Sotheby’s has announced the sale of the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection, a two-part auction series scheduled for April and May 2024 with a total estimate of $67 million to $99 million. The offering begins with a dedicated design sale featuring a historic ensemble of 15 Claude Lalanne mirrors commissioned for Yves Saint Laurent, followed by a selection of blue-chip modern and contemporary artworks.
Jacqueline Humphries's survey exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum features her painting installation "TSLA" (2025), a five-panel work hung on bare metal studs that bisects the gallery space. The installation plays with perception through mirrors and anamorphic imagery, including a distorted Tesla logo, and includes a hidden set of red paintings visible only as reflections. The show also presents nine smaller works generated in part by artificial intelligence, housed in a green-walled adjacent room.
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.
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.
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.
as seen on ripley netflix caravaggio 2466041
The Netflix series Ripley, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, utilizes the works of Caravaggio as a central narrative and aesthetic device. The show follows Tom Ripley, a grifter who travels to Italy and eventually adopts the identity of a wealthy acquaintance after committing murder. Throughout the series, Ripley encounters several of Caravaggio's masterpieces, including The Seven Acts of Mercy and David with the Head of Goliath, which serve as dark mirrors to his own descent into violence.
The longtime New York City residence and studio of legendary photographer Robert Frank and sculptor June Leaf has been listed for sale at $6.5 million. Located at 7 Bleecker Street in NoHo, the 209-year-old Federal-style townhouse served as the couple's creative base for over four decades, maintaining a raw, unfinished aesthetic that mirrored their artistic sensibilities. Despite its significant art-historical pedigree, the real estate listing omits the artists' names, instead marketing the property as a redevelopment opportunity with significant buildable square footage.
Polish artist Wilhelm Sasnal's new exhibition at Sadie Coles HQ in London presents a disorienting array of paintings. The works juxtapose disparate and often disturbing images, including a grotesque depiction of the Oval Office, portraits of his family, album art for the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, and a forest scene linked to the Holocaust, creating a deliberate sense of fragmentation and broken connections.
Schon 100.000 Besucher in Kölner Kusama-Ausstellung
The Museum Ludwig in Cologne has reached a significant milestone, welcoming 100,000 visitors to its Yayoi Kusama retrospective within just four weeks of opening. The exhibition, which features 300 works ranging from early childhood drawings to contemporary installations, has proven to be an unprecedented draw for the institution, surpassing the director's initial expectations for attendance speed.
Annunciati i candidati al Festival di Cannes 2026 (pure qui niente italiani, come alla Biennale)
The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has unveiled its official selection for 2026, scheduled to run from May 12 to 23. Led by President Iris Knobloch and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux, the festival will open with Pierre Salvadori’s 'La Vénus électrique,' a romantic comedy set in 1928 Paris centered on a painter who loses his inspiration. The competition lineup features a global array of heavyweights, including new works by Pedro Almodóvar, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Asghar Farhadi.
A custom ensemble of 15 mirrors by Claude Lalanne sold for $33.5 million at Sotheby's New York, shattering the artist's previous auction record and setting a new global benchmark for the most expensive design work ever sold at auction. The piece, commissioned in 1974 for Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé's Paris home, far exceeded its $10-15 million estimate.
A luxury condominium development in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood, branded with Frida Kahlo's name and image, has begun selling units despite construction not yet starting. The project, called the Frida Kahlo Wynwood Residences, features a 14-story tower designed by architect Carlos Ott with a massive portrait of the artist on its facade and plans for 244 furnished units priced from $500,000 to $1.6 million.
Sotheby's London sale of British socialite and arts patron Pauline Karpidas's collection shattered its $53 million high estimate, totaling $100 million on Wednesday evening. Nine works by artist-designer couple François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne (known as Les Lalanne) achieved $18.5 million, more than five times their combined high estimate of $3.5 million, contributing nearly 20% of the total. The top result was Claude Lalanne's Structure végétale mirror and wall light, which sold for $4.8 million against a $615,000 high estimate. Additional Lalanne works in a day sale and online auction also performed strongly, with jewelry and furniture pieces far exceeding expectations.
