Art

Art news, discoveries, exhibitions, and ideas, from historic masterpieces to contemporary work.

How a Lost Painting Becomes a Million-Dollar Discovery

Detail of Lost Orchid by Vladimir Tretchikoff, showing an orchid and safety pin on blue-green steps.

A discovery can lead to a major sale, a church conservation project or a public exhibition without a change of owner. Connecting hidden images, returning paintings and older research stories, this feature follows the evidence that makes rediscovery meaningful—and separates proposed attributions, auction estimates and documented transactions.

Why Demand for Renaissance Art Remains Strong: Money, Mystery and the Power of Rediscovery

Editorial illustration of Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait beside a jeweled cup, bronze equestrian sculpture, manuscript and auction gavel.

Renaissance art continues to attract extraordinary spending, from Leonardo’s US$450.3 million Salvator Mundi to major Botticelli and Raphael sales. Drawing on WAN’s reporting, Albert Chen explores the money, discoveries, restoration debates and cultural fascination behind the market. The story reaches beyond auction records to explain why these centuries-old works still hold collectors and audiences in their grip.