SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection Including Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art - Christie's

Christie’s has announced a major auction titled "SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection," scheduled for November 6, 2025, in London. The sale features 20 exceptional works from the Beirut-based Dalloul Collection, a premier repository of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern art, alongside pieces from other private owners. Key highlights include masterpieces by Paul Guiragossian, Mahmoud Saïd, and Samia Halaby, with a specific focus on Lebanese and Palestinian artistic heritage.

DePaul Art Museum Closing In June: ‘It’s A Huge Loss’

DePaul University has announced the permanent closure of the DePaul Art Museum (DPAM), effective June 30, 2025. University leadership cited the need for long-term financial sustainability and ongoing budget planning as the primary reasons for the decision. The closure follows a period of significant financial strain for the institution, which has already resulted in over 100 staff layoffs and cutbacks to other campus facilities like the Loop library.

Are we seeing the demise of statement stands at art fairs?

The era of the 'statement stand' at international art fairs is rapidly declining as galleries shift away from immersive, high-risk installations in favor of more conservative group presentations. Rising participation costs, the sheer volume of the global fair calendar, and the financial pressure to recoup expenses have made experimental booths like those once championed by Jeffrey Deitch or Gavin Brown an endangered species.

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, February 2026

Several San Francisco museums are experiencing a period of transition and challenge in February 2026. Key exhibitions are closing soon, including "Manet and Morisot" at the Legion of Honor and Suzanne Jackson's first career retrospective at SFMOMA, both ending March 1. New shows are opening, such as "Video Craft" at the Museum of Craft & Design and "Echoes in the Small Mountain: Park Dae-sung and the West Coast" at the Asian Art Museum. Meanwhile, the city's cultural landscape faces strain, with the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts suspending operations, representing a significant loss of community programming.

US National Portrait Gallery reveals winner of its triennial portraiture award

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, has announced Brooklyn-based artist Kameron Neal as the winner of its 2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Neal was honored for his two-channel video installation *Down the Barrel (of a Lens)* (2023), which incorporates surveillance footage from the 1960s and 70s obtained during his residency at New York City’s Department of Records. The work explores the relationship between police and protesters, displaying footage of Vietnam War protesters, the Black Panthers, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy alongside images of police filming. Neal receives $25,000 and a commission to create a portrait for the museum’s permanent collection. Second prize went to photographer Jared Soares, and third prize to painter David Antonio Cruz; the exhibition featuring all 35 finalists runs from January 24 to August 30, 2025.

The Aldrich Names Artists for First-Ever Decennial

The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut has announced the 40 participating artists for its first-ever Aldrich Decennial, a survey exhibition titled "I am what is around me." Opening June 7 and running through January 10, 2027, the show focuses on artists living and working in Connecticut who have never had a solo museum exhibition in the state. Notable participants include painter Dominic Chambers, multimedia artist Arghavan Khosravi, and novelist-poet Renee Gladman. The exhibition draws its title from a 1917 poem by Wallace Stevens, a longtime Connecticut resident.

The Big Review | Jacques-Louis David at the Musée du Louvre, Paris ★★★★★

The Musée du Louvre in Paris has opened a major retrospective of Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), the greatest Neoclassical artist, marking his biggest survey in nearly four decades. The exhibition, mounted for the 200th anniversary of his death, comprises just over 100 works, including strategic loans from France and eight other countries, and complements the Louvre's own holdings. The show aims to redefine David beyond the Neoclassical label, presenting him instead as both a "realist" and an "idealist," and is compared to blockbusters like the Rijksmuseum's Vermeer show.

