The Watches Worn by Tennis’s Most Decorated Players
From Rolex Daytonas to Richard Mille tourbillons, these are the timepieces most closely associated with the sport’s current and former stars.
When Tennis’s Greatest Champions Turn a Competitive Eye Toward Art
John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, the Williams sisters and many other talented pros have built collections spanning Basquiat, Mucha, Warhol and beyond after leaving the tour behind.
How Tom Gilleon Turned a Genre of Nostalgia Into One of Invention
Now in his mid-80s and still painting daily from his Montana ranch, he has spent decades stripping Western art down to color, form and light.
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Game, Set, Smash: The Pierre Hotel’s Tennis Fête Is Its Own New York Story
Rising stars Alexander Bublik and Anastasia Potapova went head-to-head at the hotel’s annual Smash Bash celebrating the U.S. Open.
What Makes an Art Film a Box Office Hit in 2026?
From horror and star power to timely concepts and spectacle, the strongest recent specialty-film performers paired artistic ambition with something more.
Craig Tiley Takes Over the USTA With Bigger Plans for the U.S. Open
New USTA CEO Craig Tiley brings his Australian Open playbook to New York as tennis participation in the U.S. surges and the U.S. Open expands. After two decades reshaping the Australian Open, Tiley is betting that bigger crowds, broader access and grassroots growth can do the same for American tennis.
The U.S. Open’s Most Defining On-Court Looks
Across a century of photographs, New York’s Grand Slam turned the tennis uniform into a record of who was allowed on court and how boldly a player could command it.
The Essentials With Eva Chow: Seoul Forest Strolls, Korean Hair Spas and Olive Oil
The Khee Soju founder shares the quiet routines, beauty rituals and favorite places that shape her life in Seoul.
Business
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The Most Important Signal From Jackson Hole May Not Be the Fed
Citizens’ Mark Valentino and Eric Merlis unpack the business implications of Jackson Hole, arguing that the most important signal for Main Street may be the persistence of economic uncertainty. Valentino and Merlis make the case for disciplined preparation, financial flexibility and planning for multiple economic outcomes rather than trying to predict the Fed’s next move.
As Data Center Opposition Grows, America Needs a Better Blueprint
The IDCA’s Mehdi Paryavi examines the growing tension between America’s demand for A.I. infrastructure and communities’ resistance to new data centers. The answer, Paryavi argues, is a more deliberate model that considers power, environmental constraints and community needs from the start.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Keeps Markets Guessing at Jackson Hole
In his first Jackson Hole address as Fed chair, Kevin Warsh defended abandoning forward guidance while acknowledging that persistent inflation is concerning.
Jensen Huang’s Answer to the ‘A.I. Bubble’ Talk is a $96B Quarter
Jensen Huang says the A.I. buildout is supply-capped, not slowing.
Tom Hale’s Oura Heads to the U.S. Open With a $16B IPO in Sight
By partnering with the USTA, Team USA and U.S. Soccer, Oura is building the case for life as a public company. As the Finnish smart ring maker nears a public listing, its U.S. Open partnership is testing whether the smart ring can become a durable health business.
Art
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Marseille’s Art-o-rama Lets Galleries Outgrow the Fair That Made Them
In a landscape where the costly major art fairs have “become badges or signifiers of success for galleries,” small fairs provide a softer start.
In Seoul, Pavilion’s Debut, Design Miami’s Return and Frieze’s “Beyond the Canon” Approach
On the eve of Seoul Art Week, dealers are looking for signs that Korea’s recovering economy can revive collector confidence.
How Collectors Bob and Jane Clark Turned Collecting into Community Building
Early acquisitions of works by Theaster Gates, Derrick Adams and Rashid Johnson came before those artists’ markets fully developed, reflecting the couple’s longstanding support for emerging talent.
One Fine Show: “Timeless Mucha, The Magic of Line” at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
His commercial advertising in Belle Époque Paris anticipated psychedelia, comic book cover design, rock posters and more.
The National Park System’s Lesser-Known Role as Patron of the Arts
“These wild spaces with heartbreaking stories and uncontainable beauty can change us if we let them,” artist Dawn Waters Baker, who has participated in residencies at Big Bend National Park in Texas, Gettysburg and Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, told Observer.
Lifestyle
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The Evolution of the Cowboy Boot, Beyond the Western Ranch
Built for function but made for reinvention, the cowboy boot has traveled well beyond cattle country while keeping its Western character intact.
The Best Men’s Workout Brands You’re Not Already Wearing
These labels make sharper gear for running, lifting and everything in between.
The Jackson Hole Shopping Guide for Western Style Without the Costume
Jackson Hole style is equal parts ranch, mountain and restraint, and these shops understand the balance.
