Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Jan 22, 2026 visibility 24 link 7 artists

super bowl lx jeffrey gibson public art commission 1234770518

The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco announced a major public art commission by Jeffrey Gibson for Super Bowl LX festivities. The work, an adaptation of Gibson's 2022 video installation "THIS BURNING WORLD," will be installed as a 433-foot-long vinyl mural on the former Bloomingdale's building at San Francisco Centre, wrapping an entire city block. It will be fully unveiled on February 2, 2026, coinciding with the FOG Design+Art Fair. The project is funded by the San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation and the Yerba Buena Partnership, which have previously supported public art by Sarah Sze and Hank Willis Thomas.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jan 22, 2026 visibility 22 link 1 artist

frida kahlo tate modern loan challenges 1234770503

Tate Modern's upcoming exhibition "Frida: The Making of an Icon," opening in June, will feature only 36 works by Frida Kahlo, a significant drop from the 50-plus works shown in the museum's last major Kahlo exhibition in 2005. Curators cite the artist's soaring global popularity as a practical obstacle: her paintings have become scarcer, more valuable, and harder to borrow. A key example is Kahlo's 1940 painting "El sueño (La cama)," which sold at Sotheby's New York for $54.7 million last fall, setting a new auction record for a woman artist. Tate is still trying to secure that work for the show, but curator Tobias Ostrander says chances are slim. Notably, Madonna, who lent works in 2005, has declined to loan this time. The exhibition, which premieres at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston before traveling to London, will not be a traditional retrospective but will instead place Kahlo's work within a broader cultural context, including works by over 80 artists she influenced and a section examining "Fridamania" and the mass merchandising of her image.

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article culture schedule Jan 22, 2026 visibility 10 link 1 artist

our favourite viral gen z marketing scripts 2560542

Museums and cultural institutions are participating in a viral social media trend where staff, often older guides or curators, deliver marketing scripts written entirely in Gen Z slang. The trend, which began with a video from England's Hever Castle in early September, has spread across TikTok and Instagram, with hundreds of organizations creating their own versions. Typical phrases include "no cap," "ate and left no crumbs," and "menty b," often accompanied by the "Millennial Pause" for comedic effect. The article highlights several examples, including the Poe Museum in Virginia and the New York Historical Society, and notes that the trend has expanded beyond the art world to include accountancy firms, donkey sanctuaries, and even the NYC Ferry.

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article news schedule Jan 21, 2026 visibility 24 link 8 artists, 2 galleries

52 walker david zwirner ebony haynes transition 1234770418

52 Walker, the Tribeca kunsthalle-style space founded by Ebony L. Haynes under David Zwirner in 2021, has quietly transitioned from a standalone venue into a standard David Zwirner gallery space. The change followed Haynes's promotion to global head of curatorial projects last fall. The final exhibition at 52 Walker as a dedicated physical space was a presentation by Nicole Eisenman. Haynes will continue to curate under the 52W banner as a nomadic, project-based initiative across Zwirner's global locations, with the next show being an Isa Genzken exhibition titled 'Vacation' opening in March.

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article news schedule Jan 21, 2026 visibility 28 link 10 artists

met opera may sell prized marc chagall paintings 1234770398

New York's Metropolitan Opera is considering selling two monumental Marc Chagall murals, 'The Sources of Music' and 'The Triumphs of Music' (1966), valued at $55 million by Sotheby's, to address a severe financial crisis. The Met has already drawn $120 million from its endowment, reduced performances, and struck a controversial $100 million deal to perform in Saudi Arabia, which has drawn scrutiny over human rights abuses. The murals, which hang in the Grand Tier, would remain in place even if sold, and the Met is also exploring naming rights and theater leasing.