10 New York Museum Shows Worth Slowing Down for Over the Holidays

Late December offers a rare slowdown in New York's commercial art world, with most galleries closing around December 20, but museums remaining open. This creates an opportunity for visitors to spend quality time with exhibitions that often get lost in the city's relentless cultural calendar. The article highlights ten must-see museum shows in New York City, including "Wifredo Lam: When I Don't Sleep, I Dream" at MoMA—the first major U.S. survey of the Cuban artist's surreal, decolonial paintings—and "Anish Kapoor: Early Works" at the Jewish Museum, showcasing his pigment sculptures and Vantablack works.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (12/15—12/21)

This Gallery Has Championed Photography as Art for 50 Years

Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon, is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a nonprofit champion of photography as fine art. Founded in 1975 as the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts by a collective of five co-founders—Ann Hughes, Bob DiFranco, Craig Hickman, Terry Toedtemeier, and Chris Rauschenberg—the gallery opened in a small storefront on Lovejoy Street when photography was not yet widely recognized in institutional spaces. It has never charged admission or application fees, relying on volunteer labor and a philosophy of free access. Over five decades, the gallery moved through three locations before settling in Portland's historic DeSoto Building, which it now owns.

Art Basel Miami Beach aims to ‘end the year on a high note’

Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) opens amid a still-sluggish global art market, with sales at live events yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Director Bridget Finn expresses optimism following strong sales at Art Basel Paris in October, noting that gallerists and collectors were energized. The fair introduces structural changes, including relocating the Nova and Positions sections to the east entrance to spotlight emerging galleries, and launching Zero 10, a platform for digital art. Seven local Miami galleries are participating, with Nina Johnson making her ABMB debut. Despite a few longtime exhibitors withdrawing, Finn attributes this to galleries being more selective across Art Basel's five global fairs, including a new Qatar edition in 2026.

Fast-rising Montana art organisation to take over century-old theatre

Tinworks Art, a non-profit contemporary art space in Bozeman, Montana, is expanding from its original industrial campus to the historic Rialto Theater downtown. Opening November 21, Tinworks at Rialto will debut with Matthew Barney's 2018 film *Redoubt*, on view until February 1, 2026, marking the organization's first year-round venue for installations, talks, screenings, and performances. The Rialto, which opened as a theater in 1924, was donated to Tinworks by its previous owners. Additionally, Tinworks is restoring its deteriorating mill building on the northeast campus, set to open in October 2026, which will add flexible gallery spaces, a visitor center, and offices, extending programming beyond its current June-to-October schedule.

Miami collectors donate 36 works by African and diaspora artists to Tate

Miami-based collectors Jorge and Darlene Pérez have donated 36 works by 15 artists from Africa and the African diaspora to Tate. The gift includes photographs by Seydou Keïta, paintings by Cheri Samba, a hanging piece by El Anatsui, and works by Joy Labinjo, Wangechi Mutu, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Buhlebezwe Siwani, Bruce Onobrakpeya, and Gavin Jantjes. The donation also comes with a multi-million dollar endowment to support curatorial research on African and Latin American art, funding a dedicated curatorial post currently held by Osei Bonsu.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (11/03—11/09)

Sasha Gordon Finds Beauty and Empathy in the Shadows of the Human Mind

Sasha Gordon, a rising young artist from New York's art scene, debuted her solo exhibition "Haze" at David Zwirner's 19th Street gallery in Chelsea. The show, which drew long lines and significant attention, features hyperrealistic paintings that explore identity, memory, and the subconscious through an Asian diasporic lens. Gordon, who rose to fame during the pandemic and is co-represented by David Zwirner and Matthew Brown (Zwirner's son-in-law), discusses her evolving technique and her shift away from explicitly autobiographical work toward more open-ended, timeless figures.

'Monuments' is the most significant American art museum show right now

The article reports on "MONUMENTS," a major exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles and the nonprofit Brick. The show features 10 decommissioned Confederate monuments, some splashed with protesters' paint, alongside works by 20 contemporary artists including Hank Willis Thomas and Karon Davis. It was assembled by curators Hamza Walker, Hannah Burstein, Bennett Simpson, Paula Kroll, and artist Kara Walker, and has been in development for nearly eight years, spurred by events such as the 2015 Charleston church massacre, the 2017 Charlottesville riot, and the 2020 George Floyd protests.

SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection Including Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art - Christie's

Christie's will hold a live auction titled 'SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection including Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art' on 6 November 2025 at King Street, London, with an online sale running from 28 October to 11 November. The evening sale features 20 exceptional works from the esteemed Dalloul Collection in Beirut, Lebanon, led by masterpieces from artists such as Mohamed Melehi, Mahmoud Saïd, Dia Al-Azzawi, Marwan, Huguette Caland, Paul Guiragossian, Samia Halaby, and Kamal Boullata. A preview will be held at Christie's Dubai from 3-10 October, showcasing highlights including Guiragossian's 'Automne (Autumn)', El Rayess's 'Soukhour Meyrouba', and Said's 'La colline de Mekarzel'.

New documentary gives E.J. Hughes, painter of lyrical Canadian landscapes, his due

A new documentary titled *The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes*, directed by Vancouver filmmaker Jenn Strom, premieres at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The film explores the personal and professional life of the reclusive Canadian landscape painter E.J. Hughes (1913-2007), known for his dreamlike depictions of British Columbia's coastal life. It features interviews with art historians, curators, and locals, and includes footage of major works, such as *Entrance to Howe Sound* (1949), which is set for auction at Heffel with an estimate of C$1.25m–C$1.75m. The documentary was inspired by books by artist-author Robert Amos and took several years to complete due to the pandemic.

Artist Lindsay Adams explores Black experience and artistry in her latest exhibition

The Frary Gallery at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., will host its first solo exhibition, titled "Ceremony," by award-winning painter Lindsay Adams, opening October 29. The show features paintings and drawings that explore Black histories, movement, and world-building, including a large diptych titled "Kind of Blue (1959)" inspired by Miles Davis' iconic album. Archival materials by Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, and other Black artists from the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries will also be on view to provide historical context.

Simone Leigh’s largest exhibition yet to explore ‘art made under fascism’

Simone Leigh will present her largest-ever exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in late 2027, featuring new monumental bronze and ceramic sculptures alongside film installations. The show, curated by Tarini Malik, will explore the theme of architecture and art created under fascist regimes, with Leigh citing the current political climate in the United States as a driving influence. Leigh, who represented the US at the 2022 Venice Biennale and won the Golden Lion, has noted that some artist commissions have been stalled or canceled due to anti-DEI policies.

Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move | Exhibition

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is presenting "Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move," an exhibition of 21 vintage photographs by the mid-20th-century American photographer Ruth Orkin (1921–1985). Drawn from the museum's collection, the show highlights Orkin's depictions of women in diverse settings—from Hollywood celebrities and Broadway stars to Women's Army Auxiliary Corps members, tourists in Europe, and families in an Israeli kibbutz. Orkin, who was barred from joining the cinematographers' union due to her gender, turned her narrative eye to photography, often collaborating with her subjects to invert the conventional male gaze. The exhibition runs from December 12, 2025, to April 19, 2026.

Huge fashion photography archive heads this month’s acquisition round-up

The New York Historical has acquired the vast archive of legendary New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, nearly a decade after his death in 2016. The collection includes tens of thousands of images, negatives, slides, contact sheets, and correspondence documenting Manhattan street style and high-society events over 50 years. Separately, the J. Paul Getty Museum received a gift of 38 Italian manuscript illuminations from T. Robert Burke and Katherine States Burke, doubling its holdings in that area. The Hamburger Kunsthalle purchased René Magritte's painting *Le Palais de Rideaux* (1928) for €2.4 million from a Belgian private collection.

The Armory Show jumpstarts New York art market after summer of hand-wringing

The Armory Show opened its 2024 edition in New York with solid sales during the VIP preview on September 4, providing a positive signal for the city's art market after a summer marked by gallery closures and economic uncertainty. The fair saw the return of over 20 galleries that had previously taken a hiatus, including Andrew Kreps, Uffner and Liu, Instituto de Visión, and White Cube for the first time since 1994. Fair director Kyla McMillan emphasized the importance of rooting the fair in New York and praised exhibitors for taking risks with experimental works, such as Nikita Gale's installation 'Interceptor' (2025), which sold for $60,000 before the preview began.

