7 New Art Books to Step Into Spring

Artnet News has curated a selection of seven significant new art book releases for the spring season, highlighting diverse subjects from historical archives to contemporary memoirs. Featured titles include a deep dive into Frida Kahlo’s private sanctuary, 'Casa Roja,' authored by her descendants; a curatorial history of Hong Kong’s avant-garde art scene by Oscar Ho Hing-kay; and a vibrant exploration of color in contemporary art featuring works by Yayoi Kusama and Tomás Saraceno.

8 controversies that rocked the art world in 2025

Artnet News rounds up eight major controversies that shook the art world in 2025, including a brazen theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris, which exposed severe security gaps and led to a staff strike. Another key scandal involves a lawsuit filed by heirs of the Stern family against the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation, alleging that a Van Gogh painting was looted by the Nazis and later concealed through a series of transactions in New York.

paint drippings art industry news dec 15

This week's art industry roundup covers major auction results, gallery representation changes, museum leadership shifts, and a high-profile art theft. François-Xavier Lalanne's *Hippopotame Bar* sold for $31.4 million at Sotheby's Breuer headquarters, setting a record for both the artist and design works. A Tiffany Magnolia floor lamp also set a new auction record at Sotheby's, fetching $4.4 million. Meanwhile, a New Jersey auction house quietly sold over $100,000 of Jeffrey Epstein's belongings, including artworks, without disclosing his ownership. In the gallery world, several artists changed representation, and former Clearing director John Utterson joined Thaddaeus Ropac. Museum news includes the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art repatriating three Khmer-era sculptures to Cambodia, Maria Balshaw stepping down as Tate director, MoMA PS1 offering free admission starting January 1, and the Rijksmuseum planning a new branch in Eindhoven. Additionally, eight rare Matisse prints and five works by Candido Portinari were stolen from São Paulo's Mário de Andrade Library.

louvre heist security experts prevent art theft

On Sunday at around 9:30 a.m., robbers broke into the Louvre's Apollo Gallery using a cherry picker and an angle grinder, stealing nine pieces of jewelry worth an estimated $102 million in less than eight minutes. ARTnews consulted security experts who noted that the theft exploited systemic vulnerabilities, pointing to a pattern of recent museum heists including the Natural History Museum in Paris, the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, and the Dresden crown jewels theft in Germany. The Louvre had previously faced staff walkouts over inadequate security staffing, and director Laurence des Cars has requested a police station be installed at the museum.

New Louvre Chief Christophe Leribault Reveals His Vision for the Museum Post-Heist

Christophe Leribault, the new director of the Louvre, has outlined his vision for the museum following a $100 million heist in October 2025. The Apollo Gallery, where the theft occurred, will reopen in July with a redesigned display that removes mineral cases to highlight its Romantic wall paintings, inspired by Versailles’s Hall of Mirrors. Empress Eugénie’s diamond-and-emerald crown, crushed by the thieves, is being restored and will become a new highlight. Security upgrades include window bars, 100 new cameras by 2026, a mobile police station, and a new security coordinator. The heist led to the resignation of former director Laurence des Cars in February.

Louvre Robbery: Security Overhaul and Investigation Update

louvre robbery

The Louvre Museum has announced a massive €80 million ($92 million) security overhaul following a brazen daytime heist on October 19, where thieves stole imperial jewels valued at €88 million. The investigation revealed significant institutional failures, including outdated software and weak passwords like "Louvre," allowing local thieves to enter via a movers' lift and escape on scooters in under seven minutes. While four suspects from the Paris suburbs have been charged, the majority of the stolen items remain unrecovered.

art culture technology photography ai

This article from Cultured magazine presents a roundup of five distinct stories spanning art, culture, and technology. It features a new column by psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster in conversation with artist Mindy Seu about digital libidinal history; an analysis of the declining photography auction market by collector Ralph DeLuca; a review of the Los Angeles art scene by Juliana Halpert; a guide to Paris Art Week following a heist at the Louvre and the opening of Art Basel Paris; and a report on the Fondation Louis Vuitton's retrospective of Gerhard Richter curated by Nicholas Serota and Dieter Schwarz.

art basel paris louvre heist security response

Days before Art Basel Paris opens at the Grand Palais, a brazen daytime robbery at the Louvre Museum saw thieves escape with jewels once belonging to Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. The heist, carried out by three masked men using a cherry picker and power tools, targeted the Galerie d’Apollon and has dominated headlines in France. Art Basel organizers have offered general reassurances about security but declined to provide specifics when asked about steps taken in light of the robbery. The fair is debuting a new invitation-only preview called Avant Première, and features 206 galleries from 41 countries, including Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner. It also marks the final edition under director Clément Delépine.

