An Old Man Whose Egoscentrism Knows No Bounds

"Ein alter Mann, dessen Ich-Sucht keine Grenzen kennt"

More than 30 current and former jury members of the Stiftung Kunstfonds have issued a formal protest against German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer, accusing his office of political interference and intimidation. The controversy stems from reports that the ministry requested lists of all jury members across various art institutions and bypassed jury decisions to exclude specific recipients from awards based on intelligence service reports.

‘Tide of Returns’: Ocean Space in Venice

The Repatriates Collective has launched 'Tide of Returns' at Ocean Space in Venice, an exhibition that redefines repatriation as a continuous process of spiritual and communal repair rather than a singular legal transaction. Set within the historic Church of San Lorenzo, the installation features immersive works such as 'From My Mother’s Country,' which utilizes thousands of handmade dolls from Namibia, and Verena Melgarejo Weinandt’s textile and video works exploring the symbolic power of water and braiding.

First Indigenous Representative of Peru at the Venice Biennale, Sara Flores Opens the Doors of Her Studio in the Heart of the Amazon

Première représentante autochtone du Pérou à la Biennale de Venise, Sara Flores ouvre les portes de son atelier au cœur de l’Amazonie

Sara Flores, a 76-year-old artist from the Shipibo-Konibo Indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon, has been selected as the first Indigenous artist to represent Peru at the Venice Biennale. In her open-air studio deep in the rainforest, she creates large-scale geometric compositions in the kené ("true drawing") tradition, using natural dyes from local plants. She is also co-founder of the Bakish Mai Multiversity, an educational institution dedicated to Indigenous knowledge and artist residencies, alongside Matteo Norzi, one of the two curators of the Peruvian pavilion. The article offers an intimate portrait of her life, her matriarchal family, and her creative process.

A historic section of the Eiffel Tower's original staircase is set to go up for auction

Un tronçon historique de l’escalier d’origine de la tour Eiffel s’apprête à s’envoler aux enchères

The auction house Artcurial is set to auction a 2.75-meter-tall section of the original spiral staircase from the Eiffel Tower on May 21. This specific segment, consisting of fourteen riveted steel steps, was part of the structure connecting the second and third floors until it was dismantled in 1983 to make way for modern elevators. Estimated between €120,000 and €150,000, the piece holds significant historical value as it is the inaugural 'Lot No. 1' from the original 1983 dispersal sale.

This First Nations artist wants your racist 'Aboriginalia' – video

Indigenous artist Tony Albert has issued a public call for Australians to donate their 'Aboriginalia'—objects that depict Aboriginal people and designs but were created by non-Indigenous people, often as caricatures or exoticized souvenirs. Over 3,000 items from Albert's own collection, including tea towels, ashtrays, and playing cards, are now on display in his solo exhibition 'Not a Souvenir' at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney, opening on 21 May.

A Pavilion of Ruins: Germany Reconsiders Its Past in Venice

The German Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale features a dual presentation exploring the country's layered political history. Artist Sung Tieu has cloaked the pavilion's fascist-era facade with a mosaic reconstruction of a GDR housing estate for Vietnamese contract workers, where she lived as a child. Inside, the late Henrike Naumann's immersive installation 'The Home Front' uses furniture and design to stage a confrontation between East and West German domestic and political ideologies. Naumann died in February 2025 at age 41, but her fully realized concept was completed collaboratively by her partner and curator Kathleen Reinhardt.

Treasures From Matthew Perry’s Estate Head to Auction for a Good Cause

Heritage Auctions will sell a trove of artifacts from Matthew Perry's estate starting June 5, including scripts and memorabilia from the sitcom *Friends*, artworks by Banksy and Mel Bochner, and personal items like a 3D portrait of his invented superhero "Mattman." Proceeds benefit the Matthew Perry Foundation, a nonprofit focused on ending addiction stigma and expanding access to evidence-based care, founded after the actor's death in 2023.

