouble. "Gallery sales are almost always private, and only a small percentage truthfully reveal their sales and profits. ... Average gallery sales are reported to be down 8 or 10%. That would hardly have caused closures. It is far, far worse.” - Hyperallergic
Daniel H. Weiss “had been serving as a consultant to the museum over the last two years, he said in a telephone interview, ‘providing some advice to them on governance.’” - The New York Times
Robert Storr, former dean at the Yale School of Art and advisory board member: “‘Selling off the family silver is not a strategy for prolonging and increasing its fortunes,’ Storr wrote, urging that the Phillips ‘consider rescinding this absurd gambit.’” - The New York Times
A man who said he would help Rockoff - one of the last photographers in Phnom Penh as the Khmer Rouge marched in - has all of the negatives, but what is he planning to do with them? And where will any money go? - The New York Times
Some, including a prominent art critic, have said she should lose her job, and she has been called to testify twice before Parliament. The criticism is particularly charged given the tumultuous state of French politics. - The New York Times
The 1940 canvas, “The Dream (The Bed),” topped the previous record held by a $44.4 million Georgia O’Keeffe, “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1” that sold to Walmart billionaire Alice Walton 11 years earlier. - The Wall Street Journal
“The long sought-after solution to the fourth passage of Kryptos, artist Jim Sanborn’s secret-code-bearing sculpture at CIA headquarters, sold at auction Thursday night for a final price of $962,500, blowing past its $300,000 to $500,0000 estimate and placing the 35-year-old enigma in new hands.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
The 1940 self-portrait of the artist asleep in bed, titled El sueño (La cama) — in English, “The Dream (The Bed)” — sold for $54.7 million at Sotheby’s, surpassing the record held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, which sold for $44.4 million in 2014. - AP
The 71-by-51-inch painting, named after its subject, was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Tuesday evening for $236.4 million, including fees. It belonged to the private collection of Leonard Lauder, the cosmetics heir who died in June. - Washington Post
It’s not as simple as the museum not having enough money. An audit report indicates that there have been some very questionable accounting practices at PSAM — questionable enough that one of the eight board members who have resigned so far did so on the advice of his personal attorney. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Yes, the themed-museum-and-entertainment franchise Ripley’s Believe It or Not! was the purchaser of Cattelan’s America at Sotheby’s in New York this week. In its pun-filled announcement, Ripley’s proudly said that Cattelan’s conceptual artwork is the most expensive item in its collection. - Artnet
Under the legislation, France would become the only major market art center to impose a wealth tax on the mere possession of artworks, says the statement. France is the world’s fourth-largest art market, and accounts for more than half of the European Union’s market value, at $4.2 billion. - ARTnews
The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Center of Las Chumberas, designed by Spanish architect Fernando Menis, has been named as the World Building of the Year at the 2025 World Architecture Festival. - Archinect