Louvre Reveals Architects for $1 Billion Expansion

The Louvre has announced an international team of architects—New York's Selldorf Architects and Studios Architecture Paris—to lead its "Nouvelle Renaissance" expansion, a project estimated to cost over €1 billion ($1.2 billion). The plan, first announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in early 2025, includes a new entrance to accommodate three million additional visitors annually and a dedicated 33,000-square-foot exhibition space for Leonardo da Vinci's *Mona Lisa*. The museum's new director, Christophe Leribault, is moving forward with the project despite significant budget uncertainty, with cost estimates ranging from €270 million to €1.1 billion.

cattelan gold toilet theft businessman sentencing

A British businessman, Frederick Doe, has received a 21-month suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court for his role in the 2019 theft of Maurizio Cattelan's solid-gold toilet artwork "America" (2016), valued at $6 million. The toilet was stolen from Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site and former home of Winston Churchill, where it was installed as part of a Cattelan exhibition. Doe acted as a middleman, convicted of conspiring to transfer criminal property after being recorded offering to sell the 227-pound, 18-karat-gold toilet. Two other men, Michael Jones and James Sheen, were found guilty of planning the theft and are due to be sentenced next month. The gold has never been recovered and is believed to have been broken up and sold.

art guide to paris art week basel

The Louvre was forced to close on Sunday after a daylight heist of jewelry that Napoleon III had given to his wife, Eugenie, an operation that took under 10 minutes. The incident has highlighted ongoing issues at the world's most-visited museum, including understaffing and a shortage of surveillance cameras, with commentators linking the problems to French political turmoil. Meanwhile, the fourth edition of Art Basel Paris is set to open at the Grand Palais, featuring 206 galleries (63 with locations in France), serving as the centerpiece of a packed Paris Art Week with exhibitions, public programs, and gallery events.

louvre jewels stolen value

Nine jewels stolen from the Louvre are valued at $102 million, according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, contradicting earlier French claims that they were of “incalculable” value. The stolen items include a diadem worn by Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, an emerald necklace of Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem once held by Empress Eugénie, the latter containing nearly 2,000 diamonds. One crown belonging to Empress Eugénie was recovered after being dropped by the thieves, but the rest remain missing. The robbers entered through windows using small chainsaws and exited in under eight minutes. The Louvre has been closed since the heist, and cultural minister Rachida Dati defended the museum’s security systems before the National Assembly, calling the theft “a wound for all of us.”

Manitoba Anishinaabe Artist Designs Moon Patch; Uffizi Targeted by Cyberattack

manitoba anishinaabe artists design moon uffizi cyberattack

Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond has designed a mission patch for Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen to wear during the Artemis II lunar mission. The artwork features seven symbolic animals representing the Seven Sacred Laws of Anishinaabe custom, intended as a universal message for humanity that will literally travel beyond Earth's orbit.

thirteen perfect fugitives book geoffrey kelly interview

Geoffrey Kelly, the FBI’s lead investigator on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist for over two decades, has released a new book titled 'Thirteen Perfect Fugitives'. Published ahead of the 36th anniversary of the 1990 theft, the book provides an insider’s perspective on the investigation into the world’s largest art heist, where 13 works valued at over $1 billion were stolen. Kelly, who retired in 2024, details the FBI's findings regarding the individuals involved and the ongoing, unsuccessful efforts to recover the missing masterpieces.

five more suspects arrested over louvre jewel heist

French authorities arrested five additional suspects in connection with the historic theft of Napoleonic jewelry from the Louvre Museum, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced on Thursday. The coordinated raids took place in Paris and its northern suburbs, with one suspect identified through DNA evidence. The investigation has advanced by studying encrypted communications from seized phones. The heist occurred on October 19, when four masked thieves broke into the Apollo Gallery during opening hours, stealing nine artifacts worth approximately $102 million, though one crown was dropped during the escape. Two suspects were previously arrested on October 25, one at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The stolen jewels remain unrecovered, and authorities are searching the black market for them.

