Hong Kong auction results show big wins for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips.
Auction results in Hong Kong have rebounded during the 2026 spring sales, signaling renewed momentum after several years of decline, with stronger bidding and improved sell-through rates across major houses. The recovery has been driven largely by demand for blue-chip modern and contemporary works, particularly from Asian collectors, even as the top-end ($1M+) segment remains uneven and more selective.
The Art Newspaper chronicled the most visited museums of 2025.
The Art Newspaper’s 2026 survey of the world’s most-visited museums (based on 2025 attendance) finds that new—and recently expanded—museums are driving visitor growth. Still, the Louvre remains the world’s most visited museum at around 9 million visitors. Overall, the data points to a post-pandemic rebound shaped by blockbuster programming, new architecture, and shifting regional audiences, with Asia continuing to strengthen its position alongside long-dominant Western museums.
Neom cancels multiple construction contracts.
Saudi Arabia’s Neom megaproject has canceled multiple major construction contracts tied to both its Trojena ski resort and “The Line”, signaling a significant scaling back of its most ambitious developments. Key cancellations include a $4.7 billion dam and artificial lake project (about 30% complete), structural steel works for the ski village, and tunneling contracts, disrupting core infrastructure plans.
Spotify introduces branded playlists.
Spotify is rolling out new ad formats, including carousel ads and branded playlist takeovers, expanding how brands can integrate into the platform’s visual and audio ecosystem. These formats allow advertisers to show multiple images or messages within a single unit and sponsor entire playlists, embedding brands more natively into user listening experiences rather than relying on traditional audio spots. The move reflects Spotify’s broader push to diversify its ad offerings and compete more directly with social and digital platforms, leveraging its scale of hundreds of millions of ad-supported users and deep personalization data.
Today, Apple turns 50.
As Apple hits its 50th anniversary, designers are imagining radically new iPhone futures—most notably a wave of “iPhone Fold” concepts that could mark the company’s biggest hardware shift since 2007. These speculative designs envision book-style foldable devices that open into tablet-like screens, with ultra-thin bodies, crease-free displays, and hybrid phone-tablet functionality, reflecting years of rumored development toward a real product. While still unannounced, the foldable iPhone is widely expected to debut around 2026–2027 as a premium, $2,000+ device, signaling Apple’s next major leap in form factor and a rethinking of how users interact with mobile technology.
Today’s attractive distractions:
Loro Piana’s Royal Lightness material is as ethereal as fabric can get.
Amida’s new NASA driving watch looks like a space shuttle.
United has a vision for economy-class, lie-flat seats—and plans to enact it by 2027.
Artemis II astronauts will be wearing “international orange” spacesuits.
