Sotheby's Secret Pollock Sale Fails; Klimt Restitution Lawsuit Filed; 100 Years of Steel Tube Furniture

Sotheby's attempted a secret private auction of Jackson Pollock's "Number 19, 1951" from Arne Glimcher's collection for around $50 million, but failed due to insufficient bidders. The work's whereabouts are unknown. In New York, a lawsuit has been filed for the return of Klimt's "Fräulein Lieser" against the Austrian owner and auction house im Kinsky, now before the New York State Supreme Court. The painting, rediscovered in 2023, sold for €30 million in 2024 after a preventive restitution agreement, but new heir claims emerged and the buyer from Hong Kong withdrew. The London Gallery Weekend faces questions about its purpose amid market pressure; Thaddaeus Ropac calls for more internationalization, but Margaret Carrigan argues London is already international and the event should engage politics and the public. Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, creator of the Instagram account "Jerry Gogosian," is remembered for her sharp wit exposing art world absurdities. The 100th anniversary of steel tube furniture is marked by Marcel Breuer's Wassily Chair (1926), with forgotten architect Kálmán Lengyel co-founding Standard Möbel; Lengyel, of Jewish descent, was deported and murdered in 1945. Iranian director Jafar Panahi's one-year prison sentence for "propaganda against the system" was upheld, along with a travel ban and political restrictions, based on his film "A Simple Accident" which won the Palme d'Or in 2025.