vet sothebys gagosian book history art market

Valentina Castellani, a veteran of Sotheby’s and Gagosian, is releasing a new book titled 'Trading Beauty: Art Market Histories from the Altar to the Gallery'. The publication aims to fill a pedagogical gap Castellani discovered while teaching at New York University, providing a comprehensive chronological overview of the art market from the Renaissance to the post-pandemic era. Published by Gagosian and distributed by Rizzoli, the book features a cover by Maurizio Cattelan and an introduction by Massimiliano Gioni.

8 artists poised to break out in 2026

Artnet News asked four curators and four art advisors from around the world to each select one artist they believe is poised to break out in 2026. The article profiles the first two of eight artists: Indonesian artist Bagus Pandega, known for kinetic plant-based installations, who has had solo shows at Kunsthalle Basel and Swiss Institute New York; and Max Hooper Schneider, a Los Angeles-based artist creating aquarium-like works blending organic and artificial materials, recently exhibited at 125 Newbury gallery in New York.

Agosto Machado, Artist and Activist Whose Shrine Sculptures Kept Queer History Alive, Has Died

Agosto Machado, an artist and activist central to New York's Downtown scene and a participant in the 1969 Stonewall uprising, has died following a brief illness. His gallery, Gordon Robichaux, announced his passing but, respecting his wishes, did not disclose his age. Machado was known for creating intricate shrine sculptures from collected ephemera to honor figures from his community, and one of these altars is currently featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial.

10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This April

April in Los Angeles features a diverse array of art exhibitions, from major institutional retrospectives to politically charged group shows. Highlights include a 60-year retrospective of the influential printmaking studio Gemini G.E.L. at its own space, a survey of the Grunwald Center at the Hammer Museum, and shows celebrating LA performance art icons Bob & Bob and Rachel Rosenthal. The month also sees a newly discovered collection of matchbook miniatures by Joe Brainard and Dave Muller's work on social connection at ArtCenter.

artists homes los angeles fires

On January 7, 2025, the Palisades and Eaton Fires erupted in Los Angeles, fueled by drought and Santa Ana winds exceeding 90 mph, destroying over 12,000 structures. The fires devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena, including the homes and studios of numerous artists, collectors, and art professionals. The Getty Center and Getty Villa were under evacuation but remained safe. Artist Paul McCarthy lost three family homes and his son's editing studio, while many others like Christina Quarles, Analia Saban, and Ruby Neri also suffered losses.

Controversial Painter Georg Baselitz Knew His Venice Show Would Be His Last. He Went Out Quietly.

Six days after Georg Baselitz's death, his dealer Thaddaeus Ropac opened "Eroi d'Oro" ("Heroes of Gold") at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice. The exhibition features the final paintings Baselitz made before he died in April at age 88. In a prerecorded film, Baselitz calls these works his "last paintings," intended as a summation of his six-decade career. The large-scale, gold-ground paintings depict thin, ink-like figures of himself or his wife Elke lying horizontally, floating in undefined space. Baselitz connected the gold grounds to Fayum mummy portraits, Sienese altarpieces, and Byzantine icons, using them to absorb space and create a shadowless, eternal condition.

14 Must-See Museum Shows in New York This Spring

New York museums are launching a significant slate of spring exhibitions, featuring major retrospectives and thematic surveys. Highlights include "Noguchi's New York" at the Noguchi Museum, exploring the sculptor's unrealized urban projects; "Raphael: Sublime Poetry" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a comprehensive look at the Renaissance master; and "Gothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship," also at the Met, focusing on medieval architectural drawings.

SP-Arte underscores Latin America’s resilient rise amid global market recalibration

The 22nd edition of SP-Arte has opened at São Paulo’s Oscar Niemeyer-designed pavilion, featuring over 180 galleries and design studios. While global art markets face a period of recalibration, the Latin American sector—and Brazil in particular—is reporting significant growth, including a 21% year-on-year increase in sales for Brazilian dealers according to the latest Art Basel and UBS report.

