Signs of change

Signs of change appearing in global Contemporary art news, the art market, Art & Business.

Mirabaud, a Swiss bank, an "out of the box" sponsorship

Art & Business | The patronage of large banks and investment funds is widely spreading through the creation of contemporary art collections, foundations and prizes : Société Générale, Neuflize, HSBC, UBS, Carmignac... The Geneva-based Swiss banking group Mirabaud […]
Read more » 04/11/19

Designers Activists

Contemporary Art | Last Friday, young people across the globe marched to declare Climate Emergency; thousands of colorful banners filled the streets of London. Echoing Greta Thunberg’s speech, this year’s Brompton Design District theme is Nature/Nurture […]
Read more » 27/09/19

Leonardo da Vinci and transgenderism

Contemporary Art | In the context of Leonardo da Vinci’s 500th birthday, the exhibition La Joconde nue at the Condé de Chantilly Museum presents the public with the emblematic life-size bust portrait of a stripped woman in the same posture as Mona Lisa, sporting the same […]
Read more » 04/07/19

Paradigm shift at Sotheby’s

Art Market | Patrick Drahi’s acquisition of Sotheby’s in June 2019 marks a new era in the history of the auction house founded in 1744, in London. In a globalized context, with markets that increasingly respond to geopolitical lines, Sotheby’s joins a […]
Read more » 27/06/19

Damien Hirst: To be or not to be an artist

Art Market | Damien Hirst’s current strategy contrasts with the one that earned him a reputation for being the “terrible child” of British art when he started out. From being over exposed in the media during the 2000s through a series of memorable appearances […]
Read more » 30/04/19

“Young art critics” organize themselves into a confederation

Contemporary Art | The art scene’s globalization, the market’s pressure and the development of the internet, have profoundly marked art criticism and weakened its scope. The “Young art critics” collective, constituted in 2015 and composed of around fifteen members […]
Read more » 25/03/19

Christie’s: new perspectives and uncertainties

Art Market | After reaching exceptional sales in terms of revenues and volume in the past years, Christie’s entered 2019 amid major internal turmoil. The latest change - and one of the most significant ones - is the resignation of Loic Gouzer announced on December […]
Read more » 25/01/19

Art Basel Cities Week - Buenos Aires

Art Market | Confirmed during the summer of 2016, the partnership between the Swiss fair and the Argentinian capital “Art Basel Cities : Buenos Aires” enters a new phase with the implementation of the first “Cities Week”, which includes a series of events […]
Read more » 06/01/19

Art & Charity - The art market’s favorites mingle with the stars

Art Market | Global awareness of the ongoing environmental crisis engages political, creative and media circles. For several years now, celebrities have used their influence to support the environmental cause through foundations and fundraising campaigns. Among […]
Read more » 29/10/18

Art schools: the Artagon project regenerates the emerging artists’ market

Contemporary Art | For its fourth edition, Artagon IV pursues its international exploration among art schools. The recently founded organization focuses on the emergence of a young generation of international artists by organizing new spaces to showcase them, becoming an […]
Read more » 22/09/18

Prospective, art in the time of blockchain

Art Market | Since its appearance in the aftermath of the subprime crisis, the term “blockchain” has triggered an enthusiastic response on a global scale. Initially considered as the basic infrastructure of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, today its […]
Read more » 17/09/18

Christie's and Sotheby's 2018 half-year results

Art Market | The announcement of Christie’s and Sotheby’s respective results for the first semester 2018 has revealed a strong upward trend : + 35% for Christie’s with a sales volume of $4 billion, + 22% for Sotheby’s with a sales volume of $3.5 billion. Although […]
Read more » 09/09/18

The Rockefeller’s collection under Christie’s gavel: a charity sale breaks the market’s records

Art Market | Partnerships between commercial companies and the non-profit sector as well as actors from the art market have become increasingly common. The constant increase of charity art sales during the last decades reflects a market trend. Peggy and David […]
Read more » 31/07/18

Takashi Murakami / Virgil Abloh: from wearable art to exposable fashion

Art & Business | Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and American designer Virgil Abloh have crossed their respective brands’ universes and are exposing the works that have resulted from this collaboration at the Larry Gagosian’s gallery. This “star trio” has […]
Read more » 26/07/18

Togo’s Palais de Lomé, joining the cultural trend

Contemporary Art | In Togo, the Palais de Lomé’s renovation project is part of the broader contemporary art movement currently underway in West Africa. The Palace considers itself a favorable location to promote both a creative and social space, in the hope of […]
Read more » 27/06/18

A cultural revolution: the Fondation Cartier at Shanghai’s Power Station of Art

Contemporary Art | The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, one of France’s precursory corporate foundations, is exhibiting in the first Chinese public museum devoted to contemporary art since 2012 : the Power Station of Art (PSA). […]
Read more » 31/05/18

Artdelivery: a start-up approach at the School of Fine Arts in Nantes Saint-Nazaire

Art Market | The School of Fine Arts in Nantes has created a new model which intends to make the school’s art circulate while increasing the artists’ visibility. Artdelivery’s service favors the pollination of art through digital platforms, reversing the local […]
Read more » 12/04/18

The Meurice Prize, an award in line with French creation

Contemporary Art | At the heart of the French artistic eco-system, several actors among auction houses, galleries and fairs - e.g. Art Paris Art Fair- put the spotlight on the “French spirit” by promoting artists that are on the margin of the mainstream market and […]
Read more » 04/04/18

Lafayette Anticipations, an innovative foundation

Contemporary Art | The new foundation is a laboratory that combines spaces for exhibition and production workshops, mixing disciplines and conveying a horizontal concept from its vertical structure. Open to all, the space was dreamt by Guillaume Houzé, conceived by Rem […]
Read more » 24/03/18

Japan, a geocultural hub in the making

Art Market | At a time when the global art market is built around several local and regional centers, Japan is developing its cultural policy with measures that aim at positioning its domestic market against the main powers; the United States, Great Britain and China. […]
Read more » 10/02/18