🔥 The Dead Artist Market + Michael Childress

Sign Up | Sell Your Art | Advertise | Community

HEY Y’ALL!

Thanks for all the great feedback on the Russell Young piece I shared last day!

🔥 ICYMI – Catchs from the Last Week:

1. Lee Ufan, In Milano 3, 1992 - priced at £6,500

2. Sola Olulode, Everyday Gets Hotter Than The One Before, 2021 - priced at £10,000

3. Cece Philips, Cheek to Cheek, 2022 - priced at at £12,500

Today we have a Michael Childress that pulses like a golden algorithm: rare format, no auction noise. Plus, retro shows trigger market spikes and dead artists cash in.

-Today’s Catch-

Michael Childress

💭 My 2 Cents: If you’re the type who thinks all geometric abstraction looks like a screensaver from 2002, Aurummm might change your mind. This 2021 piece by Michael Childress is basically what happens when cosmic minimalism meets cold precision—and somehow still feels warm. It's got that golden-circle-on-gradient-vortex thing going on, like a portal to enlightenment or a $4,000 tax write-off, depending on your vibe. I’m not a spiritual guy, but this one hums. And no, it’s not trying too hard, that’s the whole point.

🔑 Key Numbers: Made in 2021, sized at a clean 91.44 x 91.44 cm (aka 36x36 inches for the non-metric folks), Aurummm sits at £4,000 (~$5K USD). Previously held in a Dubai private collection, translation: someone else already saw value here. Childress had a piece smash its auction estimate by 150% in 2023, and he’s fresh off two solo shows in NY and ATL. No flipping frenzy yet, which is… ideal.

🧠 Why It’s a Smart Pick: Childress isn’t oversaturated, and this piece is peak “Equivalents”-era, his breakout series. The price is still sane, and the work's got that meditative-but-marketable aura. Plus, abstraction’s coming back (finally), and this portal’s still open.

Invest Smarter. Collect Better.

Ready to spot high-value opportunities and build an art collection that actually pays off?

I've partnered with Artscapy, the #1 art-investment platform trusted by 8,000+ art collectors, to offer you a FREE 1-on-1 session to pinpoint exactly which artworks to buy next.

🎁 Bonus: I'm also gifting you 60 days of FREE Artscapy Club membership ($120 value). Think early private deals, premium insights, and exclusive VIP perks.

Here’s what a collector shared with me this week:

Limited spots available—book yours now.

-In a Minute-

🔥 Words I Like: afterlife-premium, curatorial-steroids, zombie-market

The Dead Artist Market 

There’s a reason the biggest auction spikes lately come from artists who can’t paint another stroke. Dead artists don’t make more work, which makes them the perfect asset. Zero production, 100% legacy leverage.

The formula is simple: take a relatively unknown artist with a good backstory, a small but striking body of work, and preferably a tragic ending. Then add a major gallery, a museum retrospective, and a curator with a god complex.

Boom…prices triple.
Collectors cry.
Everyone else pretends they always saw it coming.

Noah Davis is just the latest case. His painting jumped from $400k to $1.5M after a few institutional pushes. But this isn’t about Noah. It’s about how the machine works.

Galleries control access. Museums validate taste. Estates keep inventory tight. The combo creates artificial scarcity, and that’s the fuel.

What you’re seeing isn’t nostalgia. It’s business. Every biennial slot or traveling show is a signal to buyers: this artist is now canon. Or at least, canon-adjacent with upside.

If you’re collecting, watch the retrospectives. Especially the ones backed by Zwirner, Hauser, or Gagosian. Ask which works are loans, which are for sale, and who’s advising the estate.

And if you’re sitting on something minor by a dead artist—get curious. Quiet demand always comes before public heat.

Dead artists don’t get second chances. You do.

-Whenever You Are Ready-

Here are 3 ways I can help you:​

1. Serious about collecting? Join Frame&Flame Circle, my exclusive WhatsApp group for top-tier art connections. Apply now!

2. Get in front of my audience - With more than 10,000+ newsletter subscribers and 200k+ Instagram followers, my team and I work with dozens of partners in unique ways to help them grow. Interested in a partnership, tap here.

3. Don’t gamble on your art investments. Get a free advisory consult and 60-day membership at Artscapy—no guesswork, just expert guidance.

See you soon!

-Alvaro (@theartmarketguy)

Find Me On Instagram
Find Me On LinkedIn

P.S. I'd love your feedback. Tap the poll below or reply to this email.

Disclaimer

Not financial advice. Frame&Flame is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.