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article news schedule Jan 19, 2026 visibility 18 link 6 artists

prado museum moves to curb overcrowding 2738386

Madrid's Prado Museum has announced it will cap visitor numbers after a record-breaking 3.5 million visits in 2025, with director Miguel Falomir declaring the institution does not want or need 'a single visitor more.' The museum unveiled 'Plan Host,' a new strategy prioritizing visitor experience over volume, including measures to limit crowds and attract more local Spanish audiences, as 65 percent of current visitors are overseas tourists. Falomir warned against chasing ever-higher attendance, citing the Louvre as a cautionary example where overcrowding has led to deteriorating conditions, staff strikes, and calls for the director's resignation.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jan 13, 2026 visibility 37 link 26 artists

new museum reopening march 21 2026 1234769578

The New Museum in New York will reopen on March 21, 2026, after a two-year closure for a major expansion. Designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, the project adds 60,000 square feet to the existing SANAA-designed building, bringing the total footprint to nearly 120,000 square feet. New features include expanded exhibition space, a 74-seat Forum, an enlarged Sky Room, artist commissions by Tschabalala Self, Klára Hosnedlová, and Sarah Lucas, a larger bookstore, and a restaurant by Henry Rich with executive chef Julia Sherman. The reopening weekend will offer free admission funded by trustee Charlotte Feng Ford, and the museum will debut the exhibition “New Humans: Memories of the Future,” featuring over 200 artists including Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí, and contemporary figures like Meriem Bennani and Hito Steyerl.

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person people schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 24 link 13 artists

prix marcel duchamp 2026 nominees 1234769260

The Prix Marcel Duchamp, France's most prestigious art prize, has announced its 2026 nominees: Joël Andrianomearisoa, Josèfa Ntjam, Laura Henno, and the duo David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin. The five nominees will exhibit together at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris in October, with the winner receiving €35,000. The jury is led by Centre Pompidou director Xavier Rey and includes prominent curators, collectors, and past winners such as Kader Attia.

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article policy schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 12 link 1 artist

cancelled nea grants for underserved audiences 2606683

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has updated its 2026 fiscal year grant guidelines, cancelling the Challenge America grants that targeted underserved communities and replacing them with a focus on projects celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States (America250). The changes, announced in response to executive orders by President Donald Trump, eliminate DEI-related funding and require applicants to have a five-year history of arts programming. Organizations that had applied for the $10,000 Challenge America grants must now resubmit under the broader Grants for Arts Projects category, with extended deadlines.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 19 link 12 artists, 5 galleries

sperone westwater court filings 2735301

Sperone Westwater, a 50-year-old New York gallery, closed on January 1, 2026, amid a legal dispute between its co-founders Gian Enzo Sperone and Angela Westwater. Court filings reveal Sperone accuses Westwater of mismanagement, including using the gallery's Norman Foster-designed building on the Bowery to subsidize unprofitable operations, while Westwater counters that Sperone has been largely absent since 2016 and is attempting to extract maximum financial benefit. The corporation's two directors are deadlocked, and a receiver may be appointed to oversee dissolution, including sale of the building and distribution of assets.

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article news schedule Jan 6, 2026 visibility 17 link 6 artists

louvre strike 2 2734814

Louvre staff went on strike again on Monday over understaffing, working conditions, and the museum's $820 million renovation plan, echoing calls for director Laurence des Cars to step down. The walkout forced the museum to close to the public, reopening only a few major attractions like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace. The strike, originally launched in December, was suspended briefly but resumed after all 350 staff voted unanimously in favor. Unions demand a re-evaluation of the renovation project, dubbed "Nouvelle Renaissance," arguing the high cost is unrealistic and that priorities should shift to urgent technical maintenance.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 17 link 4 artists

christies h1 2025 auction sales report 1234747544

Christie’s announced a projected sales total of $2.1 billion for the first half of 2025, matching its H1-2024 figure. While art categories like Impressionist, modern, and Old Masters saw modest growth—Old Masters sales rose 15% to $55 million—luxury categories (handbags, watches, cars, jewelry) surged nearly 30% to $468 million, now accounting for 22% of the total. Notable sales included René Magritte’s *La reconnaissance infinite* (1933) for £10.3 million and Piet Mondrian’s *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Grey, Yellow, Black, and Blue* (1922) for $46.7 million. Guaranteed lots remained low at 1.5%, and the sell-through rate held steady at 88%.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 10 link 4 artists

re air why no one trusts art prices anymore 2711783

Artnet News revisits a podcast episode featuring editor-in-chief Naomi Rea, who examines the breakdown of traditional art pricing logic amid a cooling market. The episode explores how the rules that once governed art valuation have eroded, leaving dealers, advisors, and collectors struggling to navigate a market described as being in a "danger zone." Rea discusses how mega-galleries, emerging dealers, and advisors are quietly recalibrating their strategies as speculation dries up and confidence wanes.

