The Cy Twombly Foundation is presenting six rarely seen early works by Robert Rauschenberg at Gagosian's new Upper East Side gallery in New York. The exhibition includes a fragile 1950 assemblage of twigs and glass, a cyanotype made with his then-wife Susan Weil, a 'Black Painting' from around 1952, and a 1961 assemblage, offering a unique glimpse into a period of the artist's output that he largely destroyed.
Marian Goodman, the revered art dealer known for her steadfast commitment to artists and resistance to market trends, died at 97 in a Los Angeles hospital. She opened her eponymous gallery in 1977 in Midtown Manhattan with a show of Marcel Broodthaers, and over five decades represented major figures including Gerhard Richter, Julie Mehretu, William Kentridge, and Steve McQueen. Goodman began her career by founding Multiples in 1965 to publish affordable editions, and she famously kept her gallery on 57th Street while peers moved to SoHo and Chelsea.
The US government selected artist Robert Lazzarini and curator John Ravenal to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of America's founding. However, negotiations with a partner institution collapsed within three weeks, and the commission was withdrawn before any public announcement, leaving the international art world questioning who will ultimately represent the country. In other news, the original cover photograph for David Bowie's album *Aladdin Sane* sold for £381,400 at Bonhams London, setting a new auction record. Gagosian has teamed up with filmmaker Wes Anderson to recreate Joseph Cornell's New York studio in Paris for an exhibition titled "The House of Utopia Parkway: Joseph Cornell's Studio Reimagined by Wes Anderson." The long-anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum has reignited calls for the British Museum to repatriate the Rosetta Stone, and a Denver-based cryptocurrency entrepreneur has unveiled a plan to build a 450-foot-tall statue of Prometheus on Alcatraz Island.
Frieze has announced plans to launch a new art fair in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism, converting the existing Abu Dhabi Art into a Frieze-branded franchise by 2026. This follows a previously reported but unrealized deal between Abu Dhabi and Art Basel, which instead chose to launch a fair in Qatar. Meanwhile, a new London art space called Ibraaz, funded by Swiss Tunisian banker Kamel Lazaar and focused on global majority arts, will open October 15. Gagosian also announced Jeff Koons's return to the gallery with a solo show titled "Porcelain Series." Additionally, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation is selling the artist's Florida compound due to hurricane damage, and Pepperdine University closed an exhibition early after artists withdrew works over alleged political censorship.
Gagosian's Le Bourget gallery in Paris will present "Walter De Maria: The Singular Experience," opening October 19 and running through April 18. The exhibition includes the artist's final sculpture, *Truck Trilogy* (2011–2017), featuring three vintage Chevrolet Advance Design 3100 pickups polished and fitted with stainless-steel rods, previously shown at Dia Beacon. Curated by Donna De Salvo, the show also features works like *13, 14, 15 Meter Rows* (1985), drawings, films, and archival materials highlighting De Maria's mathematical and musical interests, including his involvement with the Primitives and the Druds.
The sixth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) launched with a party at Assembly in Kingston, New York, founded by Helen Toomer in 2020. The festival has grown from 23 participants to 158 across 6,000 square miles, reflecting the pandemic-era exodus of artists and collectors from New York City to the Hudson Valley region. The event featured a fundraiser for abortion-rights nonprofit Noise for Now and drew a diverse crowd of attendees.
Art Basel dealers recall the fair's early days, from its founding in 1970 by Swiss dealers Ernst Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner, and Balz Hilt to its evolution into a global powerhouse with editions in Hong Kong, Miami Beach, Paris, and soon Qatar. Veterans like David Fleiss of Galerie 1900-2000, Thaddaeus Ropac, Iwan Wirth of Hauser & Wirth, and Dominique Lévy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan share personal anecdotes, including chaotic customs incidents, childhood memories, and the fair's shift from a Eurocentric gathering to the world's premier art fair.
