Journalism is sometimes a tricky business: while others still had to wait for the press release so as not to burn their sources, the Financial Times and the New York Times already had official interviews on the news of the week that Frieze is taking over the Armory Show in New York and Expo Chicago. ... read more
This is the 500th edition of Kobel's Art Weekly. Therefore, a few thoughts may be permitted at this point. When Dr Stephan Zilkens and I embarked on the adventure of publishing a critically annotated press review of the art market reporting beyond the usual journalistic distribution channels in autumn 2013, neither of us could have imagined how successful the format would become. Obviously, we have ... read more
Record-breaking news are supposed to make up for a rather gloomy environment. Ursula Scheer reports for the FAZ the sensational acceptance of a bid for a work by Gustav Klimt at Sotheby's: "A bidder in the room had secured Gustav Klimt's last portrait, the 1917/18 portrait of a 'Lady with Fan', which a competitor had repeatedly tried to wrest from ... read more
Christoph Heim makes a series of demands in the Tagesanzeiger to Art Basel. Some of them sound somewhat out of touch with reality, others seem entirely justified and should give the Swiss food for thought: "A core issue of this 'going public' is ticket prices. In order to become more firmly rooted in Basel, Art ... read more
Fair coverage is often limited to summaries of jubilant press releases or summaries, especially for events as confusing as Art Basel. One of the few exceptions is Anny Shaw's analysis in The Art Newspaper, which at least dares to admit that the situation is complex: "By the end of Tuesday, ... read more
Pre-Basel is usually silly season, except for the German auctions. There are a few surprises this year. Just a few years ago, most of the million-dollar surcharges achieved in this country would probably have taken place in London. Thank you Boris!The 500th auction of the Cologne auction house Van Ham was also its best, Susanne Schreiber reports in the Handelsblatt: ... read more