Frieze London 2019. Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind/Frieze.

Journalist Melanie Gerlis reports on the historic value of the dollar, compared to six major currencies this month, and how it is making the next two weeks of art fairs in Europe all the more appealing for American collectors.

In her article, ‘Like Getting a 20 Percent Discount’: For U.S. Collectors at European Art Fairs, the Strong Dollar Means Everything Is on Sale’ (October 10, 2022) Gerlis reports on the effects of the rapid currency shifts, sharing that “for those outside the U.S. […] the economic headwinds are starting to burn—and requiring them to make adjustments.”

Quoted in Gerlis’ article, Megan Fox Kelly notes that, “Beyond the art fairs, collectors in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe may be feeling the pinch and are going to be looking to sell certain things—maybe not in the coming weeks, in the coming months.”

“Whether that happens at auction or on the private side, clients are on the lookout for consignments coming out of European collections. After all, if the artworks are sold in Europe, Americans will be able, essentially, to get them on sale.”

Read the full article by Melanie Gerlis here.

Reading the Art World episode twelve: a conversation with Gareth Harris, Chief Contributing Editor of The Art Newspaper, and previously its Deputy Editor, on his his recently launched book Censored Art Today.

If you look at it on a very basic level, I think this populist wave is continuing across the world with governments and that does have implications for artists and how censorship will come to be enforced as such. So on that level, I’m slightly worried that the populist governments, the authoritarian governments as such, will continue to clamp down. And that will have consequences for artist populations everywhere. — Gareth Harris

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Order the book here .

I chose Gareth’s book because it provides a careful and informed discussion of the many ways the centuries old issue of censorship has been increasing the last several years — and the surprising and not-so-surprising ways artistic expression is being suppressed.

Gareth Harris expertly analyzes the different contexts in which artists, museums and curators face restrictions today, investigating political censorship in China, Cuba and the Middle East; the suppression of LGBTQ+ artists in 'illiberal democracies'; the algorithms policing art online; Western museums and 'cancel culture'; and the narratives around 'problematic' monuments.

Gareth has written numerous articles for the Financial Times on the visual arts and the art market, and has also written for The New York Times, The Times (London), Apollo Magazine and Frieze.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Follow Harris’ bi-monthly blog Trigger Warning for up-to-date censorship issues.

Risk Strategies invited Megan Fox Kelly to participate in The Art + Business Forum, a collection of moderated panel discussions designed for business and cultural leaders working for galleries, auction houses, museums, foundations, and collectors who are active in the market, as well as those who advise them from the fields of finance and law.

Megan participated on a panel titled Managing Insurance for Rapidly Changing Valuations alongside Blair Wunderlich (Risk Advisor, Risk Strategies) and Colleen Boyle (SVP, The Fine Art Group). The panel discussed questions such as “how do collectors manage insurance valuations in a white-hot market?” And “what should collectors consider when the market comes back down to earth?”

Learn more about Risk Strategies here.

Reading the Art World episode eleven: a conversation with Emily A. Beeny, curator at The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and co-author with Francesca Whitlum-Cooper of the book, Poussin and the Dance, published in 2021 by the J. Paul Getty Museum.

One of the reasons for organizing this exhibition was to offer visitors, and readers of the book, a different way into this artist, to open up a means of considering his work through our own embodied experience. Yes, it is important to have an understanding of classical mythology to really get into the weeds with Poussin, which are a very fun place to be. But in order to derive joy from his work, I think the dancing pictures demonstrate to us that maybe you just need to have danced at your cousin's wedding. Maybe there's a way of looking at these pictures that draws on more universal experiences, too. — Emily A. Beeny

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Order the book here .

In this episode, we take an in-depth look at Nicolas Poussin in 17th century Rome—a city rich with classical sculpture from antiquity and Renaissance paintings that led the artist to formulating an entirely new style of painting. This style would make Poussin the model for three centuries of artists in the French classical tradition, from Jacques-Louis David and Edgar Degas to Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso. Long considered one of the most influential French painters of the 17th century, the French Neoclassicist Poussin is seen in a wholly new light.

Co-author Emily A. Beeny talks with me about how Poussin’s paintings from the 1620s and 1630s of gods and goddesses, biblical and historical figures, are choreographed across his canvases like dancers on a stage. Tracing the motif of dance throughout this period, the book examines how Poussin devised new methods of composition and depicting motion. We explore Poussin’s artistic process and influences, notably his use of wax figurines to choreograph the compositions he drew and painted.

Poussin and the Dance is the first exhibition and first published study devoted to Poussin’s dancing pictures.

The publication was produced in tandem with the exhibition at the National Gallery in London (October 2021 - January 2022) and at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (February - May 2022).

The Realm of Flora, 1631, by Nicolas Poussin. Collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.

For more information about our podcast Reading the Art World and our advisory practice, visit us at meganfoxkelly.com

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Reading the Art World episode ten: a conversation with Marguerite Steed Hoffman, avid art collector and philanthropist and Gavin Delahunty , Dallas-based curator about their book Amor Mundi: The Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman.

I hope one of the things that young collectors or maybe old collectors will think about and reflect on as they look through the book is their own journey and all the relationships that they have had, that have led them to their own place, wherever they are as collectors That it’s not just a series of transactions. — Marguerite Steed Hoffman

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Order the book here .

