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An auctioneer wearing a judge’s black gown sits stern-faced, between an international currency conversion table suspended in midair and a large abstract painting for sale. Above him, a foreboding night sky appears where one expects a ceiling. This is the scene of Nicole Eisenman’s The Auction (2025), where a painter is also present, with a canvas, similar to the one on sale, by his side. Positioned within the composition as if he had been called to testify, he’s rendered in flat Cubist color blocks, which make him look gobsmacked—if not by the fact that he might be on trial than by the sight of an eager bidder before…