How to Play Modern Art: Five Auction Types & Market Values
Modern Art is a four-round auction game where players are both buyers and sellers. Painting cards determine the auction type, and artist popularity during a round determines how much purchased art is worth when sold to the bank.
On your turn, choose a painting to auction
Play one painting card from hand and conduct the auction type shown on that card. Depending on the auction, the auctioneer may also bid or may receive the winning payment directly.
The five auction formats
- Open: players call bids freely until nobody raises.
- Once around: each player gets one opportunity to bid in order.
- Hidden: players make simultaneous secret bids.
- Fixed price: the auctioneer names a price and players decide in turn whether to buy.
- Double: a second painting can be paired with the first under the special double-auction procedure.
The fifth painting from one artist ends the round
When the fifth painting of any artist is played, the auction round ends immediately. That fifth painting is not auctioned, but it still counts when determining artist popularity for the round.
Rank the top three artists
The artist with the most paintings played earns the highest market-value tile for that round, second place earns the middle value and third earns the lowest. Ties use the board’s fixed artist priority.
Sell every purchased painting to the bank
At round end, each purchased painting is sold for its artist’s current cumulative market value. Artists outside the current round’s top three can be worth nothing that round even if they scored in an earlier round.
After four rounds, most money wins
Players keep cash across rounds. After the fourth round’s sales, the museum with the most money wins.
Publisher reference: CMON: Modern Art. Checked September 21, 2026.