After His Untimely Death, Rutherford Chang’s Survey Rewrites What a Square Can Do

Rutherford Chang, who died last year at age 45, is the subject of a posthumous survey at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art Beijing titled "Hundreds and Thousands." The exhibition centers on Chang's socially engaged works that explore value, circulation, and systems through the deceptively simple form of the square. His best-known piece, "We Buy White Albums" (2013–25), involved amassing roughly one percent of the first pressing of the Beatles' "White Album," highlighting how objects accrue personal and economic worth through use and history. Other works include melting 10,000 copper pennies into a cube and assembling Wall Street Journal portraits from 2008 into a grid that captures a year of crisis and change.

Giorno Poetry Systems Gives Grants to 12 Artists Including Jacolby Satterwhite, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), and the Late Agosto Machado

Giorno Poetry Systems, the nonprofit founded by artist John Giorno in 1965, has launched a new need-based grant program called the Treat a Stranger Grant. The inaugural round awards $4,545 each to 12 artists, including Jacolby Satterwhite, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), Samiya Bashir, Malcolm-X Betts, Pe Ferreira, Mercy Kelly, the late Agosto Machado (whose funds go to his estate), Gavilán Rayna Russom, Keioui Keijaun Thomas, Christopher Udemuezue, and two anonymous recipients. The program revives the spirit of Giorno's AIDS Treatment Project from the 1980s and '90s, which provided direct financial support to artists affected by the epidemic.

What Made Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades So Revolutionary?

Marcel Duchamp transformed the trajectory of 20th-century art by introducing the 'Readymade,' a concept where mass-produced, everyday objects are elevated to the status of art through the artist's selection rather than manual craft. Beginning with a bicycle wheel in 1913 and a bottle rack in 1914, Duchamp eventually formalized the term during a 1915 stay in New York, where the city's industrial modernity and lack of rigid class structures inspired him to challenge traditional definitions of creativity.

One of John Lennon’s Final Autographs Hits the Auction Block

A promotional poster for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album 'Double Fantasy,' signed by Lennon on the morning of his murder on December 8, 1980, is being auctioned by Propstore in London. The lot, estimated between £60,000 and £120,000, includes the RKO Radio archives from Lennon's final interview.

This ‘Star Wars’ C-3PO Head Just Netted $1 Million at Auction

An original C-3PO head prop from the 1980 film *The Empire Strikes Back* sold for $1 million at a Propstore auction in Los Angeles. The piece, the only original head remaining on the collector's market, features functional lighting eyes and was created from molds of actor Anthony Daniels. It exceeded its high estimate of $700,000.

egidio marzona dead avant garde collector archive

Egidio Marzona, the influential German-Italian collector, publisher, and patron, has died at the age of 81 in Berlin. Renowned for his intellectual approach to collecting, Marzona focused on the 20th-century avant-garde, including movements such as Bauhaus, Dada, Fluxus, and Arte Povera. Unlike traditional collectors, he prioritized the preservation of archives, letters, and ephemera alongside physical artworks, viewing the "paper trail of ideas" as essential to understanding artistic history.

James Murdoch and Art Basel’s Parent Company Are Working on a Big Ideas Festival to Launch in 2028

James and Kathryn Murdoch, through their respective organizations Lupa Systems and Futurific, are partnering with MCH Group, the parent company of Art Basel, to create a new major festival called the Futurific Institute. The event, set to launch in Basel, Switzerland in the summer of 2028, aims to be a cross-disciplinary gathering focused on art, culture, technology, and future-oriented problem-solving, drawing comparisons to world's fairs and events like TED Talks.

