At times, it can feel like auction house specialists are part of a cult whose mantra is, ““High-quality, well-priced, fresh-to-market artworks will always sell.”

On Wednesday, in London, Christie’s Tessa Lord was the latest to adopt the cliché after the auction house’s 20th/21st Century evening sale generated a respectable £82.1 million, on a high estimate of £93 million. Immediately following, Christie’s held its annual “The Art of the Surreal” sale, which smashed the high estimate of £38.98 million, generating over £48 million. That brought the night’s total to £130.1 million

“One of the defining characteristics of [mid-season auctions] is that collectors will always respond well to fresh-to-the-market material that is well priced and high quality,” Lord, the house’s head of post-war and contemporary art in London, told ARTnews.

In this case, Lord’s assessment was appropriate. 61 percent of the sale’s 51 lots had never been sold at auction before. (At Sotheby’s equivalent sale Tuesday, over half of the lots also had never hit the block before.) 94 percent of works sold by lot, and 96 percent by value. Four lots were withdrawn ahead of the sale, and three were bought in.

(All prices mentioned include buyer’s premium and other fees unless otherwise mentioned.)

Juan Hamilton, an artist, caretaker, and protégé of renowned painter Georgia O’Keeffe and the sole beneficiary of her will, died in his Santa Fe, New Mexico home on February 20 at 79 years old.

He died from complications related to a subdural hematoma, which occurred several years ago, according to his wife Anna Marie Hamilton.

Born John Bruce Hamilton on December 22, 1945, in Dallas, Texas, he grew up in Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, the child of parents Alan and Claire (Kitzmiller) Hamilton, who served as Presbyterian missionaries. During this time, he adopted the name Juan and began learning how to work with clay from local potters.

Hamilton lived between Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Glen Rock, New Jersey in high school, and earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Hastings College in Nebraska, and later studied sculpture at Claremont Graduate University in California.

At 27, Hamilton was a divorced potter and handyman at the sprawling Ghost Ranch property, owned by the Presbyterian Church, where 85-year-old O’Keeffe resided. After knocking on the door and asking for odd jobs, she had him pack a shipping crate—and thus began a decade-long, scandalous relationship.

San Francisco’s California College of the Arts (CCA) has secured short-term financial stability through a $45 million fundraising campaign, alleviating an urgent budget deficit that had prompted fears of layoffs and a potential merger.

The campaign’s success hinged on a matching gift from the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation, which doubled the $22.5 million raised by over 50 donors, including trustees, former board members, and alumni. Jen-Hsun “Jensen” Huang, Nvidia’s cofounder and CEO, structured his contribution to encourage broader support.

CCA’s financial struggles emerged after a one-third drop in enrollment since 2019, contributing to a $20 million budget gap. In response, the institution cut 23 jobs—10 percent of its staff—and eliminated open positions totaling an additional 4.5 percent of staff roles. This turbulence coincided with the completion of a $123 million campus expansion, designed by Studio Gang, which added 82,300 square feet of studios, classrooms, and exhibition space.

Adding to CCA’s woes, the school recently settled a lawsuit with former faculty member J.D. Beltran, who alleged wrongful termination after exposing financial mismanagement. Among her claims was the disappearance of nearly $180,000 in earmarked funds for the Center for Art and Public Life.

Despite the school’s proximity to Silicon Valley, CCA’s board has limited tech representation, with just two members from the sector. The board is led by Lorna Meyer Calas of Merrill Lynch and Calvin B. Wheeler of Kaiser Permanente. The institution remains highly dependent on tuition and housing revenue, which account for 85 percent of its $75 million operating budget. Its $40 million endowment generates just $2 million annually. Enrollment stood at 1,400 in fall 2023 and is projected to drop to 1,250 this year.