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The year 2024 is halfway over; it's time for a look back, as always in three parts. Hubertus Butin's thematisation of the backdating of artists' own artworks at the beginning of the year must be considered almost prophetic. He addresses the not entirely unproblematic practice of some artists of backdating their own works in the FAZ: "In contrast to Ernst Ludwig ... read more
Daniel Cassady reports the falling credit rating of Sotheby's at Artnews: "S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Sotheby's credit rating from B to B- due to falling revenues and rising costs during the first quarter of 2024, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal (Paywall). S&P ratings, which are issued to both companies and ... read more
It was Art Basel in Basel again, which this year was very European in character on the visitor side. There were still hotel rooms available in the city at triple-digit prices, the crowds in the exhibition halls seemed less intense than usual at the opening and the mood among the dealers was rather subdued. In Handelsblatt (possibly paywall), Susanne Schreiber ... read more
The good news first: the VAT in Germany rate will be reduced again to a uniform seven per cent, reports Ursula Scheer in the FAZ: ‘The Federal Cabinet has approved the draft for an annual tax law 2024 presented by the Ministry of Finance - and thus the reduced tax rate of seven per cent instead of the previous 19 ... read more
Christie's has actually fallen victim to data thieves. Zachary Small writes in the New York Times: ‘Hackers said that Christie's failed to pay a ransom when one was demanded. ‘We attempted to come to a reasonable resolution with them but they ceased communication midway through,’ the hackers wrote in their dark web post, which was ... read more
Kira Kramer visited the Arco Lisboa with its 80 exhibitors for the FAZ: “The architecture of the narrow but 400 metre long Cordoaria Nacional requires the exhibitors to line up like pearls on a string. Two curated sections and a post-colonial focus set the tone at the fair. In addition to the strong presence of female artists, the high proportion ... read more