Stealing the show: Mona Lisa heist inspires Andrew Lloyd Webber musical

Renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced he is developing a new musical based on the 1911 theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The production will dramatize the true story of Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee who stole the masterpiece and kept it hidden for over two years before attempting to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence. Lloyd Webber, the creative force behind global hits like Cats and Phantom of the Opera, is currently in the writing phase of the project.

gardner museum restoration dutch room chairs

Conservators at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum have successfully identified the original 17th-century upholstery for a set of 14 chairs in the Dutch Room, the site of the infamous 1990 art heist. Using a combination of AI colorization software called Palette and the discovery of a single faded thread, the team determined that the chairs were originally vibrant red with pink stripes, rather than the fabric used in a 1970s restoration. This discovery is part of a comprehensive three-year project to restore the room to the founder's original vision.

louvre denon wing leak painting damaged

A water leak occurred in the Denon Wing of the Louvre Museum in Paris, damaging an early 19th-century painting. The leak, labeled an emergency, forced the closure of several rooms and caused two micro-tears and paint layer lifting on Charles Meynier's 1820 work 'Triumph of French Painting: Apotheosis of Poussin, Le Sueur and Le Brun'.

louvre strike 2

Louvre staff went on strike again on Monday over understaffing, working conditions, and the museum's $820 million renovation plan, echoing calls for director Laurence des Cars to step down. The walkout forced the museum to close to the public, reopening only a few major attractions like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace. The strike, originally launched in December, was suspended briefly but resumed after all 350 staff voted unanimously in favor. Unions demand a re-evaluation of the renovation project, dubbed "Nouvelle Renaissance," arguing the high cost is unrealistic and that priorities should shift to urgent technical maintenance.

louvre walkout targets new mona lisa gallery

Staff at the Louvre in Paris staged another walkout, closing the museum on Monday morning before a partial reopening at noon. The strike, backed by three unions with 350 staff members voting unanimously, protests the Louvre–Nouvelle Renaissance redevelopment plan launched by President Emmanuel Macron. The plan includes a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa, a new entrance, and a $778 million budget, which unions call unrealistic. The museum reopened with limited access to iconic works like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace, while other galleries remained closed.

louvre strike

On December 15, 2025, the Musée du Louvre in Paris was forced to close as approximately 400 of its 2,100 employees went on strike, picketing outside the museum's glass pyramids and turning away visitors. The strike follows a series of crises at the institution, including a $102 million jewel heist in broad daylight two months prior, a flooding incident from a burst water pipe in November, and ongoing concerns about deteriorating facilities, long lines, and substandard restrooms and dining areas. Workers are demanding higher wages and better conditions, with three trade unions—CGT, SUD, and CFDT—warning in an open letter that staff feel like "the last bastion before collapse."

matisse prints stolen library exhibition sao paulo brazil

On December 7, two armed thieves stole eight prints by Henri Matisse and at least five engravings by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari from the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo. The works were part of the exhibition “From Book to Museum,” organized in collaboration with the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, which was scheduled to close that day. Police have arrested one suspect, and some artworks were reportedly abandoned nearby.

brazil library heist matisse

Brazilian authorities arrested one suspect after an armed robbery at São Paulo's Mário de Andrade Library on Sunday, where two thieves stole eight Henri Matisse engravings and works by Brazilian painter Candido Portinari. The artworks were displayed in a glass vitrine as part of the exhibition “From the Book to the Museum,” which was set to close November 30. The thieves held up a security guard and a couple, stuffed the items into a canvas bag, and discarded some works near a rubbish heap during their escape, partially captured by facial recognition cameras. The second suspect remains at large, and the library has not disclosed which specific works were taken.