Capturing a Major Artist in Print

The Syracuse University Art Museum has opened a new exhibition titled “What If I Try This?”: Helen Frankenthaler in the 20th-Century Print Ecosystem, running from August 26 through December 9. Curated by Melissa Yuen, the show features 56 works—including prints, paintings, photographs, and letters—by Frankenthaler and her contemporaries, highlighting her experimental approach to printmaking over nearly 50 years. The exhibition includes 11 prints and process proofs gifted by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in 2023, along with 24 works borrowed from national and area collections, and draws on Frankenthaler’s correspondence with artist Grace Hartigan.

The new U-Haul Art Fair is pulling up in Chelsea

A new art fair called U-Haul Art Fair will take place in Chelsea, New York, from September 5-7, 2025, with ten exhibitors presenting work from the backs of rented U-Haul trucks parked streetside. Organized by James Sundquist and Jack Chase of the nomadic U-Haul Gallery, the fair features galleries including Nino Mier Gallery, Hexton Gallery, and Autobody Autobody, with each participant paying $2,500 in fees. The exact location is being kept secret but will be between 10th and 11th avenues and 20th and 30th streets.

Meet Elizabeth Catlett in 11 Facts

Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) was a sculptor, printmaker, feminist, and social activist whose art was inseparable from her life and politics. Born in Washington, DC, to parents who worked in education, she faced racial discrimination early on—denied a scholarship to the Carnegie Institute of Technology and paid less than white colleagues as a teacher. She became the first Black woman to earn an MFA from the University of Iowa, studying under Grant Wood, and later taught at the George Washington Carver School in Harlem, where she connected with Harlem Renaissance figures. Catlett moved to Mexico, married artist Francisco Mora, and created woodblock and linocut prints for 20 years. She was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee, declared an "undesirable alien," and became a Mexican citizen in 1962. Her work centered on Black and Mexican women, and she famously stated, "We have to create an art for liberation and for life."

Artists and scholars respond to White House’s list of Smithsonian grievances

Over the weekend, artists, scholars, and concerned citizens responded to the White House's list of objectionable Smithsonian Institution exhibits and texts, released under the heading 'President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian.' The list includes bullet points targeting exhibits on white culture, LGBTQ+ history, Afrofuturism, and works by artists such as Ibram X. Kendi, Ayana V. Jackson, Hugo Crosthwaite, Rigoberto A. Gonzalez, and Amy Sherald. Those singled out defended their work, with some comparing the administration's actions to Jim Crow-era censorship or Nazi Germany's 'degenerate art' campaigns, while others expressed pride in being included and vowed to continue making political art.

White House Bashes Smithsonian Museums, Exhibitions, as “Woke”

On August 21, the Trump administration published an unsigned article on the White House website attacking several Smithsonian museums and their exhibitions for promoting what it described as "woke" content. The article specifically called out the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and two planned institutions—the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women’s History Museum. It cited exhibitions and artworks addressing race, transgender identity, and immigration, including Amy Sherald’s painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which led the artist to cancel her solo show at the National Portrait Gallery after the museum sought to remove the work to avoid provoking Trump.

How Banksy’s Stenciled Satire Took the Aughts by Storm

Four screenprints by Banksy from the 2000s are featured in Artnet Auctions’s Contemporary Editions sale, running through August 28, 2025. The lots include 'Bomb Love (Bomb Hugger)' (est. $25,000–$35,000), 'Welcome to Hell (Pink)' (est. $30,000–$50,000), and 'Morons (Sepia)' (est. $25,000–$35,000), tracing the artist’s rise from Bristol street graffiti to international fame. The article highlights key milestones: his 2002 Los Angeles show 'Existencilism,' his counterfeit £10 notes featuring Princess Diana, and the Oscar-nominated documentary 'Exit Through the Gift Shop.'

Meet the Curator: Informal Conversation on Monet’s Floating Worlds

The Portland Art Museum is hosting a series of informal, interactive conversations with curators and a conservator about the exhibition "Monet’s Floating Worlds at Giverny." Participants include Jeannie Kenmotsu, The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art, and Hugo Torii, Garden Curator at Portland Japanese Garden. The free events explore connections between Monet’s waterlilies, Japanese printmaking, and conservation, encouraging open discussion and audience engagement.