This two-volume book reveals the thinking behind the remarkable art collection built by Marguerite and her late husband Robert Hoffman—a collection of exceptional quality formed with a personal passion and an eye toward its ultimate public legacy as a gift to the Dallas Museum of Art. The book and our conversation are a study in collecting—how to collect thoughtfully and with intention to create something that is more than an assemblance of great objects.

Published by Ridinghouse, the book features over 400 works of modern and contemporary art from the collection, and in an inspired stroke: essays and reflections by 30 authors— not only art historians, but artists writing about artists in the collection and creating unique works for this book. 

The book is in of itself a work of art. Much like the collection, the book mirrors the collector’s sensibility — from the design, materials, paper and font choices to the reproductions, this book is a tribute to the artists and works in the collection.

Marguerite spent much of her personal and professional life immersed in the art world, working at the Dallas Museum of Art, then in the art market, while also serving on boards and committees of major nonprofits, including the Dallas Museum of Art and the Harvard Art Museums. I speak with Ms. Hoffman about her passion for art, inspiration behind the collection and its evolution over the years.

Contributors

Martin Jay, Renée Green, Susan L. Aberth, Sarah Celeste Bancroft, Renate Bertlmann, Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Susan Davidson, Gavin Delahunty, TR Ericsson, Tamar Garb, Robert Gober, Rachel Haidu, Merlin James, Wyatt Kahn, Ragnar Kjartansson, Anna Lovatt, Leora Maltz-Leca, Nic Nicosia, Charles Ray, Mark Rosenthal, Dana Schutz, Barry Schwabsky, Richard Shiff, Raphaela Simon, Michelle Stuart, Kirsten Swenson, Mary Weatherford, Terry Winters. Interviews by Martin Jay and Marguerite Steed Hoffman, Gavin Delahunty and Isabelle Graw.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Reading the Art World episode nine: a conversation with Todd Bradway — curator, editor and artist based in New York City. We discuss his most recent book and exhibition, Landscape Painting Now: From Pop Abstraction to New Romanticism. 

A lot of the painting in my book that is of interest right now: it’s representational, it’s familiar, it’s not realist in the traditional sense. It is varying degrees of abstraction, varying degrees of blowing up the perceptual grid, in a way. It feels radical but yet familiar. It’s got a little element of danger to it… but it’s still “known,” on some level. — Todd Bradway

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Order the book here .

During Bradway’s twenty years working in publishing, he has edited and produced over fifty books. In 2019, Bradway edited the survey Landscape Painting Now, where he explores the metaphorical relationship between painting and landscape. 

I chose this book because it brings attention to landscape painting as an active and vital part of 20th first century art, taking a really global viewpoint of the field over the last 70 years. The book features more than eighty contemporary artists—both established and emerging—from various countries. Organized into six chapters, each representing a recurring theme Bradway identifies in contemporary landscape painting — Realism and Beyond, Post-Pop Landscapes, New Romanticism, Constructed Realities, Abstracted Topographies and Complicated Vistas. 

Last month, I visited Bradway’s insightfully curated exhibition in New York, “Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes," which featured 28 contemporary landscape artists. The exhibition is presented concurrently at Acquavella's New York and Palm Beach locations (on view through June 10th). It is also being developed into a large-scale exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art for May 2025. 

Works by Adrian Berg and Nicole Wittenberg on view in Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes, on view at Aquavella Gallery, New York, April 21 - June 10, 2022.

Installation view by Kent Pell.

New York Artists

Henni Alftan, Hurvin Anderson, Gideon Appah, Jules de Balincourt, Hayley Barker, Adrian Berg, Jennifer Coates, Ann Craven, Lois Dodd, Maureen Gallace, Sky Glabush, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Daniel Heidkamp, David Hockney, Yvonne Jacquette, Jon Joanis, Yuka Kashihara, Alex Katz, Makiko Kudo, Patricia Leite, John McAllister, William Monk, Laurie Nye, Nicolas Party, Lisa Sanditz, Wayne Thiebaud, Nicole Wittenberg, and Matthew Wong. 

Palm Beach Artists

Jennifer Coates, Lois Dodd, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Daniel Heidkamp, Jon Joanis, Yuka Kashihara, Makiko Kudo, Lisa Sanditz, Wayne Thiebaud, and Nicole Wittenberg.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

In her coverage of the May 2022 contemporary art auctions in New York, arts journalist Barbara Kutcher writing for Germany newspaper Handlesblatt spoke with Megan about the volume of high-value lots being offered and her insights on the potential impact of the financial markets and the war in Ukraine on the art market. Megan commented:

“It is striking: the market for modern and contemporary art seems to have only gotten stronger this season, despite all the fluctuations in the financial markets, inflation in the USA and the war in Ukraine," observed New York art consultant Megan Fox Kelly. “Collectors' appetites have not waned, not only for unprecedented works like the Monets owned by Anne Bass, but also for contemporary art.”

Kutcher’s full coverage of the sales is in Handlesblatt.

Reading the Art World episode eight: a conversation with András Szántó, cultural strategist and widely published author about his recent book, The Future of the Museum: 28 Dialogues. 

This is a fascinating moment. There is more change happening in the field than we’ve seen over decades. Some of it has been very painful, but it has also provided opportunities to empower new voices, integrate new art, change ways of doing things, question sacred cows. And some of that is undoubtedly good. — András Szántó

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Order the book here .

In the wake of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, András Szántó conducted a series of virtual conversations with international museum leaders. At this pivotal moment, the directors spoke candidly about the challenges and untapped potential of art museums.