curtis yarvin us pavilion venice biennale titian proposal

Curtis Yarvin, a computer engineer and far-right political thinker, has proposed a controversial US Pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale centered on Titian's *Rape of Europa* (1559–62), on loan from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Yarvin is collaborating with Dutch Egyptian artist Tarik Sadouma on the concept, which he describes as "rape-themed," though he notes room for feminist perspectives. The proposal, first reported by the *New Yorker* and detailed further by *Vanity Fair*, includes alternative plans such as forging and burning the painting or using AI if the loan is denied. Applications for the pavilion close July 30, with a final decision expected later in the summer.

louvre to restore empress eugenie crown

The Louvre Museum in Paris will restore Empress Eugénie's crown, which was severely damaged during a $102 million heist on October 19, 2025. Thieves broke into the museum, used an angle grinder to cut through a display case, and stole crown jewels, but dropped the crown in their escape. The lightweight, diamond-and-emerald crown was deformed, with four of its eight decorative palmettes broken off and one gold eagle missing. However, all 65 emeralds and most of the 1,354 diamonds remain intact. The museum has opened a bidding process for an accredited restorer, overseen by an expert committee chaired by Louvre director Laurence des Cars, to reshape and fully restore the piece for display in the Galerie d'Apollon.

louvre heist surveillance footage

Newly released surveillance footage shows masked thieves breaking into the Louvre's Apollo gallery in October 2025, using disc cutters to slice open display cases and steal France's crown jewels. The heist occurred under staff observation, with no security guards present, and police have since identified five suspects via DNA evidence, arresting four, though the jewels remain missing. The footage was broadcast on French TV on January 18, 2026, as the museum faces its third staff strike in over a month.

louvre installs bars on heist window

The Louvre Museum has installed security bars on the French window of the Apollo Gallery, the entry point used by thieves in a $102 million jewel heist on October 19. The museum announced the measure on X, showing workers installing the bars before dawn. Additional security upgrades include a mobile police base, distancing devices on the Quai François Mitterrand, and plans for 100 new perimeter cameras by 2026. These steps are part of a $92 million security master plan. Ticket prices for non-E.U. visitors will rise 45% to $37 starting January 14, 2026, to help fund the improvements. The museum also revealed that a 2018 audit sponsored by Van Cleef and Arpels had flagged the balcony's vulnerability, but then-director Jean-Luc Martinez did not act. Louvre president Laurence des Cars offered to resign after the security failures came to light but was asked to stay.

louvre security cameras captured heist but guards werent watching

French investigators have revealed that security cameras at the Louvre did capture the $102 million jewelry heist on October 19, 2025, contradicting earlier claims by museum director Laurence des Cars that no video existed. The footage was discovered during a Senate hearing on December 10, showing that the control room lacked enough screens to monitor all cameras simultaneously, so guards did not see the break-in in real time. By the time they switched to the relevant feed, nearly eight minutes later, the thieves had already escaped. The investigation also found that security guards and police arrived just 30 seconds too late because staff miscommunicated the exact location of the break-in within the Apollo Gallery. All four members of the heist commando group have been arrested.

how louvre thieves evaded police senate hearing

A French Senate hearing revealed that Louvre security failures allowed thieves to steal $102 million in French crown jewels from the Apollo Gallery in October, with officials stating that the escape could have been prevented if exterior camera footage had been monitored in real time. Noël Corbin of the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs and Pascal Mignerey of the Security, Safety and Audit Mission testified that a 2019 security audit by Van Cleef & Arpels identifying gallery weaknesses was not transmitted to new leadership under director Laurence des Cars, contributing to the heist.

louvre security report

A 2018 security audit commissioned by the Louvre from Van Cleef and Arpels identified critical vulnerabilities in the museum's Apollo Gallery, including a balcony accessible via a lift platform—the exact entry point used by thieves in a daring October 19, 2025 heist. The audit, which included diagrams highlighting a window facing Quai François-Mitterrand as a major weakness, was not passed on to current Louvre president Laurence des Cars when she took over in 2021. The museum only discovered the document after the theft, prompting an internal review and referral to France's General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs. French authorities have since arrested four more suspects, bringing the total to eight, as the investigation continues into the theft of eight valuable pieces including Napoleon Bonaparte's emerald-and-diamond necklace.