Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Dec 29, 2025 visibility 21 link 45 artists, 4 galleries

the art world in 2025

Artnet News staff reflects on the most impactful stories of 2025, covering a wide range of topics from institutional shifts and devastating wildfires to market sensations and conceptual art. Key pieces include Ben Davis's analysis of the art world's 'post-woke' turn, Sarah Cascone's report on Los Angeles artists losing homes in the Eaton Fire, Katya Kazakina's tale of a David Hockney painting yielding a 7,000 percent return at Christie's, Andrew Russeth's coverage of Richard Prince's seven-hour deposition video, Kate Brown's profile of Friedrich Kunath, and Annie Armstrong's introduction of the 'red-chip' art market driven by hype and crypto.

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article news schedule Oct 7, 2025 visibility 22 link 22 artists

art insurance los angeles wildfires

Ron Rivlin, owner of Revolver Gallery in Los Angeles and a prolific collector of Andy Warhol works, lost his Pacific Palisades home and 340 artworks—including 30 Warhols and pieces by Keith Haring, John Baldessari, Damien Hirst, Alex Katz, and Kenny Scharf—to the January 2025 wildfires that swept through Los Angeles County. The fires, fueled by powerful winds and dry conditions, consumed approximately 60,718 acres and 17,291 structures, killing 30 people. Numerous other artists, collectors, and arts professionals, including Beatriz Cortez, Amir Nikravan, Salomón Huerta, and curator Paul Schimmel, also reported losing homes and artworks.

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article news schedule Dec 8, 2025 visibility 15 link 11 artists

architecture houses lost los angeles fires

A week after wildfires erupted across Los Angeles, the city remains under critical threat as the Pacific Palisades, Eaton, Hollywood Hills, and San Fernando Valley fires have forced the evacuation of roughly 200,000 residents, destroyed about 12,000 buildings, and claimed at least 24 lives. Among the losses are culturally and architecturally significant structures, including the Bunny Museum in Altadena, the historic Will Rogers ranch, the Altadena Community Church (designed by Harry L. Pierce), the Andrew McNally House (a Queen Anne-style mansion by Frederick Roehrig), Richard Neutra's Benedict and Nancy Freedman House, and Gregory Ain's Park Planned Homes in Altadena. Adrian Scott Fine of the Los Angeles Conservancy described the destruction as "a mass erasure of heritage."

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article news schedule Feb 25, 2026 visibility 21 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

How four Los Angeles artists are doing a year after the wildfires

Four Los Angeles-based artists—Kelly Akashi, Christina Quarles, Adam Ross, and Kathryn Andrews—are navigating the long-term recovery process one year after devastating wildfires destroyed their homes, studios, and archives. Despite significant losses, including Adam Ross’s archive of 5,000 drawings, the artists have demonstrated remarkable resilience by securing temporary workspaces and continuing to produce new work for major events like Frieze Los Angeles and the Whitney Biennial.

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article news schedule Dec 11, 2025 visibility 31 link 19 artists, 1 gallery

From hard borders to soft power: how did the art world fare in 2025?

The article surveys the art world's turbulent 2025, beginning with devastating Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed artworks and the political shockwaves of Donald Trump's re-election. Trump's administration targeted the National Portrait Gallery, whose director Kim Sajet resigned after threats of firing, while immigration crackdowns, tariffs on art imports, and attacks on diversity initiatives chilled the art community. The year also saw Venice residents protest Jeff Bezos's lavish wedding, Trump's gilded Oval Office renovations, and a major Veronese exhibition at the Prado that drew parallels between historical extravagance and decline.

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article news schedule Apr 4, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 21 link 4 artists

Natural disasters and political instability hampered U.S. museum attendance in 2025

Major U.S. museums experienced a significant decline in attendance during 2025. The downturn was primarily driven by a series of severe natural disasters, including hurricanes and wildfires, which disrupted travel and forced temporary closures, alongside periods of domestic political instability that deterred both local and international visitors.

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article news schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 24 link 9 artists

The art world in 2025: our review of the biggest stories and shows—podcast

The final episode of The Week in Art podcast for 2025 reviews the year's biggest stories and exhibitions. Host Ben Luke is joined by The Art Newspaper's contemporary art correspondent Louisa Buck, art market editor Kabir Jhala, and Americas editor-in-chief Ben Sutton to discuss topics ranging from the Los Angeles wildfires in January and President Trump's cultural policies to the crisis at the Louvre, the National Gallery in London's expansion plans and their impact on its relationship with Tate, and the art market's shift toward the Middle East for fairs and auctions. The guests also select their top exhibitions and works of the year, featuring artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Helen Chadwick, Coco Fusco, Jack Whitten, Henri Matisse, and Hamad Butt.

