The Venice Biennale has long been a sales platform—now no one is pretending otherwise

The Art Newspaper says the Venice Biennale’s long-standing but often downplayed role as a sales platform is unusually overt this year, with dealers, auction houses, and private foundations openly pricing and selling works during the vernissage week. The shift is attributed in part to Italy’s year-old 5% VAT rate on art imports, described as the lowest in Europe. Christie’s is holding its first invitation-only selling exhibition in Venice, “Ghost Pavilion: A Venice Revealed,” with viewings from 4–10 May and works priced from $500,000 to $50 million, spanning artists from Lucas Cranach to Andy Warhol, Louise Bourgeois, and Mark Bradford. The show includes Venice-themed works such as J. M. W. Turner’s 1841 depiction of the city and Édouard Manet’s 1873 view of the Grand Canal, and it is staged at Palazzo Ca’ Dario, a building also noted as being on the market via Christie’s Real Estate.

Read the full article at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events