\t\tThe Headlines\t<\/p>\n
\n\tTHE DEATH OF GUILT, GREED & VIRTUE SIGNALING?\u00a0<\/strong>Art adviser\u00a0Ralph DeLuca\u00a0<\/strong>has shared his two cents on the \u201cart market cool-off\u201d in\u00a0Cultured<\/a>\u00a0, writing from his \u201cvintage villa in LA.\u201d \u201cThose of you who know me\u2014or follow me on social media\u2014are aware that I don\u2019t spend my summers in the Hamptons or Aspen like my clients, or globetrotting all over Europe like an A-list celebrity,\u201d he writes.\u00a0DeLuca can\u2019t help but wonders if recent gallery closures, bankruptcies, lawsuits, and \u201cmarket implosions\u201d are being driven by figures in the trade \u201cfeeling pressure to live like their clients and other ultra-wealthy players in the art world.\u201d Growing up \u201clower middle-class,\u201d DeLuca emphasizes that he is not part of that grasping cohort: \u201cI have never lived that way and strive to live below my means as much as I can while still enjoying life. Frankly, clients don\u2019t want their vendors\u2014yes, that\u2019s what we are\u2014living like they do, especially as people who are working on commission.\u201d\u00a0He also suggests that art leaning heavily into \u201cidentity politics<\/strong>\u2014art as a message, art as a virtue signal\u201d no longer resonates with collectors, who are increasingly motivated by \u201cpassion and connoisseurship\u201d over \u201cguilt, greed, and virtue signaling.\u201d In today\u2019s \u201cless overtly \u2018woke\u2019 political climate,\u201d he asks, \u201care collectors simply feeling less desire to support certain voices or align with the cultural moment?\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\tBRIGHT SIDE OF THE ART MARKET.\u00a0<\/strong>Artsy\u2019s\u00a0Maxwell Raab<\/strong>\u00a0has also\u00a0weighed in<\/a>\u00a0on the \u201cart market cool-off.\u201d Unlike many writers, Raab is looking on the bright side. He argues that the current discussions about gallery closures and the market\u2019s struggles \u201cmay be less about decline than about how those in the art world choose to look forward.\u201d \u201cLike the industry at large, the U.S. market is in a recognized\u00a0downturn\u00a0<\/strong>. Top-level auction and dealer sales have declined for consecutive years, as pockets of collector demand have cooled: \u2018Some people who bought 200 works a year now buy 40,\u2019\u201d\u00a0CLEARING<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0Babin<\/strong>\u00a0said. \u201cThat\u2019s an 80 percent drop, but it\u2019s still substantial. There was a lot of fluff.\u201d Still, Raab writes, \u201creality is more nuanced.\u201d \u201cThe art world has an enormous capacity for reinvention,\u201d\u00a0ADAA<\/strong>\u00a0director\u00a0Kinsay Robb\u00a0<\/strong>said. \u201cWe\u2019re all creative. We\u2019re representing creatives. We\u2019re creative in our own ways. This is an opportunity for some exciting change to take shape.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tThe Digest\t<\/p>\n \n\tSotheby\u2019s has secured the collection of Chicago patron\u00a0Cindy Pritzker<\/strong>, highlighted by a Vincent van Gogh, while Christie\u2019s won the even larger estate of\u00a0Patricia and Robert Weis<\/strong>, which includes works by Rothko, Mondrian, Picasso, and Matisse, reports Katya Kazakina. [Artnet News<\/a>]<\/p>\n \n\tPeople Inc.<\/strong>\u00a0announced Friday that it has sold the monumental sculpture titled\u00a0Plantoir, by\u00a0Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, which adorned the company\u2019s campus, but said it was not at liberty to disclose where the artwork will go, or the price paid. [Des Moines Register<\/a>]<\/p>\n \n\tA cow\u2019s tooth buried alongside\u00a0Stonehenge\u00a0<\/strong>has thrown light on how the ancient stone circle in Wiltshire, UK was formed. [The Art Newspaper<\/a>]<\/p>\n \n\tARTnews\u00a0Top 200 Collector\u00a0Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Stella Rollig<\/strong>, the director of the\u00a0Galerie Belvedere<\/strong>, have been awarded state orders by Ukrainian President\u00a0Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u00a0<\/strong>for their contribution to the traveling exhibition \u201cIn the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900\u20131930s.\u201d [NAMU<\/a>]<\/p>\n \n\tIn finally opening the\u00a0Grand Egyptian Museum<\/strong>, the Egyptian government is making changes to enhance the visitor experience around the pyramids, but local vendors and tour guides say the modifications threaten the livelihoods of neaby communities rooted in generations-old tourism practices. [Smithsonian Magazine<\/a>]<\/p>\n \t\tThe Kicker\t<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756151231_714_GettyImages-2207404144.jpg\")
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