What We're Grateful For

Last week, some $2.2 billion worth of art was sold in a string of evening auctions that grabbed headlines. The art market media declared a once-again "healthy" market reemerging from a protracted slump. "The entire week becomes a choreographed attempt to convince the world that everything is fine, that the market is strong, that the system still works," writes artist Damien Davis in our top piece this week. "But everything is not fine. And most of the people making the work that keeps this machine running know it."

While Davis writes from the perspective of the 99% of artists who don't partake in this blue-chip carnival, Marc Straus writes as a veteran art dealer who's been around the auction block many times. In an eye-opening essay, he explains why the market is in a much worse shape than many realize, citing the closure of at least 60 art galleries in recent years.

Meanwhile, the world keeps turning, and another Thanksgiving came upon us in the United States. This year, amid high levels of political and social unease, we decided to put together a feel-good list of all the things we're grateful for in the art world. It ranges from thoughtful rehangs and no-strings-attached grants to gallery dogs and desserts at a specific museum cafe. Enjoy it.

Everything Is Not Fine in the Art WorldAuction headlines offer a picture of health that hides a body in crisis.| Damien Davis

Art Market Reporters Are Getting It All WrongThe worst of the current market decline is not the closure of major galleries. It is the dozens of younger galleries that have gone under in the past three and a half years. | Marc J. Straus

25 Things We're Grateful for in the Art WorldHere’s to celebrating what brings us joy, great and small.

News

After a long wait, the US finally names the artist who'll represent the country in the 2026 Venice Biennale. The reactions, I must say, have been tepid. Also, New York's Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani announces his arts and culture transition team, and the drama at the Philadelphia Art Museum refuses to die down. Read more here:

• Alma Allen has been selected to represent the US at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
• Meet the 28 members of Zohran Mamdani’s arts & culture transition committee.
• Former Met Museum president Daniel Weiss is set to lead the Philadelphia Art Museum. (The institution also recently accused its former director of misapropriating funds.)

From our critics

This week, John Yau writes about the painters who made Abstract Art long before it became cool, Max Blue roasts a KAWS show at SFMOMA ($45 for a ticket!), and more.

Paying Homage to the Iconoclasts of AbstractionAn exhibition traces the radical advancements in painting by Al Held, Elizabeth Murray, Judy Pfaff, and Frank Stella. | John Yau

KAWS Makes Art for the Tech Bro EraHis exhibition at SFMOMA could have examined the collapse of culture at the hands of commodity, but instead it nudges us toward the gift shop. | Max Blue

R. Crumb Wonders What It All MeansWith his new comic book and exhibition, the artist explores his neurosis and mortality, but continues to question authority. | Tulsa Kinney

We Are History’s GhostsAn exhibition on the Lower East Side turns to collective memory and reenactment to cut through today’s political numbness. | Lisa Yin Zhang

Community

Our regular community columns are our pride and joy, and we've been putting more work into them. Catch up with the latest industry news (hirings, firings, awards, and more) in Art Movements, get a glimpse into artists' workspaces in A View from the Easel, read thoughtful obituaries of members of our community, and check out Associate Editor Lakshmi Amin's recommendations for this week's best reads around the internet in Required Reading.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief

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