As 2023 draws to a close here is a round up of some of the biggest events and auction results in the art and natural history world…

Banksy’s first exhibition in 14 years opens

Showcasing 25 years of the artists ‘card labour’, Banksy’s first retrospective show ‘Cut and Run’ opened at Glasgow’s GoMA in June and featured original stencils and reproduced works of some of their most iconic works. The exhibition gave audiences a behind the scenes look at how the artists stencils are created and stories associated with producing the iconic street art. Also included was a breakdown of how Banksy’s most famous stunt ‘Love Is In The Bin’ was produced which saw one of his works shredded during a live auction.

Boris Eldagsen Wins Photography Contest With AI-Generated Image, Then Forfeits The Prize

The German artist caused uproar this year when he revealed the image entered into the Sony World Photography content wasn’t what it seemed and was in fact generated using Artificial Intelligence. But, he insists, AI isn’t about sidelining humans – it’s about liberating artists. As a result of this image winning the contest, other participants have questioned the morality of AI ‘art’ which resulted in Eldagsen forfeiting the prize.

Alma Singer’s Debut Show at Extraordinary Objects Gallery

Alma Singer has seen a steady rise in success since her launch in January, with works being showcased around the world, prints smashing their estimates at Bonham’s auction house and a number of sell out exhibitions. In June to August of this year, Extraordinary Objects Gallery hosted Alma Singer’s debut solo show names ‘A For Effort’. The show was host to Extraordinary Objects’ busiest private view evening since the gallery launch which included an exclusive charity print release to benefit The Big Issue. By August, the show had a 100% sell out rate securing Alma Singer as one of Extraordinary Objects most highly collectable artists.

A Record-breaking Pablo Picasso sale at Sotheby’s

Image via Sotheby’s

One of the highlights of this years auctions was Pablo Picasso’s ‘Femme à la montre’ painted in 1932 which sold for the collossal sum of $139,363,500 (approximately £110,000,000) at Sotheby’s Emily Fisher Collection sale. ‘Femme à la montre’ emerged as this years most expensive artwork sold at auction and made history as the second most expensive Picasso ever sold, shy of ‘Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)’ painted in 1955 which sold for $179.4 million in 2015. The historical auction saw some of the most recognisable works by Picasso, Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha sell for more than $400 million in total.

The Connor Brothers showcase their works at The Natural History Museum

In October, The Connor Brothers collaborated with Maddox Gallery for their show ‘Once Were Kings’ which featured their ‘Regression’ paintings depicting some of history’s most fearsome predators which once ruled the world. To celebrate this collaboration, works from the series were showcased alongside genuine dinosaur skeletons inside London’s Natural History Museum with The Connor Brothers in attendance for a Q&A.

A 67-million-year-old T-Rex tooth sells for more than £69,000

In July, an uncommonly large Tyrannosaurus Rex Tooth sold for more than £69,000 at Sotheby’s Natural History auction. Once dominating the western landscape of late Cretaceous North America, the T-rex's five-foot long skull was packed with 60 teeth and featured a bone-crushing bite force of nearly 13,000 pounds (5,900 kg) per square inch, the strongest of any terrestrial animal other than its ancestor, the Gorgosaurus. Other notable works sold at Sotheby’s Natural History include an articulated Pterandon skeleton for $3.9 million and a Large Iridescent Ammonite for $48,000.

British Museum and British Petroleum cut ties

The British Museum and BP (formerly British Petroleum), the multinational oil and gas giant headquartered in London, were forced to cease their sponsorship agreement after 27 years after more than a decade of protests and creative disruptions at the museum by activist groups including BP or Not BP and Culture Unstained. Protesters saw the agreement as a way for BP to “artwash” its historical and ongoing contributions to global warming.

Luna Luna amusement park reopens in Los Angeles

First opening in 1987 in Hamburg, Germany, amusement park Luna Luna was the brainchild of artist André Heller and included pieces designed by some of biggest names in contemporary art. Pieces include a ferris wheel by Jean-Michel Basquiat and carousel by Keith Haring (pictured above). Other artists involved include David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Kenny Schwarf. After the closure of the park, works were packed away and stored until they were eventually rediscovered in 2020 and funding was collected to restore and reopen the park to its former glory.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Self Portrait sells for $42 million

In November, Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction was highlighted by the sale of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s ‘Self Portrait as a Heel’ for an astonishing $42,000,000. Basquiat authorises himself “as a heel", through an engraved and stylised work which sees his features transformed into a tribal mask. Accompanied by childish spelling this piece represents his union of images and words.

Massive Antiquities Scandal Revealed at the British Museum

This year it was revealed that over 2000 items are missing from the British Museum’s collection. Around 1,500 of these items are classified as entirely missing or stolen and 350 items have gold mounts or gems missing. The remaining have been heavily damaged by tools. Just 351 of the stolen items have been since been recovered with the museum launching a website to track the remainder.

“We believe the majority of the portions removed from the 350 are likely to be unrecoverable because they have probably been sold for scrap,” The museum told the BBC, with them also reporting that some items were even sold on eBay for as little as a few pounds.

Tracey the Triceratops departs from Extraordinary Objects Gallery

In November, Extraordinary Objects beloved Triceratops named ‘Tracey’ left the gallery to start its journey to its new home. 'Tracey' moved into Extraordinary Objects Gallery as part of our 'Some Of My Best Friends Are Dinosaurs' exhibition in July 2022 and has since been the centrepiece of 5 further exhibitions.

Video Block

Double-click here to add a video by URL or embed code. Learn more

Thank you to all who visited Extraordinary Objects this year and we wish you a very Happy New Year and all the best as we enter 2024!

A Year in Art and Natural History