Princeton University Art Museum graduates to expansive new home

The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is opening a new 146,000-square-foot facility on October 31, doubling its previous exhibition and education spaces. The original 1880s building, which underwent multiple additions before being demolished in 2021, could only display about 2% of Princeton's 117,000-object collection. Designed by Adjaye Associates with executive architect Cooper Robertson, the new three-story museum features nine interlocking pavilions, 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, classrooms, and a grand hall. Curators have rethought the installation to move away from rigid geographic and chronological categories, instead emphasizing cross-cultural and cross-media pairings, such as placing Andy Warhol's Blue Marilyn (1962) alongside a 14th-century Italian Virgin and Child.

A Bike Path Now Runs Through the Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is opening a new 24,000-square-foot glass structure called the Mark Rothko Pavilion on November 20, 2025. The $111 million expansion, funded almost entirely by private donations, connects the museum's two existing buildings—the original travertine building designed by Pietro Belluschi and a former Masonic temple—above ground for the first time. The pavilion is named after the artist Mark Rothko, who had his first museum exhibition at PAM in 1932 under his birth name Marcus Rothkowitz. The project was designed by Chicago firm Vinci Hamp Architects and Portland's Hennebery Eddy.

'I want to show the real deal': property developer Rajan Bijlani on his Modernist design collection

Property developer Rajan Bijlani, based in north London, has turned his home Fonthill Pottery—formerly the residence and studio of ceramicist Emmanuel Cooper—into a showcase for his collection of 20th-century design, sculpture, and paintings. His focus is Modernist furniture, particularly works by Pierre Jeanneret, one of the architects of Chandigarh, India. Bijlani owns over 500 pieces, including Jeanneret's 1960 Dining Table and Easy Chairs (1956), as well as works by Le Corbusier and George Nakashima. He staged his first home exhibition last year featuring South Asian diaspora artists, and this year presents 'Electric Kiln,' pairing Jeanneret and Le Corbusier pieces with works by Cooper, Lucie Rie, and Frank Auerbach. Some works are for sale to fund future shows, including a Japan-themed exhibition and one timed to London Gallery Weekend.

‘Sometimes you just have to go for it’: as others close, Ben Hunter expands his London gallery

London art dealer Ben Hunter is bucking the trend of gallery closures by expanding his gallery into a full townhouse at 44 Duke Street in St James’s, set to open this October. Hunter, who previously worked for Old Master dealer Derek Johns and sculpture specialist Robert Bowman, founded his gallery in 2018 and has gradually taken over more space in the building as other tenants left. The historic townhouse was originally where Jay Jopling launched White Cube in 1993. Hunter cites the need to match the ambition of his artists and seize opportunities as key reasons for the expansion, despite the challenging market.

Gustave Caillebotte blockbuster that sparked controversy in France opens in Chicago—with one key difference

A major Gustave Caillebotte survey exhibition, originally titled *Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men* (in French, *Caillebotte: Peindre Les Hommes*), has opened at the Art Institute of Chicago with a revised title: *Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World*. The change was made after an internal focus group found the original title too narrow, and before the show even debuted in Paris. The exhibition, co-curated by Gloria Groom (AIC), Paul Perrin (Musée d’Orsay), and Scott Allan (Getty), explores Caillebotte’s preference for male subjects—such as rowers, soldiers, and card players—without asserting that the artist had same-sex relationships. It previously sparked controversy in France, where critics accused the curators of imposing an American-influenced, reductive queer reading on the artist.

A colorful Takashi Murakami exhibition is coming to Cleveland

The Cleveland Museum of Art is presenting an expanded version of Takashi Murakami's exhibition 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,' originally shown at The Broad in Los Angeles in 2022. The show fills the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery with Murakami's vibrant paintings and sculptures, including early drawings, self-portraits, and new works unseen by American audiences. A highlight is the Yumedono project, a re-creation of the Dream Hall at Hōryū Temple in Nara, Japan, created in collaboration with the team from the FX series *Shogun*. Curator Ed Schad emphasizes the exhibition's exploration of how art can address crisis, healing, and escapist fantasy after shared historical trauma, with loans that dialogue with classical Japanese artists like Ogata Kōrin, Kitaōji Rosanjin, and Itō Jakuchū.