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Agosto Machado, a seminal figure in the Downtown New York art scene and a veteran of the Stonewall uprising, has died following a brief illness. Known as a 'pre-Stonewall street queen,' Machado transitioned from a community activist and archivist to a recognized artist whose intricate altar sculptures are currently featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial. His work, which utilizes found objects and ephemera to create shrines for queer icons and AIDS victims, serves as a vital act of 'ancestor worship' and historical preservation for a community often marginalized by mainstream institutions.

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The 82nd Whitney Biennial has opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art, featuring 56 artists, duos, and collectives. Curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, this edition eschews a formal theme in favor of a sprawling, material-diverse exhibition that emphasizes slow looking and political engagement. Early critical reception suggests a stronger, more cohesive showing than the previous 2024 edition, despite a notable absence of traditional painting.

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Alma Allen, a Utah-born, Mexico-based sculptor, has been selected to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale, according to ARTnews sources. The pavilion's commissioning curator is Jeffrey Uslip, who previously curated the Malta Pavilion in 2022. The official announcement is pending the end of the government shutdown. Allen, known for large-scale stone, wood, and bronze sculptures, is in talks with Perrotin gallery for representation after his previous gallery, Kasmin, closed and rebranded as Olney Gleason.

Who is Alma Allen, US Pavilion Artist for the 2026 Venice Biennale?

who is alma allen us pavilion artist 2026 venice biennale

The US Department of State has confirmed that sculptor Alma Allen will represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Allen, a Utah-born, Mexico-based artist known for abstract biomorphic sculptures, was selected after a fraught selection cycle that included updated guidelines requiring proposals to promote American values. He was approached directly by curator Jeffrey Uslip, who will organize the US pavilion, and accepted the offer despite reportedly being advised against it by his former galleries Mendes Wood DM and Olney Gleason, which subsequently cut ties with him.

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A long-unseen 12-foot-wide painting by Martin Wong, titled *Tai Ping Tien Kuo (Tai Ping Kuo)* (1982), will be exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach next month courtesy of New York gallery P.P.O.W. The work, which features a rare nude portrait of the artist’s mother and stepfather, was last shown publicly in 1987 at the Asian Arts Institute in New York. It was kept in storage for decades because Wong’s mother, Florence Wong Fie, objected to its display out of modesty. The painting adopts a classical three-panel altarpiece format, blending Chinese American history with references to Western art, the Taiping Rebellion, and Wong’s own Lower East Side influences.

donald locke spike island exhibition review

A major survey of Donald Locke's work, titled "Resistant Forms," has opened at Spike Island in Bristol, England, in collaboration with Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and Camden Art Centre in London. Featuring over 80 works spanning five decades, the exhibition includes early biomorphic ceramics, monochromatic black paintings from the 1970s, collage paintings, mixed-media sculptures, and personal writings and photographs. Highlights include the black paintings series addressing colonial subjugation, such as "The Cage" (1976–79), and later whimsical works like "Reconstructed Bottle with Pearls #11 (Pearls for Mahalia)" (2008). The show traces Locke's journey from his birth in Guyana, his time in the UK as part of the Windrush Generation, and his eventual move to the US, where he lived until his death in 2010.

Never-Before-Seen Paintings Reveal Anthony Van Dyck’s Formative Italian Period

A major new exhibition at Genoa's Palazzo Ducale, "Van Dyck: The European. The Journey of a Genius from Antwerp to Genoa and London," presents a comprehensive survey of Anthony van Dyck's formative years in Italy. Featuring around 60 works, including loans from the Louvre, Prado, and National Gallery, the show reveals how his six-year Italian sojourn was a period of intense experimentation and emancipation from his master Rubens, leading to his signature theatrical portrait style.

