Good Morning!
- Guggenheim Asher Associates artwork advisory has ‘imploded’ after practically 40 years in enterprise founders’ authorized battle.
- France weighs launching heritage physique modeled on the UK’s Nationwide Belief.
- Christie’s stories $2.1 billion in gross sales for the opening six months of 2025, matching the full for a similar interval in 2024.
The Headlines
GUGGENHEIM VS. ASHER Two main galleries—Tim Blum’s and Adam Lindemann’s—have shuttered just lately. Now, a top-tier artwork advisory has “imploded,” per Artnet Information. After practically 4 a long time in enterprise collectively, the founders of Guggenheim Asher Associates, Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher are suing each other in New York Supreme Court docket, every alleging severe misconduct. “Allegations of fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation shatter the polished veneer of an ultra-high-end agency whose purchasers included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and firms similar to Sony and Coca-Cola,” Artnet stories. The dispute started quietly final August, when Guggenheim accused Asher of misappropriating greater than $20.5 million. Since then, the case has grown to 119 filings—principally out of public view, till now. Is the bitter breakup an indication of the market’s instability, or only a private break up gone very fallacious?
NATIONAL TRUST ‘À LA FRANÇAISE.’ It’s uncommon for the French to brazenly take cues from their British neighbors, however France’s tradition secretary Rachida Dati just lately floated the concept of making a Nationwide Belief much like the UK’s, in accordance with the Artwork Newspaper. The mannequin was mentioned throughout French President Emmanuel Macron’s state go to to the U.Okay.—the primary by a European chief since Brexit. On July 9, Dati and U.Okay. tradition minister Chris Bryant signed two cooperation agreements targeted on movie and heritage. That very same day, Marie Lavandier, president of France’s Centre des Monuments Nationaux, signed a declaration of intent with the UK’s Nationwide Belief, the Nationwide Belief for Scotland, and English Heritage. The settlement promotes collaboration on conservation practices, sustainable enterprise fashions, public engagement, and climate-conscious tourism. Lavandier had beforehand met with the British organizations in April, and the brand new pact consists of plans for a biennial discussion board on heritage coverage. The initiative builds on Lavandier’s July report, A French Nationwide Belief, a Group Dedicated to a Dwelling Heritage, introduced to Dati.
The Digest
A brand new platform spotlighting artwork, tradition, and concepts from the worldwide majority is ready to open in London this October. Referred to as Ibraaz—Arabic for “to shine a light-weight on”—it should span six flooring and 10,000 sq. toes in a Grade II listed constructing at 93 Mortimer Avenue. A press launch calls it “a daring mannequin as a cultural establishment championing forthright expression, vital discourse, and collective creativeness.” [The Guardian]
Although small in dimension, the Netherlands has made an outsized mark on world artwork, from the Seventeenth-century Previous Masters to Van Gogh’s vibrant works and the daring geometry of Twentieth-century modernism. Amsterdam’s Massive Three museums replicate this, however the metropolis has far more to supply. Listed below are the highest 10 museums within the Dutch capital, in accordance with the Telegraph. [The Telegraph]
A cache of paintings left within the basement of the County Corridor in Kent, UK is heading to public sale. The 350-piece assortment—lithographs, linocuts, display prints, etchings, and engravings—depicts locales similar to Dover, Maidstone, Canterbury, and Sepham Heath. It’s estimated to usher in £45,700 ($61,000). [BBC]
Christie’s has reported $2.1 billion in gross sales for the primary half of 2025, matching the full from the identical interval final 12 months. Whereas luxurious gross sales contributed nearly $500 million, Christie’s World President Alex Rotter advised journalists throughout a Zoom name that 2025’s plateau was partly all the way down to “renewed curiosity” in “pockets of Twentieth- and Twenty first-century artwork.” [ArtDependence]
The Kicker
SUMMER READING MATERIAL. Artnet’s employees has revealed its picks for one of the best artwork books of all time. “Summer season is a superb time to revisit the artwork books we love greatest. They’re not essentially greatest sellers or well-known or acquainted titles. Our workforce members every share the one seminal artwork or artwork historical past ebook they discover unforgettable,” the piece reads. The checklist consists of Maintain Nonetheless (2015) by Sally Mann, which Annie Armstrong says is “half account of life in rural Virginia, half reflection on her photographic profession (scandals and misinterpretations included), and half intense meditation on household.” “Artwork lovers will get hooked by her easter eggs about Cy Twombly—just like the story of his odyssey by way of Virginia vintage shops to discover a childhood portray of a sailboat,” she provides. Andrew Russeth picked Margot and Rudolf Wittkower’s Born Below Saturn (1963), writing that it’s “so wealthy with uncommon info, and so wildly entertaining, that I’ve been tempted to maintain it to myself.” Kate Brown went withExcessive Value (2009), written by Isabelle Graw within the wake of the 2008 monetary crash. “The ebook reads like each prognosis and warning: the market isn’t simply shaping how artwork is purchased and bought—it’s shaping what artwork is, and what it means,” Brown writes. There are 5 extra books on the checklist value testing. [Artnet News]