The colorful world of Takashi Murakami comes to Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art has opened "Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow," a major exhibition of works by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The show, which originated at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, features vibrant paintings, sculptures, and an immersive recreation of the Yumedono (Dream Temple) from Nara, Japan, built in collaboration with designers from the TV series "Shōgun." The exhibition traces Murakami's career from early characters like Mr. DOB to large-scale works addressing grief and trauma, including the 82-foot-long painting inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Christie's 20/21 sales achieve $693 million

Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art sales in New York from 12-15 May 2025 achieved a total of $693 million across six sales, reaching 123% of the low estimate. The top lot was Piet Mondrian's 1922 painting *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue*, which sold for $47.56 million. Other highlights included Claude Monet's *Peupliers au bord de l'Epte, crépuscule* (1891) at $42.96 million, and Marlene Dumas's *Miss January* (1997), which set a record for a living female artist. The Leonard & Louise Riggio collection alone brought $272 million, while the 20th Century Evening Sale achieved $217 million with a 100% sell-through rate. New artist records were set for Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, Louis Fratino, Simone Leigh, and Emma McIntyre.

Marlene Dumas’s $13.6m semi-nude breaks auction record for a living female artist

Christie's 21st century evening sale on Wednesday achieved $79 million ($96.5 million with fees), falling within revised estimates but below original projections and prior sale totals. The standout lot was Marlene Dumas's 1997 painting *Miss January*, which sold for $13.6 million with fees, setting a new auction record for any living female artist. The sale saw three of four records set for women artists, including Simone Leigh, Emma McIntyre, and Louis Fratino, though bidding was subdued overall with heavy reliance on third-party guarantees.

Auction record

A new auction record has been set, with a significant artwork selling for a high price at a major auction house. The sale took place recently, drawing attention from collectors and the art market.

mcny tyger shipwreck research

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is launching a new research project to re-examine a 17th-century shipwreck discovered during a 1916 subway dig in Lower Manhattan. The wreck, long believed to be the Dutch ship *Tyger*—one of the earliest European vessels to anchor in New York Harbor—was excavated by subway foreman James A. Kelly and later donated to MCNY in the 1940s. In partnership with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), the museum will apply advanced scientific techniques, including dendrochronology and wood species analysis, to the ship's timbers to confirm their origins and better understand the vessel's history.

art june leaf grey art museum

The Grey Art Museum at New York University is hosting "Shooting from the Heart," the most comprehensive retrospective to date of the late artist June Leaf, who died last summer at 94. The exhibition, on view through December 13, features her drawings, paintings, and sculptures spanning 75 years, including her theatrical puppet show "Street Dreams" (1968). Originated by the Addison Gallery of American Art, the show will travel to the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Ohio in January 2026. A catalogue co-published by Rizzoli Electa includes contributions from artists Kara Walker and Joan Jonas, and film screenings at Anthology Film Archives explore her New York studio and her life with photographer Robert Frank in Nova Scotia.

art criticism lynne tillman paying attention book

Lynne Tillman celebrated the publication of her new collection, *Paying Attention: Essays on Art and Culture*, from David Zwirner Books, at an event hosted by Coco’s at Colette. The article features a conversation between Tillman and the author, in which she discusses her origin story as a critic, her background in fiction writing, and her unconventional entry into art criticism through an invitation from Craig Owens at *Art in America*. She recounts writing a Madame Realism story about a Renoir exhibition after eavesdropping on museum tours, a piece that angered some art historians.

A Milano una grande mostra a Palazzo Reale racconta i Macchiaioli (e l’Italia del loro tempo)

A major exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan explores the Macchiaioli, the 19th-century Italian painting movement often seen as a precursor to Impressionism. The show brings together works by key figures such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Giuseppe Abbati, and Odoardo Borrani, alongside tangential artists like Giovanni Boldini, Federico Faruffini, and Gerolamo Induno. It traces the movement's origins at Florence's Caffè Michelangiolo, its epicenter at Castiglioncello under patron Diego Martelli, and its evolution from the 1850s through the 1870s, when the group's democratic ideals and en plein air techniques challenged academic conventions.

A New York si è svolta un’asta di oggetti di design con risultati clamorosi (specchi da 30 milioni e altro ancora)

On April 22, 2026, Sotheby's in New York auctioned the first part of the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection, comprising around 125 exceptional design and contemporary art pieces. The sale, held at the Breuer Building, achieved a complete sell-out and became the most valuable design auction ever in the United States, totaling $96 million. A highlight was a new auction record for Claude Lalanne: a set of fifteen mirrors originally commissioned by Yves Saint Laurent sold for over $30 million, surpassing the previous record set by her husband François-Xavier Lalanne's Hippopotame Bar.

