June 23: A Lost Van Gogh Archive Surfaces; a $30M Looted Modigliani Is Ordered Returned; Brexit's Decade on the Art Trade
This week, two stories about art and provenance: a previously unknown archive from the doctor who cared for Van Gogh in his final days, and a New York court ordering the return of a Nazi-looted Modigliani. Then the verdict on Art Basel and the British art trade a decade after Brexit.

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A Van Gogh Discovery
- A previously unknown archive belonging to Paul Gachet, the doctor who cared for Vincent van Gogh in his final weeks, has come to light (revealed by Van Gogh specialist Martin Bailey in The Art Newspaper). It runs to more than 500 items, much of it catalogued by Gachet's son in 1923.
- The most important piece is Gachet's drawing of Van Gogh on his deathbed, dated 29 July 1890, one of only three known images recording the artist's death. Van Gogh died in Auvers-sur-Oise on 29 July 1890, two days after shooting himself. The anonymous owner has announced no plans to sell or donate it.

A Modigliani, Reclaimed
- A New York judge has ordered dealer David Nahmad to return Modigliani's "Seated Man with a Cane" (1918), valued at as much as 30 million dollars, looted from the Jewish Paris dealer Oscar Stettiner, who fled the city before the 1939 Nazi occupation.
- Nahmad bought it at Christie's in 1996 for 3.2 million dollars. Ruling on 16 June, Justice Joel Cohen found Stettiner had a superior right of possession and never voluntarily relinquished it. Nahmad has 30 days to return the work to Stettiner's grandson, Philippe Maestracci, and says he will appeal. One of the highest-value Nazi-era restitution rulings in years.

Art Basel, The Verdict
- Art Basel closed with cautiously positive results across 290 galleries from 43 countries, led by the top of the market: a 1963 Picasso ("The Painter and His Model in a Landscape") at a 35 million dollar asking price at Hauser & Wirth, plus a 20 million dollar Richter, a 5 million dollar Twombly, and a roughly 2.5 million dollar Yves Klein at Xavier Hufkens.

Brexit, A Decade On
- London remains the world's second-largest art market behind the US, but its lead has narrowed. The UK's share of global art sales slipped from 21 percent in 2016 to 18 percent in 2025; its share of the European Old Masters market fell from 52 percent in 2014 to 38 percent in 2025 (Clare McAndrew, Arts Economics, in The Art Newspaper).
- The cause is friction, not demand: import VAT, export licenses, and ATA carnet paperwork. The top is insulated (a 200 million pound single-owner collection at Sotheby's), the lower end squeezed. EU galleries with a London presence have gone from eight in 2016 to zero.

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June 16: Art Basel Week Begins; South Asian Art Sets a £18.9M Record; Magnificent Jewels Hits $49.7M
This week the center of gravity shifts to Switzerland as Art Basel opens, against a striking run of results in London: a $49.7M jewels sale, a $20M+ design sale, and a fresh record for South Asian art. Plus the data behind the "firm top, choosier middle" market, and tributes to David Hockney.

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Art Basel Opens
- VIP previews begin today, ahead of the public opening June 18. Dealers arrive with "cautious optimism" after a couple of uncertain years (ARTnews).
- Director Vincenzo De Bellis on the new "Basel Exclusive" section, price transparency (galleries publishing/freezing prices), and a more global fair.
- The wider scene: the satellite fair "June" takes a "strategic pause" (postponed); Basel Social Club returns in a UBS office building with new work by Maurizio Cattelan; and a Parcours sculpture by Edi Rama, Albania's prime minister.

A Record for South Asian Art
- Christie's "Sublime Shadows," from a single distinguished collection, totaled £18.9M — the first dedicated sale of its kind at Christie's London since 2019.
- The Goodricke collection was led by a £3.8M painting by Bengali modernist Ganesh Pyne, with new auction highs for other South Asian artists, the latest in a string of record-setting South Asian sales.

A Big Week at Christie's (London Summer Season)
- Magnificent Jewels — $49.7M, 100% sold by lot, led by a gem called The Azure Blue.
- Design — over $20M, at 140% of its low estimate.
- "A Treasured History: The Stream Family Collection" — $17.3M, 231% of low estimate, 99% sold.
- Post-War to Present rolling out as part of the London Summer Season.
- The pattern: well-curated, clearly-provenanced material draws deep bidding even as the open trophy market stays cautious.

In Memoriam
- David Hockney, who died this month at 88 — tributes from Tracey Emin to Nicholas Serota, "the British painter who flew the flag higher than any other."
- Photographer Duane Michals died in New York at 94.

On the Calendar
- Frieze named its October London line-ups: 172 galleries for Frieze London, 140 for Frieze Masters (Regent's Park, mid-October).
- Crossover: a Yamazaki 50 Year Old whisky sold for ~$1M in Hong Kong — a record for the category.

