Vasari Art Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Jan 7, 2026 visibility 9 link 42 artists

diriyah contemporary art biennale 2026 artist list 1234769006

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has announced the artist list for the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, opening January 30 in the JAX District of Diriyah, near Riyadh. Titled “In Interludes and Transitions,” the biennale is curated by Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed and features over 65 artists, including more than 20 new commissions. Participants range from historic figures like Pacita Abad and Etel Adnan to emerging voices such as Raven Chacon and Dineo Seshee Bopape, working across painting, installation, film, sound, architecture, and publishing.

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article news schedule Dec 15, 2025 visibility 4 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

banksys walled off hotel in bethlehem reopens for the first time since october 7 attacks 1234766810

Banksy's Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem has reopened for the first time since the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. The hotel, which opened in 2017 across from the West Bank barrier, functions as a guesthouse, museum, art gallery, bookstore, and spray-paint shop, with nearly every window facing the 30-foot-high concrete wall. Manager Wisam Salsaa described the reopening as a symbol of hope and a cultural platform carrying the narrative of Palestine, featuring more than 20 original Banksy works and accommodation ranging from $70 bunk beds to a $495 presidential suite.

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

tate director steps down smithsonian returns khmer sculptures and more morning links for december 12 2025 1234766706

Maria Balshaw, director of Tate in London, will step down in spring 2026 after nearly a decade leading the institution. During her tenure, she oversaw major exhibitions including "Van Gogh and Britain," "Yoko Ono," and "Sargent and Fashion," and her final project will be a Tracey Emin survey at Tate Modern. Separately, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art announced it will return three Khmer Empire sculptures—Head of Harihara, The Goddess Uma, and Prajnaparamita—to Cambodia, citing evidence they were looted during the country's civil conflict. The US Senate also unanimously approved the HEAR Act of 2025 to help heirs reclaim art looted during the Holocaust.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 6 link 8 artists, 2 galleries

david zwirner benefit exhibition raises 1 million ali forney center 1234766485

David Zwirner gallery in New York hosted a four-day benefit exhibition titled “Toward the Light: Artists for the Ali Forney Center,” which raised $950,000 for the Ali Forney Center, a nonprofit supporting queer youth with housing, education, job training, and medical care. Curated by art adviser Stephen Truax, the show featured 37 artists, including Ross Bleckner, Marlene Dumas, Jenna Gribbon, Julie Mehretu, and Wolfgang Tillmans, and generated $1.2 million in sales, with artists receiving $250,000 and the gallery waiving its commission. Truax, who previously co-organized smaller editions with Sotheby’s, shifted to a gallery partnership to gain more control over sales and pricing, more than doubling his initial $350,000 fundraising goal.

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rate_review review schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 3 link 4 artists

minnie evans legacy high museum whitney 1234765213

The article reflects on the responsibility of critical art writing in the Southeast, sparked by the announcement that Art Papers, an international art magazine based in Atlanta, will sunset in 2026 after 50 years. The author recounts a debate among local art workers about reviewing the forthcoming Minnie Evans retrospective organized by the High Museum of Art and traveling to the Whitney Museum, which he initially declined due to a conflict of interest with curator Katherine Jentleson. He ultimately agrees to write, emphasizing the need for Black scholars to engage with self-taught Black artists. The piece examines how Evans's narrative has been mediated through the lens of white photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr, questioning the power dynamics and what remains unknown about Evans's own agency.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 5, 2025 visibility 8 link 19 artists, 11 galleries

design miami exhibitors art craft design 1234765505

At Design Miami 2025, artist Nicole Cherubini presented monumental ceramic sculptures at Friedman Benda's booth, alongside Molly Hatch's installation of 288 ceramic plates at Todd Merrill's booth. The fair, curated under the theme "Make.Believe" by Glenn Adamson, saw 15 previous exhibitors drop out due to President Trump's tariffs—including a 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum—while eight more booths appeared overall, dominated by younger, emerging talent and organic, pastel-hued designs. Established galleries like Donzello, Patrick Seguin, and Sarah Myerscough did not return, while first-time exhibitors included Arte y Ritual and Mass Modern Design.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 15 link 21 artists, 1 gallery

christies 21st century evening sale totals november 2025 1234762509

Christie's 21st-century evening sale on Wednesday, November 2025, achieved a hammer total of $99.7 million on 44 lots, within the pre-sale estimate of $87.5–$127 million. With fees, the final total reached $123.6 million. The sale opened with 18 lots from the collection of Chicago philanthropists Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, featuring works by Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, and Diego Giacometti. A Giacometti coffee table sparked a seven-minute bidding war, selling for $4.53 million. Three artist records were set: Firelei Báez ($1.1 million), Olga de Amaral ($3.1 million), and Joan Brown ($596,500). Only one work, by Cecily Brown, failed to sell.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 7 link 5 artists

christies 21st century evening sale women artists records 1234762523

Christie’s 21st-century evening sale on Wednesday set new auction records for women artists Firelei Báez, Joan Brown, and Olga de Amaral. Báez’s painting *Untitled (Colonization in America, Visual History Wall Map, Prepared by Civic Education Service)* (2021) sold for $1,111,250; Brown’s *After the Alcatraz Swim #2* achieved $596,900; and Amaral’s *Pueblo H* (2011) soared to $3,125,000—more than double her previous record. The sale also set records for a neon/sculptural work by Glenn Ligon and a three-dimensional work by Richard Prince.