The legendary film "Novecento" by Bertolucci in his Parma becomes a major exhibition

Il mitico film “Novecento” di Bertolucci nella sua Parma diventa una grande mostra

A major exhibition titled "Bernardo Bertolucci. Il Novecento" has opened at the Palazzo del Governatore in Parma, Italy, marking the 50th anniversary of Bertolucci's epic film "Novecento" (1976). The show is structured as a visual experience across 25 rooms and four sections, exploring the film's dialectic between collective history and intimate gaze. It features video, drawings, photographs, production materials, and artworks by artists such as Franco Angeli, Renato Guttuso, Taner Ceylan, and Mario Schifano, all drawn from private collections. The exhibition's first room sets the tone with a video juxtaposing the film's opening credits over Pellizza da Volpedo's painting "Il Quarto Stato" and a close-up of the young Olmo holding a frog, encapsulating the tension between political epic and sensory detail.

Nordic Art Week: Stockholm is the European art capital for a week. The interview

Art Week nordiche: Stoccolma è capitale dell’arte europea per una settimana. L’intervista

Stockholm is hosting the Stockholm Art Week from April 21-26, transforming the city into a hub for contemporary art. The event features a citywide program of exhibitions across museums, galleries, and independent spaces, including a retrospective of textile artist Anna Casparsson at Moderna Museet, a photography show by Lotta Antonsson at Fotografiska, and an outdoor bronze sculpture installation by Italian artist Davide Rivalta. The week also coincides with the 20th anniversaries of two major Nordic art fairs, Market Art Fair and Supermarket Art Fair, which are moving to new venues.

What souvenirs did they bring home from the Grand Tour? An exhibition in Milan to find out

Quali souvenir si portavano a casa dal Grand Tour? A Milano una mostra per scoprirlo

The Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan has announced a major exhibition for 2026 dedicated to the Grand Tour, the historic educational journey undertaken by European aristocrats through Italy. Moving beyond traditional landscape paintings, the show explores the material culture of 18th and 19th-century travel, featuring maps, notebooks, luxury jewelry, and fans that served as high-end souvenirs. A centerpiece of the exhibition is Giovanni Paolo Panini’s masterpiece 'Roma Antica,' which will be presented alongside a cinematic reinterpretation by director Ferzan Özpetek.

France reckons with Nazi-looted art in a new Paris museum gallery

France has opened a new permanent gallery at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris dedicated to displaying Nazi-looted artworks that remain unclaimed. The gallery features 13 works from the MNR (Musées Nationaux Récupération) collection, including a painting by Alfred Stevens originally destined for Hitler's planned museum in Linz. The display is the first in the museum's history to show the backs of paintings, revealing stamps, labels, and inventory marks that trace how each piece moved from private Jewish homes into Nazi hands. The museum also launched its first research unit to trace rightful heirs, led by Ines Rotermund-Reynard.

Meet Ese Onojeruo: the exciting new talent behind the Venice Biennale’s British Pavilion

Ese Onojeruo has been appointed the Shane Akeroyd associate curator for the British Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale, working with Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid on her exhibition 'Predicting History: Testing Translation'. The show features Himid's paintings—including 'Boatbuilders', 'Architects', 'Chefs', 'Tailors', and 'Gardeners'—which depict two figures negotiating belonging in a place they did not originally come from. Onojeruo, who previously held roles at South London Gallery, Chisenhale, and Tate, describes the collaboration as a 'full circle moment', having discovered Himid's work only after her formal art education.

Adelaide’s Tarnanthi is going on tour

Tarnanthi, the Art Gallery of South Australia's annual exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, is launching a national tour titled 'Tarnanthi on Tour: Too Deadly' starting July. The touring exhibition features over 30 works from the past decade of the festival, many conceived for Tarnanthi and never seen outside Adelaide. It will visit six regional galleries across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia over the next two years, including Rockhampton Museum of Art, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Ngununggula, Caboolture Art Gallery, Geelong Gallery, and Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.

Tracey Emin debuts intimate new prints at London art fair

British artist Tracey Emin has debuted a new series of six intimate lithographs titled "I Need tomorrow" at the London Original Print Fair, held at Somerset House in London. The prints, which include the work "You Never made me sad" (2026), are on display until Sunday and are published in editions of 50 by Counter Editions. Emin describes the series as a "gift" to herself, created spontaneously while working on a print for her major Tate Modern exhibition. The fair appearance coincides with her landmark retrospective "A Second Life" at Tate Modern, running until August 31, which spans 40 years of her career and features iconic pieces like the 1998 installation "My Bed."