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June 9: $50M Pollock Fails to Sell; Obama Center Reveals 28 Art Commissions; Mexico City's Kahlo Museum Reopens
A week after the spring season closed at $1.8B, a different Pollock tells a different story — one that didn't sell. This week we read the top of the market: a stalled private sale, a single-owner collection coming to Christie's, the Da Vinci archive reunited, and a busy week for museums.

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The Pollock That Didn't Sell
- Sotheby's private sale of Pollock's "Number 19, 1951" failed to launch (June 2), per Artforum
- Owned by dealer Arne Glimcher; reportedly priced ~$50M; no buyer found
- Context: Pace Gallery cutting ~50 artists; CEO Marc Glimcher called the mega-gallery model "unfixable" (Artnet)
- Artnet asks whether the mega-gallery model is collapsing; Asia recalibrating, India surging
- Read: pressure concentrated at the top — the 8-figure trophy tier and the mega-galleries built to sell it

Art at the Obama Presidential Center
- $850M campus opens late June in Jackson Park, Chicago's South Side; designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (Hyperallergic)
- Built as a community center as much as a presidential library — museum tower nicknamed the "Obamalisk," plus an NBA-regulation court, a Chicago Public Library branch, playground, and gardens
- 28+ commissioned contemporary works: Mark Bradford "City of the Big Shoulders" (3-story Chicago painting); Jack Pierson "HOPE" (marquee letters at entrance); Idris Khan "Sky of Hope" (text from Obama's 2015 Selma speech); Nick Cave & Marie Watt tapestry; plus Carrie Mae Weems, Jenny Holzer, Theaster Gates, Lorna Simpson, Maya Lin
- Curatorial team: Virginia Shore, Crystal Moten, Louise Bernard
- Scrutiny: South Side gentrification concerns — rising rents, displacement, and whether the campus meets its community commitments

A Counterpoint at Christie's
- Christie's announces the Collection of the Hon. Patrick and Lady Amabel Lindsay — outstanding works across six specialist sales, June-October
- Pattern: single-owner collections with provenance still draw competitive bidding, even as the open trophy market hesitates

Scholarship and the Digital Question
- Leonardotheka platform reunites Leonardo da Vinci's "Codex Atlanticus" digitally for the first time in 400+ years (Artforum)
- Institutions are retaining intellectual ownership of the digital reconstruction
- The market angle: who controls the digital rights to cultural assets is becoming its own question

Institutional News
- Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City, reopens after a six-year closure — holds the world's richest collection of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera works (The Art Newspaper)
- FotoFocus Center opens in Cincinnati, giving the city's photography biennial a permanent home (The Art Newspaper)
- Italian art workers announce a nationwide strike
- Venice Biennale: adviser Thomas Rom shares his picks from this year's edition (ARTnews)

In Memoriam
- Julio Le Parc, Franco-Argentinian father of interactive art, died in Paris on May 30 at age 97 — pioneer of kinetic and Op art; last surviving co-founder of the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel (Artforum)

Week Ahead
- Sotheby's Art & Design — Barbara Gladstone Collection, New York — June 9 (today)
- Art Basel — June 18 (press accreditation deadline window open this week)

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June 2: Spring Sales Close at $1.8B; Digital Art Ranks Third in Global Spending
The spring auction season has concluded with the strongest results since 2022.

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Spring Season Results
- Combined May spring sales (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips): $1.8B
- Christie's: $1.1B evening session; Pollock "Number 7A, 1948" at $181M
- Sotheby's: $909M; Rothko "Brown and Blacks in Red" (Mnuchin collection) at $85.8M
- Phillips: $115M, more than double 2025 total
- Sotheby's High Jewelry: $31.4M, 95% sell-through
- Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels June 9: 73.11-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond by Glenn Spiro

2025 in Review
- Global sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips: $4.55B in 2025, up 11.1% from 2024
- First growth year since 2022
- 53% of lots sold above pre-sale estimates in 2025 vs 48% in 2024

Structural Shifts
- Digital art ranks third in total spending after painting and sculpture (Art Basel 2026 report)
- 51% of high-net-worth respondents purchased a digital artwork in 2024 or 2025
- Private sales gaining market share over auction

Macro Context
- Bain & Co: Chinese luxury spending projected +6% in 2026, reversing -5% in 2025
- Chinese buyers account for more than 25% of annual global luxury sales
- Structural shift toward luxury experiences (hospitality, cruises, dining) and away from traditional goods

Institutional News
- Hilde Lynn Helphenstein (Jerry Gogosian) has died at age 40 in Sao Paulo
- Dawn Airey named new chair of Arts Council England, replacing Nicholas Serota on August 1
- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art completes major expansion, adding 50% more space
- Centre Pompidou Hanwha opens in Seoul on June 4
- John Armleder receives carte blanche at Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva
- Elsewhere art fair launches in Philadelphia with 26 exhibitors at the Yowie Hotel

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