The Tamesis
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 Thursday! Here’s a roundup of the moves and shakers in the art trade this week.
- Saâdane Afif joins Esther Schipper: Afif, who is currently exhibiting at Hamburg Bahnhof, will continue to collaborate with Berlin gallery Mehdi Chouakri, which recently announced plans to temporarily suspend its exhibition program
- The Baltimore Museum of Art names Rhea L. Combs and Ellen McBreen as Curatorial Fellowship recipients: Coombs will serve as a Senior Fellow in Contemporary and Global Art, an independent two-year fellowship at the museum. McBrin will serve as the second Ruth R. Madematis Research Center Fellow.
- Travesía Cuatro vs. Virginia Chihota: The New York-based artist represented Zimbabwe at the 2013 Venice Biennale and won the Prix Canson Award that same year. The artist will be co-represented by Tiwani Contemporary.
- Nova now represents Ilê Sartuzi: Sartuzi is one of the founders of arte_passagem, an independent space operating in São Paulo from 2018 to 2022.
- Joe Hill appointed director and chief executive of Yorkshire Sculpture Park: He will take over the reins of the sculpture park in April in preparation for next year’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Hill currently serves as Director and Chief Executive Officer of Towner Eastbourne, a position he has held for eight years.
- Minjia joins the podium list: The Berlin-based artist, known for his “sensual and humorous” work, had his first solo exhibition at the gallery last year.
- Los Angeles Contemporary has announced the recipients of the Lightning Fund Artist Grant and Jackie Apple Award: Nine Los Angeles artists received $6,000 grants, and one group received $7,500 through Lightning Fund to create and complete a project. A mid-career artist receives a $10,000 grant through the Jacki Apple Award.
Big numbers: $970 million
This is Bonhams’ global sales total for 2025, one of the strongest results in the auction house’s recent history. This total is affected both by geographic distribution and category diversification, according to the company. The company sells to buyers from 133 countries and operates in 24 markets around the world. The auction covered more than 65 categories, with the year’s top lot being a 2020 Bugatti Divo, which sold for $9 million.
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Susan Tallman’s article on deportation new york review of books It’s one of the smartest, most dispassionate views you’ll ever read on the subject, and that’s exactly what makes it so convincing. Using Bénédicte Savoy Who owns beauty? with Dan Hicks Every monument falls As her anchor, Talman goes beyond the usual shouting matches (“Give it All Back” vs. “Universal Museum Forever”) and instead asks a harder question: What does fairness actually look like, once history, power, and human attachment are taken into account? Her most compelling point may be her least sentimental: that returning to art is about more than just justice. It’s also about humility, curiosity, and self-interest—making room for other histories to be told by other people elsewhere.