London’s Most Talked-About Art Exhibitions Close This Weekend: Don’t Miss Your Final Chance to See Turner, Picasso, and New Contemporary Talent

Four major art exhibitions across London are entering their final weekend, with closing dates set for April 12, 2026. Highlights include Tate Britain’s face-off between landscape masters J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, and Tate Modern’s dual offerings: a deep dive into Pablo Picasso’s theatrical influences and Máret Ánne Sara’s monumental Hyundai Commission installation in the Turbine Hall. The South London Gallery is also concluding its showcase of the New Contemporaries, which highlights emerging artistic talent.

Sculptor Sahar Khoury, Collection Exhibition at the Manetti Shrem Museum Offer New Views of California Art

Two exhibitions opening in January at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis explore themes of cultural origins, legacy, and preservation in California art. "Sahar Khoury: Weights & Measures" (Jan. 7–June 20) is the Bay Area sculptor's largest solo show to date, featuring works in ceramics, metal, papier-mâché, and found objects that interrogate value systems, personal and political symbols, and site sensitivity. The emotional centerpiece, "The Elephant in the Room," evokes ruins and marketplaces of North Africa and Southwest Asia. Concurrently, "Backstory: Digitizing the Museum Collection" (Jan. 21–May 2) turns the museum into a working digitization lab, displaying signature works from UC Davis’ Fine Art Collection while revealing the process of preserving art for posterity.

From subways to galleries: Miami's Museum of Graffiti traces the appeal of street art

Miami's Museum of Graffiti, located in the Wynwood neighborhood, is hosting a new exhibition that chronicles the origins and development of graffiti and street art, timed to coincide with the annual Art Basel fair and its satellite shows. The museum, founded six years ago by Alan Ket, bills itself as the first museum in the world dedicated to graffiti and street art. The exhibition features works by artists like JonOne (Jon Perello), who began tagging New York subways as a teenager, and highlights key moments such as the 1973 Razor gallery show, which helped legitimize graffiti as an art form.

Miss Subway NYC is a landmark solo exhibition by trailblazing artist Lady Pink.

D'Stassi Art has opened "Miss Subway NYC," a landmark solo exhibition by trailblazing graffiti artist Lady Pink in Shoreditch, London. The show features a full-scale recreation of a graffiti-covered NYC subway station, displaying original works, new commissions, archival pieces, sketches, and ephemera from her early career. Lady Pink, one of the first women to break into New York's graffiti scene, began tagging trains at 17 and exhibited at MoMA PS1's landmark 1981 show "New York/New Wave" alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. The exhibition's title references the historic Miss Subways beauty pageant, and includes a self-portrait of Lady Pink as Miss Subways 2025.

Weekly News Roundup: July 7, 2025

The Sharjah Architecture Triennial announced its third edition theme, "Architecture Otherwise: Building Civic Infrastructure for Collective Futures," opening in November 2026, curated by Vyjayanthi Rao and Tau Tavengwa. The Noguchi Museum appointed Hitomi Iwasaki as head curator, while London nonprofit YDP announced an inaugural Duan Jianyu exhibition and permanent commissions by Christine Sun Kim and Danh Võ. Australia's Mordant family gifted major artworks to the Newcastle Art Gallery.

Diego Rivera’s grandson donates more than 150,000 objects to Mexico City’s Museo Anahuacalli

Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera, grandson of Diego Rivera, has donated his private collection of 157,300 objects to Mexico City's Museo Anahuacalli. The vast donation spans ceramics, textiles, prints, photographs, archives, and a research library, with works dating from the 16th century to the present. It will be transferred in stages and is expected to be fully integrated by the end of the year.

Pinakothek in Munich Returns Nazi-Looted Painting by Lesser Ury to Jewish Heirs

The Pinakothek museums in Munich have restituted a painting by German-Jewish Impressionist Lesser Ury to the heirs of its original owner, Berlin banker Curt Goldschmidt. The work, 'Interior with Children (The Siblings),' was sold at a forced auction in the 1930s after the Goldschmidt family bank collapsed under Nazi economic policies.

art market minute jun 9

The article reports on a new European Union regulation, Regulation 2019/880, set to take effect on June 28, which will impose stricter import requirements on antiquities and artworks over 200 years old and valued above €18,000. Importers must now prove that such objects were legally exported from their country of origin, even if the export occurred decades ago. This comes amid ongoing tariff confusion in the U.S., adding another layer of complexity for the international art trade. The article also teases a rediscovered J.M.W. Turner painting bought for $500 that could sell for $500,000, and highlights upcoming art hot spots for summer.