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Gertrude Abercrombie Painting, Bought for $30 at an Estate Sale, Sets $1.3 M. Auction Record

Plucked from an estate sale in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for $30, Gertrude Abercombie’s Alderman Merriam’s Shells (1951) sold for $1.35 million at Freeman’s auction house on October 1. The final bid far surpassed the lot’s $250,000 estimate, setting a new auction benchmark for the late Surrealist painter. For Freeman’s New York, success was almost guaranteed. Alderman Merriam’s Shells arrived on the block buoyed by its sensational rediscovery : the enigmatic still life of seashells scattered in darkness had vanished for decades, much to the dismay of Abercrombie’s ravenous market. In reality, it languished in Michigan until a sharp-eyed shopper rescued it from an estate sale. “As happy as we are to have recaptured the record sale price for an artist we have long championed, we are even happier for our eagle-eyed consignor who saved this masterpiece,” Zack Wirsum, Freeman’s senior vice president, said in a statement. Its eventual consignor, a collector ...
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The Zaha Hadid Foundation Is Reopening the Late Architect’s Former HQ as a Public Arts Space

To mark the 10-year anniversary of Zaha Hadid’s death , the Zaha Hadid Foundation is reopening the architect’s former headquarters on October 29. The former Victorian schoolhouse, located at 10 Bowling Green Lane in Clerkenwell, will be repurposed as a public cultural space for architecture, design and the related arts. The newly-refurbished space will include galleries, a learning space, lecture hall and collection display. The spaces will be used to host exhibitions, talks, workshops and creative residencies. “It was Zaha’s wish for the foundation to preserve her legacy while carrying her ideas forward: advancing education, supporting future generations and contributing to the wider field of architecture,” said Rana Hadid, chair of the trustees of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, in a statement. She added, “At the heart of that mission is her extraordinary archive, a profound record of her work, imagination and intellectual life. This next step will all...
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‘Jodi,’ Sotheby’s Newly-Minted Nanotyrannus, Hits the Auction Block With $9 M. Estimate

Sotheby’s may have been hoping that the dinosaur skeleton known as “Jodi” was, in fact, a youthful T. rex , given the name recognition and resulting price tags that have accompanied this species of sought-after dinosaur. Instead, the auction house’s latest high-profile specimen is a Nanotyrannus , a mid-size tyrannosaurid genus that, according to Artnet , had previously been for sale for $20 million at Frieze Masters in 2023. At the time, the skeleton was called “Chomper” and was being sold by the London gallery David Aaron. According to a statement from Sotheby’s, “Jodi” is one of only three known Nanotyrannus specimens. Named for Jodi Pierson, the rancher who discovered the fossil on her land in Montana in 2019, “Jodi” is the first Nanotyrannus to be put up for sale at auction since the new genus was confirmed in a study published in Nature magazine last fall. The Nature article, which refers to “Jodi” as NCSM 40000, further identifies two subspecies...
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Martha Jungwirth’s Abstractions Animate AKRIS’s Spring 2026 Collection

“Painting, for me, is about tension,” Martha Jungwirth once said, describing its interaction with her preferred surface, paper. A “sensual” material, she said, “smooth or rough, its tactile quality often resembles skin.” For more than 60 years, Jungwirth has refined this painterly interplay. Spontaneous smears and streams of color form her famous abstractions, evoking a body in motion. It’s no wonder fashion found its way to her studio. The Swiss fashion AKRIS collaborated with the artist on its Spring 2026 collection. Jungwirth’s brushwork is evident in the kinetic flourishes: trailing ribbons, frayed threads, and dangling straps. It’s easy to imagine the metallic fringe foresting one standout gown trembling with each step. “Seeing Martha’s colors for the first time, I was struck by their sheer audacity,” AKRIS creative director Albert Kriemler said in a statement. “Her paintings never give themselves away at once. You have to keep looking. Emotion...
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Sotheby’s Will Host “The Art of Divorce” Panel Discussion in Geneva

It’s divorce season. Princess Diana’s Christina Stambolian dress, otherwise dubbed “the revenge dress” is coming to auction at Sotheby’s London on December 9 for an estimate of $150,000 to $300,000; Sienna Miller and Dominic West’s divorce drama “War” premiered this week, and on Tuesday in Geneva, Sotheby’s is hosting a panel discussion titled “The Art of Divorce.” Julian Washington, head of tax, heritage and U.K. museums and fiduciary client groups at Sotheby’s will moderate the panel discussion between Judith Chatoo, head of private clients at Saffery Trust; Sirin Yüce, a partner at the law firm Charles Russell Speechlys and Johan Nauckhoff, head of fine art at Sotheby’s Switzerland. The event has been described as an examination of “the art and cultural property questions that arise in the context of divorce” in an invite for the panel discussion. When it comes to value, a famous divorce can triple the price of any item. The identity of the consignor o...
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Sideline Conversions 5 October (some rugby news and information to start the week)

Action from the Wellington Pride’s semi-final win over Hawke’s Bay. They are hosting the Northland Kauri at Wellington Stadium at 12.05pm.  The rugby to watch and follow is thinning, but there is still some to note and follow. The Hurricanes U16s tournament is this week in Whanganui. We previewed this in the body of our...
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As New York City Doubles Grants for Individual Artists to $10,000, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Diya Vij Discusses Vision for City Agency

New York will increase its direct support to artists, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and Cultural Affairs commissioner Diya Vij announced today. Rising from $5,000 to up to $10,000, the increase doubles the funds given to artists and represents the first change in this funding stream in some 20 years. The funding comes from the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and is distributed to each borough’s arts councils, which act as regrant partners and dole out grants to individual artists annually as part of an open call. The funds will come from the DCLA’s budget, totaling around $3.5 million given to all five councils cumulatively. “Artists are working New Yorkers, and they pay the same rent and the same grocery bills as everyone else in this city,” Mayor Mamdani said in a statement. “A grant frozen at $5,000 for twenty years has been losing value every single year. Doubling it is a first step toward making sure the people who give this city its culture can a...
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