The World’s Most Exclusive Tennis Clubs, From Wimbledon to Newport
These members-only institutions, from Wimbledon’s lawns to a Gilded Age casino in Newport, are where the game was made—and where getting in is still the hardest shot of all.
An Insider’s Guide to Durango, Colorado’s Most Underrated Western Town
If you’re ready to trade the crowds of Colorado’s tourist-filled resort towns for something a bit more real and rugged, here’s how to eat, drink and explore your way through Durango.
Interviews
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At 50, Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory Still Says Yes to Artists
Founded “for artists by artists,” the space is one of the city’s most distinctive contemporary art institutions—a place where artists are given time, space and permission to build ambitious, site-specific worlds.
Cj Hendry, Price Laddering and a New Collecting Model for the Kidulting Economy
“When I go to a museum or a gallery, I want to feel that the space is generous. I want people to come away with something. It doesn’t need to be expensive, but just a portion of that moment that can live on a little bit longer.”
David Norr Says He Measures Artists’ Careers in Decades, Not Market Cycles
Observer caught up with Norr to hear about what a curator brings to the dealer’s side of the table in the current market.
Learning Commons President Sandra Liu Huang on Leading Nonprofit A.I. Push in Schools
After CZI’s restructuring last year, Learning Commons is betting that open A.I. infrastructure can help teachers navigate a flood of classroom tools. Sandra Liu Huang, president of Learning Commons and a former Google and Facebook product executive, is building the connective tissue between A.I., curricula and learning science.
Portland’s Homegrown Triennial Returns With Outside Curation and Hyper-Local Soul
Converge 45’s 2026 triennial, “Here, To You, Now,” embraces the city’s decentralized creative ecosystem with the aim of creating connections with the wider art world.
Power Lists
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Observer’s 2026 A.I. Power Index: Who Controls the Capital Flow in A.I
Power in artificial intelligence no longer moves through the channels everyone learned to watch.
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.
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Travel Has Long Been an Elite Educational Advantage. Public Schools Can Change That.
Access to international travel and experiential learning remains deeply uneven, even as the skills those experiences cultivate become more valuable. Democracy Prep’s Tameka Royal argues that public schools can help close that gap by bringing the wider world within reach of more students.
In Sioux City, Disparate Visions of the American West Converge
In “Pasture to Present,” curator Christopher Atkins surveys western American art working off much the same map Saul Steinberg illustrated for his most famous New Yorker cover, ‘View of the World from 9th Avenue,’ which depicts all the world west of the Hudson River as a backwoods with its share of lumps.
How Jeff Bezos’ $10B Earth Fund Has Fought Climate Change—So Far
A look at the major grants shaping Jeff Bezos’s climate philanthropy, from species recovery and urban parks to sustainable protein.
At Jackson Hole, the Fed Is Speaking to a Market That Never Sleeps
As tokenized assets extend trading around the clock and automated systems continue to parse financial language, Bitget’s Gracy Chen argues that the Federal Reserve’s traditional model of deliberate, human-centered communication will need to evolve.
Yayoi Kusama, the Avant-Garde Japanese Artist Who Became a Global Cultural Icon, Dies at 97
She turned an intensely personal visual language into one of contemporary art’s most recognizable motifs.
Yayoi Kusama, the World’s Most Photographed Recluse
Kusama spent six decades proving that a small repeating motif on a flat field could open into an entire cosmos. When the Whitney tried to survey that project in 2012, Observer found a show assembled by committee, and an artist whose panache did the heavy lifting.
Ahead of Jackson Hole, Central Banks Are Rebuilding Reserves Around Gold
Theo’s Iggy Ioppe examines the reclassification of gold from a hedge against bad times to an increasingly important reserve asset. Unlike a Treasury, gold is nobody’s promise. The problem is that the financial infrastructure needed to make that asset function as modern monetary collateral has not kept pace.
Reid Walker On the Infrastructure Gap Holding Back Native American Art
The collector says recognition alone cannot compensate for the infrastructure, representation, knowledge and professional networks still lacking.
Why Dolly Parton Never Became a Billionaire
She could have spent her time engaging in space tourism or basking in her fans’ adoration. Instead, she dedicated herself to using her money in a way that could do the most good for the most people.
Jackson Hole: How a Wyoming Retreat Became Central Bankers’ Power Center
Jackson Hole’s path from frontier settlement to Fed summit runs through Rockefeller, presidents, Hollywood stars and decades of history.
Observer’s 2026 September Art Fair Calendar
Our art fair calendars can help you put together the perfect itinerary.
How the American West Became a Luxury Status Symbol for Armchair Cowboys
The West has always looked good on a screen, which is the only version of it that asks little effort