As a devoted museum goer, I was interested in speaking with András about how our current cultural and political climate will alter the role of museums and how they interact with local communities and a larger global audience. In his latest book, The Future of the Museum: 28 Dialogues, András explores the ways that art institutions are innovating to reengage their audiences.

Through 28 conversations with a mix of global museum directors, he reveals how museums are experimenting with new sources of income, new ways to engage the public, and new ways to run institutions. During this time of reinvention, the traditional functions of the art museum are expanding to become places of gathering, community, education and engagement. 

Museums

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, the High Line, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, MACAAL, Acute Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Mori Art Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Palais de Lomé, Toledo Museum of Art, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Serpentine Galleries, Brooklyn Museum, MASP, M+ Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, Australian Center for the Moving Image, Pérez Art Museum, National Gallery Singapore & Singapore Art Museum, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Musée de la Fondation Zinsou.

Contributors

Marion Ackermann, Cecilia Alemani, Anton Belov, Meriem Berrada, Daniel Birnbaum, Thomas P. Campbell, Tania Coen-Uzzielli, Rhana Devenport, María Mercedes González, Max Hollein, Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Mami Kataoka, Brian Kennedy, Koyo Kouoh, Sonia Lawson, Adam Levine, Victoria Noorthoorn, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Anne Pasternak, Adriano Pedrosa, Suhanya Raffel, Axel Ruger, Katrina Sedgwick, Franklin Sirmans, Eugene Tan, Philip Tinari, Marc-Olivier Wahler, and Marie-Cécile Zinsou.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Illustrator: Flatbush Brown.

Artnet News’ Spring 2022 edition of the Intelligence Report shares the biggest takeaways from the market’s performance last year—and insider tips on how to get ahead in 2022. Megan Fox Kelly contributes to the report’s ‘Marketplace: The Best Seller List (Photography and Impressionist & Modern)’ categories.

In the Photography category, Ansel Adams’ Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1941) fetched $930,000 at Christie’s, surpassing its healthy $700,000 high estimate. When the picture last sold, in 1996, it achieved $36,650, making the latest price “an extraordinary jump for Ansel Adams,” art advisor Megan Fox Kelly said. Years ago, Adams’ work was primarily the domain of photography specialists. But over time, and with the increased reach provided by online viewing and bidding, he’s begun to attract crossover interest. It doesn’t hurt, Fox Kelly noted, that this image is “particularly beautiful.”

In the Impressionist and Modern category, the Artnet News team reports that “Two top-flight collections made the often sleepy Imp-Mod category—defined as work made by artists born between 1821 and 1910—perhaps the hottest of the year […] all told, eight Imp-Mod paintings fetched more than $50 million each.”

The Getty Museum purchased Gustave Caillebotte’s Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (1876), the final lot of the Cox sale, and swiftly put it on public view. Expected to bring above $50 million, the rare and imposing painting of the artist’s brother sold for a premium-inclusive $53 million, shattering the artist’s $22 million record. Some experts said the canvas had notable condition problems, particularly in the black at the center. “There has never been anything like it on the auction market, making it not only a rare opportunity to get such a signature Impressionist painting but also making it one of those difficult-to-estimate lots,” said Megan Fox Kelly.

“People were concerned about how deep the highest end of the market was,” said Megan Fox Kelly. The results proved that demand was there.

Read the full Intelligence Report here.

Reading the Art World episode seven: a conversation with curators Sarah Roberts and Katy Siegel, about Joan Mitchell, published in conjunction with their groundbreaking retrospective exhibition of Mitchell’s work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

I think it’s really important that not only is it a life lived with art at the center but it’s art with life at the center. So it’s not about art about art. It’s not meant as an escape from the world. It’s meant to draw the world close and put the most important things about life — nature, love, friendship, dogs, all of that — right at the center of painting.—Katy Siegel on Joan Mitchell

There’s a quote that we put on the wall in the exhibition itself in San Francisco that I chose because it meant something to me. She said: “The solitude that I find in my studio is one of plentitude. I am enough for myself. I live full there.” A lot of artists stop me and tell me how meaningful they found this quote.

—Sarah Roberts on Joan Mitchell

Order the book here .

Reading the Art World is a live interview and podcast series with leading art world authors hosted by art advisor Megan Fox Kelly. The conversations explore timely subjects in the world of art, design, architecture, artists and the art market, and are an opportunity to engage further with the minds behind these insightful new publications.

Megan Fox Kelly is an art advisor and President of the Association of Professional Art Advisors who works with collectors, estates and foundations. For more information, visit www.meganfoxkelly.com

To learn more about the Joan Mitchell Foundation, go to www.joanmitchellfoundation.org

Reading the Art World episode six: a conversation with collector and patron Bernard Lumpkin whose collection is the subject of the exhibition and book, Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists. (D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers Inc, 2020)

It’s nothing less than a renaissance we are in right now . A renaissance of black contemporary art and it’s amazing, it’s exciting. There’s visibility in places where there was no visibility before. There are resources that didn’t exist before; there are opportunities to see the work of black artists and to engage with those artists. There are platforms now which help the conversation around black art … and I love the democratic spirit of that — Bernard Lumpkin

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Order the book here .

