The game is played in a series of rounds.

Each round consists of 5 steps:

1. Prepare Auction: the Auctioneer selects paintings to bid on.

2. Place Bids: players choose one card from their hand as their bid.

3. Acquire and Place Paintings: in order from highest to lowest bid, each player takes a painting and places it on their board.

4. Increase Prestige: the painting that is left behind is moved to the museum increasing its prestige.

5. Round End: the auctioneer gavel passes clockwise and a new round starts.

The game continues until one of the three endgame conditions is met.