The Rex Reed I Knew (1938–2026)
Rex Reed, fearless film critic who elevated the celebrity interview, dies at 87.
Painter Renée Levin’s Unhurried Eye
“The biggest misconception of my work is that I just paint pretty objects. It’s way more than that. Our realizing our relationship to nature and to objects around us itself is a philosophical journey.”
Five Works That Stole the Show at Frieze New York
Our correspondent’s irresponsibly subjective list of the fair’s best art.
Business
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OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar and Anthropic’s Krishna Rao Are Racing For Compute Power
Both about two years into their jobs, Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao and OpenAI’s Sarah Friar are locked in a high-stakes race to secure compute power. Compute power has become the biggest constraint in the A.I. arms race, driving huge fundraising rounds and strategic chip deals.
Cerebras IPO Creates Billions for CEO Andrew Feldman and Early A.I. Chip Backers
The A.I. chip startup’s public offering delivered huge gains for founders, venture firms and angel investors while setting the stage for future OpenAI and Anthropic listings.
Premium Spirits Meet a More Fragmented Global Economy
Following a year of tariffs, trade fragmentation and shifting consumer habits, Denomination’s Hamish Campbell argues that the best positioned brands across luxury markets are those with clearer identities, sharper value propositions and more resilient global strategies.
Meta Didn’t Win Top A.I. Talent With Cash Alone, Says MSL Chief Alexandr Wang
Alexandr Wang says Meta’s compute power and ambitious research culture, not just massive offers, drew elite A.I. researchers from rivals.
The Efficiency Trap Inside Corporate A.I. Spending
Leadership expert Nik Kinley examines the organizational risks emerging from the corporate rush to fund A.I. He argues that layoffs tied to A.I. investment may quietly erode psychological safety, suppress dissent and leave leaders increasingly disconnected from the realities inside their own organizations.
Art
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Photo London, Like Its Host City, Is Outward-Facing and Ever-Changing
Now in its eleventh year, the photography fair has found a new home in Kensington.
Rex Reed and the Death of Expert Opinion We Thought We Didn’t Need
Reed was the last of the great 20th-century American culture writers. What his passing means for the future of cultural criticism.
Independent Opens With Solo Presentations, Early Sales and (Most Importantly) Breathing Room
Dealers are optimistic that the next few days will bring more conversations and sales as fair-hopping buyers make their way to Pier 36.
Sotheby’s $433 Million Contemporary Evening and Mnuchin Sales Kicked Off New York’s May Marquee Auctions
The total fell neatly within the top end of the presale estimate of $325.6-444.6 million.
The Eight-Figure Auction Lots to Watch in New York Next Week
Across evening sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the appearance of a tightly curated group of major works—from Pollock’s monumental drip canvas to Richter’s luminous ‘Kerze’—signals both market confidence and scarcity at the highest level of collecting.
Lifestyle
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The Best Fashion From the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Red Carpet
For 12 days on the Croisette, the world’s biggest stars turned the Cannes red carpet into a showcase for high fashion and old-school glamour.
The Best Father’s Day Gifts for the Dad Who Appreciates the Finer Things
From supple leather travel bags and elite wine to sleek tech gadgets and Italian-made loafers, these luxury gifts strike the right balance between useful and indulgent.
12 Historic U.S. Hotels Where America’s Defining Moments Unfolded
While the federal commemoration sells million-dollar photo ops, the actual story of America’s first 250 years is sitting in 12 still-operating addresses.
Where to Stay in Cannes for a Glamorous French Riviera Getaway
This French resort town is home to an array of five-star accommodations, but these are the very best.
The New York City Outdoor Breakfast Spots Worth an Early Wake-Up
Whether you want pancakes in Brooklyn or omelets downtown, these breakfast spots are built for lingering outdoors.
Interviews
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Meet the Collector: How Katherine Sachs Became a Convener
For the ArtPhilly founder, collecting has never been about wealth-building or prestige.
Gerhard Richter, Franz Kline and the Art Marian Goodman Never Let Go
“Goodman played such a crucial role in shaping the landscape of contemporary art today, so we felt it was important to present her collection in a way that felt authentic and personal to her life and legacy,” Christie’s Vice Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art Johanna Flaum tells Observer.
