The Headlines
THE HAMSTER WHEEL SPINS ON in the art market, Melanie Gerlis writes in the FT, but “can its players afford to step off?” She outlines how the big three auction houses are increasingly relying on luxury sales, and writes that while “such numbers are not made available for the rest of the market, including galleries and art fairs, anecdotal evidence suggests that the wider industry is having a rethink in tough times.” Gerlis’s subjects only provide ambiguous solutions to the market’s decline, which highlights a potential problem: there may be no way easy way out of the quagmire. Other not so positive market news arrived on Thursday evening, when ARTnews reported that the ADAA had canceled its Art Show fair, undertaking what it described as a “strategic pause” that “allows us to evaluate how best to support our members, partners, and the broader arts community in an evolving cultural and market landscape.”
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FAIR GAME OR FOUL PLAY? The Art Newspaper reports that, in June 2022, (AFL) big cheeses Gillon McLachlan and Matthew Chun visited Tasmania’s Dark Mofo annual winter solstice festival in Hobart, not for art, but to scout Macquarie Point as the site for a 23,000-seat stadium. The 9.3-hectare area, long home to art installations by leading international artists, was reimagined as the future home of Tasmania’s first AFL team, with taxpayers footing most of the bill. Almost one year later, after eight failed attempts, the AFL finally accepted a Tasmanian team—on the condition that a stadium be built at Macquarie Point. This decision scrapped a fully funded A$64.6 million ($42 million) art park backed by Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), originally proposed in 2016. The park aimed to confront the genocide waged against Aboriginal Tasmanians by British colonists. Mona’s vision for the Macquarie Point site was originally conceived as “a cultural precinct with truth and reconciliation as an idea underpinning it,” said Leigh Carmichael, who heads up DarkLab, a subsidiary of Mona that also oversees Dark Mofo. “While many Tasmanians support having a state-sponsored team in the AFL, many believe that Macquarie Point is not the place for a stadium,” the Art Newspaper notes. The fate of the planned park now hangs in the balance.
The Digest
Despite a cooling art market, a few standout lots lit up the summer auction season. Here are the 10 most expensive auction sales of June 2025. [Artnet News]
Artsy has come up with four reasons why looking at art is good for us, including aiding mental health and improving social skills. [Artsy]
The buyer of a $10 million Birkin bag at Sotheby’s has revealed himself. Shinsuke Sakamoto, CEO of the luxury goods reseller Valuence Holdings Inc., said his purchase of the piece marked a “personal milestone.” [ARTnews]
London teems with incredible, life-affirming museums and cultural institutions. It also is home to some decidedly irregular ones, which are equally worthy of attention. TheEvening Standard highlights three of them. [The Evening Standard]
The Kicker
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU. Edmond Hamilton may not be as famous as George Lucas, but his 1933 science fiction novel Kaldar: World of Antares, featuring an energy sword, spawned the concept for Star Wars’s iconic lightsaber. Lucas drew inspiration from Hamilton’s vision to create the glowing plasma blade. Artnet News reports that one of the most famous lightsabers—Darth Vader’s—is heading to auction this September via Propstore, with an estimated value between $1 million and $3 million. Used in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), the prop features battle scars and was wielded by both actor David Prowse and stuntman Bob Anderson. Designed by Oscar-winning set decorator Roger Christian, it even includes a circuit board salvaged from a calculator. Original Star Wars props are increasingly rare. Luke Skywalker’slightsaber sold for $450,000 in 2017, and Vader’s weapon is just now emerging from a private collection. It will be shown in London, Beverly Hills, and New York alongside other legendary movie items, including Indiana Jones’s handcrafted whip (estimated at $250,000–$500,000) and a clapboard from Jaws ($40,000–$80,000).