here are the winners of the first art basel awards

Art Basel has announced the winners of its first-ever Art Basel Awards, a new global honors program recognizing excellence across the contemporary art world. The 36 medalists include artists such as David Hammons, Lubaina Himid, Joan Jonas, and Adrian Piper, as well as patrons, curators, museums, and other art-world figures. The awards were unveiled at a press event in New York, with CEO Noah Horowitz and director Vincenzo de Bellis outlining the structure: medalists will later select 12 gold medalists, with up to six artists receiving $50,000 each and a commission for the 2026 Art Basel fair. The jury includes prominent museum directors and curators from around the world.

As Her Venice Biennale Opens, Koyo Kouoh Foundation Launches in Memory of Late Curator

The Koyo Kouoh Foundation has launched in Basel, Switzerland, coinciding with the opening of the 2026 Venice Biennale, which features the late curator Koyo Kouoh's main exhibition "In Minor Keys." The foundation aims to continue Kouoh's work supporting contemporary African cultural production globally, including plans for the Koyo Kouoh Prize and a permanent home for the Koyo Kouoh Collection. It is led by her partner, saxophonist Philippe Mall, and includes board members such as artist Alfredo Jaar, curator Adrienne Edwards, and former Kunstmuseum Basel director Josef Helfenstein.

gauguin self portrait kunstmuseum basel authenticity report

The Kunstmuseum Basel has confirmed that a Paul Gauguin self-portrait, titled *Portrait de l’artiste par lui-même* (1903), is an authentic work by the French painter, despite decades of scrutiny. The painting, held by the museum since 1945, was subjected to scientific analysis—including pigment testing, radiography, and infrared reflectography—at the Bern Academy of the Arts after amateur art sleuth Fabrice Fourmanoir claimed it was actually painted by Gauguin’s friend Ky-Dong Nguyen Van Cam. The tests showed the pigments date to Gauguin’s era, but also revealed overpainting on the face, possibly done between 1918 and 1926, though the museum found no evidence of intentional forgery.

last known painting gauguin authenticity

The Kunstmuseum Basel has launched a fresh scientific investigation into a painting long believed to be Paul Gauguin's final self-portrait, *Self-Portrait with Glasses* (1903), after amateur art sleuth Fabrice Fourmanoir raised doubts about its authenticity. Fourmanoir claims the work may have been painted not by Gauguin but by a Vietnamese revolutionary named Ky Dong, a close acquaintance of the artist, after Gauguin's death. The museum, which has owned the painting since 1945, confirmed it is re-examining the work using modern techniques like infrared reflectography and radiology, with results expected by June or July.

No Need to Shed a Tear for the Jury

"Man muss der Jury keine Träne nachweinen"

The entire jury of the Venice Biennale resigned shortly before the opening, prompting criticism of Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli accused Buttafuoco of pursuing a misguided "pacificist fantasy" by readmitting Russia to the six-month exhibition, calling it failed "side foreign policy." Commentators in German media, including Niklas Maak (FAZ) and Marcus Woeller (Die Welt), see the resignation as a symptom of a crisis in the art world, with the jury having acted as a "political tribunal" by pre-judging artists based on nationality, particularly regarding Israel. The Biennale leadership defended inclusion, but the standoff has caused significant "image damage." Separately, Dirk Knipphals (wochentaz) delivers a scathing review of Wolfram Weimer's first year as cultural policy commissioner, accusing him of empty rhetoric and failing to counter right-wing cultural politics. Juliane von Mittelstaedt (Der Spiegel) reports on Saudi Arabia's use of a spectacular new art museum in Riyadh as a stability narrative amid regional conflict.

Museums and ethics, Fra Angelico in Florence, Cornelia Parker’s PsychoBarn—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' features three segments. Chief contributing editor Gareth Harris discusses his new book 'Towards the Ethical Art Museum,' which examines contemporary challenges for museums including provenance, restitution, funding, governance, and community responsibilities. Digital editor Alexander Morrison speaks with curator Carl Brandon Strehlke about the major Fra Angelico exhibition jointly presented by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Museo di San Marco in Florence. Finally, the Work of the Week segment focuses on Cornelia Parker's installation 'PsychoBarn (Cut-Up)' at the Kunstmuseum Basel's group exhibition 'Ghosts: Visualising the Supernatural,' with commentary from curator Eva Reifert.

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Gauguin ‘fake’ is real, Mrinalini Mukherjee and her circle, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s head piece—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three main stories. Host Ben Luke discusses the authentication of Paul Gauguin's final self-portrait (1903) at the Kunstmuseum Basel, which was recently confirmed as genuine after being questioned earlier this year. He also interviews Tarini Malik, curator of 'A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle' at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and speaks with Katharina Lovecky and Georg Lechner about the exhibition 'Franz Xaver Messerschmidt: More than Character Heads' at the Belvedere in Vienna, featuring Messerschmidt's Character Head No. 25 as the Work of the Week.

99 Variations of a Volcano

99 Variationen eines Vulkans

Julian Charrière has released a new artist's book titled "After the Smoke Cradle," documenting a series of 99 lithographs originally exhibited at the Verein für Originalgraphik in Zurich. The project features 33 variations of three different volcanoes, created using a unique process where the artist transformed collected lava, ash, obsidian, and sulfur into printing pigments. This material-focused approach ensures that the physical essence of the volcanic sites is literally embedded into the photographic imagery.

Moskaus Angriff auf Kiew beschädigt auch Museen und Gedenkstätten

A massive Russian attack on Kyiv over the weekend targeted historical buildings, museums, and memorial sites, causing widespread damage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported 87 injuries and at least two deaths, with around 300 objects damaged, mostly residential buildings. Military administrator Tymur Tkachenko described it as the largest attack since the full-scale invasion began, noting that for the first time Russia deliberately struck historical architecture and memorials, including the Foreign Ministry building, the Chernobyl Museum, and the Art Museum. Russia used 600 drones and 90 missiles, including the new Oreshnik intermediate-range missile, in retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on a vocational school in occupied Starobilsk.