# Modern Art

Modern Art is a board game for 3–5 players. It plays in 45 minutes and is meant for ages 10 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 5. It is rated 7.3 out of 10 by 102 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $27.99 (United States).

- **Players:** 3–5 (best with 5)
- **Playing time:** 45 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 10+
- **Complexity:** 2.3 out of 5
- **Year published:** 1992
- **Categories:** Economic, Card Game
- **Mechanics:** Auction: English, Auction: Once Around, Commodity Speculation, Victory Points as a Resource, Auction: Turn Order Until Pass, Auction / Bidding, Hand Management, Auction: Sealed Bid
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.3 out of 10, from 102 reviews
- **Owned by:** 216 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 677
- **Unique players:** 1,010

**Designers:** Reiner Knizia

**Artists:** Daniel Melim, Rafael Silveira, Pete Fenlon, Gianfranco Giordano, Paul Laane, Mike Doyle (I), Ramon Martins, Carole Carrion, Chen Cheng-po, Manuel Carvalho, Sigrid Thaler, Zeilbeck & Natzeck Design Company

**Publishers:** Hans im Glück

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 27.99 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/modern-art/ |
| Board Game Bliss | 35.5 $ | https://www.boardgamebliss.com/products/modern-art-1 |
| 401 Games | 35.95 $ | https://store.401games.ca/products/modern-art |
| Zatu Games | 24.9 £ | https://zatu.com/products/modern-art |
| Poromagia | 37.95 € | https://lautapelit.poromagia.com/fi/catalogue/modern-art-card-game_254013/ |
| Pelipeikko | 38.95 € | https://pelipeikko.fi/fi/lautapelit/3767-modern-art |
| Fantasiapelit | 39.7 € | https://www.fantasiapelit.com/index.php?main=ai&kat=single&mista=indeksi&etsittava=_234427 |
| Game Ninja | 499 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/modern-art/ |
| Alphaspel | 849 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/212005-modern-art-koreansk-utgava-inkl-eng-regler |

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## Rules questions

### If nobody bids, do I still have to pay or do I get the painting for free?

If no bids are made in an Open, One Offer, or Hidden auction the Auctioneer gets the painting for free; for a Fixed Price auction, if no one buys the Auctioneer must pay the announced price. (See rulebook pages 3 and 28.)

### What exactly does a Double auction do and who gets the money?

The Auctioneer may offer a second painting of the same artist (not another Double); the auction is then conducted using the second painting’s auction type, and the owner of that second painting (the second Auctioneer) receives the winning bid — if no one adds a second painting the original Auctioneer simply gets their card for free. (See rulebook pages 3–4 and 28.)

### In a Hidden auction, what happens if two players bid the same amount?

In a Hidden auction tied highest bids are resolved in clockwise order: the player closest to the Auctioneer in clockwise order wins the tie; if the Auctioneer is among the tied players they win. (See rulebook page 3; general tie rule on page 28.)

### When does a round end and what happens to the 5th painting?

A round ends when the fifth painting of any single artist is offered; that fifth painting is not auctioned but is counted when ranking artists (and if it’s the second card of a Double there can be two unsold paintings). (See rulebook pages 4 and 28.)

### How are paintings valued at the end of a round — do values from earlier rounds stack?

After a round rank the top three artists and place value tiles (First $30, Second $20, Third $10); an artist’s current painting value equals the total of all value tiles in that artist’s column (so tiles from earlier rounds do add to later values), but artists not in the top three that round are worth nothing. (See rulebook pages 4 and 5.)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/modern-art)
- [Modern Art in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/modern-art)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/118)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._