Archives for May 2024

What goes around comes around? I may be one of the few active cultural journalists who covered in real time the late-'70s introduction in the US of the buyer's premium (then a flat 10% for all winning bids) at art auctions. European auction houses were already charging a fee to buyers as well as sellers, but in the US, the commission cost had been entirely borne by the … [Read more...] about The Debut of Sotheby’s New Fee Structure: Reduced Fee for Buyers (Cue the Dinosaur!)

Auction prices were once thought to be reliable indicators of an artwork's fair market value---defined by the IRS as "the price that would be agreed on between a willing buyer and a willing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts." That's now an outdated take, as witness the laughter that greeted Christie's … [Read more...] about One-Bid Wonders: Guarantee Ennui at Pre-Orchestrated Auctions (Plus: Christie’s Hack Attack) UPDATED

Today is Met Gala day. So why am I not feeling particularly celebratory? Partly because it's also the day when Columbia University felt compelled to cancel its main commencement exercises "after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests" (Associated Press); when Russia said that it would hold military exercises with troops based near Ukraine, "to practice for the possible use of … [Read more...] about The Met’s Off-Key Gala: Tone-Deaf in a Discordant World

When I singled out Isaac Julien's five-screen video installation—“Once Again . . . (Statues Never Die)”---as one of my two top picks from the current Whitney Biennial (to Aug. 11), I was as yet unaware of his other notable recent attainments. Here's an update to the Julien news: ---He served as curator for the current Richmond Barthé: A New Day Is Coming (to May 31) at … [Read more...] about Isaac Julien’s Momentous Moment: Burst of Deserved Attention UPDATED