Senators Whitehouse and Schumer Call for ‘Proactive Measures’ to Protect Philip Guston and Ben Shahn Murals

Senators Whitehouse and Schumer Call for ‘Proactive Measures’ to Protect Philip Guston and Ben Shahn Murals

Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Chuck Schumer have publicly called on the General Services Administration (GSA) to take immediate steps to protect significant New Deal-era murals by artists Philip Guston and Ben Shahn. Their letter expresses urgent concern over the potential sale or demolition of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington, D.C., which houses these artworks, and questions the GSA's ability to safeguard the pieces once the building transfers to private ownership.

11 Must-See Shows During New York Art Week 2026

New York Art Week 2026 is set to be a packed event, with major art fairs including Frieze, TEFAF, and Independent all scheduled within a single week this May. The art world will arrive directly from the Venice Biennale, and New York galleries are opening their major spring exhibitions to coincide with the influx of curators and collectors.

8 Standout Artists from the 2026 Whitney Biennial

The 2026 Whitney Biennial has opened, featuring 71 artists and collectives, with eight emerging as immediate standouts. Among them are Jacolby Satterwhite, celebrated for his immersive digital worlds; Lotus L. Kang, whose site-specific installation incorporates decaying materials; and Jes Fan, who explores biology and identity through sculptural forms. Other notable artists include Tiona Nekkia McClodden with her ritualistic film work, the collective Indigenous Futures, and figurative painter Cynthia Daignault. Their works collectively address themes of technology, the body, memory, and ecology.

The Triumphant New LACMA Has the Potential to Rewrite Art History

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is set to open its new $724 million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The building features a radical, non-linear layout that eschews traditional chronological and geographical hierarchies, allowing artworks from 15 different curatorial departments to be displayed in conversation with one of another. Despite years of controversy regarding its concrete design and a 10 percent reduction in exhibition space, the museum is positioning the new structure as a flexible "laboratory" for global art history.

kenny schachter 2026 predictions van gogh private sale

Kenny Schachter offers his predictions for the art world in 2026, set against a backdrop of political chaos and rapid AI development. He forecasts only a marginal uptick in global art sales, which he estimates will exceed $57.5 billion, and warns that luxury goods—bags, watches, fossils—are increasingly encroaching on art fairs, auctions, and exhibitions. Schachter criticizes Sotheby's for blurring the lines between auction house, museum, and gallery, citing its traveling "Icon" show as a spectacle of price tags rather than art scholarship.

v joy simmons collection tour baldwin hills home

V. Joy Simmons, a Los Angeles-based physician and longtime art collector, opened her Baldwin Hills home to ARTnews for a tour of her extensive collection. The house features over 150 objects, including stained-glass windows by Varnette Honeywood and Joyce Dudnick, a site-specific column installation by Lauren Halsey, and works by Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Kerry James Marshall, Mark Bradford, Kehinde Wiley, and Carrie Mae Weems, among many others. Simmons began collecting in the 1970s with a $50 lithograph by Catlett and has since built a collection that spans generations of Black artists, often juxtaposing older and younger artists in her displays.

11 Contemporary Emirati Artists To Know

The article highlights 11 contemporary Emirati artists, providing an overview of their practices and significance within the Gulf's evolving art scene. It contextualizes this list against recent major events in the region, including the debut of Art Basel Qatar in early February and the subsequent U.S. attacks on Iran, which caused turmoil across the Gulf, disrupted airline operations, and forced Art Dubai to scale back its event to a smaller fair in mid-May. Artists and galleries in the Gulf also had to temporarily close.

Raphael Met Museum Retrospective Review

raphael met museum retrospective review

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched "Raphael: Sublime Poetry," the first major retrospective of the Renaissance master ever staged in the United States. Curated by Carmen C. Bambach, the exhibition features 237 works, including rare loans of drawings and monumental tapestries that have not left Madrid since the 16th century. While some of his most famous paintings remain in Europe, the show provides an exhaustive look at the artist's development from a teenage prodigy to a papal favorite.