Young, Gifted and Black celebrates the art of a dynamic new generation of black artists whose works are part of the prestigious collection of Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, longtime champions of emerging artists of African descent. In this podcast Bernard tells the story of his evolution to collector, patron and advocate and how the exhibition of the collection and accompanying book furthers his own mission or broader education about black contemporary art. His decisions around the structure, texts and contributors to the book are a reflection of the way in which he and Carmine engage with their roles as collectors

Edited by Antwaun Sargent, the richly illustrated book features over 100 artworks—including painting, photography, sculpture and performance. With texts by curators, scholars and the artists themselves offering diverse perspectives, Young, Gifted, and Black speaks broadly to notions of community and identity that, while rooted in the specific experience of blackness, capture how these artists are shaping the ways we think about representation, race and the history of art.

Artists

Mark Bradford, David Hammons, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton, Pope.L, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Henry Taylor, Mickalene Thomas, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Kevin Beasley, Jordan Casteel, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Bethany Collins, Noah Davis, Cy Gavin, Allison Janae Hamilton, Tomashi Jackson, Samuel Levi Jones, Deana Lawson, Eric N. Mack, Arcmanoro Niles, Jennifer Packer, Christina Quarles, Jacolby Satterwhite, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Sable Elyse Smith, Chanel Thomas, Stacy Lynn Waddell, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Brenna Youngblood, and more.

Contributors

Antwaun Sargent, Graham C. Boettcher, Jessica Bell Brown, Connie H. Choi, Anthony Graham, Lauren Haynes, Jamillah James, Thomas J. Lax, Hallie Ringle, Adeze Wilford, Gordon Dearborn Wilkins, and Matt Wycoff, plus an interview with Bernard Lumpkin by Thelma Golden.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Great art books have always helped me to better engage with art, delivering a broader and deeper reading on a topic than I can get from the headlines. 

My love of books has led me to launch a new podcast series this year: “Reading the Art World with Megan Fox Kelly.” In each episode I highlight a new or influential author with a special spotlight on new books on art, design, artists, museums and the art market. You can find the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.

As the year comes to an end, I’ve put together a list of my twelve favorite art books this year that we hope will be favorites of those on your holiday gift list – and don’t forget to put yourself on that list as well!

1. Joan Mitchell. by Sarah Roberts and Katy Siegel; with contributions by Paul Auster, Gisele Barreau, Eric de Chassey, Jennifer Hickey and David Reed, Eileen Myles, Richard Shiff, Joyce Pensato, Jenni Quilter, et al.

Joan Mitchell  documents the long-awaited retrospective exhibition which opened at the Baltimore Museum of Art and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this year, and will travel next year to Paris at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Lavishly illustrated and with in-depth essays and new research, the book reveals how Mitchell drew inspiration from both her life in France, as well as her love of poetry and music to move her painting beyond Abstract Expressionism. The book tells the story of her evolution from her exceptional New York paintings of the early 1950s to her monumental later works.

Yale University Press, January 5, 2021

Available for purchase here or here

2. The Soul of a Nation Reader: Writings by and about Black American Artists, 1960 - 1980. Edited with text by Mark Godfrey, Allie Biswas. Afterword by Zoé Whitley.

Written to follow the groundbreaking 2019 exhibition, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, organized by the Tate Modern, London which then traveled to the Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, and the Broad Museum, Los Angeles, this “reader” presents writings by over 200 scholars, artists, critics, and curators between 1960 and 1980 by and about Black American artists. This compendium of writings celebrates the important contributions by Black artists to the art and culture of their time.

Exhibition curator Mark Godfrey and writer and editor Allie Biswas researched and edited the extensive writings which include rare and out-of-print texts from artists and writers, as well as texts never before published.

Gregory R. Miller & Co., June 1, 2021

Available for purchase here.

3. Spring Cannot be Cancelled: David Hockney in Normandy, by Martin Gayford and David Hockney

An insightful conversation between long-time friends David Hockney and critic and author Martin Gaylord on art's enduring ability to inspire.  Prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, Hockney had set up a studio in an old farmhouse in Normandy where he intended to paint the arrival of spring. The forced isolation of 2020 ended up providing him even more time to devote to his art, and this book celebrates that time, the work he produced, and the insights he gained about his art. 

Their conversations are beautifully illustrated by drawings and paintings Hockney created in this Normandy studio alongside works by van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others. 

Thames & Hudson, May 25, 2021

Available for purchase here.

4.The Sleeve Should be Illegal: & Other Reflections on Art at the Frick, edited by Michaelyn Mitchell with a foreword by Adam Gopnik

The Frick Collection’s recent move from the lush domestic home of Henry Clay Frick on 5th Avenue to the Brutalist architecture of Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue created the perfect opportunity to reexamine the collection through a new lens. The Sleeve Should be Illegal is a collection of writings by 62 artists, authors, and cultural figures, focusing on a single work of art at the Frick and how that work has moved, challenged, puzzled, or inspired them.  Contributors include André Aciman, Rosanne Cash,  Roz Chast, George Condo, Teresita Fernández, Carolina Herrera, Abbi Jacobson, Bill T. Jones, Maira Kalman, Julie Mehretu, Catherine Opie, Diana Rigg, Simon Schama, Colm Tóibín, and Chris Ware. These new perspectives are a testament to the timelessness and power of art, and a celebration of this storied New York collection.

Delmonico Books/The Frick Collection, January 26, 2021

Available for purchase here.

5. For Art's Sake: Inside the Homes of Art Dealers, by Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian

A glimpse inside the private residences of some of the most important art dealers working today. For Art’s Sake offers an inside look at how art dealers who are in the business of art collect and live with art in their homes. As a collector herself, Tiqui's writing creates portraits of these collector-dealers and reveals a truly personal side of an often quite private group of individuals. 