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article culture schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 9 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

experts how to make it art world 2727594

Artnet News has launched a new four-part podcast mini-series titled "How to Get Ahead in the Art World," produced in partnership with Art Market Mentors. Hosted by editor-in-chief Naomi Rea and produced by Sonia Manalili, the series features insights from top art-world insiders including Cat Manson (former Christie's leader turned career coach), Loïc Gouzer (former Christie's rainmaker and founder of Fair Warning), and Brooke Lampley (senior roles at Sotheby's and Gagosian). Each episode covers a key career lesson: taking ownership of your career, trusting your instincts, leading with passion, and embracing a layoff as a reset.

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article culture schedule Dec 29, 2025 visibility 14 link 16 artists, 1 gallery

artists business art 2725483

Artnet News asked several working artists—Manuel Mathieu, Hanna Salomonsson, Aki Sasamoto, Nigel Hall, Sharmistha Ray, and Miljohn Ruperto—to share the practical and philosophical lessons that sustain their creative practices. Topics include building trust with collaborators, navigating financial uncertainty, setting up shared studio spaces, using recycled materials, maintaining optimism at age 82, reframing rejection, and adapting to the expectation that artists must act as entrepreneurs before their first gallery show.

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article news schedule Dec 22, 2025 visibility 45 link 31 artists, 36 galleries

contemporary art galleries 2025 2731623

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 17 link 10 artists

sargent monet rodin 2718390

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 news schedule Dec 18, 2025 visibility 10 link 2 artists

guggenheim bilbao urdaibai expansion scrapped 1234767429

The Guggenheim Bilbao has scrapped plans for a €100 million satellite expansion in Spain's protected Urdaibai biosphere reserve after nearly two decades of legal challenges and local opposition. The museum's board of trustees, including the Basque regional government and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, voted to halt the project due to insufficient public support and scientific objections. The two-site expansion would have placed cultural facilities in Gernika and Murueta, but environmental groups argued that up to 140,000 annual visitors would damage wetlands crucial for migratory birds.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 15, 2025 visibility 24 link 49 artists

whitney biennial 2026 artist list 1234766723

The Whitney Biennial has announced the 56 artists selected for its 82nd edition, opening March 8, 2026. Curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, the exhibition explores themes of relationality, kinship, infrastructure, and the US role in global affairs. The curators visited over 300 studios worldwide, and the list includes many emerging and lesser-known artists, with most participants under 45 and a significant number identifying as queer.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 15, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists, 1 gallery

walton ford gagosian tutto cheetah marchesa luisa casati 1234738380

Walton Ford's new series of paintings, on view at Gagosian in New York through April 19, centers on the Marchesa Luisa Casati and her two cheetahs. The works depict the Milanese heiress and Futurist muse in early 20th-century Venice, but the animals—not the glamorous woman—command the focal point. Ford, known for subverting natural history illustration, uses watercolor to balance trompe-l'oeil realism with painterly abandon, developing the characters across multiple canvases with Italian titles referencing literature by Casati's lover, poet Gabriele D'Annunzio.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 21 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

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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trending_up market schedule Dec 11, 2025 visibility 23 link 13 artists

ultra contemporary chinese artists market 2717404

The article analyzes the auction performance of Chinese artists born after 1990 (post-90s) in the first half of 2025, based on data from the Artnet Price Database and the Artnet Intelligence Report. It highlights a shift from short-term speculation to longer-term competition, with the market showing more robust structure including stratified pricing and wider transactional geography. Key figures include Li Hei Di, whose large-scale painting sold for HK$2.67 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, and other artists like Zhang Zipiao, Yuan Fang, and Wang Qianyao achieving consistent mid-range prices between HK$300,000 and HK$800,000. Sales in Hong Kong reached HK$12.4 million, while artists also entered Western markets in New York and London.