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article culture schedule Nov 7, 2025 visibility 5 link 2 artists, 2 galleries

timothee chalamet michael heizer city vogue 1234760574

Actor Timothée Chalamet visited Michael Heizer's monumental Land art installation *City* in the Nevada desert for a profile in *Vogue*. The article, tied to Chalamet's upcoming film *Marty Supreme*, includes his brief remarks on the artwork and photographer Annie Leibovitz, who shot his portraits at the site. The piece also quotes art critic Kristen Swenson's reflections on the sensory experience of *City*, which opened in 2022 after decades of construction.

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article news schedule Oct 30, 2025 visibility 5 link 4 artists

mfa bostons historic restitution five new louvre arrests made and more morning links for october 30 2025 1234759428

Five additional suspects have been arrested in connection with the October 19 Louvre heist, in which thieves stole jewels worth €88 million ($102 million) from the museum in broad daylight. The arrests occurred in the Paris region, with one main suspect among them; three of the four-man team are now in custody, while one remains at large. Separately, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has agreed to return two ceramic works by enslaved potter David Drake to his descendants, marking the first time the museum has restituted art taken under slavery in the 19th century United States. One vessel will remain on loan to the MFA, while the other, Drake's Poem Jar, has been repurchased by the museum with a "certificate of ethical ownership."

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article news schedule Oct 23, 2025 visibility 5 link 4 artists

louvre admits stolen jewels are not insured art basel ubs collecting report shows growing influence of women and gen z and more morning links for october 23 2025 1234758550

The Louvre has admitted that jewels stolen from its collection in a daylight smash-and-grab robbery on Sunday are not privately insured, leaving the French state liable for the full $102 million loss if the items are not recovered. The heist targeted jewels once owned by Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, and a leaked audit revealed the museum's security systems were "outdated and inadequate." French officials have struggled to track the thieves, and the culture ministry confirmed that the state acts as its own insurer for works in their usual place of conservation, meaning no reimbursement will be made if the jewels remain missing.

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article news schedule Oct 20, 2025 visibility 2 link 3 artists

amy sherald talks canceled smithsonian show 60 minutes 1234757994

Painter Amy Sherald has revealed in a "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper that she pulled out of her solo exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery because the museum considered removing her painting of a Black transgender Statue of Liberty, titled "Trans Forming Liberty." Sherald stated that the Smithsonian secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch III, proposed replacing the painting with a video discussing trans issues that would include anti-trans views, which she deemed unacceptable censorship. The exhibition, "American Sublime," was originally organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and last shown at the Whitney Museum; it is now expected to open at the Baltimore Museum of Art on November 2.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 7, 2025 visibility 4 link 3 artists, 3 galleries

hauser amp wirths uk profits drop 1234755773

Hauser & Wirth's UK subsidiary reported an 87% decline in pretax profit for 2024, falling to $1.6 million from $12.5 million the previous year, as revenue dropped by more than half to $91.4 million. The gallery attributed the downturn to a sharp fall in secondary-market sales, which can fluctuate significantly based on a few high-value transactions. The UK entity represents only a small portion of the gallery's global business, which the founders said remained aligned with the prior year's successful performance. Separately, the gallery's hospitality arm, Artfarm Group, posted a wider pretax loss of $24 million despite a 16% rise in turnover.

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article news schedule Oct 1, 2025 visibility 6 link 4 artists

british museum ball international partnerships 1234755018

The British Museum in London has announced a new fundraising event called the British Museum Ball, scheduled for October 18, with a pink theme inspired by the colors and light of India, tied to its exhibition 'Ancient India: Living Traditions.' The gala will be co-chaired by Isha Ambani, a patron of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, and will feature a silent auction, music by Anoushka Shankar and Jules Buckley, and a guest list including Zadie Smith, Naomi Campbell, Idris Elba, Miuccia Prada, and others. Proceeds will support the museum's international partnerships and its goal of making its collection more accessible worldwide.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 29, 2025 visibility 6 link 1 artist

picasso museum paris expansion sculpture park plan 1234754431

The Musée Picasso-Paris has announced a €50 million ($59 million) transformation plan, including a new wing for temporary exhibitions and a redesigned garden that will connect with the nearby Square Léonor-Fini. The project, scheduled for construction from 2028 to 2030, will double the museum's temporary exhibition space to 8,600 square feet and create a 25,000-square-foot sculpture park featuring around 10 Picasso sculptures, free to the public without a museum ticket. The museum plans to remain open during construction, which will be funded through patronage raised by a foundation hosted by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, with a significant donation from the Picasso family.

