Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Dec 22, 2025 visibility 45 link 33 artists, 36 galleries

contemporary art galleries 2025

The article reflects on the closure of several notable contemporary art galleries in 2025, including Clearing, Blum, High Art, Venus Over Manhattan, Sperone Westwater, Galerie Francesca Pia, Tilton Gallery, Altman Siegel, Kasmin, Rena Bransten Gallery, L.A. Louver, and Canal Projects. It opens with a eulogy for Florine Stettheimer by Georgia O'Keeffe, drawing a parallel between the artist's unique way of life and the distinctive, charismatic spirit of galleries that have shuttered. The author recounts personal experiences at now-closed spaces like Metro Pictures, JTT, and Clearing, and quotes dealer Olivier Babin and the legendary Leo Castelli on the fleeting importance of galleries.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 22, 2025 visibility 20 link 10 artists

sargent monet rodin

The Musée d'Orsay has launched a landmark exhibition titled "Sargent: Dazzling Paris," marking the centenary of John Singer Sargent's death and focusing on his formative decade in 19th-century Paris. The show highlights Sargent's early friendships with artists like Monet and Rodin, his training under Carolus-Duran, and key portraits such as those of Fanny Watts and Madame X, the latter of which caused a scandal that drove him to London. The article also features five portraits that illuminate Sargent's artistic circles in Paris.

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article local schedule Dec 22, 2025 visibility 16 link 14 artists

detroit institute of arts dia 1976 ad spot remake

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has released a 50th-anniversary remake of its iconic 1976 television commercial, "You Gotta Have Art." The original spot, created by advertising agency W.B. Doner & Co., featured museum staff, volunteers, and local performers singing and dancing among masterpieces. The new version, directed by DIA's Director of Visual Media Adam Kosberg, recreates the original shot-for-shot, incorporating updated choreography, a Motown-influenced arrangement by Detroit musicians Marion Hayden and Alvin Waddles, and appearances by local artists including Carole Harris and Allie McGhee, who reprised their roles from the 1976 film. Over 200 museum employees and performers from Wayne State University participated in the production.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 22, 2025 visibility 19 link 6 artists

this artemisia gentileschi painting is unlike any of her others heres why

A previously unknown painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, *Hercules and Omphale* (ca. 1635–37), was identified after being damaged in the 2020 Beirut port explosion. The work, which hung in Beirut’s Sursock Palace, underwent a three-year conservation at the J. Paul Getty Museum and is now on view at the Columbus Museum of Art in the exhibition *Artemisia Gentileschi: Naples to Beirut*. It depicts the Greek myth of Queen Omphale enslaving Hercules, a rare subject for Gentileschi that subverts traditional gender roles.

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person people schedule Dec 18, 2025 visibility 20 link 16 artists

walter robinsons legacy is celebrated with honorary doctorate new scholarship

Hundreds gathered on a cold Monday night in New York at Phillips auction house and the Metropolitan Club to celebrate the life and legacy of Walter Robinson, the beloved art-world figure who died in February 2025. The event, organized by the New York Academy of Art as part of its annual “Take Home a Nude” fundraiser, featured silent and live auctions, a posthumous honorary doctorate awarded to Robinson, and the announcement of the Walter Robinson Scholarship funded by auction proceeds. The evening raised over $800,000, with works by students and acclaimed artists like Richard Prince and Kiki Smith on offer, and Robinson’s painting *Blood on the Sun* (2018) selling for $35,000.

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article news schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 14 link 6 artists

georgia okeeffe ghost ranch conservation

The state of New Mexico has announced a major conservation effort to preserve 6,000 acres of desert landscape that inspired artist Georgia O’Keeffe. The New Mexico Land Conservancy is partnering with the National Ghost Ranch Foundation to implement the Ghost Ranch Conservation Plan, which will protect land, water, and wildlife habitat around Ghost Ranch—where O’Keeffe lived and worked from 1940 until her death. The plan involves conservation easements held in trust for the public benefit, ensuring the area remains undeveloped while allowing continued visitor access to hiking trails, museums, and the retreat center.

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article culture schedule Dec 11, 2025 visibility 15 link 5 artists

simon de pury photos art

The author recounts a visit to the Prado in Madrid, where his attempt to photograph a portrait by Alonso Sánchez Coello was blocked by a guard enforcing a strict no-photography policy. This experience leads him to reflect on the evolution of museum mementos, from postcards—which he used to buy and even had his children select as a curatorial exercise—to the role of social media in sharing art. He recalls his time as curator of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, where postcard sales were a key revenue and popularity gauge, and notes that Instagram now serves as a virtual window into exhibitions and art fairs like Art Basel Miami.

