Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, art news Newsletter about the art market and beyond. Register here Receive it every Wednesday.
Happy Wednesday! Here’s a roundup of the moves and shakers in the art trade this week.
Cristin Tierney adds Debbi Kenote to the list: The Brooklyn-based abstract painter will have her first solo exhibition at the gallery in April. Inspired by nostalgia and childhood memories, Kinot’s paintings and sculptures incorporate craft traditions such as woodworking and quilting.
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Phoenix Art Museum opens call for Ryman Emerging Artist Award: Arizona artists can apply for the museum-judged $10,000 award by April 27, and other applicants will automatically be considered for the $5,000 Sette/Cohn Artist Award.
Roberts Projects announces that Esmaa Mohamoud represents: The Los Angeles gallery hired the artist, whose work transforms symbols of black visual culture into large-scale sculptures that question perceptions of black people within and outside the community.
Watermill Center appoints Charles Chemin as artistic director: The longtime Robert Wilson collaborator will lead the artistic vision for the Watermill Center for the Interdisciplinary Arts in New York. Wilson chose Chemin for the role before his death in 2025.
Bard Graduate Center names Julia Simon as associate director: The New York agency has created new leadership roles as part of an expansion of its senior team. Simon will continue in his role as Exhibition Director and Chief Curator, while taking on additional responsibilities for day-to-day operations.
Big numbers: $7.6 million
This is what a 1988 Jeff Koons sculpture sold for at Christie’s last week winter bear. The figure far exceeded the pre-sale estimate of $3.8 million to $5 million, making the sculpture the most valuable work ever sold at a mid-season sale. as art news Editor-in-Chief Sarah Douglas wrote earlier this week that this price point is more typical for large evening sales, but in recent years the auction house has been quietly increasing the price range of its mid-season collections. At Sotheby’s, the top result in last week’s “Contemporary Curation” sale was a 1970 painting by Alma Thomas Snoopy sees sunrise on earthsold for $3.8 million.
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It’s Whitney Biennial Week in the art world, which of course means plenty of reviews and spotlight on some very deserving artists. While biennials are typically known for showcasing emerging artists, this year’s edition focuses on an overlooked artist of her time, 92-year-old Carmen de Monteflores, who paused her artistic career in the ’60s to raise five children, one of whom happened to be Andrea Fraser. exist new york timesZachary Small joins de Monteflores and Fraser to discuss artists’ complicated feelings about motherhood and what it means to be a woman in the art world. This is a touching story, and what’s even more poignant is that art news Editors Maximiliano Duron and Alex Greenberg note in their joint review that de Monteflores’s work is among the strongest in the exhibition.