A set of 15 bronze and copper mirrors by Claude Lalanne sold for $33.5 million at Sotheby's in New York, shattering the artist's previous auction record and surpassing the record price for works by her late husband and collaborator, François-Xavier Lalanne. The ensemble, which far exceeded its $15 million high estimate, drew fierce competition from five bidders over ten minutes.
The article examines how the art trade is cautiously experimenting with artificial intelligence, noting that while AI tools are being developed to attract newer collectors, the industry remains heavily reliant on trust and personal relationships that technology cannot replicate. It also reports on Fair Warning's new 'No Warning' sealed-bidding auction format, reflecting a rise in private auctions, and highlights a Sotheby's New York sale of the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection that set a U.S. record for design auctions at $96 million, led by a set of 15 mirrors by Claude Lalanne for Yves Saint Laurent that sold for $33.5 million.
Warren Isensee's new paintings at Miles McEnery Gallery in Chelsea, New York, explore optical structure with loosened rules, where warm and cool tones trade dominance across repeating frameworks. On view through February 14, 2026, the exhibition is the artist's third solo outing with the gallery and includes a fully illustrated publication with an essay by Stephen Westfall. The works interrupt their own logic, introducing irregular breaks that reroute the eye, creating a test of looking rather than a display of visual effects.
Design Miami 2025 preview drew a bustling crowd with over 70 exhibitors under the theme "Make Believe." Highlights included Katie Stout's whimsical carousel featuring marine animals, Roham Shamekh's biomorphic "Roots" sofa with integrated headphones, and ATRA's futuristic "Intelligence of Evolution" seating system upholstered in Hermès fabric. The Spanish silver brand Garrido showcased collaborations with Peter Marino, while the fair's 20th anniversary edition embraced a carnivalesque atmosphere with popcorn and mirrored walls.
Artist Jen Liu’s solo exhibition 'Pound of Flesh' at Silverlens New York explores the dehumanizing nature of digital labor through visceral imagery of raw meat. The show features paintings where human consciousness is replaced by butcher-shop cuts and an animated video based on Liu’s research into microworkers—individuals who perform repetitive, low-paid tasks to train AI models. By juxtaposing the biological reality of the body with the clinical extraction of data, Liu highlights the physical and psychological toll of the 'Agentic Age.'
A listicle from Time Out Los Angeles presents the 21 best museums to visit in Los Angeles, highlighting essential institutions like LACMA, The Broad, and the Getty Center. The article provides practical details such as addresses, hours, pricing, and notes on free admission days, while also mentioning specific current attractions like the newly opened David Geffen Galleries at LACMA and Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room at The Broad.
The elusive artist Cady Noland has made a shock return with a sprawling exhibition of almost entirely new work at Gagosian’s 555 West 24th Street space in New York. After withdrawing from the public eye for over a decade and becoming infamous for disavowing her own works and suing collectors over attribution, Noland re-emerged with a survey show at Frankfurt’s Museum of Modern Art in 2018, followed by commercial shows at Galerie Buchholz in 2021 and Gagosian in 2023. Her latest exhibition, featuring 38 entries mostly made this year, was a hit, with many works placed with major collectors and institutions.
Artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, known for their iconic land art piece Prada Marfa, are opening a new exhibition titled “The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome” at Pace Gallery in Los Angeles. The show features surreal installations including a silicone gallery assistant asleep at her desk, men in VR goggles embracing, and circular sky paintings with mirrors, all presented at both full and half scale in two rooms. The exhibition draws inspiration from Alice in Wonderland syndrome, a neurological condition that distorts perception of scale, and continues the duo’s 30-year practice of transforming gallery spaces into immersive, humorous environments that challenge power structures.
Conservator Margje Leeuwestein has examined Vincent van Gogh's "Bridge at Arles (Pont de Langlois)" (March 1888) at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo to confirm it is fit for travel. The painting will be the centerpiece of an exhibition touring three Japanese cities in 2027. The article details the painting's history, including Van Gogh's intended gift to Hermanus Tersteeg of the Goupil gallery, a later-scraped dedication, and a rare 1929 photograph of the bridge by Johannes Reiher that mirrors the composition.