Kelly Akashi and friends celebrate Altadena's resilience after Los Angeles wildfires

Artist Kelly Akashi created "Field Set," an installation and performance on the site of her former home and studio in Altadena, California, which was destroyed by the Eaton wildfire last year. The project, supported by the nonprofit Los Angeles Nomadic Division (Land), featured salvaged materials, hand-blown glass orbs, wildflower plantings, and a soundscape by artist Phil Peters, drawing around 500 visitors over two days. Akashi integrated remnants from the fire into her recent Lisson Gallery show and has been awarded the Hyundai Terrace Commission for the 2026 Whitney Biennial, where she will present a glass replica of her chimney titled "Monument (Altadena)."

At the ‘art world Olympics,’ Team USA is chaotic

The US Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, often called the 'art world Olympics,' is mired in controversy and delays under the Trump administration. Curator Jeffrey Uslip insists the process has been smooth and artistically autonomous, but the selection of sculptor Alma Allen and commissioner Jenni Parido—a former pet supply shop owner with a new nonprofit—has raised eyebrows. The usual vetting process by the National Endowment for the Arts was disrupted, new language banning diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts was added to applications, and a government shutdown left only six months to fundraise and plan the exhibition, which coincides with the US's 250th anniversary.

What does a woman swimming in urine tell us about the state of the world? Lots! – Venice Biennale review

The 2026 Venice Biennale, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh under the theme "In Minor Keys," has been plagued by months of turmoil including countries withdrawing, artists being fired, exhibitions cancelled, funding pulled, and protests during the preview. A five-person curatorial team took over after Kouoh's death, resulting in what the critic describes as a disjointed, committee-driven exhibition that prioritizes quiet contemplation and healing over direct political engagement. The central shows in the Giardini and Arsenale feature a vast, poorly explained array of art from the global south, with installations of ceramics, textiles, slide projectors, and serene natural scenes that the critic finds anachronistic and dull.

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Artist Ming Wong has created a new video installation titled "Dance of the Sun on the Water / Saltatio Solis in Aqua," currently on view at the National Gallery in London. The work reimagines the figure of Saint Sebastian, drawing inspiration from the museum's collection of classical paintings, including a 1475 altarpiece by Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo, as well as Derek Jarman's 1976 queer film "Sebastiane." Wong, the fifth artist selected for the National Gallery's Modern and Contemporary program, completed the piece during a one-year residency, exploring how the martyr's image has evolved across centuries and what it means in contemporary times.

Monumental Bellini Altarpiece Undergoes Major Restoration in Public View

Giovanni Bellini's monumental 15th-century altarpiece, the San Giobbe altarpiece, is undergoing its most extensive restoration in over 500 years at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. Deemed too fragile to move, the two-year, €500,000 project will stabilize the cracked wood panel and analyze pigments using advanced imaging, all performed behind glass in full public view.

Met Museum to Acquire Rediscovered Renaissance Painting Admired by Vasari

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has acquired a recently rediscovered Renaissance painting, 'Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist,' by Rosso Fiorentino. The work, believed lost for centuries, was identified after conservation removed layers of overpaint, revealing the figure of Saint John. The Met has already placed the painting on view in its European painting galleries.

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Rhea Dillon, a 29-year-old artist and writer, is preparing for three exhibitions opening over the summer: a group show at the Whitney Independent Study Program (ISP), a solo exhibition at Heidelberger Kunstverein, and a booth in the Statements section of Art Basel Switzerland. Her work, which draws on Black and Caribbean intellectual traditions, uses everyday objects and symbols to critique postcolonial diasporic identity, as seen in sculptures like *Caribbean Ossuary* (2022) and *Swollen, Whole, Broken...* (2023). Dillon also discusses her linguistic approach, explored in drawings at Paul Soto Gallery, where she repeats and redefines the shape of a spade to transform a racial slur into new forms.