Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 27 link 7 artists

centre pompidou metz cancels caribbean art show

The Centre Pompidou-Metz in France has canceled a planned survey of Caribbean and Guyanese art titled “Van Lévé,” curated by Guadeloupean curator Claire Tancons. The exhibition, scheduled to open in October 2026, was to feature artists including Gaëlle Choisne and Pol Taburet. Museum director Chiara Parisi cited budgetary constraints in an email to Tancons, but Tancons disputed this, noting that the Ford Foundation had already contributed $500,000. A group of artists and curators, including Zineb Sedira and Tabita Rezaire, issued a statement condemning the cancellation and questioning whether bias played a role.

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person people schedule Jul 10, 2025 visibility 24 link 5 artists

shamim m momin bronx museum director

The Bronx Museum of the Arts has appointed Shamim M. Momin as its next director and chief curator, effective early September. Momin succeeds Klaudio Rodriguez, who left last September to lead the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida. Most recently director of curatorial affairs at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle (2018–2024), Momin curated the group exhibition “In Plain Sight” and oversaw commissions by artists including Tala Madani, Gary Simmons, and Hank Willis Thomas. She also cofounded LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) in 2009, curating over 100 public art commissions, and previously served as an associate curator at the Whitney Museum and branch director of its now-closed Midtown outpost, where she organized more than 50 projects. She co-curated the 2004 and 2008 Whitney Biennials.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 7, 2025 visibility 16 link 7 artists

art market minute jul 7

Artnet News reports on the rising market interest in abstract artist Jack Whitten, following his current retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The article highlights Whitten's innovative techniques, such as his "Slab" paintings made with Afro combs and his "Greek Alphabet" series, and notes that despite his long-standing reputation among fellow artists, his market is only now gaining momentum.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

louvre launches design contest for 400 million expansion including a new room for mona lisa

The Louvre Museum in Paris has announced an architectural competition for a €400 million ($417 million) expansion, which includes a dedicated underground gallery for Leonardo da Vinci's *Mona Lisa* and a new entrance on the eastern facade near the Seine River. The project, dubbed a "New Renaissance" for the Louvre, follows a staff strike over overcrowding and an internal memo from director Laurence des Cars citing crumbling infrastructure. A 21-person international jury will select the winning design in October, with the aim of easing congestion at I.M. Pei's iconic glass pyramid entrance and providing a separate timed-entry space for the *Mona Lisa*.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 26, 2025 visibility 18 link 6 artists

cara romero photographer hood museum exhibition

Cara Romero, an enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, is the subject of her first institutional solo exhibition, "Panûpünüwügai," at Dartmouth's Hood Museum in New Hampshire. The show features her photography that fuses Indigenous ancestral memory with pop culture, depicting Native women as powerful agents reclaiming space against colonial stereotypes. Romero has also been featured in over 10 museum group exhibitions since last fall, including shows at the Hudson River Museum and Cantor Art Center.

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candle obituary schedule Jun 24, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

civil rights photographer bob adelman obituary

Photographer Bob Adelman was found dead in his Miami home at age 85, with head injuries likely from a fall. Adelman began his career photographing New York jazz clubs, studied under Harper’s Bazaar art director Alexey Brodovitch, and became a protégé of presidential photographer Jacques Lowe. He earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia and was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), using his camera to document the Civil Rights movement—including sit-ins, the Selma-to-Montgomery march, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. He also photographed cultural figures such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Samuel Beckett, and Jim Morrison.

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article news schedule Jun 17, 2025 visibility 14 link 1 artist

louvre closes strike

The Louvre Museum in Paris failed to open on Monday morning after front-of-house staff, including security guards, gallery attendants, and receptionists, staged a spontaneous protest over chronic understaffing and overcrowding. The walkout began after a routine internal meeting, forcing thousands of visitors to wait outside for hours without explanation. The museum eventually opened at 2:30 p.m. local time and offered refunds to affected ticket holders. The protest follows a leaked letter from director Laurence des Cars to culture minister Rachida Dati detailing severe infrastructure problems, including temperature fluctuations endangering artworks, leaky roofs, and inadequate visitor facilities.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 17, 2025 visibility 20 link 14 artists

philadelphia museum boom 1940s art design

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened "Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s," a major survey featuring over 250 works including painting, photography, jewelry, ceramics, fashion, and furniture. The exhibition draws entirely from the museum's own collection, with around 40 percent of the works never exhibited before. It includes early pieces by celebrated figures like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, as well as works by queer artists such as Paul Cadmus, Beauford Delaney, and Romaine Brooks, alongside self-taught artist Horace Pippin. Chief curator Jessica Smith emphasizes that the show aims to present a more complex, multivalent narrative of the decade beyond the dominant story of Abstract Expressionism.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 12, 2025 visibility 18 link 11 artists