Their extraordinary collections are set against the  considered architecture and interior design, all beautifully captured by photographer Jean-François Jaussaud. For more insight into this book, listen to my interview with Tiqui here. 

Rizzoli, October 6, 2020

Available for purchase here.

6. Cecily Brown, by Courtney J. Martin, Jason Rosenfeld, Francine Prose

British-born, New York-based artist Cecily Brown rose to prominence in the late 1990s and her consistently innovative paintings have made her one of the leading artists of her generation. Originally influenced by Abstract Expressionism, Brown has developed her unique voice, which investigates the sensual qualities of oil paint through a process inspired both by abstraction and realism. This is the first and highly anticipated monograph on one of the most influential painters in Contemporary art.

Phaidon Press, November 18, 2020 

Available for purchase here.

7. Rothko Chapel: An Oasis for Reflection, by Pamela Smart and Stephen Fox, foreword by Christopher Rothko, introduction by David Leslie

Published in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, home to 14 monumental paintings by Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko. The works were commissioned by philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil who founded the Chapel as an interfaith sacred space dedicated to global human rights, art, and spirituality.  

Through photographic testimony and the insights of scholars, the book gives an intimate look at what is arguably Rothko’s magnum opus, where visitors seek solace and inspiration within this truly ecumenical sanctuary featuring his iconic paintings. 

Rizzoli, March 9, 2021

Available for purchase here.

8. Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror, by Carlos Basualdo and Scott Rothkopf

Published on the occasion of this year’s dual retrospective at the Whitney Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art, this book presents a series of essays on  the work of one of America’s most iconic artists. “Mind/Mirror” refers to the concepts of mirroring and doubling which are the organizing principles of the twin exhibitions.

Arguably the most important American artist living today, Johns has produced a body of work which continues to change the way we see and think about art. His art and the ideas behind it are not readily apparent—there is always more that lies beneath the surface and the appearance of the works. But delving deeper into Johns’ creative process and understanding the recurring motifs that thread through his work always rewards the reader with a deeper engagement with the works themselves.

A diverse group of curators, academics, artists, and writers offer a series of essays—including many paired texts—that consider aspects of the artist’s work, such as recurring motifs, explorations of place, and the use of a wide array of media. These include Carroll Dunham on nightmares, Ruth Fine on monotypes and working proofs, Michio Hayashi on Japan, Terrance Hayes on flags, and Colm Toíbín on dreams, among many others. 

Whitney Museum of America Art, September 28, 2021

Available for purchase here

9. Art market insights for collectors and professionals: a suite of three books written by market experts and published by Lund-Humphries:

The Rise and Rise of the Private Art Museum by Georgina Adam

This latest book by art journalist Georgina Adam offers an inside look at the remarkable proliferation of private museums that has emerged globally over the last 20 years.

As an advisor to collectors and in my work with clients on legacy planning for their art collections, I was interested to learn about the motivations driving collector’s decisions—and  to see how these private museums are impacting traditional support of public museums.  Why are collectors opting to build their own museums to share their collections with the public rather than in partnership with existing museums?  And what does this mean for the future?

Georgina’s investigation, based on her recent visits to over 50 private spaces across the US, Europe, China and elsewhere, delves into the reasons behind this boom, and the different motivations of collectors.  

At a time of unprecedented levels of contemporary art collecting globally, and with museums facing a near crisis of challenges to their missions, leadership, and financial stability, I found Georgina’s book to be an informative and truly thought-provoking read for these times.  

For more insight, listen to my interview with Georgina here.

Lund Humphries, September 30, 2021

Available for purchase here.

The Art Fair Story: A Rollercoaster Ride by Melanie Gerlis

In just half a century of growth, the art fair industry has transformed the art market. Now, for the first time, art market journalist Melanie Gerlis tells the story of the rapid ascent of the art fair and reflects on their uncertain future. From the first post-war European art fairs built on the imperial 19th-century model of the international exhibitions, to the global art fairs of the 21st century and their new online manifestations, it's a tale of many twists and turns.

The book brings to life the people, places and philosophies that enabled art fairs to take root, examines the pivotal market periods when they flourished, and maps where they might go in a much-changed world. For more insight, listen to my interview with Melanie Gerlis recorded during Art Basel Miami Beach here. 

Lund Humphries, December 1, 2021
Available for purchase here.

The Art Collector’s Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Acquiring and Owning Art by Mary Rozell

In this second edition of The Art Collector’s Handbook, fully revised since its first publication in 2014, Mary Rozell addresses the many changes which have taken place in the art market, in art law, and in the practice of collecting. 

This book  has become a reference guide for me for best practices in working with collector clients. With guidance on everything from invoice clauses and taxes to insurance, storage, collection management, the care and conservation of fine art, and art financing, this book is an essential guide to the exciting business of collecting art.

A fellow member of the Association of Professional Art Advisors (APAA), Mary Rozell combines her experience as both an art lawyer and art advisor to explain some of the myriad issues that arise when owning an art collection—how to care for it now and plan for the future.

For more insight, listen to my interview with Mary here.

Lund Humphries, September 3, 2020

Available for purchase here.

10. Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York , by Alexander Nemerov

In this insightful portrait of the artist, Alexander Nemerov focuses on the defining moments of Helen Frankenthaler’s early career in the 1950s. Nemerov provides not only poetic descriptions of her dream-like abstract artworks, but an accounting of steps the artist took to achieve success, from her privileged beginnings to the relationships she formed and nurtured. Readers are presented with an unvarnished picture of a talented and determined woman who, by the end of the decade, had firmly established herself not only on the New York art scene, but as an important American artist of the postwar period. 

