What am I bid for a blown-up van? The bizarre art auction aiming to build an eco power station in Reform-held Clacton

Artists Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn are auctioning off their work from the past 15 years this Saturday to raise at least £250,000 for a community-led renewable power station in Clacton, the constituency of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The auction, which will be conducted by former YBA Gavin Turk, includes a gold Ford Transit van wreckage containing fake banknotes that the pair blew up in 2019 as part of their film *Bank Job*, now reconstituted as a mobile sculpture. An online auction runs until 31 May, but currently only £750 has been raised.

Relaxe pour le coupeur de tête

The latest issue of Le Journal des Arts (n°677, May 15, 2026) covers several major art-world stories: the Venice Biennale opening amid controversy, the final adoption of a French law on the restitution of cultural property looted during colonization, the V&A East museum's strategy to attract younger audiences, the uneven economic impact of Monet's legacy on the town of Giverny, and the structuring of the market for Nabis artists.

98,000 People Rush to Defense of Arts Trustee Misan Harriman in Wake of Antisemitism Accusations

More than 98,000 people have filed complaints with the UK Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) in defense of British-Nigerian arts trustee Misan Harriman, following accusations of antisemitism leveled against him by right-wing outlets including the Daily Mail and the Telegraph. The complaints mark the highest number ever submitted to IPSO over a single issue. Separately, an open letter signed by activist Greta Thunberg and artists Tracey Emin and Peter Doig condemns what they call a "dishonest smear campaign" targeting Harriman, who is an Oscar-nominated photographer, chair of the Southbank Centre, and a nominee for Amnesty UK’s People’s Human Rights Champion.

Husband Found Guilty of Scheming Murder of Art Dealer Brent Sikkema

A federal jury has found Daniel Sikkema guilty of orchestrating the murder-for-hire of his estranged husband, New York art dealer Brent Sikkema. Brent Sikkema, 75, was stabbed 18 times in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse in January 2024. The hitman, Alejandro Triana Prevez, a Cuban security guard, was arrested days later and remains in prison awaiting trial. Prosecutors presented evidence including voice notes in which Daniel Sikkema allegedly threatened to become a widower, phone calls via a burner phone, and a $9,000 payment to Prevez. Daniel Sikkema was arrested in March 2024 on passport fraud charges and later charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

Who Should Design NYC’s New Billie Holiday Monument?

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has revealed six commission proposals for a monument honoring legendary jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, to be installed outside the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in Queens through the Percent for the Art program. The artists in the running are Thomas J Price, Tanda Francis, Nekisha Durrett, La Vaughn Belle, Tavares Strachan, and Nikesha Breeze, and the public is invited to share input on the conceptual designs before the final selection. The monument emerged from the 2018 She Built NYC initiative, which aimed to address the lack of historical monuments dedicated to influential women in the city, and was revitalized in 2024 after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lagos curator establishes private art society with focus on cross-disciplinary exchange

Ugoma Chinelo Ebilah, an economist-turned-curator who founded Bloom Art Lagos in 2010 and the Mbari Kola Arts and Culture Foundation in 2019, is opening Mbari Kola, a private art society and members club in Lagos. Located in the affluent Ikoyi district, the 800 sq. m space will include a public gallery, shop, and garden, along with a private lounge, terrace, library, and multifunctional rooms for members. The venue will host exhibitions, residencies, film screenings, concerts, performances, and readings, focusing on pan-African art and culture. A soft launch for founding members is set for Africa Day (25 May), with further phases after summer and during Lagos Art Week in November. The club is part-funded by Ebilah and crowdfunded through around 50 founding patrons and members.

Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices

A fraudster named Andrew Crowley, 46, attempted to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby's, claiming they were inherited from his grandfather. The items—three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette—were valued at up to £680,000 if genuine. However, the scheme unraveled when forensic analysis revealed that the accompanying invoices, purportedly typed in 1976, were produced using printing methods invented in 2001. Sotheby's experts also spotted spelling errors. Crowley received a two-year suspended sentence after admitting to making a false representation to the auction house.

Notre-Dame: The Lie About Respecting Viollet-le-Duc's Light

Notre-Dame : le mensonge sur le respect de la lumière de Viollet-le-Duc

The article criticizes the planned replacement of the stained-glass windows in Notre-Dame Cathedral, designed by Claire Tabouret, arguing that the public establishment behind the project has made false claims about respecting the original light and colors of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 19th-century windows. The author compares the existing and proposed windows baie by baie, asserting that the new designs do not match the chromatic balance or light quality, and calls the official justification a lie. It also highlights two additional alleged falsehoods: that the law for Notre-Dame's restoration deliberately omitted the Venice Charter (when the culture minister said it was unnecessary because the charter was already binding), and that the National Commission for Heritage and Architecture had approved the window replacement (which the author claims is contradicted by the commission's own minutes and multiple members).

Harris County Juried Exhibition

“Villa Borghese è perfetta e non si tocca”. Siamo andati a vedere se è proprio così perfetta

A private company donated a design competition to the Galleria Borghese in Rome, aiming to expand the museum's exhibition spaces and services. Before any winning project was selected, associations like Italia Nostra protested, claiming the initiative would desecrate Villa Borghese. The article's author visited the park to document its current state, finding decay: a wrecked Globe Theatre, neglected ponds, graffiti, trash, dilapidated buildings, and a degraded horse-riding track. The author argues that while the park is defended as "perfect and untouchable," it is actually suffering from real neglect that goes unaddressed by the same groups opposing development.

Il Museo Nazionale d’Arte dell’Ucraina di Kiev colpito e danneggiato dai bombardamenti russi. Le immagini

Between the night of May 23 and the early hours of May 24, 2026, Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine using 600 drones and 90 missiles. The National Art Museum of Ukraine (NAMU) in Kyiv suffered severe structural damage, along with government buildings. The attack was reportedly a response to a Ukrainian bombing of a dormitory in Russian-occupied Starobilsk. The museum, founded in the late 19th century and housed in a neoclassical building opened in 1904, holds nearly 40,000 works spanning over a thousand years of Ukrainian art, including medieval icons, Baroque masterpieces, and avant-garde pieces.