Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule May 18, 2026 visibility 35 link 27 artists, 17 galleries

Rare ‘Ocean Dream’ Diamond Sells for Record $17.3 Million at Christie’s

A rare 5.5-carat blue-green diamond known as the 'Ocean Dream' sold for $17.3 million at Christie’s Geneva jewelry sale, setting a record for a fancy vivid blue-green diamond at auction. The sale far exceeded its presale estimate of $9 million to $13 million after a 20-minute bidding battle. In other auction news, Sotheby’s New York sold over $433 million worth of art in its contemporary art sales, including 11 pieces from the Robert Mnuchin collection. Meanwhile, London’s Wellcome Collection agreed to return around 2,000 sacred Jain manuscripts to the Jain religious community under a new restitution framework, acknowledging they were acquired unethically. Several art fairs were announced, including Zero 10 curated by Trevor Paglen at Art Basel in Switzerland, CAN Art Fair Ibiza’s fifth edition, and Art-o-rama’s 20th edition in Marseille. Notable gallery news includes the bankruptcy and closure of French gallery Air de Paris after 36 years, and Carine Karam becoming director of Opera Gallery’s New York outpost. Hong Kong’s M+ and Paris’s Centre Pompidou announced a multi-year strategic alliance, and New York’s Frick Collection entered a three-year partnership with Louis Vuitton.

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article news schedule May 18, 2026 visibility 5 link 6 artists, 1 gallery

Finnish museum creates a new and radical support model for artists

Finland's largest art museum, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (Emma), has launched a radical new artist support model under director Krist Gruijthuijsen. The program commits to four artists—P. Staff, Tarik Kiswanson, Jenna Sutela, and Eglė Budvytytė—over several years, providing financial backing through acquisitions, production support, a part-time stipend, and health insurance. It will culminate in mid-career survey exhibitions in 2029 and 2030, which the museum plans to tour with partner institutions. Three of the artists are currently showing at the Venice Biennale with Emma's support.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 18, 2026 visibility 9

Seattle Art Museum Workers Announce Unionization

More than one hundred employees at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) announced their intent to unionize on May 13, delivering a letter to museum director and CEO Scott Stulen. Organizing as Seattle Art Museum Workers United (SAMWU) under the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28, the staff—spanning over twenty departments—cited unsustainable wages, subpar health benefits, and top-down decision-making as key issues. They filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board but will withdraw the petition if the museum voluntarily recognizes the union by May 27. Stulen acknowledged receipt of the letter and committed to good-faith negotiations.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 20, 2026 visibility 3 link 3 artists

Cannes 2026 Dispatch, Part 1: Breaking False Unities

On May 8, during the pre-opening of the Venice Biennale, the independent collective ANGA (Art Not Genocide Alliance) organized a strike protesting genocide and precarity in the art world. Pro-Palestinian activists entered the Arsenale, where part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh was installed, and hung posters on artworks calling for the liberation of Palestine and denouncing what they described as the Biennale's "art-washing" of Israel's reputation. The disruption blurred the line between activist intervention and the exhibition itself, as many works already addressed Palestine directly, including a poem by Refaat Alareer placed at the entrance.

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