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article news schedule Dec 2, 2025 visibility 23 link 11 artists

hong kong fire arts groups asian art news

A devastating fire in Hong Kong's Tai Po neighborhood, which killed at least 151 people, has prompted a period of mourning and led several major cultural institutions to cancel or postpone public events. The Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust cancelled a press conference for the "No Limits" program, while M+ rescheduled its "Night: Festive Play" event. Meanwhile, art fairs and galleries continue to announce developments: Kiaf Seoul will run concurrently with Frieze Seoul in 2026, Contemporary Istanbul will introduce a new Focus Asia section, and Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 will feature new sectors Echoes and Zero 10. In the market, On Kawara's "NOV. 27, 1984" sold for HK$8.5 million at Bonhams Hong Kong, and standout results were seen at Sotheby's Hong Kong.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 1, 2025 visibility 24 link 8 artists

richard hunt sculptor survey ica miami

The Institute of Contemporary Art Miami is opening "Richard Hunt: Pressure," the first institutional survey of the late sculptor since his death in 2023 at age 88. The exhibition, running through March during Miami Art Week, features 28 sculptures from 1955 to 2010, drawn from Hunt's seven-decade career in which he completed over 160 public commissions and 170 solo exhibitions. The show highlights Hunt's innovative use of industrial materials and abstract forms, while also exploring the dual meaning of "pressure"—both the physical force used in his metalworking and the societal pressures he faced as a Black artist during the Civil Rights era.

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article policy schedule Nov 26, 2025 visibility 19 link 14 artists

museums finances

Museums worldwide are urgently searching for new financial models as government funding declines, wealthy patrons pull back, and corporate sponsors face pressure. A global study published in January by the International Research Alliance on Public Funding for Museums found that in 37 percent of responding countries, 71 to 100 percent of museums now receive most funding from private sources. Institutions are exploring endowments, new revenue streams, and collaborative approaches, with the Louvre becoming the first French museum to create an endowment fund in 2009, raising €175 million. The $85 trillion Great Wealth Transfer offers hope, but next-generation donors prioritize transparency and meaningful engagement over prestige.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 25, 2025 visibility 20 link 3 artists

california revives nazi looted pissarro cassirer case

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion on November 17 to intervene in the Cassirer family's two-decade-long restitution case for a Camille Pissarro painting stolen by the Nazis. The artwork, *Rue Saint Honore, Apres Midi, Effet De Pluie* (1897), is owned by Spain's Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had previously ruled that Spanish law applied, allowing the museum to keep the painting, but California's Assembly Bill 2867, signed into law in September, now seeks to apply California law to protect victims of art theft. The case has been sent back to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for reconsideration.

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candle obituary schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 23 link 10 artists

dorothy vogel collector dead

Dorothy Vogel, who with her husband Herbert built one of the most celebrated art collections of the 20th century while working as a librarian and a postal clerk, died on November 10 at age 90. The couple amassed thousands of Minimalist and conceptual works by artists such as Donald Judd, Roy Lichtenstein, and Sol LeWitt, housing them in their rent-controlled Manhattan apartment. They never sold any artwork and ultimately donated their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 18, 2025 visibility 18 link 4 artists

california attorney general nazi looted picasso madrid

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has re-entered the long-running legal battle over a Camille Pissarro painting, *Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain* (1897), which was sold under duress by Lilly Cassirer Neubauer to a Nazi appraiser in 1939 for 900 Reichsmarks. The painting is now held by the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, and the Cassirer family has sought its return for decades. A new California law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September allows exceptions for property taken as a result of political persecution, and Bonta is now defending the state's authority to compel the return of stolen art to victims connected to California.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 17, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

shanghai art week 2025

Shanghai Art Week 2025 is underway, anchored by two major concurrent art fairs: Art021 Shanghai and West Bund Art and Design, running from November 13 to 16. West Bund has relocated to a new venue, the West Bund Convention Center designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, featuring over 200 participants including 106 galleries in its main sector. Art021 returns to the Shanghai Exhibition Center with 139 galleries from 22 countries, including 33 first-time participants. The Shanghai Biennale opened early at the Power Station of Art, curated by Kitty Scott under the title "Does the Flower Hear the Bee?" featuring 67 artists and collectives. Meanwhile, alternative events like "Artist's Treat," launched by Xu Zhen in collaboration with Hol Platform and ShanghArt Gallery, are drawing attention in repurposed local spaces.