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

simon de pury photos art 2725895

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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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 18 link 5 artists

london national gallery to raise 1 billion project domani 1234765319

London's National Gallery has announced Project Domani, a nearly $1 billion initiative to collect 20th- and 21st-century art and build a new wing to house it. The institution has shortlisted six architectural firms—including Foster + Partners, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and Kengo Kuma and Associates—from 65 entrants in an international competition, with a winner to be announced in April. About half the funds have been raised, with major pledges from Crankstart, the Julia Rausing Trust, and the National Gallery Trust. The wing will be built on the last undeveloped portion of the campus at 30 Orange Street and is projected to open in the early 2030s.

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article news schedule Dec 1, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

flag art foundation serpentine galleries artist prize 1234764228

The FLAG Art Foundation, based in New York, has pledged £1 million ($1.3 million) to London's Serpentine Galleries to establish a new biennial artist prize. Named the Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize, it will award £200,000 ($265,000) to an international artist who has been exhibiting for fewer than ten years, along with an exhibition at both institutions and a catalog. The first winner will be selected in 2026, with exhibitions at Serpentine in 2027 and FLAG in 2028. The prize is funded by collector Glenn Fuhrman's foundation and is the largest contemporary art prize in the UK.

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article policy schedule Nov 26, 2025 visibility 18 link 14 artists

museums finances 2689034

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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article culture schedule Nov 25, 2025 visibility 19 link 19 artists

art bites plein air painting history 2711050

The article traces the history of plein air painting, beginning with French painter Pierre Henri de Valenciennes in the 1780s, who created one of the earliest known outdoor oil sketches on the banks of the river Rance in Brittany. It follows the evolution of the practice through British painter John Constable, the Barbizon school in France, and the revolutionary impact of John G. Rand's invention of the paint tube in 1841, which enabled artists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir to capture light and atmosphere with unprecedented accuracy.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 15 link 12 artists

who was felix vallotton 2715786

A painting by Swiss-French artist Félix Vallotton, *Femme couchée dormant (Le Sommeil)* (1899), sold for $2.8 million at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday night, exceeding its high estimate of $2.5 million. The work was part of the Pritzker Collection sale, which also featured masterpieces by Van Gogh, Matisse, and Gauguin. Vallotton’s auction record remains at nearly $4.5 million, set by *Cinq heures* (1898) at Christie’s London in late 2023.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 18 link 17 artists, 1 gallery

phillips modern contemporary november dinosaur 2716370

Phillips’s Modern and Contemporary art evening sale in New York on Wednesday achieved $67.3 million, a 24.4% increase over last year’s total but far below the $154.6 million record set in 2023. The 33-lot sale landed at the top end of its pre-sale estimate, with Francis Bacon’s *Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne and George Dyer* (1967) selling for $16 million as the top lot. Notably, the auction included dinosaur bones for the first time—a juvenile triceratops skeleton nicknamed Cera—which proved a lucrative draw, while a painting by rising British artist Jadé Fadojutimi and a gold nugget called “The Thunderbolt” both failed to sell. Only one new artist record was set, for Firelei Báez at $645,000.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 18 link 2 artists

padimai art tech studio singapore olafur eliasson 1234762360

A new experimental space called Padimai Art & Tech Studio will open in November 2025 at Tanjong Pagar Distripark in Singapore. The launch features a VR work by artist Olafur Eliasson titled "Your view matter" (2022/25), commissioned by the studio's founder, technologist and collector Vignesh Sundaresan (also known as Metakovan). Sundaresan made headlines in 2021 with his record-breaking $69.3 million purchase of Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days." The work guides participants through six geometric virtual environments, with each visitor's trajectory and point of view recorded as a unique data file stored in a blockchain-based archive.

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