Penguin Press, March 23, 2021 

Available for purchase here.

11. The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512-1570  by Keith Christiansen and Carlo Falciani

The Medici family ruled Florence between 1434 and 1494 and made a triumphant return to the city in 1512 with Cosimo I de’ Medici at its helm. Art lover, patron, and political craftsman, Cosimo’s ability to use art and portraiture as an instrument for communicating power and prestige was unprecedented. Through his rule and patronage, Florence was transformed into a duchy ruled by the Medici and became the center of art and culture, with artists such as Agnolo Bronzino and Benvenuto Cellini achieving fame for their distinct painting and sculptural styles that conveyed the character, intellect, and social standing of their sitters. This beautifully illustrated catalogue was published in conjunction with the 2021 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 22, 2021

Available for purchase here.

12. Francis Bacon: Revelations, by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan

In this new biography of the elusive Francis Bacon, authors Stevens and Swan bring together a decade of new research and extensive interviews to create a complete portrait of the artist. Earlier biographies and accounts of Bacon’s life have addressed his childhood in Ireland and the loneliness, isolation, and parental judgement he experienced; his ears design career in London; his openly gay lifestyle in decidedly unsympathetic culture; his early failures as an artist and the formation of his artistic vision.

Francis Bacon: Revelations is a comprehensive account of the experiences that informed his life and his art, and in its over 900 pages, it debunks many of the myths that have prevailed around him.

Unique to this book—a feature that is particularly compelling—are the examinations at the close of each chapter of a single painting. Insightful, in-depth, and separate from the narrative of his life, these focused readings on individual works remind us of the genius of Bacon and the body of work he left behind.

March 23, 2021

Available for purchase here.

Banksy's “Love Is in the Air” at auction on May 12, 2021, at Sotheby's. Credit: Nina Westervelt for The New York Times

New York Times reporter Robin Pogrebin reports on the purchase of Banksy’s painting Love Is in the Air and plans to sell off fragments of the artwork as NFTs to thousands of buyers at a fraction of the original purchase cost.

In her article, Cutting a Banksy Into 10,000 (Digital) Pieces (Dec 1, 2021) Pogrebin reports that the company Particle, founded in part by former Christie’s executive Loic Gouzer, purchased the artwork at auction for $12.9 million and the group now plans to sell 10,000 fragments of the work as NFTs, “allow[ing] a much wider audience to be part of a collecting experience” stated the executive.

NFTs have grown in influence in the market in 2020, since the landmark sale of the digital artist Beeple’s work Everydays: The First 5,000 Days for $69 million at a Christie’s online auction in May . The sale of digital artworks now accounts for one-third of online sales in volume, or, two percent of the overall art market according the Artprice database. With the rise in NFT sales we see the creation of consortiums angling to collectively purchase these digital pieces in order to own a slice of a particular artwork.

But many remain skeptical of NFTs their ability to maintain value as vehicles for investment. Quoted in Pogrebin’s article, Megan Fox Kelly stated, “A work of art is a unique object and collectors who love art want to own the object itself…The NFT is a separate entity from the object. I think we’re still in very early days of understanding how these’s NFTs exist as works of art…Right now they appear to be investment vehicles, with potentially significant returns, and the conversations around them are focused on that.”

Read the full article by Robin Pogrebin here.

For our first ‘in-person’ interview for Reading the Art World, recorded in Miami during the Art Basel Art Fair, I talk with Melanie Gerlis about her book The Art Fair Story: A Roller Coaster Ride, published by Lund Humphries.  The return of the annual art fairs in Miami— after a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic—are the perfect backdrop for our conversation.

The one theme that runs throughout this book—and it is the story of art in the past 60 years and the story of art fairs these past 60-plus years—is how much new money has been made and how fairs are mapping where new money has grown. You can almost follow where a fairs land based on where the wealth grew. Over centuries, new money has always wanted new art. They want the art of their time. —Melanie Gerlis

Listen to the podcast on Spotify and Apple

Leading art-market journalist for The Art Newspaper and Financial Times, Melanie Gerlis is at the very forefront of charting and analysing the course of the art fair’s progress. In this definitive account, she masterfully analyses the art fair’s amazing journey of expansion, a phenomenon very much linked to the transformative globalisation of the art world and of the art market. The recounting of this journey leads us across multiple continents and introduces us to a truly fascinating cast of art-world figures and personalities. 

The art fair can be seen as the greatest of blessings for the global gallery community and the artists they represent, offering artists both international exposure and an unparalleled visitor footfall. However, they can also be seen as the greatest of burdens owing to the massive demands they make upon economic, environmental, and indeed human resources. The art-world calendar created by the seemingly endless round of art fairs imposes a punishing schedule, most heavily experienced by the emergent galleries. So how sustainable is this art fair model? 

In The Art Fair Story: A Rollercoaster Ride, Melanie Gerlis engagingly sheds new light on the origins, the triumphs, and the pitfalls of the art fair, and casts a wise and insightful eye on the challenges and innovations on the horizon. 

