From the Fine Art Connoisseur January/February 2026 Editor’s Note:
Tuning Out the Hype
What an autumn! The art world has heaved a sigh of relief as success after success unfolded late in 2025.
In November, Sotheby’s opened its Manhattan flagship in the former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Crowds poured in to admire the auctioneer’s renovation of that landmark, and to ogle 55 artworks offered from the estate of the collector-philanthropist Leonard A. Lauder. On November 18, his marvelous “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” painted by Gustav Klimt broke the auction record for a modern artwork, selling for $236.4 million plus fees. In total, the fall auction season pulled in $2.2 billion in sales. Soon after, the Miami fairs got underway, led by the 23rd edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. Gallery sales there were impressive: a Gerhard Richter painting for $5.5 million here, an Alice Neel portrait for $3.3 million there.
This is all nice, but it has little bearing on the art world most of us see. As ever, the super-expensive artworks in New York and Miami are headline grabbers, trophies of elite status, and/or investment assets not unlike gold, jewelry, and real estate. There is nothing wrong or illegal about those scenarios, yet it would be a mistake to transfer their euphoria down the line to the majority of galleries, auctioneers, collectors, and — crucially — artists. 
America’s middle class — including its upper ranks of white-collar professionals and investors — feels economically anxious, and their anxiety shows in the lukewarm sales we observe at high-quality art shows across the country. If the stock market is any measure, we are not in a recession, yet many buyers hesitate to pull the trigger even for acquisitions moderate in cost.
Part of this relates to the altered nature of retail sales in the Internet era: fewer people stroll in and out of storefronts, where they once discovered treasures unexpectedly and chatted with the sales staff one on one. Importantly, this is a problem for luxury fashion, too: Chanel and Louis Vuitton have posted disappointing results for 2025 and their forecasts for ’26 are gloomy.
Am I being a downer? No, just a realist, one who underscores that we still have much to celebrate in our beloved sector of contemporary realist art: astonishingly talented artists, oversubscribed atelier classrooms, well-run galleries, ever more podcasts, etc. I am offering a note of caution: don’t let the animal spirits of blue-chip art marketers lull us into taking our foot off the gas. Like Wall Street, Sotheby’s and Miami are product-focused; by contrast, we are experience-focused, committed to artists and collectors for the long haul. When you visit a gallery highlighted in Fine Art Connoisseur, for example, you will engage with experts who know the artists, know how the art was created, and want to share their enthusiasm with you. That experience of close looking — of buying with your eyes and not your ears — is increasingly rare, always to be treasured.
I wish everyone in the art world well — whether they sell pieces for millions or thousands. Let’s keep spreading the word — to our friends, neighbors, and family members — that excellent contemporary art is available near home, for a fair price, and with a fascinating backstory we all can enjoy and convey to others.
What are your thoughts? Share your letter to the Editor below in the comments.
Download the current issue of Fine Art Connoisseur here.
Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, the free weekly e-newsletter from
Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.
