Invaluable

Antiquity has long been a source of inspiration for artists, past and present. The century in which an artist worked shaped how distant classical art, architecture, and design felt to them, yet what remained constant was the profound impact antiquity has had on creative minds. For some, the influence was explicit – Nicolas Poussin and Giovanni Battista Piranesi drew directly from classical forms – while for others it manifested more abstractly, as in the work of Cy Twombly.

As a radical part of the New York avant-garde scene, Yayoi Kusama rose to prominence in the swinging sixties before fading into relative obscurity, only to stage a remarkable comeback in the 21st century to become an unexpected darling of the social media age and the biggest-selling female artist in the world. Here’s how.

From the graceful rhythm of rowing to the fierce intensity of boxing, sport has inspired a raft of modern artists to capture its movement, emotion, and spectacle. Whether it’s Impressionism, Futurism, or Pop Art, the beauty of sport has found a lasting home on canvas. Capturing quiet moments of reflection, athletic endeavor, and the exciting drama of competition, in recent centuries artists used the canvas to reflect sport’s drama, movement, and enduring appeal. Edgar Degas, Race Horses.

Ice may now be an everyday convenience, found in almost every supermarket and produced effortlessly in our homes. Centuries ago, however, this was far from the case. Ice was a rare luxury, harvested from distant climates and transported across countries and continents through costly, often perilous expeditions. As we reach peak temperatures this summer, it feels like the perfect moment to explore this cooling story – one that blends the history of ice with the tableware created to serve it.

Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, Embedding Study 1 & 2 (from the xhairymutantx series), 2024. Sold for $94,500 via Christie’s (March 2025). Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes Last updated: 08.17.26 Although the study of machine intelligence began in the 1950s, the field accelerated dramatically in 2022 with the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT — the first widely accessible large language model available through a simple, free web interface. Its rapid uptake across industries soon followed.

Over the centuries, floral motifs have shaped some of the most recognizable furniture and decorative objects. From 18th century Rococo to 20th century mid‑century modern, flowers — their colors, contours, and silhouettes — have threaded their way through designs across cultures and eras. The influence of the flower extends well beyond aesthetics. It also informs function, as seen in tulip and hyacinth vases or in planters more broadly.

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes Last updated: 08.05.26 Fulvio Bianconi / Venini, “Pezzato Arlecchino” Vase, c. 1950. Sold for €12,000 via Cambi Casa d’Aste (June 2019). From the bold, colorful experimentation of Murano and Czech makers to the cooler palettes and more restrained Scandinavian creations, Europe’s 20th century glassmakers transformed glass into a modern art form, and below we explore how they did it.

Regarded as one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century, Constantin Brâncuși abandoned the tutelage of Auguste Rodin to fundamentally alter the language of sculpture with his visionary and influential carvings, which even reconfigured the legal definition of art. “Each material has its own life, and one cannot without punishment destroy a living material to make a dumb senseless thing,” explained Constantin Brâncuși of the philosophical approach to his non-representational sculpture.

The first World’s Fair took place in London in 1851, marking the beginning of a tradition that continues today. Hosted by countries across the globe, these events – later known simply as “expos,” a term popularized at Expo 67 in Montreal – brought nations together to demonstrate how international collaboration could help address global challenges, whether social, ecological, environmental, technological, or scientific.

Vitra, Collection of Four “Panton Chairs” by Verner Panton from the Miniatures Collection, c. 2000s. Sold for €160 via Peege Auktionshaus (November 2023). Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes Last updated: 07.21.26 There are few furniture brands with as many legendary as instantly recognizable as Vitra.