New York's November auctions wrapped last week after an estimated $2.2 billion dollars in business. Try to make sense of it all and your head will spin. But don’t do that. Instead, consider the Cattelan.

On Tuesday, Sotheby’s sold a functional, 18k gold toilet sculpture by Maurizio Cattelan for $12.1 million. From a market perspective, the spectacle was a letdown. The auction house went to great lengths to drum up anticipation for Cattelan’s piece, called America (2016), but in the end, the artwork drew just one bid (though that’s not uncommon), and for a price that barely surpassed the worth of the gold used to make it (roughly $10 million at the time of the event).

On the other hand, someone just paid $12.1 million for a toilet. And it didn’t even come with toilet paper.

Crazier still, that “someone” was Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, a franchise that traffics in the strange and bizarre. It’s a smart bet. Ticket sales will help offset the cost of the purchase, and Cattelan’s sculpture will fit in seamlessly amongst its collection of shrunken heads and masks made of human skin.

Market talk can seem dizzying from the inside, but for the rest of the world, it’s just another curiosity. If you want to pay attention, do so for your own amusement, not your career.

The number of artists who will each receive ongoing monthly checks of €1,300 ($1,500) via Ireland's universal basic income initiative for artists starting next year.

The national government launched a pilot version of the program—dubbed Basic Income for the Arts (BIA)—in 2022 to help shepherd Irish cultural producers through the worst of the Covid-19 crisis. Multiple temporary extensions will carry it through February 2026, and around six months later applications will open to practicing professionals across a wide range of disciplines, from fine art, literature, and theater, to architecture, film, and even… the circus? Yep, the circus!

A study published this fall by Alma Economics, a British analysis outfit, found that the BIA initiative produced a net surplus of more than €8m ($9.3m) for the Emerald Isle’s economy from its start in October 2022 through April 2025. The benefits showed up in the individual artists’ finances too, with the average BIA recipient making around €500 ($580) more from their actual art practice every month—and needing €100 ($115) less in non-BIA public assistance over the same span.

But the most surprising finding comes from the broader Irish public. A government survey of 17,000 people—almost half of whom had no connection to BIA or the arts—found that 97% of respondents were in favor of making the initiative permanent as of this past September.

It’s fair to wonder whether the average voter elsewhere would be as enthusiastic about funding a BIA-like program with their own tax money. Based on the international downtrend in old-school arts philanthropy and the continuing challenges of the for-profit business, however, we may not have to wait long to find out.

—Tim Schneider / The Gray Market

Alex from Brooklyn ASKed: Why are so many (most) galleries closed on Monday?

No Reserve: The reason many galleries in major cities across the U.S. are closed on Mondays is a matter of practicality and logistics.

For these businesses, weekends typically afford the most foot traffic, while Mondays, by contrast, yield the least. This offers galleries a chance to give many staff members a day off, while others attend to tasks that can’t be done with visitors present.

Those undertakings might include archiving, painting, rehanging art, or just cleaning the exhibition space. Some galleries use the time to move new works in for an upcoming show or send old, unsold pieces out for storage. For less established galleries in particular, the off day helps lower operational costs.

This tradition is believed to have started with a few museums across Europe, possibly as early as the late 19th century. By the time the 40-hour workweek had become standardized in the 1940s, so too had the Monday-off policy for museums on both sides of the Atlantic. That same era also saw a surge of new galleries open, most of which adopted the policy as a precept.

Today, it’s always a good idea to check a gallery’s hours before making plans to visit.

Have your own question for the No Reserve team? Reply to this email or reach out to us on Instagram, @no.reserve. Readers whose submissions we choose get a special prize: six free months of The Baer Faxt.

Head to our subscriptions page to find out more about The Baer Faxt, our premium newsletter for art market professionals, and our expanded platform of digital content, art advisory, and auction database services.

Forwarded this email and not a subscriber to No Reserve? Sign up today—it’s free!