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Reading the Art World: a conversation with Mary Rozell, author of The Art Collector’s Handbook: the Definitive Guide to Acquiring and Owning Art, (Lund Humphries, 2020)

It wasn’t long ago when we would talk about three types of collectors:  there were the art investors which was the new breed and then there was the more traditional collector who is the passionate collector, the connoisseur and then a third category, that people might call the ‘copy-cat collectors’ who in it more for status…But now  we have this incredible democratization of the art world…and I wouldn’t even know how to define different categories of collectors now because almost anybody can be a collector. The barriers have really gone down.—Mary Rozell

Listen to the podcast on Spotify and Apple

In this second edition of The Art Collector’s Handbook which has been fully revised since its first publication in 2014, Mary Rozell addresses the many changes which have taken place in the art market, in art law, and in the practice of collecting. 

I chose this book because it has become a reference guide for me for best practices in working with my collector clients—with guidance on everything from invoice clauses, and taxes to insurance, storage, collection management, the care and conservation of fine art, to art financing this book is an essential guide to the exciting business of collecting art.

A fellow member of the APAA Association of Professional Art Advisors, Mary Rozell combines her experience as both an art lawyer and art advisor to explain some of the myriad issues that arise when owning an art collection—how to care for it now and plan for the future.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Reading the Art World: a conversation with Georgina Adam, author of The Rise and Rise of the Private Art Museum, (Lund Humphries, September 2021)

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Art journalist and author, Georgina Adam has covered the global art market for over 30 years as a contributor to the Financial Times and The Art Newspaper, where she was Art Market Editor from 2000 to 2008 and is now Editor at Large. She is the author of Big Bucks: The Explosion of the Art Market in the 21st Century and Dark Side of the Boom: The Excesses of the Art Market in the 21st Century  both published by Lund Humphries. 

Her latest book, The Rise and Rise of the Private Art Museum, published just this month by Lund Humphries, is the subject of today's talk. I chose this book because it offers an inside look at the remarkable proliferation of private collector’s museums — primarily devoted to contemporary art —that have been built globally in the last 20 years.

As an advisor to collectors and in my work with clients on legacy planning for their art collections, I was interested to understand the motivations driving collector’s decisions—-and also to see how these private museums are impacting traditional support of public museums.  Why are collectors opting to build their own museums to share their collections with the public rather than in partnership with existing museums?  And what does this mean for the future?

Georgina’s investigation, based on her recent visits to over 50 private spaces across the US, Europe, China and elsewhere, delves into the reasons behind this boom, and the different motivations of collectors.  

At a time of unprecedented levels of contemporary art collecting globally and with museums facing a near crisis of challenges to their missions, leadership, and financial stability, I found Georgina’s book to be an informative and really thought-provoking read for these times.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

Pandemic delays continue to effect the shipping industry globally and the impact on art shipping is significant. Advisors, dealers, and buyers must readjust their expectations—on costs and timing.

In her article in Artnet News Pro, journalist Eileen Kinsella explores the significant impact of global shipping delays facing the art market today. With the increased volume of art being sold and transported, labor shortages, and bottlenecked routes, the shipping industry is under more strain than ever, with no signs of slowing down. Read the full article here.

The Shutdown

Covid-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization, forcing businesses to come to a halt, including domestic and international shipping. With sea routes closed, shipping containers stuck in ports, and a marked decrease in air travel, there was no way for shipping companies to keep up with the increase in luxury spending as the art market actively continued.

The costs of air and sea travel have increased exponentially, with air freight rates reaching four-times their pre-pandemic norm, and transport by sea has doubled. These price increases have raised questions of price gouging and unnecessary delays among those trying to continue business as usual.

Regardless, people had artwork in transit at the time of the shutdown, including many of our clients. In March 2020, advisors and collectors had purchased artwork at the Armory Show in New York and Frieze Los Angeles and could not get accurate updates on their location and movemen. Collectors had loaned artworks to museums, fine art trucks were in transit, and borders were shutting down. At the time, I had just purchased a work located in London for a client through a gallery at Frieze Los Angeles. In trying to ship it out of England to the U.S., the timeframe of 6 months and thousands of dollars in shipping fees were prohibitive.

I knew I was not the only art advisor with clients affected. With the APAA, I organized an live online meeting to find solutions for shipping, inviting industry experts in shipping and insurance to offer advice and protocols to meet the challenge. Our APAA members were eager for advice: a total of 90 advisors tuned in to the first online call. This led to a year long a series of over 55 online seminars for our members that lasted throughout the pandemic—addressing challenges and finding solutions.

The New Normal

Dealers, advisors, and clients are coming to terms with the longer wait times for fine art shipments and higher prices for transit and installation. New customs and import/export protocols, staff shortages and increased activity in the market make it more challenging to deliver works to clients in the timeframes we used to expect. National, regional, and local fine art shipping and installation companies are booked months out making advance planning essential.

In our practice, we continue to uphold the requisite standards for safe packing, transport and installation of our client’s collections. Navigating the new challenges of shipping simply requires the planning of our team and our relationships with preferred firms for transport, installation, framing, conservation, and insurance to ensure care for our client’s growing collections.

Reading The Art World: A conversation with writer and curator, Michele Robecchi on 25 years of Phaidon's Contemporary Artist Series

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Since 2012, Michele Robecchi has served as Commissioning Editor of Phaidon’s “Contemporary Artist Series” — a series of monographs that profile and contextualize leading artists of our time. In 2020, Phaidon celebrated the 25th anniversary of this now iconic series of artist monographs which bring together leading artists of our times with some of the world’s most influential authors and curators to collaborate on these artist books. Michele has overseen the editing and publication of over 35 monographs for the series including the work of Mark Bradford, Yayoi Kusama, Jonas Wood, Adam Pendleton, and most recently, Cecily Brown.  In this podcast, Robecchi talks about how his extensive curatorial work and expertise in working with contemporary artists informs his writing and his work on this series for Phaidon. 