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article news schedule Nov 10, 2025 visibility 23 link 12 artists, 3 galleries

condo moves from hauser wirth to spruth magers and skarstedt was j m w turner neurodivergent trump squeezes arts talent pool morning link for november 10 2025

Artist George Condo has left Hauser & Wirth and will now be jointly represented by Sprüth Magers and Skarstedt, marking a return to galleries with which he had long-standing relationships. Condo first showed with Monika Sprüth in 1984 and was represented by Skarstedt from 2004 to 2019 before joining Hauser & Wirth in late 2019. Separately, a new BBC documentary titled *Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks* explores whether J. M. W. Turner's creative genius was shaped by childhood trauma and neurodivergence, featuring commentary from artists, actors, and a psychotherapist. The article also reports that Dana Awartani will represent Saudi Arabia at the 2026 Venice Biennale, and that the Trump administration has tightened H-1B visa rules, making it harder for arts institutions to hire foreign specialists.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 6, 2025 visibility 15 link 3 artists

manny davidson collection sale sothebys paris

Sotheby's Paris is selling "The Manny Davidson Collection: A Life in Treasures and Benevolence," a multi-owner sale of nearly 500 lots spanning Old Masters, 19th-century British paintings, 18th-century gold enamel, and decorative objects. Highlights include a rediscovered Michael Sweerts portrait estimated at €800,000–€1.2 million, a Thomas de Keyser portrait of a silversmith, and a Joshua Reynolds self-portrait study. The sale, which includes an evening auction on November 5 and an online component, was previewed by Sotheby's global head of private sales, Old Masters, Chloe Stead.

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article news schedule Nov 3, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

climate activist timothy martin degas sculptures sentenced

Timothy Martin, a climate activist with the group Declare Emergency, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for smearing paint on a glass vitrine protecting Edgar Degas's sculpture *Little Dancer, Age Fourteen* at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in April 2023. He was found guilty of conspiracy and injury to government property, and must also pay $4,062 in restitution, perform 150 hours of community service, and is barred from entering Washington, D.C. and its museums. His co-activist, Johanna Smith, had previously pleaded guilty and served a 60-day sentence.

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article culture schedule Oct 15, 2025 visibility 15 link 6 artists

art heist that inspired the mastermind

Kelly Reichardt's new film *The Mastermind*, starring Josh O'Connor, depicts a low-stakes art heist at the fictional Framingham Museum of Art, inspired by a real 1972 theft at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts. In the actual heist, two robbers stole four paintings by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Gauguin, worth about $7.72 million today, and shot an unarmed guard. The film, set in the early '70s, draws on details like two schoolgirls who witnessed the crime, but Reichardt deliberately makes the cinematic version less thrilling than the real event.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 10, 2025 visibility 20 link 3 artists

frieze abu dhabi fair announced

Frieze, the London-based art fair organizer, announced it will launch Frieze Abu Dhabi in November 2026, partnering with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi). The new fair will replace the existing Abu Dhabi Art fair, which has run since 2007, and will take place at Manarat Al Saadiyat in the Saadiyat Cultural District. The announcement follows Frieze's recent acquisition by Mari, a company founded by Ari Emanuel, and comes amid a wave of international art fair expansions in the Gulf region, including Art Basel's new fair in Doha.

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article policy schedule Oct 9, 2025 visibility 21 link 8 artists

flemish government eliminates m hka smak museum controversy

The Flemish government has announced a plan to close the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium's oldest contemporary art museum, and transfer its collection of around 8,000 objects to the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, which will be rebranded as the Flemish Museum of Contemporary and Current Art by 2028. The decision, part of a broader reform of Flanders' museum landscape, has sparked outrage: M HKA's board chairman Herman De Bode resigned, and staff published an open letter and launched a petition that gathered over 2,600 signatures, accusing the government of acting without transparency or consultation.

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museum exhibitions schedule Oct 7, 2025 visibility 15 link 6 artists

musee dorsay manet mock trial dejeuner sur lherbe

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris staged a mock trial of Édouard Manet and his model Victorine Meurent for his 1863 painting *Déjeuner sur l'herbe*, which caused scandal at the Salon des Refusés for its nude female figure. The event, part of the museum's Orsay Live program for 18-to-25-year-olds, featured real lawyers, a sitting judge, and students from the Fédération française de Débat et d'Éloquence, with speeches reviewed by Manet specialist Isolde Pludermacher. The trial aimed to explore historical debates about morality, indecency, and artistic freedom in a courtroom format.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 26, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

marina abramovic venice accademia 2026

Marina Abramović will celebrate her 80th birthday with a career-spanning exhibition titled "Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy" at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice from May 6 to October 19, 2026, coinciding with the 61st Venice Biennale. The show, previously staged at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai in fall 2024, features 150 works including furniture-sculpture hybrids made from quartz, amethyst, and tourmaline. Abramović's "transitory objects" will be installed throughout the 14th-century building alongside the museum's permanent collection of Renaissance masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto, Giorgione, and Mantegna, with a notable pairing of her 1983 photograph *Pietà (with Ulay)* and Titian's *Pietà* (1575–76).