Egidio Marzona, Collector Who Built a Monument to the Avant-Garde, Dies at 81

Egidio Marzona, the influential German-Italian collector, publisher, and patron, has died at age 81 in Berlin. His vast collection focused on 20th-century avant-garde movements, from Dada and Bauhaus to Fluxus and Arte Povera, and was distinguished by its deep archival holdings of letters, diagrams, and ephemera that documented the intellectual processes behind the art.

gwyneth paltrow juliens auctions sale

Gwyneth Paltrow is partnering with Julien’s Auctions for a two-day sale on March 24–25 featuring personal items from her homes and wardrobe. The auction includes high-profile red carpet gowns by designers like Atelier Versace and Dior, design sketches for her iconic 1999 Oscars dress, and luxury furniture including pieces by Lindsey Adelman and Julian Mayor. A portion of the proceeds will benefit World Central Kitchen, a non-profit providing meals in response to humanitarian crises.

collectibles digest january 2026

A rare cassette tape containing one of the earliest known recordings of rapper Tupac Shakur, made in 1988 at his friend Ge-ology's home, is being auctioned by the music collecting platform Wax Poetics with an estimate of $120,000–$150,000. The sale includes other personal artifacts like handwritten lyrics and photos from Tupac's pre-fame years in Baltimore, with bidding ending February 11.

apple steve jobs memorabilia auction

A major auction of Apple memorabilia and personal items belonging to Steve Jobs realized $8.1 million. The top lot was the first check ever issued by Apple, signed by founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, which sold for $2.4 million. Other significant items included an early Apple-1 prototype board and personal effects from Jobs's childhood home, including his bedroom desk and a collection of bowties.

california college of the arts closure

California College of the Arts (CCA), the Bay Area's last private art and design school, will close after the 2026–27 academic year, ending 116 years of operation. Vanderbilt University will acquire CCA's San Francisco campus and open a West Coast outpost in 2027, continuing some art and design programs. The closure follows years of financial struggles, including a $20 million deficit, declining enrollment from 1,800 to 1,295 students, and emergency fundraising that raised nearly $45 million—including a $22.5 million matching gift from the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation and a $20 million state grant—but proved insufficient to ensure long-term independence.

juergen teller bottega veneta summer 2026 campaign

Juergen Teller has photographed Bottega Veneta's Summer 2026 campaign, set against the iconic landmarks of Venice, including the Palazzo Contarini Polignac and the Venice Giardini. The campaign features models Liya Kebede and Anine Van Velzen, and arrives ahead of the 2026 Venice Biennale. It also marks the debut collection of Louise Trotter, who joined Bottega Veneta as creative director last year, drawing on the house's 50-year archives and reimagining signature items like the Lauren and Knot bags.

recovered picassos art theft trial nice

Seven years after an undercover sting in Nice, France, recovered a cache of stolen artworks including several by Pablo Picasso, ten defendants are now on trial. The 2017 police operation, triggered by a tip from Belgium, involved officers posing as Swiss buyers who met a seller at a Nice hotel and were led to a house in Peillon filled with stolen pieces. Among the recovered works were Picasso's *Le vieux roi* and *Le clown*, along with other items traced to a burglary in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and an armed robbery in Èze. The trial consolidates earlier investigations into a suspected art theft and fencing network, with prosecutors alleging the Peillon property served as a storage and sales hub.

sothebys to unveil 1 b of art and luxury goods during abu dhabi collectors week in december

Sotheby's announced that $1 billion worth of fine art and luxury goods will be unveiled during Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week, running from December 2 to 5. The event includes non-selling exhibitions of high-value artworks, such as a Rembrandt drawing and Gustav Klimt's 'Dame mit Fächer,' while luxury items like McLaren racing cars, a Jane Birkin handbag, diamonds, and real estate will be offered at auction or privately, with over $150 million going to auction and $100 million in private sales.

triceratops gros delettrez dinosaur sale

Parisian auction house Gros and Delettrez is offering a 66 million-year-old Triceratops prorsus skull on December 11, with an estimate of €300,000–€500,000 ($345,615–$576,025). The specimen, which surfaced from Wyoming's Lance Formation, is exceptionally complete with over 70 percent of its original bones and all three original horns intact. This marks the auction house's first dinosaur offering and will christen its new Rive Gauche headquarters, with the skull going on view on December 9 alongside works by Pablo Picasso and Pierre Soulages.

