Seven Artists to Watch Into 2027 — and What Would Invalidate Each Thesis
Not a shopping list. A set of trades with disciplined exits. The names, the catalysts, and the evidence that would tell you to walk away.
The Gerhard Richter Audit: Why the Safest Name in Postwar Is Also the Slowest
Richter still anchors museum collections and auction leaderboards. But liquidity has quietly thinned, and the investor math is no longer automatic.
The Ten-Year Hold: Why Art Is a Bad Investment on Any Shorter Timeline
If you’re not comfortable owning the work for a decade, you are not investing. You are speculating. Those are different products with different risk profiles.
Framing Risk in Art: The Five Exposures Nobody Underwrites For
Even sophisticated collectors under-price concentration, liquidity, authentication, storage, and reputational risk. Here’s how to think about each.
Mark Bradford: The Institutional Darling That’s Now an Allocation Decision
Between museum shows, Venice representation, and a steady secondary tape, Mark Bradford has moved from ‘up-and-comer’ to ‘portfolio line item.’
Art Lending 101: What You’re Actually Signing When You Pledge a Painting
Art-backed loans have gone mainstream. Most first-time borrowers don’t understand what they’ve given up. We walk through the terms that matter.
Estates Are Running the Market. Live with It.
Single-owner estate sales are producing most of the flagship numbers at evening sales — and creating an artificial scarcity that distorts what ‘normal’ looks like.
Gallery Consolidation Is Almost Finished. The Next Phase Is Worse.
The mega-galleries have absorbed the mid-tier. The next wave won’t be mergers — it’ll be the slow winnowing of the ecosystem that made the megas possible.
Tax Is the Silent Return Killer. Here’s the Map.
Capital gains, sales tax, use tax, 1031-equivalents, and freeport treatments all shape real after-tax return. A walk through the rules that actually bite.
Rashid Johnson: The Multi-Medium Play Is Still Ahead
Johnson has built a career that resists a single auction narrative. That complexity is the opportunity — and the reason the risk isn’t priced in yet.