“You’re a gallery owner and you’re bidding on the works of up-and-coming artists, in the hopes of cornering the market on the Next Big Thing.”
Modern Art: The Game

It’s a game for 3-5 players … success in the game is almost entirely dependent on a strong bidding strategy. Modern Art is sometimes referred to as a boardgame, but the board itself is really just a method for scoring, as it is in the classic game Cribbage. In terms of actual gameplay, it’s a card game. Here’s how it works:

Each “gallery owner” receives 8-10 cards, depending on the number of players, and gets $100,000 in chips, to start things off. Each player also has a screen with the name of a city, used to hide his or her hand. Cities represented are London, Chicago, New York, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles …. Cards represent the name and individual work of one of one of the five fictitious artists up for auction: Yoko, Christin P. Karl Glitter, Krypto, and Lite Metal each have distinctive styles, and the works represented are impressively pretty for playing cards.

@ Play This Thing: link.