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article culture schedule Sep 25, 2025 visibility 5 link 7 artists, 7 galleries

art market open door policy jeff magid 1234753579

Jeff Magid, a New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico City–based art collector, plans to open Cuernavaca Tres, a public art foundation in Mexico City, in 2026. In an opinion piece for ARTnews, he argues that the current downturn in the art market—marked by declining sales and gallery closures—is not due to economic cycles or financialization, but rather a simple mismatch: there are more galleries, auctions, fairs, and artists than ever, while the number of buyers has not kept pace. Magid criticizes the luxury retail model adopted by many galleries, which prioritizes exclusivity and status signaling, and contends that this approach fails to attract enough new collectors to sustain the market.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 5 link 19 artists, 10 galleries

the summer group shows new york city 1234747129

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 17, 2025 visibility 4 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

tim blum unplugs from the gallery machine 1234746678

Tim Blum, co-founder of the influential Blum & Poe gallery, is stepping away from the traditional gallery model after more than 30 years. He told ARTnews that the decision was driven by burnout with the relentless cycle of art fairs, openings, and obligations, not by financial strain. His Tokyo and Los Angeles locations will close after summer exhibitions, and a planned New York space may not open as a conventional gallery. Blum will instead pursue a more flexible model involving special projects and collaborations, while continuing to buy and sell art personally.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 9, 2025 visibility 6 link 9 artists, 6 galleries

art basel 2025 blue chip galleries sales trend 1234746767

ARTnews analyzed publicly reported sales from five blue-chip galleries—Hauser & Wirth, Pace, Thaddaeus Ropac, White Cube, and David Zwirner—at Art Basel 2025, finding a combined total over 35% lower than in 2024, around 8% below 2023, and just over 20% down from 2022. The high-water mark was $204 million in 2024, boosted by eight-figure works from Hauser & Wirth. Meanwhile, the number of artists sold by these galleries rose steadily from 109 in 2022 to 157 in 2025, indicating a shift toward broader, less concentrated inventory. Dealers reported mixed sentiments, though seven-figure deals still occurred, and some noted that market uncertainty has led to more scattershot presentations with wider price ranges.

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article news schedule Jun 24, 2025 visibility 3 link 1 artist, 3 galleries

banksy mural lawsuit bethnal green 1234746010

A legal dispute has erupted over a Banksy mural, *Yellow Lines Flower Painter* (2007), painted on the Bethnal Green Working Man’s Club in east London. The club’s trustees have filed a lawsuit against employee Warren Dent and others, alleging the work was illegally removed and put up for sale in the US. The mural, depicting a workman and a giant flower emerging from double-yellow lines, is currently in Colorado. The club’s former accountant claims secretary Stephen Smorthit agreed to sell the piece to Dent for £20,000 in 2019, after which art restorer Chris Bull removed it and later loaned it to his father’s gallery in Aspen. The trustees argue they never authorized the sale and are demanding the work’s return.

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article news schedule Jun 17, 2025 visibility 5 link 15 artists

bob rennie donation national gallery art canada morning links 1234745311

Vancouver-based art collector Bob Rennie has donated 61 artworks valued at C$22.8 million ($16.8 million) to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The donation includes works by Ai Weiwei, Mona Hatoum, Dan Graham, and Rodney Graham, and the museum has named a space after the Rennie family, with plans for at least one more. In other news, the Orange County Museum of Art is exploring a merger with the University of California, Irvine, and its director Heidi Zickerman will step down in December. Critics are blasting a digital projection of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Wrapped Reichstag onto the German parliament, calling it an 'aesthetic outrage.' Additionally, Iván Argote's pigeon sculpture Dinosaur on the High Line Plinth inspired a Pigeon Fest in New York, and rare copies of Lincoln's 13th Amendment and Emancipation Proclamation are heading to auction at Sotheby's.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 5 link 7 artists, 7 galleries

beijing china gallery weekend art season recap 1234744646

Beijing concluded its inaugural "Beijing Art Season" from May 22 to June 1, comprising the long-running Gallery Weekend Beijing and two local art fairs, Beijing Dangdai and Art021 Beijing. The event took place shortly after a diplomatic breakthrough in U.S.–China tariff tensions, but amid China's economic slowdown, the atmosphere was subdued: the Visiting Sector for international galleries and the large-scale group show were scrapped, and satellite events were fewer. Despite this, collectors, curators, and institutional directors from Germany, the UK, Korea, and Japan attended, with some noting China's strategic importance due to its deep collector base. French billionaire Laurent Dassault reported better market sentiment in Beijing than in Europe, while Berlin galleries PSM and Galerie Thomas Schulte made their first appearances at Beijing Dangdai, collaborating with Hua International for a "Berlin Section." The fair grew from 32 galleries in 2018 to 87 this year, reflecting local collectors' appetite for international and experimental contemporary art.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 2 link 3 artists

