UK cinemas report ‘bonkers’ demand for documentary You Can See Everything

The re-emergence of a long-unseen Jean-Michel Basquiat masterpiece is a miracle the art market occasionally performs. Christie’s announced Tuesday that one will appear at its 21st Century Evening Sale this fall. Untitled (Leonardo and His Five Grotesque Heads) will make its first public appearance in more than two decades when it leads Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale in New York on November 19, having surfaced from a “distinguished” private European collection. The estimate is “in the region of” $30 million, according to the announcement.

More than 30 galleries based in Düsseldorf, Germany, signed an open letter last week that called out the far-right Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) party for its attempts to “instrumentalize Düsseldorf’s art and cultural history to serve a political narrative that promotes social exclusion.” Published on October 15 and initiated by Daniela Horn, the founder of Van Horn gallery, the letter centers around an event that was initially set to be staged at the city’s Heinrich Heine Institute on October 26. That event, titled “Culture Policy from the Right!,” will no longer happen at its intended venue, however, because of what Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called “organizational reasons,” citing a Düsseldorf city official.

In May, Theaster Gates set a precedent for restitution by transferring ownership of a stoneware vessel by David Drake, an enslaved ceramist widely known as “Dave the Potter,” to his descendants. The family estimates that some 200 of Drake’s surviving works remain in the possession of museums and collectors, though a growing number of institutions are agreeing to its request: return Drake’s work to his family, and we’ll keep it on view and accessible to the public. The Hampton University Museum, in Virginia, offers a model of how such a deal works. The institution announced Tuesday that it will accept a loan of the vessel returned by Gates. Beginning Wednesday October 21, the work will go on view through May 2027. Drake’s piece will be in good company: the Hampton University Museum’s collection includes works by Henry O. Tanner, one of the first African American painters to earn international renown, known for his dignified depictions of Black subjects and biblical scenes; and Thomas Day, a master cabinetmaker and free man of color from North Carolina.

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