metropolitan museum of art rockefeller wing reopening

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has unveiled the renovated Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, dedicated to the art of Africa, Oceania, and the ancient Americas. Designed by Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture with Beyer, Blinder, Belle Architects, the 40,000-square-foot wing opened to the public on May 31, showcasing 1,800 objects from 663 cultures across 90 countries. The collection originated from Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, who began acquiring non-Western art in 1930 and later founded the Museum of Primitive Art in 1957 after the Met initially declined his donation.

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article policy schedule Jun 10, 2025 visibility 22 link 2 artists

french museums hike ticket prices non european visitors

Several major French cultural institutions, including the Louvre, the Château de Versailles, and potentially the Arc de Triomphe, have implemented a "differential tariff" that raises ticket prices for non-European Union visitors. Starting January 1, 2026, non-E.U. tourists will pay €30 ($35) to enter the Louvre, up from €22 ($25). The policy, first reported by Le Monde, is expected to generate up to €20 million annually for the Louvre alone, helping to fund urgent renovations estimated at €400 million over 15 years. The move follows a leaked letter from Louvre director Laurence des Cars to culture minister Rachida Dati warning of severe building deterioration, including temperature fluctuations endangering artworks and water damage. French president Emmanuel Macron has announced a sweeping restoration, but state funding will cover only a fraction of the cost.

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article culture schedule Jun 10, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

westmoreland frick collection restaurant review

The Frick Collection in New York has opened its first-ever restaurant, Westmoreland, named after founder Henry Clay Frick's private train car. Located on the museum's newly renovated second floor, the 50-seat dining room features interiors by Bryan O'Sullivan Studio, a mural by artist Darren Waterston, and a menu of comforting, unadventurous fare like caesar salad, club sandwich, and avocado toast. The kitchen is led by Skyllar Hughes, a veteran of Danny Meyer's Ci Siamo, and operated by Union Square Events. Only museum ticket holders can dine, and reservations must be made in person.

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article policy schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 14 link 4 artists

more italians take avantage of art for taxes scheme

The Italian government has successfully revived a program allowing citizens to use cultural treasures, fine art, antique books, and villas to satisfy tax bills. Culture and Tourism Minister Dario Franceschini named a panel to tally the value of works offered for income and inheritance taxes, aiming to reinvigorate a scheme established in 1982 that previously attracted little interest. The program mirrors similar initiatives in other EU countries, notably Britain, where a comparable plan drew works worth $80.4 million in 2012–13.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 17 link 3 artists

the national portrait gallery getty museum jointly acquire joshua reynolds portrait of omai

The National Portrait Gallery in London and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles have jointly acquired Joshua Reynolds's 1776 painting *Portrait of Omai* for an estimated £50 million ($62 million). This marks the first time museums in the UK and US have partnered on a single acquisition, with each institution paying half and sharing ownership of the artwork, which will be displayed alternately in both countries. The painting depicts Mai (Omai), a young Tahitian man who visited Britain in 1774 with explorer James Cook, and had never before been held in a museum collection.

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article policy schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

natural history museum will remove human remains from display

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City will remove human remains from its public displays over the next eight weeks and update its policies regarding the collection. The decision follows an investigation by Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at John Jay College, whose report for Hyperallergic raised ethical and legal concerns about the acquisition of approximately 12,000 individuals' remains held by the museum. Museum president Sean Decatur announced the removal as the "right course of action," acknowledging that the remains were collected without consent and often used to advance racist scientific agendas.

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article culture schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 16 link 5 artists

three things hokusai great wave

Katsushika Hokusai's iconic woodblock print "The Great Wave" (officially *Under the Wave off Kanagawa*) is examined through three lesser-known facts. The article notes that the print, created between 1830 and 1832, is surprisingly small—less than 15 inches wide—and that its vivid blue pigment, Prussian blue, was a recent European import that revolutionized Japanese ukiyo-e prints. It also highlights Hokusai's practice of adopting over 30 different names throughout his career, which now helps scholars periodize his work.