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article news schedule Sep 25, 2025 visibility 21 link 21 artists

aspen art museum redefining future

The Aspen Art Museum is undergoing a strategic shift under director Nicola Lees, moving away from its reputation as a collector's clubhouse toward becoming a global institution. The museum's annual ArtCrush gala and fundraiser week, once centered on wealth-displaying collector home visits and glitzy parties, now emphasizes intellectual programming like the inaugural AIR festival, a $20 million artist-led interdisciplinary initiative featuring talks by Werner Herzog and Hans Ulrich Obrist. This change comes amid soaring local real estate prices, including a $108 million home co-purchased by Steve Wynn and Thomas Peterffy, and contrasts the area's deep pockets with the museum's free admission since 2008.

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article news schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 10 link 5 artists

hidden vermeer self portrait maid asleep

New research by the Metropolitan Museum of Art suggests that Johannes Vermeer may have hidden a self-portrait beneath his painting *A Maid Asleep* (1656–57). Using scientific analysis, the Met's team discovered an overpainted figure in the background—a man painting with his left hand, likely a reflection in a framed mirror. The image is too obscured to reveal facial features. The theory, first proposed by the Met in 2023, is bolstered by a comparison to Nicolaes Maes's *The Naughty Drummer* (1655), which similarly depicts an artist reflected in a mirror. The Met argues Vermeer likely knew Maes's work.

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person people schedule Sep 16, 2025 visibility 21 link 6 artists

perez art museum miami jose carlos diaz chief curator

The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) has appointed José Carlos Diaz as its new senior director of curatorial affairs and chief curator, effective October 13. Diaz, a Miami native, returns from the Seattle Art Museum where he served as deputy director of art since 2022, overseeing curatorial programs and the "Calder at SAM" initiative following a major gift of 48 Calder works. He succeeds Gilbert Vicario, who left in February. Diaz previously worked at PAMM when it was the Miami Art Museum, and has held curatorial roles at the Bass Museum of Art, Tate Liverpool, the Liverpool Biennial, and the Andy Warhol Museum.

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rate_review review schedule Sep 5, 2025 visibility 24 link 10 artists

stephen shore early work mack

The article reviews Stephen Shore's book *Early Work*, which collects photographs he took between the ages of 13 and 18, from 1960 to 1965. Despite his youth, the images display remarkable sophistication, a feat Shore attributes to an atypical childhood that included early access to cameras and a copy of Walker Evans's *American Photographs*. The book includes a "pre-history" essay in which Shore reflects on his formative influences, including time spent at Andy Warhol's Factory and a friendship with headmaster William Dexter, who deepened his interest in photography. The earliest image in the book is a portrait of Dexter taking a photograph, which Shore describes as a metanarrative of a photographer photographing a photographer.

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article policy schedule Aug 21, 2025 visibility 20 link 9 artists

trump slavery museums smithsonian comments meaning

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the Smithsonian and museums nationwide, claiming they focus excessively on negative aspects of U.S. history such as slavery. He described these institutions as the last remaining segment of 'WOKE' culture. The article counters his remarks by highlighting the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which presents both the horrors of slavery and themes of survival, liberation, and perseverance through objects like Harriet Tubman's handkerchief and artworks by Jacob Lawrence and Alison Saar. It also references the 2022 exhibition 'Afro-Atlantic Histories' at the National Gallery of Art, which balanced depictions of violence with messages of freedom and resilience.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

med school class university alabama birmingham art

The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine has launched a new course, "Prescribing Art: How Observation Enhances Medicine," in collaboration with the Abroms-Engel Institute for Visual Arts and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The course tasks junior- and senior-level medical students with analyzing famous artworks by artists including Michelangelo, Paul van Somer, Sir Luke Fildes, Mary Cassatt, and David Levinthal to improve their observational skills and address biases in health care. Developed by associate professor Stephen Russell, the course is an updated version of a 2011 program based on a Yale seminar, expanded this year to focus on bias and tolerance of ambiguity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 20 link 21 artists, 11 galleries

the summer group shows new york city

New York galleries are rethinking the traditional summer group show, moving away from ambitious, canon-redefining exhibitions toward more pragmatic, relationship-driven presentations. Dealers and advisers note that these shows now serve primarily to maintain gallery visibility during the slow August season, test emerging artists, and foster networking. The article highlights examples like "Open Eyes" at A Hug from the Art World, curated by 14-year-old Luke Newsom, which balances playfulness with serious curation, featuring works by KAWS, Urs Fischer, and Raymond Pettibon.

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article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 19 artists

prominent art advisory implodes after 37 years as ex partners fire off lawsuits

Art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher, who ran the blue-chip advisory Guggenheim Asher Associates for 37 years, are now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court allege fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation. Guggenheim claims Asher misappropriated over $20.5 million in revenue, while Asher counters with accusations of unethical behavior, including using sex and kickbacks to secure artworks and lying to collectors. The firm’s clients included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and corporations such as Sony and Coca-Cola.

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