Collector Jennifer Gilbert Is Selling Masterpieces at Sotheby’s to Fund a New Arts Nonprofit in Detroit
The move marks a personal shift from collecting as stewardship to collecting as civic support, with the sale of major works by Joan Mitchell, Kenneth Noland, George Rickey and Harry Bertoia set to fund Lumana, an arts hub opening in Little Village in 2027.
Archie Rand On the Irreducibility of Painting in a Digital Age
He remains convinced of the unique, imaginative and generative power of painting, which he believes no new technology will ever replace.
ServiceNow’s Customer Chief Warns ‘Tokenmaxxing’ Is an A.I. Hype Cycle
Companies are spending heavily on A.I. tokens, but ServiceNow’s Chris Bedi says true ROI comes from efficiency gains, not raw usage metrics.
Power Lists
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Observer New Media Power List: Call for Submissions
Nominations are open for Observer’s 2026 New Media Power List
The 50 Most Powerful PR Firms of 2026
This year’s honorees are emblematic of a notable shift in public relations from responsive publicity to proactive leadership in the moments that matter most.
Wall-to-Wall Cultural Capital: Inside Observer’s Art Power Index Party
Under the dim lights of the Lower East Side’s Maison Nur, art world luminaries gathered to celebrate Observer’s Art Power Index—and each other. From the impassioned speeches to the sharp tailoring and Damien Hirst over the bar, the evening embodied our legacy of chronicling power with style.
2025 Nightlife & Dining Power Index
Humanity is still the most vital ingredient in hospitality, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
Observer’s 2025 Art Power Index: The Art Market’s Most Influential People
Their acquisitions, affinities and approbations move the needle on valuation and redefine how art is made, shown and sold.
Latest
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Why a Single 5.51-Carat Diamond Commanded $17.3 Million in Geneva
The triangular-cut blue-green stone has a color so improbable that, as the Gemological Institute of America notes in its materials, some might assume it’s been artificially enhanced.
NADA New York Opens With Fewer Early Sales But Plenty of Potential
During a crowded week of fairs, NADA’s strongest booths found momentum in intimate scale, accessible pricing and dedicated presentations of imaginative world-building.
Frieze New York Opens Strong, But the Real Test Is Just Beginning
Perhaps due to the convergence of multiple biennials and general market recalibration, buyers this year seem more attuned to artists with institutional profiles, strong CVs and already established names.
How Fashion Exhibitions Became Laboratories for Interdisciplinary Thinking
The Brooklyn Museum’s senior curator of fashion and material culture Matthew Yokobosky explains how treating fashion as art can reveal the relationships between human and machine, between microscopic structures and universal forms and between natural phenomena and manufactured mediums.
How Elon Musk Would Have Run OpenAI Differently, According to Sam Altman
The OpenAI trial reveals conflicting accounts as Altman says Musk pursued dominance, while Musk argues the company abandoned its nonprofit mission.
Bezos Family’s $100M Gift to NYC’s Robin Hood Honors Jackie Bezos
A $100 million donation from the Bezos family will create an early childhood endowment in New York City honoring Jeff Bezos’ late mother, Jackie.
Violent Femmes: Must-Read Books by Women That Foreground Brutal Beauty
A new wave of authors is mining the territory between brilliance and ugliness to produce some of the most adventurous and emotionally unsparing literature being written today.
7 Timepieces to Follow in Christie’s Important Watches Sale in Hong Kong
Beyond the headline Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon, the sale will feature notable lots from F.P. Journe, Greubel Forsey, Audemars Piguet, Cartier and Harry Winston.
Where to Eat, Play, Stay and Watch in Toronto for the 2026 World Cup
This multicultural city is famous as a destination for soccer obsessives. Now that it’s officially hosting a World Cup game for the first time, there’s never a better time to visit.
As New York’s Art Week Kicks Off, Here’s What Not to Miss at Esther III
The fair’s third and final edition opened at the Estonian House with intimate and beautifully idiosyncratic displays of mythic objects, speculative relics, dreamlike wallworks and promising early sales.
L.A.’s Most Exciting Restaurant Openings of May
Chef Daniel Patterson is adding a California-focused fine dining experience to Melrose Avenue, and New York City’s Bad Roman is bringing its Italian-American fare to the West Coast.
The 2026 McLaren 750S Spider Is Thoroughly, Deliberately and Delightfully Impractical
The 750S’s lack of sensible applications is the entire point of this track-beast-turned-road-car.