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article news schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 25 link 34 artists

whitney museum paused independent study program censorship

The Whitney Museum of American Art has suspended its storied Independent Study Program (ISP) for the 2025–2026 academic year, following widespread outcry over the censorship of a performance titled "No Aesthetic Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance" by artists Fadl Fakhouri, Noel Maghathe, and Fargo Tbakhi. The performance, scheduled for May 14, was canceled by museum leadership after reviewing a video in which Tbakhi made demands that supporters of Israel or America leave the venue. Director Scott Rothkopf informed the ISP community of the pause in an email, citing the need to search for a new director. The museum also confirmed that Sara Nadal-Melsió, hired in 2024 as the ISP's first associate director, will not retain her position. The cancellation drew condemnation from free speech advocates, including the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), which likened the museum's actions to an authoritarian approach.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 16 link 9 artists

met museum rockefeller wing renovation review

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, closed since 2021, reopens after a $70 million renovation. The redesign by architect Kulapat Yantrasast transforms the previously dark and cramped galleries into airy, energizing spaces, with a major rehang that reconfigures the Oceania galleries. Notable changes include the repositioning of a Kwoma ceremonial house ceiling in collaboration with descendants of the original painters, the relocation of Asmat funerary poles to a dedicated gallery, and the addition of newly acquired works by Ömie artist Ilma Savari. The renovation also features revised wall texts that better contextualize the objects.

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article news schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

development of rice noodle like glue for historical paintings puts art conservators fears to rest

Art conservators faced a crisis after two key ingredients for Beva 371, a glue used to line historical canvases, were discontinued—first the resin Laropal K-80 in 2005 and then the tackifier Cellolyn 21E in 2020. Researchers from the University of Akron and New York University's Conservation Center, funded by a Getty Foundation grant, developed a new version called Beva 371 Akron. The adhesive is less toxic, less vulnerable to supply-chain issues, and available in three forms: a pre-mixed heat-seal variant, solid spaghetti-like pellets for easy transport, and a solvent-free pure adhesive.

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article news schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 18 link 1 artist

centre pompidou brazil satellite

The Centre Pompidou will open its first South American satellite in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in November 2027, backed by Paraná state officials. Designed by Paraguayan architect Solano Benítez, the museum will feature exhibition galleries and research facilities, highlighting South American artists alongside works from the Pompidou’s permanent collection of around 150,000 objects. This expansion comes as the Paris flagship closes for five years starting September 2024 for a $280 million renovation.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 11 link 7 artists

going beyond fashion with charles james at the met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's new Anna Wintour Costume Center opens with the exhibition "Charles James: Beyond Fashion," showcasing the work of the mid-century couturier often called "America's First Couturier." The show presents James's sculptural gowns—made of silk, tulle, and taffeta—on pedestals, accompanied by quotations that frame his designs as art. Highlights include the famous 10-pound "Clover Leaf Gown" and the "Taxi dress," a precursor to the wrap dress. The exhibition features animated video imaging by Diller Scofidio + Renfro that uses robotic cameras to reveal the architectural layers within the garments. The show runs from May 8 to August 10, 2014.

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article news schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 28 link 25 artists

whitney museum cancels palestine performance independent study program

The Whitney Museum of American Art canceled a performance piece titled "No Aesthetics Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance" scheduled for May 14 as part of the Independent Study Program's exhibition "A Grammar of Attention." The performance, by artists Fadl Fakhouri, Noel Maghathe, and Fargo Tbakhi, was grounded in the struggle for Palestinian freedom. The museum cited a zero-tolerance policy for harassment after reviewing a video of a previous iteration where an artist called for anyone who believes in Israel or America to leave the audience and valorized specific acts of violence. Participants and the program's associate director accuse the museum of censorship and seeking greater control over the historically autonomous program.

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article culture schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

brian eno beatie wolfe collaborative albums

Artists Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe have announced a collaborative music project titled *Lateral* and *Luminal*, two albums set for release on June 6, 2025. The albums, recorded intermittently over 2024, reflect distinct moods: *Lateral* is described as “Space music” led by Eno, while *Luminal* is “Dream music” headed by Wolfe. Early singles include “Suddenly” from *Luminal* and “Big Empty Country” from *Lateral*. The duo first met at the South by Southwest Festival in 2022, where they discussed art and climate, and later reconnected while holding exhibitions at separate London galleries. Their collaboration extends beyond music to a conceptual framework that names specific emotions—such as “fèath,” “pronoia,” “dor,” and “mono no aware”—to make feelings more tangible.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 16, 2025 visibility 18 link 7 artists

masterpieces reunited

The article reports on several instances where fragmented masterpieces have been reunited in recent years. Examples include two halves of a medieval manuscript page from the Hours of Louis XII, Édouard Manet's split painting Au café and Corner of a Café-Concert, Giorgio Vasari's ceiling Allegories of Virtues, and two landscapes by Paul Cézanne cut from the same sheet of paper. These reunions were made possible through the work of art historians and curators, with exhibitions at institutions like the Getty Museum, London's National Gallery, and the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice.