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article news schedule Aug 15, 2025 visibility 15 link 1 artist

Climate protestors install Anish Kapoor work on North Sea gas platform

Climate activists from Greenpeace installed a new artwork by Anish Kapoor on a Shell gas platform in the North Sea. Titled "BUTCHERED," the 12m by 8m canvas was attached to the platform and drenched with a blood-red liquid made from seawater, beetroot powder, and non-toxic pond dye to symbolize the environmental destruction caused by fossil fuel companies. The protest coincided with record-breaking heatwaves in Europe. Kapoor described the work as a tribute to activists and a "visual scream" against the climate crisis, while Shell condemned the action as dangerous and illegal trespassing.

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article news schedule Jun 20, 2025 visibility 19 link 3 artists

Climate protester splashes pink paint on Picasso work at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

On Thursday morning, a supporter of the environmental activist group Last Generation Canada splattered pink paint on Pablo Picasso's 1901 painting *L'hétaïre* at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). The painting, on loan from the Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin and featured in the exhibition *Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-garde*, was behind protective glass and showed no immediate damage. The activist, identified only as Marcel, was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000. The museum reopened the rest of the exhibition after about an hour.

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article news schedule Apr 9, 2026 visibility 21

LA’s Getty Center to Close for Renovations Beginning in 2027

The Getty Center in Los Angeles has announced a year-long closure for extensive renovations, scheduled to begin in March 2027. This marks the first major modernization of the Richard Meier-designed campus since its opening in 1997. The project will focus on updating the galleries, the Welcome Hall, and the tram system, while also introducing new artist commissions and improving infrastructure like HVAC systems and digital connectivity.

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article news schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

Healing From the Burns: How The Getty Recovered From the LA Fires

On January 7, 2025, a wildfire driven by extreme winds reached the Getty Villa in Los Angeles. Thanks to years of preparation, staff efforts, and firefighter support, the museum buildings and art collection survived undamaged, though the landscape suffered severe damage. The Villa closed for about six months, during which staff removed 1,400 burned trees, cleaned soot and ash, restored water service, and installed a new exhibition. It reopened in late June 2025, welcoming visitors back to the galleries and gardens.

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article news schedule Feb 27, 2026 visibility 7 link 1 artist

destroyed bunny museum receives gift rabbit sculpture

The Bunny Museum in Altadena, California, which was destroyed during the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Wildfires, has received a major donation in the form of a 14-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture titled "Scanner." Created by Chinese artist Jesse Zhao and donated by local resident Wesley Zucco, the 1,100-pound work was unveiled on February 20 as part of the museum's rebuilding efforts. The institution, which previously held over 45,000 rabbit-related items ranging from Egyptian antiquities to pop culture memorabilia, lost its entire physical collection in the blaze, though its live animals were rescued.

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article news schedule Apr 6, 2026 visibility 20 link 2 artists

Hillary Waters Fayle Creates ‘Portraits of Place’ from Seeds, Foliage, and Petals

Artist Hillary Waters Fayle has developed a unique series titled 'Portraits of Place,' which utilizes foraged botanicals to create intricate cyanotypes. By collecting and drying seeds, petals, and foliage from specific locations like Grace Farms and Maymont Park, Fayle arranges them into symmetrical, mandala-like compositions on UV-sensitive paper. The resulting bright blue prints serve as a botanical record of a specific geography and moment in time.

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article news schedule Dec 1, 2025 visibility 9

easter island 3d map carved statues

Researchers from Binghamton University, at the request of an indigenous community group on Easter Island, have created a high-resolution 3D model of the Rono Raraku quarry, where 95 percent of the island's moai statues were carved. Using drone flights and over 11,000 overlapping photographs stitched together via photogrammetry, the model documents the quarry in unprecedented detail, including 133 quarried voids, 400-plus unfinished moai, and evidence of 30 distinct clan-based carving areas. The model is freely available online and was motivated by a 2022 wildfire that threatened the site.

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article news schedule Sep 30, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

Residency offers Los Angeles artists affected by wildfires chance to work again

The Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado, has announced it will offer five-week residencies to 15 Los Angeles artists whose homes and studios were destroyed or severely impacted by the January wildfires, including in the hard-hit area of Altadena. Starting October 15, the program fees will be waived, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Anne and Arnold Porath, among others. Artists were selected by an outside jury from 30–40 applicants, and the cohort will live together in a dorm-like facility with individual studios and communal meals.

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