A comprehensive guide details spring 2026 exhibitions at Houston-area art venues, including Blaffer Art Museum, Galveston Arts Center, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Moody Center for the Arts, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Lawndale Art Center, and Art League Houston. Key shows include "The Uncanny In-Between" (contemporary Korean ceramics), "Mud + Corn + Stone + Blue" (U.S.-Central America histories), Bruce Lee Webb's "CURIOS," "End Cash Bail" (incarceration-themed poetry and visual art), Jamie Ho's "magic mirrors" (Chinese American identity), and Hammonds + West's "The River Entered My Home" (environmental grief).
The Italian government has successfully revived a program allowing citizens to use cultural treasures, fine art, antique books, and villas to satisfy tax bills. Culture and Tourism Minister Dario Franceschini named a panel to tally the value of works offered for income and inheritance taxes, aiming to reinvigorate a scheme established in 1982 that previously attracted little interest. The program mirrors similar initiatives in other EU countries, notably Britain, where a comparable plan drew works worth $80.4 million in 2012–13.
American artist Hernan Bas has created a series of 40 paintings critiquing modern tourism, set to open in May at Ca' Pesaro–International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice during the Biennale. Titled "The Visitors," the exhibition depicts young white male American tourists engaging in objectionable behaviors worldwide—from begpacking to visiting disaster sites—painted with Bas's signature attention to clothing details. The works were developed during a residency in Venice, a city emblematic of overtourism, in collaboration with Victoria Miro, Lehmann Maupin, and Perrotin galleries.
PHI in Montreal presents two spring/summer 2026 exhibitions: "Come See, Lies Lies" by Paola Pivi and "Other Worlds" by Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Pivi's show features surreal installations including wall-mounted shoes, suspended velvet mattresses, and a metal house with TV screens broadcasting false statements, blending fairy tale and satire. Steensen's exhibition comprises six major works from the past decade, using virtual reality, video games, and sound installations to explore ecological themes and digitized environments like Bora Bora and volcanic seabeds. Both exhibitions open April 23, 2026, and run through September 13, 2026.
Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson's major survey exhibition 'Presence' has opened at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane, Australia. Curated by Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow, the show synthesizes three decades of Eliasson's immersive installations, photography, and sculpture, including iconic works like 'Riverbed' (2014) and 'The cubic structural evolution project' (2004), both from QAGOMA's permanent collection. A spectacular new installation also titled 'Presence' features a pulsing artificial sun using mirrors and monofrequency light to create an illusion of infinite space.
A new Olafur Eliasson exhibition, 'Olafur Eliasson: Presence,' opens December 6, 2025, at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and runs through July 12, 2026. The immersive show transforms GOMA’s ground floor with multi-sensory installations spanning over three decades of the artist’s career, including early works like 'Beauty' (1993) and 'Riverbed' (2014), alongside new commissions such as the large-scale 'Presence 2025' and the magnetic sculpture 'Lost compass' (2013). Visitors are invited to become co-creators, navigating environments that play with light, mist, mirrors, and even a LEGO city.
Sotheby’s June Modern and contemporary art evening sale in London netted £50.8m (£62.5m with fees) from 48 lots, with an 87% sell-through rate, falling below the pre-sale estimate of £55.2m to £81.1m and marking a 25% decrease from last year’s equivalent sale. The top lot was Tamara de Lempicka’s *La Belle Rafaëla* (1927), which sold for £6.1m (£7.4m with fees), while a Jenny Saville drawing *Mirror* (2011-12) achieved an auction record for the artist at £1.7m (£2.1m with fees). Several high-profile works were passed, including Egon Schiele’s *Portrait Study (Head of a Girl, Hilde Ziegler)* and Barbara Hepworth’s *Vertical Forms*, reflecting cautious bidding in a bearish market.
Luke Goebel's new novel 'Kill Dick' is a satirical, chaotic takedown of the contemporary art world and its entanglement with the Sackler family, fictionalized here as the Sicklers. The book follows protagonist Susie, the daughter of the Sickler family lawyer, as she navigates addiction, familial disgust, and a numbed existence against the backdrop of 2016 America. Its prose is deliberately abrasive and shocking, mirroring the emotional state of its narrator.