My first books essay for ⁦⁦@ftweekend⁩ - The bigger picture: lifting the veil on the art market (£) on.ft.com/3weHSf1

Public art is often bad — is there a secret to success? Frequently dismissed as ‘turds in the plaza’, public sculptures can face multiple hurdles, from bird droppings to supermarket campaigns. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/51618d4e-6398… via @ft

One of the art world’s most persistent clichés is that tech wealth doesn’t translate into cultural engagement. @mgerlis's excellent @FT piece actually makes the opposite case, with the OG @kukulabanze as one compelling example. From his $29m acquisition of @beeple's Human One to his work across @MuseumModernArt and digital culture, the more interesting story is what happens after the market event: when a work enters museums, accumulates institutional meaning, and begins to move toward the canon towards a genuine zeitgeist. Ryan describes his collecting mission as helping “tell the story of iconic works of our time.” His thesis reflects a broader paradigm running through @Dialectic_Group, where capital meets technology and culture and are not siloed into separate systems. They increasingly produce meaning together. Every era has its patron class. The Medici did not simply collect the Renaissance; their capital helped determine which artists, institutions and ideas came to define it. The more interesting question today is whether tech entrepreneurs are beginning to play a comparable role, not merely buying the art of this technological age, but helping shape the cultural record through which it will eventually be understood. I believe it is. The future is bright 💫

💪 Monsoon founder Peter Simon on selling his vast art collection. The works, including paintings by Francis Bacon and Bridget Riley, will be sold at Christie’s and are estimated to be worth between £87mn-£127mn. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/4b3aec0f-357e… via @ft

Why the fight to recovery Nazi-looted art is not over... even after 80 years. Great new piece by @mgerlis in the @FinancialTimes. Quotes from @brand_arthur @artrecovery, Amanda Gray @Mishcon_de_Reya, James Palmer @ Mondex and yours truly. DM me for more. ft.com/content/40f44aac-4fc1…

Who will succeed those collectors?-Collector Christian Duerckheim: ‘I want a painting that nobody has seen before’. A selection from the retired German industrialist’s collection at Porto’s Serralves Foundation shows a taste for the challenging #FreeToRead ft.com/content/134523f3-1553…

Why artists’ love for opera will never die. From Chagall at the Met to Kentridge at Glyndebourne, painters, sculptors and animators have been thrilled by the total art form. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/b4aa8efe-49a5… via @ft

Can contemporary art draw the crowds to Britain’s stately homes? White Cube & the National Trust have joined forces for a show at Buckinghamshire’s Claydon House this summer. While the art won’t have visible price tags, much of it is for sale. By @mgerlis ft.com/content/31fb4d80-2857…

What’s fuelling India’s art market surge? Art from South Asia is gaining ground, powered by domestic demand and industrial billionaires. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/052a3337-8603… via @ft

The art market flocked to the Gulf. Then war broke out. Conflict throughout the Middle East risks disrupting an expanding calendar of fairs and auctions. By @mgerlis #PayWall @artdubai ft.com/content/7a359405-6055… via @ft

Is Hong Kong’s art market (slowly) bouncing back? As Art Basel returns to the city, gallerists are adapting to more conservative tastes in straitened times. By @mgerlis #FreeToRead #ABHK ft.com/content/7855a215-6e29… via @ft

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Art market’s return to growth threatened by geopolitical volatility' by @mgerlis for @FinancialTimes. ft.com/content/e8e56a3e-52ab…

Sophie de Stempel on the intense, unnerving experience of being painted nude by Lucian Freud. As the 1987 portrait ‘Blond Girl on a Bed’ goes up for auction, the artist and former model looks back on London’s legendarily louche scene. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/784d0282-b746…

No queuing please! How to keep art world VIPs happy. Fairs need to strike a balance between offering a buzzy affair and a pleasant experience to satisfy these collectors. By @mgerlis @FreeToRead ft.com/content/c12a7008-17db… via @ft

The key to a pricey painting? Just add red. From JMW Turner to Joan Miró, artists have long admired its power — now a London exhibition celebrates the money-spinning hue. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/6d3841b8-112c… via @ft

Sam & Till r trying something else. Many will not like it. I am a fan-In Berlin, the Hamburger Bahnhof plans a starry art gala — with a twist. The evening event aims to crack the funding puzzle, but attendees won’t buy tickets. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/9da2350d-66f9… via @ft

👌 by @mgerlis-The art market is showing signs of revival — but experts urge caution. Rising numbers mask a broadening of taste, away from the fine art beloved by previous generations. ft.com/content/1d54b04a-6f53… via @ft

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Stephen Friedman on why he is closing his New York gallery. It was a tough decision,’ says the gallerist, who retains his London space and is pursuing growth elsewhere. By @mgerlis #PayWall #GrowOrGo ft.com/content/9d3d5908-ee57… via @ft

🤩🤩This rare Fabergé egg was thought lost for decades — now it could break auction records. Christie’s is offering “The Winter Egg” of 1913, carved out of fragile rock crystal for the Romanovs, for more than £20mn. By @mgerlis #PAyWall ft.com/content/2d776635-c1f3… via @ft

🎯 The art market enters its ‘safety first’ era. The last fortnight of fairs and auctions prove collectors are willing to spend — but paintings of fairytale forests and old-school photography suggest experimentalism is out. By @mgerlis #PayWall ft.com/content/f582f53b-d325… via @ft