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person people schedule May 16, 2025 visibility 22 link 4 artists

v a c foundation ex director teresa mavica interview

Teresa Iarocci Mavica, former director of the Moscow-based V-A-C Foundation, which she co-founded with Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson, has resurfaced after three years of silence. She resigned from V-A-C in November 2021, just before the opening of GES-2 House of Culture, Russia's largest contemporary art museum, and left Russia shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now based in Naples, she has curated "The Sun to Come" at Made in Cloister, launching her biennial program "REBIRTH." The exhibition includes three Russian artists, reflecting her continued commitment to cultural dialogue between Russia and Europe despite the war.

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article news schedule May 15, 2025 visibility 17 link 3 artists

valparaiso university sold brauer museum artworks

Valparaiso University in Indiana has finalized the sale of two valuable paintings from the Brauer Museum of Art—Childe Hassam's *The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate* (1914) and Georgia O'Keeffe's *Rust Red Hills* (1930)—and is in the process of selling a third, Frederic Edwin Church's *Mountain Landscape* (c. 1849). The sales, collectively valued at up to $20 million, are intended to fund renovations of freshman dormitories amid budget shortfalls. The decision has sparked vocal protests, a lawsuit, and a vote of no confidence from the faculty senate against university president José Padilla, who announced his retirement. Moody's Ratings downgraded the school's credit rating to junk status, partly due to the controversy.

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gavel restitution schedule May 15, 2025 visibility 22 link 3 artists

valparaiso university brauer museum can sell paintings

The Porter County Superior Court has approved Valparaiso University's plan to sell three valuable paintings from the Brauer Museum of Art—works by Frederic Edwin Church, Childe Hassam, and Georgia O'Keeffe valued at around $20 million—to fund renovations to freshman dormitories. The decision follows a year and a half of controversy, including a lawsuit from the museum's founding director Richard Brauer and condemnation from major museum professional organizations, who argue that deaccessioning art for non-collection purposes violates ethical standards.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 10, 2025 visibility 23 link 21 artists

national gallery sainsburg wing reopening gabriele finaldi

London's National Gallery has reopened its Sainsbury Wing after a three-year, $113 million renovation, timed to the museum's 200th anniversary. Director Gabriele Finaldi, who was knighted this year, oversaw the project, which was designed by architect Annabelle Selldorf and faced criticism from original architect Denise Scott Brown. The revamped wing features a light-filled foyer, 17 galleries with no prescribed route, and a rehang titled “The Wonder of Art.” The museum also acquired a mysterious painting by an unknown artist, The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and Two Angels (1500–10), for $20 million through Sotheby's.

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article culture schedule May 7, 2025 visibility 18 link 5 artists

eva hesse documentary

A comprehensive new documentary on Eva Hesse, the innovative 1960s artist, will premiere in New York in April. Directed by Marcie Begleiter, the film explores Hesse's life as a German-born American who fled Nazi Germany, her difficult childhood as an immigrant, and her rise in New York's art scene. It features interviews with artists like Robert Mangold and examines her pioneering use of materials such as plastic, latex, and fiberglass. Hesse's career was cut short when she died of a brain tumor at age 34 in 1970, but her legacy has grown through posthumous retrospectives at major museums.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2025 visibility 20 link 17 artists

medardo rosso invented modern sculpture

The article highlights Medardo Rosso, an Italian sculptor largely overlooked despite his pioneering role in modernist sculpture. A new exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel, "Medardo Rosso: The Invention of Modern Sculpture," showcases 50 of his works alongside pieces by over 60 artists including Rodin, Degas, and Brancusi, aiming to reassert his influence. Rosso's radical approach rejected monumentality for materiality and process, embracing subjects from society's fringes and anticipating 20th-century art developments. The show also revisits his bitter rivalry with Rodin, whom Rosso accused of borrowing his signature tilting effect.

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person people schedule May 6, 2025 visibility 17 link 4 artists

mara manus to depart inaugural ceo pioneer works

Mara Manus is stepping down as CEO of Pioneer Works, the Brooklyn arts and science non-profit founded by artist Dustin Yellin, after a brief tenure that began in 2023. Her departure comes after she met the organization's fundraising goals months ahead of schedule and completed the third phase of a $30 million capital campaign in early 2025. Gabriel Florenz, the founding artistic director since 2012, has expanded his role to executive director, while Stephanie Hemshrot was appointed Chief Operating Officer. Manus previously led the New York State Council on the Arts and the Public Theater.

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