rijksmuseum condom erotic print 1234744150

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has announced that a rare condom dating from 1830 will go on display in its print room as part of an exhibition on 19th-century sex work and sexuality. The nearly 200-year-old condom, likely made from a sheep's appendix and featuring an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen with the inscription "Voilà mon choix" ("This is my choice"), is one of only two such surviving objects and was purchased by the museum at auction six months ago.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 4 link 10 artists

ruba katrib moma ps1 the gatherers exhibition interview 1234744012

MoMA PS1 has opened its marquee spring exhibition, “The Gatherers,” a group show featuring 14 artists from around the world who explore the psychic and material burdens of climate change, globalization, and neoliberalism. Curated by Ruba Katrib, the exhibition includes works in sculpture, video, assemblage, and installation, spanning regions from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Lithuania, and is on view through October 6. Katrib, PS1’s chief curator and director of curatorial affairs, emphasizes that the show lets the artworks speak for themselves through form and material rather than delivering a direct lecture.

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rate_review review schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 5 link 2 artists, 2 galleries

david hammons artist book hauser wirth 1234743679

David Hammons has released a "post-exhibition catalogue" through Hauser & Wirth Publishers, six years after his 2019 survey at the gallery's Downtown Los Angeles location. The 12-by-12-inch, nearly 7-pound volume contains hundreds of images—installation shots, artwork reproductions, and ephemera—but no text whatsoever: no table of contents, essays, titles, dates, or page numbers. The book functions more as an artist's book than a traditional exhibition catalog, presenting Hammons's work in a raw, unapologetic sequence that resists scholarly interpretation.

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trending_up market schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 4 link 3 artists

leonard blavatnik james dyson idan ofer rich list uk 2025 1234742626

The Sunday Times's 2025 'Rich List' shows that Top 200 collector and art patron Leonard Blavatnik's net worth fell by more than £3.5 billion to £25.725 billion, dropping him to #3 on the UK wealth ranking. The list includes over a dozen collectors from ARTnews's 2024 Top 200 Collectors list, such as James Dyson, Idan Ofer, Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, Alan Howard, and Mohammed Mahdi al-Tajir, with Ofer noted as one of the top five individuals whose wealth rose most. Other figures mentioned include Simon Reuben, John Fredriksen, Sri Prakash Lohia, Lakshmi Mittal, Elton John, and former Christie's stakeholder Joe Lewis.

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trending_up market schedule May 16, 2025 visibility 1 link 22 artists, 2 galleries

basquiat ruscha sothebys now contemporary art sale may 2025 1234742440

Sotheby's three-part evening sale in New York on Thursday generated $186.1 million across 68 lots, landing near the high end of its $141 million to $204.9 million estimate. The sale included a focused 12-lot offering from the collection of late gallerist Barbara Gladstone, which sold all works without guarantees and totaled $18.5 million, and a 15-work guaranteed sale from dealer Daniella Luxembourg featuring postwar Italian artists, where Lucio Fontana's 'Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio' (1963) achieved $14.5 million and Michelangelo Pistoletto's 'Maria Nuda' (1969) sold for $2.7 million after a five-minute bidding war.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 12, 2025 visibility 2 link 5 artists

moma curator jodi hoptman hilma af klint botanical drawings 1234741702

MoMA has acquired a rare portfolio of 46 botanical drawings by Hilma af Klint, created between 1919 and 1920, and will present them in an exhibition titled “What Stands Behind the Flowers” from May 11 to September 27. Curator Jodi Hauptman discusses how the drawings reveal af Klint’s dual approach—traditional figuration alongside abstract diagrams—and her deep engagement with the natural world, including newly discovered evidence that she worked as a professional scientific illustrator for a mushroom specialist.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 10, 2025 visibility 3 link 20 artists

national gallery sainsburg wing reopening gabriele finaldi 1234741454

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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person people schedule Apr 21, 2026 visibility 11 link 8 artists

What is a botanical curator? Rahel Kesselring takes on inaugural role at Fondation Beyeler

Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland has appointed Rahel Kesselring as its inaugural botanical curator, a newly created position supported by the Chanel Culture Fund. Kesselring, a former research associate at Humboldt University, will develop a hybrid curatorial programme focused on the museum's park and surrounding ecosystems, aiming to integrate botanical knowledge with artistic practice on a practical, material level.

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