The article previews the upcoming May 2025 marquee art auctions in New York, led by Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips. Key consignors include the collection of late Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio and his wife Louise, along with works from Anne and Sid Bass, Tiqui Atencio, Daniella Luxembourg, the estate of Barbara Gladstone, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Notable lots include Dorothea Tanning's 'Endgame' (est. $1M–$1.5M), Robert Motherwell's 'Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 160' (est. $3.5M–$5.5M), and Andy Warhol's 'Big Electric Chair' (est. $30M). The article also reveals undisclosed consignors through research, such as the family of Harold and Gertrud Parker for the Tanning work and the Hess Art Collection for the Motherwell.
Days before a Louise Nevelson sculpture was to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in May 2022, Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher declared the work inauthentic, claiming it was assembled by the artist’s son, Mike, rather than by Nevelson herself. The consigner, the estate of collector Hardie Beloff, has now sued Pace Gallery in US District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania, alleging that Glimcher deliberately sabotaged the sale to protect Pace’s control over Nevelson’s market. The lawsuit centers on Glimcher’s call to Sotheby’s, where he warned the work would not be included in a forthcoming catalogue raisonné, and on a 1993 appraisal in which he had valued the same sculpture at $85,000 without questioning its authenticity.
Michael Heizer has unveiled a major exhibition titled "Negative Sculpture" at Gagosian’s West 21st Street gallery in New York. The installation features two massive works, Convoluted Line A and Convoluted Line B, which consist of steel liners filled with crushed red granite embedded into a raised gallery floor. To achieve the artist's vision of negative space without excavating the building's foundation, the gallery undertook a complex two-year engineering project to elevate the entire floor surface, matching the specific concrete hue of Heizer’s Nevada studio.
Artnet News editors and writers compiled a list of the worst art of 2025, calling out works they found lazy, cynical, overhyped, or ethically dubious. Highlights include Flora Yukhnovich's site-specific painting installation at the Frick Collection, which critics deemed middling and out of place among the museum's historic masterpieces; Jeff Koons's eight-foot-tall Hulk (Tubas) sculpture, sold for $3 million at Frieze New York and described as an obnoxious trophy piece; and actor Adrien Brody's interactive gum wall installation, which invited visitors to stick chewed gum onto a canvas.
Kenny Schachter's column reports on the fallout at Michael Werner Gallery following the departure of star artist Peter Doig. Co-owner Gordon VeneKlasen is accused of expensing luxury items—including private jets, Hamptons helicopter rides, and even a solo helicopter trip for his Labrador Retriever—while the gallery faced financial strain. The partnership is dissolving, with VeneKlasen moving to Los Angeles to open his own gallery and listing his West Village home for $20 million. Meanwhile, Schachter also notes Pace Gallery's financial troubles, with founder Arne Glimcher stepping in to stabilize operations.
Jenna Burlingham Gallery, founded in 2010, moved in 2021 to a historic compound called Rope Yard in Hampshire, England. Instead of a traditional white cube, the gallery's interiors are designed to feel like a beloved home, with furnished rooms displaying modern British and contemporary art alongside antiques. The gallery recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, attracting collectors from London and worldwide to its village location.
The Sam Gilliam Foundation has been sued over a disputed Drape painting, while the Art Dealers Association of America announced it will not hold its annual New York fair, The Art Show, in 2025, citing a strategic pause. Christie's reported $2.1 billion in auction sales for the first half of 2025, matching last year's figure but down 22% from 2023, and a juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil sold for $30.5 million at Sotheby's. Galleries are seeing movement: Nicole Wittenberg joins Acquavella Galleries, Harper Levine plans a Bangkok space, and Felix Rödder will open Rodder on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Yale University Art Gallery withdrew federal grant applications over anti-DEI language, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum named Mary Savig curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery.
Adam Lindemann announces the closure of Venus Over Manhattan, the gallery he founded in 2012 after a career as a contemporary art collector and writer. The gallery opened with a show titled "À Rebours," inspired by a novel about a decadent aristocrat, and featured works by Warhol, Hammons, and others—a show that famously saw a Dalí stolen from the wall. Over its 14-year run, Venus Over Manhattan mounted exhibitions including a Maurizio Cattelan show during a market lull, a Calder installation with spotlights and fans, and a show mixing African masterpieces with works by Koons, Prince, and Hirst. Lindemann reflects on the challenges of opening a gallery against advice, the theft that made international news, and the quiet validation he received from artists like David Hammons.