nadya tolokonnikova interview police state la moca

Nadya Tolokonnikova, cofounder of Pussy Riot, has created a performance installation titled "Police State" (2025) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (LA MOCA). The work recreates a Russian jail cell where Tolokonnikova performs daily activities—making music, creating art, and resting—observed by visitors via security camera footage and peepholes. The installation also features artworks by current and former political prisoners from Russia, Belarus, and the United States, curated through Tolokonnikova's Art Action Foundation and the Artistic Freedom Initiative. Originally scheduled for June 5–14, the show was extended due to the museum's closure amid anti-ICE protests and National Guard deployment.

david lynch collection auction

A collection of 450 objects owned by the late filmmaker David Lynch was auctioned by Julien's Auctions, achieving a white-glove sale totaling $4.25 million. The top lot was a group of scripts from Lynch's unrealized film project *Ronnie Rocket: The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence*, which sold for $195,000. Other notable sales included scripts for *Mulholland Drive* ($104,000), *Twin Peaks* pilot ($91,000), and *Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me* ($78,000), as well as Lynch's director chair ($91,000), a personal 35mm print of *Eraserhead* ($52,000), and his La Marzocco espresso machine ($45,500).

sothebys frame clothing collection

Fashion brand Frame has released a clothing collaboration with Sotheby’s, featuring loungewear, jeans, jackets, and accessories that prominently display the auction house’s logo. The capsule collection, described as a first-of-its-kind partnership, includes items like a $228 beach towel, $278 shorts, and a $1,298 cashmere sweater, modeled by Sotheby’s staff including SVP Ashkan Baghestani and AVP Kelly Pyrtle.

david lynch personal items auction

Hundreds of items from filmmaker David Lynch’s personal estate are being auctioned by Julien’s in Los Angeles, with online bidding already exceeding $56,000. The nearly 450 lots include movie props, musical gear, Polaroids, and more, spanning Lynch’s career. Top-performing items include his personalized director’s chair (bidding at $15,000), a red curtain from Twin Peaks ($2,750), a photo of a nuclear explosion from Twin Peaks: The Return ($6,000), a personal 35mm print of Eraserhead ($7,000), a vintage boomerang sofa ($4,500), and a signed Man Ray photograph ($3,500). The sale also features musical instruments from his home studio, such as a custom five-neck Ferrington guitar and a Roland synthesizer. The auction officially ends on June 18 and is held in collaboration with Turner Classic Movies.

mary tyler moore art mementos doyle auction

Doyle Auctions will sell over 300 lots from the estate of Mary Tyler Moore, including memorabilia from her iconic television shows, collected artworks, and furnishings from her homes in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. The auction follows a Beverly Hills preview from May 16 to 20 and takes place at Doyle New York on June 4. Highlights include sketches by Al Hirschfeld, photographs by Annie Leibovitz, works by Peter Max and Mimmo Paladino, pre-Columbian pottery, and the golden "M" from *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (estimated at $5,000 to $8,000).

how much should an art fair cost

Frieze, the international art fair group, has been sold to Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood power broker who previously owned it through Endeavor. Emanuel acquired Frieze via a new, unnamed company from his former entertainment conglomerate, which was recently taken private by Silver Lake. The deal, valued at approximately $200 million according to sources, includes all seven fairs, Frieze magazine, and the No. 9 Cork Street exhibition space. Simon Fox will remain CEO. The sale comes just days before Frieze New York’s 2025 edition and follows months of speculation about the fair's future ownership.

art shipping in turmoil as tariffs trigger delays

President Trump's tariff policies are causing significant disruption in the art shipping industry, despite artworks themselves remaining largely exempt from import taxes under U.S. law. While Section 1702(b) of the IEEPA protects artworks, books, and films from presidential trade restrictions, antiques and design objects are subject to a 10 percent universal tariff, creating confusion for customs officers. Meanwhile, changes to de minimis rules—lowering the threshold for formal customs processing from $2,500 to $800—have forced DHL to temporarily suspend certain shipments and caused multi-day delays. Smaller art dealers relying on global logistics firms are particularly affected, as bespoke fine-art shippers like Crozier, UOVO, and Cadogan Tate are often too expensive for lower-value works under $10,000.