Rather than undertaking a larger, more costly engagement, Cochran Arts developed a focused short-term plan addressing the essential documentation, condition review, and insurance requirements. This gave the institution exactly what it needed to meet its obligations, stay within budget, and keep the exhibition on schedule. Sometimes the most useful advice isn’t to do more—it’s knowing what needs to be done, what doesn’t, and how to make the distinction.
The United States still has no federal resale royalty, but in September the conversation took an interesting turn—not in Washington, but in the auction room. Bonhams announced The Deans’ Choice with Bonhams, developed with collectors and musicians Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys. Launching with the house’s November 2026 New York auctions, the program makes Bonhams the first U.S. auction house to establish its own mechanism allowing living artists to participate financially when their work is resold.
Unlike European resale-right legislation, the Bonhams program is voluntary: consignors can direct a percentage of the hammer price to the artist, which Bonhams will match from its buyer’s premium. In effect, the house is testing whether the market can create a resale-royalty structure where U.S. legislation has not. The question now is whether collectors will embrace the model— and whether Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips and other secondary-market players will feel challenged to follow.