I chose the Phaidon Contemporary Artists books for the Reading the Art World podcast because I find that they consistently provide insightful perspectives on contemporary artists and their work written not only by art historians and critics but philosophers, novelists, cultural theorists.

I appreciate these books because the artist’s voice is always captured and reflected in the text and of course in the extensive and beautifully reproduced illustrations.  I found that the books I’ve read from the series— on Gormley, Marina Abromovic, Ai Weiwei, Mark Bradford and so many others—allow me to take a ‘deeper dive’ into the artist that adds to my engagement with their work.

Born and raised in Italy, Michele Robecchi studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan where he received an MA in Curating. Robecchi has organized exhibitions in Berlin, Geneva, London, Milan, Paris and Zurich. For the last five years he has served on the selection committee for the Swiss Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. 

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.

As the Art Industry Has Ballooned, So Has the Number of People Claiming to Be Expert Advisors. Here’s How to Tell If They Actually Are

An editorial by Megan Fox Kelly published by Artnet News, highlights the increased influence of art advisors on the art market and the professional standards collectors should expect of them. In this post, an excerpt from the article outlines recommendations for finding the right advisor. Read the full article here.

Asking the right questions

The expanding role of the art advisor can have either a negative or a positive impact. When art advisors lack experience or work unethically, it breeds mistrust in the marketplace. But the opposite can also be true: experienced, effective, and ethical art advisors have a positive impact not only on the collections they build, but on the market as a whole. A collector considering starting a relationship with an art advisor therefore should consider several questions before engaging in what can be one of the most gratifying—or disheartening—relationships of their collecting career.

What is the Advisor’s educational background and level of experience?

Advisors hail from many backgrounds. In fact, as a general rule, advisors benefit from having experience with—and having developed contacts within—more than one realm of the art world, from galleries and auction houses to museums and universities. Curators, for example, bring a depth of art-historical knowledge, but would benefit from some direct involvement in the market before becoming an advisor.

What is their area of expertise?

Advisors and appraisers should not advise outside of their area of specific expertise. Collectors will want to work with an advisor who knows their field of interest deeply, and have the experience and relationships to facilitate research and access to the right works of art to help build a collection of lasting quality and distinction. At times, we will collaborate with curators or other advisors with expertise beyond our own to help a client with a new area of interest and bring them the trusted advice they need to make smart decisions. These relationships expand, rather than curtail, our practice.

How are transactions conducted and what fee structure do they use? 

Art advisor fees can be based on retainers, commissions on sales and purchases, hourly rates for services, or a combination thereof. Collectors with extensive holdings, for example, who are actively acquiring works each year and require considerable collection management services, might prefer to work with their advisor on a retainer basis, while collectors who rely on advisors to help them source, vet, and strategically advise on acquisitions might decide that a commission on individual transactions is more appropriate. While each form of compensation is acceptable, the most important factor is that an advisor’s fees are clearly delineated in a contract or engagement agreement and that all facts of any transactions are completely transparent.

Do they own inventory, or are they affiliated with a gallery, auction house, or dealer?

I and the APAA advocate for independent advisors who work only in their clients’ best interest and do not have conflicting priorities. While good relationships with other players are essential, outside partnerships can muddy the waters.

What range of services do they provide?

Beyond consulting on acquisitions and facilitating sales, many advisors organize transport, installation, conservation consultation, storage and collection management, and work with financial advisors or family offices on long-term planning for their clients. Collectors may need some or all of these services to support their collecting, and understanding the experience of an advisor and their relationships in related fields will help them to find the right fit. 

Are they a member of APAA or another professional association?

The APAA, the Appraisers Association of America, and the Art Dealers Association of America are professional organizations that carefully vet candidates for membership based on experience, expertise, and reputation; they also set expectations of professional conduct based on their codes of ethics. Members of the APAA have a minimum of five years’ experience as professional art advisors and considerable careers prior to establishing their practices. We do not maintain inventory and we are expected to conduct transactions for our clients with clarity and transparency, and to avoid any situations that pose a conflict with our clients’ interests.

Read The Value of An Appraisal to learn more about the appraisal process and our expertise.

Reading the Art World: a conversation with collector Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian, author of For Art's Sake: Inside the Homes of Art Dealers (Rizzoli, October 2020)

Listen to this podcast on Spotify or Apple.

Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian, author, For Art’s Sake: Inside the Homes of Art Dealers, Rizzoli, October 2020

Our interview and podcast series debuts June 29th as a live streamed interview between Megan Fox Kelly and collector Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian, author of For Art's Sake: Inside the Home of Art Dealers (Rizzoli, October 2020). A unique look inside a world of art and design, the book showcases the interiors of the world's most prestigious art dealers. As a collector, Tiqui’s relationships provide unique access to their homes and collections. Her profiles are enriched with exclusive interviews with dealers such as Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy, Almine Rech, Barbara Gladstone, Kamel Mennour, and Axel and May Vervoordt, reveal insights on collecting and living with art. Their homes, many of which were designed by the most renowned names, such as Peter Marino, François Marcq, Jacques Grange, and Toshiko Mori are captured by photographer Jean-François Jaussaud.

The virtual conversation consisted of a 30-minute interview followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.

The interview will be released as a podcast available on all major hosting services in the days following the event. Subscribe to this website to receive future announcements.

Learn more about Reading the Art World here.