The Round-Up: 2025’s Highs, Lows, and WTFs

We are back this week with our monthly edition of the Art Angle Round-up, where co-hosts Kate Brown and Ben Davis are joined by a guest to parse some of the biggest headlines in the art world. As we close out a busy calendar year—and for the last roundup of the year—we are reviewing all of 2025 and the trends, themes, and stories that defined it with Andrew Russeth, Artnet Pro editor and art critic.

It's been a whirlwind of a year. We take a look at the art market, where slumped sales, gallery closures, and existential dread dominated the business up until November, when New York’s fall auctions saw the narrative take a turn, something that seemed to sustain across the primary market at Art Basel Miami Beach. We discuss what this could mean for 2026.

In the realm of politics, Trump 2.0 began, which ushered in a wave of policy shifts, cultural tensions, and uncertainty that reverberated across the art world, from federal arts funding to museum governance and international cultural exchange. We also ask whether the art world did finally go post-woke, a question Davis posed at the top of the year, the return of digital art, and the ongoing power of red chip art.

And it was a year of profound transformation for institutions, which are facing a multi-front crisis due to the changing expectations from the public, exploding costs, and a shifting political landscape. And, of course, there are also some fun stories in the mix, because this is the art world, a place that is known to be rather unusual.