London-based art advisory Princedale Modern, founded by Edward Warburton in 2022, has marked its second anniversary amid significant shifts in the global art market. Warburton discusses the firm's growth, including scaling alongside the U.K. art market's rise to 18% of global share, and highlights attendance at major art fairs in Basel, New York, Miami, and Paris. He notes that while auction house sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips have dropped nearly one-third and the overall market contracted by 12%, private sales have risen 14% and online sales remain strong at 17%.
Artnet News has published a list of the top 10 German art collectors, coinciding with the opening of Art Cologne 2015. The list includes notable figures such as Frieder Burda, who opened his own museum in Baden-Baden; Nicolas Berggruen, the "homeless billionaire" who favors contemporary American and German artists; Christian and Karen Boros, who display their collection in a repurposed Berlin bunker; industrialist Reinhold Würth, whose collection spans from Renaissance to contemporary; former dealer Désiré Feuerle, known for his eclectic mix of Khmer sculpture and contemporary art; and Hasso Plattner, co-founder of SAP and a major collector of Impressionist and modern works.
This article from Artnet News recaps a series of holiday parties and galas in the New York art world during December 2016. Highlights include the New York Botanical Garden's 18th Annual Winter Wonderland Ball, attended by Anne Hathaway, Tinsley Mortimer, and Andrew Warren; artnet's own holiday party featuring the Bumbys and a magician; ACRIA's 21st Annual Holiday Dinner honoring the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and actress Judith Light; and Project for Empty Space's Winter Bacchanal Benefit, which presented the first Badass Art Woman Awards to curators Rujeko Hockley, Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, and Deana Haggag.
Many artists are rethinking traditional gallery representation, seeking not just sales but also help with copyrights, visibility, and partnerships. Flexible co-representation arrangements are on the rise, with major galleries like Hauser & Wirth launching initiatives like Collective Impact to co-represent rising artists alongside their smaller founding galleries. Some artists are joining agencies or representing themselves, driven by social media's past ability to build direct collector relationships, though its power has recently declined due to algorithm changes.
10 practical reasons need fund defend national endowment arts 1789539
President Donald Trump's administration has renewed efforts to defund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), proposing for the fourth consecutive year a budget that would zero out the agency. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that has staffed the current administration, continues to promote its 1997 report 'Ten Good Reasons to Eliminate Funding for the National Endowment for the Arts' as a key reference in debates. This article, originally published in 2020 and republished in response to these developments, systematically rebuts each of the Heritage Foundation's arguments against the NEA, beginning with the claim that private support alone is sufficient.
This week's art industry roundup covers major auction activity, including Christie's $250 million sale of Barnes and Noble founder Len Riggio's collection, and Sotheby's postponement of an ancient Buddhist gemstone auction after criticism from academics and India's Ministry of Culture. Frieze New York, recently sold to Ari Emanuel, reported strong sales with a $3 million Jeff Koons sculpture at Gagosian, while Gagosian's TEFAF New York booth featuring Anna Weyant's jewelry-themed paintings sold out. Other news includes Céline Assimon's appointment as chief commercial officer at Bonhams, the Spring Break Art Show's return, and gallery representation changes.
This week's art industry roundup covers major developments including the sale of Frieze to Hollywood powerbroker Ari Emanuel for $200 million, the opening of Frieze New York amid a cautious market, and the appointment of Alexander Rotter as global president of Christie's. Other highlights include the collapse of a record $32 million Gustav Klimt sale due to restitution issues, Phillips adding country-of-origin details to lot descriptions due to tariff confusion, and gallery moves such as Petzel now representing Tschabalala Self and Hauser & Wirth selling its Upper East Side townhouse for $10.5 million. The Mellon Foundation announced $15 million in emergency funds for state arts councils to offset cuts by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Studio Museum in Harlem has selected Derriann Pharr, Simonette Quamina, and Taylor Simmons as its 2026 Artists-in-Residence. This cohort will be the first to work in the museum's new Bruce Llewellyn Artist in Residence Center, with their residency running from March 15 to October 15, culminating in an exhibition and publication funded by the Glenstone Foundation.
Agnes Gund, a towering art collector and patron of New York's Museum of Modern Art, died Thursday in Manhattan at age 87. Following the announcement, artists and cultural workers including Roxana Marcoci, Glenn Ligon, Lorna Simpson, and Hoor Al Qasimi honored her memory on social media, recalling her friendship, generosity, and commitment to social justice. Gund spearheaded MoMA's 1990s expansion, founded the arts education nonprofit Studio in the School in 1977, and in 2017 sold Roy Lichtenstein's "Masterpiece" (1962) to launch the Art for Justice Fund, a $100 million grant initiative for criminal justice reform.
Barbara Jakobson, a prominent art collector and longtime trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), died at age 92 on August 25 in Manhattan due to pneumonia. Known for her extensive network of relationships with artists, dealers, and curators, she was a central figure in the New York art world for decades. Jakobson served on MoMA's board since 1974, helped found the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1968, and persuaded dealer Leo Castelli to donate Robert Rauschenberg's iconic work "Bed" (1955) to MoMA. Her Upper East Side townhouse, filled with works by artists such as Matthew Barney, Diane Arbus, and Robert Mapplethorpe, was a testament to her lifelong engagement with contemporary art.
Billionaire hedge fund founder Kenneth C. Griffin has been revealed as the buyer of President Abraham Lincoln's handwritten copy of the 13th Amendment, which sold at Sotheby's for $13.7 million including buyer's premium. The document, one of only four privately held copies, was part of Sotheby's "Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana" sale. Griffin also acquired a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation for $4.4 million. The auction house announced the winner on Monday, noting that Griffin secured the amendment by phone after competitive bidding.
Günther Uecker, the German postwar artist known for hammering nails into canvases to create abstract works, died at age 95. His death was announced by his New York gallery, Lévy Gorvy Dayan, after he had been hospitalized in Düsseldorf. Uecker was a core member of the avant-garde ZERO group, founded in 1957 by Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, and his nail-based abstractions—applied to surfaces from canvases to lightboxes and TV sets—defined his practice from the 1950s onward. He participated in major exhibitions including Documenta and MoMA's 1965 "The Responsive Eye," and continued working daily in his Düsseldorf studio into his 90s.
Thaddaeus Ropac, a major European blue-chip gallery, opened its seventh location in Milan in January 2025, occupying a prime palazzo previously home to Massimo de Carlo and Peres Projects. The inaugural exhibition pairs Georg Baselitz and Lucio Fontana in a show titled "L’aurore viene." The move has reignited debate about whether Milan is finally poised to become a contemporary art capital, despite past false starts and the city's stronger identity as a fashion and design hub.
Billionaire hedge funder and art collector Kenneth Griffin revealed he was the buyer of record-breaking copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, both signed by President Abraham Lincoln, at a Sotheby's New York auction. The Thirteenth Amendment sold for $13.7 million, more than five times the previous record, while the Emancipation Proclamation fetched $4.4 million. Griffin, founder of Citadel, is an avid collector of rare historical documents and high-value art, having previously purchased a copy of the U.S. Constitution for $43.2 million and major works by artists like Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Kat O’Neill and Andrea McCafferty, founders of the White Room Gallery, moved their business from Bridgehampton to East Hampton in late 2023. The gallery, known for showcasing contemporary art from Pop icons like Andy Warhol to street artists like Banksy, has a busy exhibition calendar year-round, with summer being especially active. Ahead of peak season, O’Neill and McCafferty discussed upcoming shows including “La Femme,” “Every Picture Tells A Story,” and solo exhibits by Nelson De La Nuez and Russell Young, as well as the gallery’s integration into the East Hampton community.