Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 7 link 1 artist

swedish court acquits climate activists monet painting 1234765895

A Swedish court acquitted six climate activists from the group Återställ Våtmarker (Restore Wetlands) who smeared red paint on the protective glass of Claude Monet's painting *The Artist’s Garden at Giverny* (1900) at the National Museum of Sweden in June 2023. The painting, on loan from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, was unharmed; the court ruled the activists had no intent to damage the work, noting they used water-soluble paint and targeted a glass-covered piece, though some paint reached the frame.

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article news schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 10 link 4 artists

notre dame windows climate activists acquitted morning links 1234765897

A Swedish court acquitted six climate activists who smeared red paint on a Claude Monet painting at Sweden's Nationalmuseum in June 2023, ruling they had no intent to damage the artwork. Separately, Claire Tabouret's designs for new stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame de Paris go on public display at the Grand Palais, despite controversy over replacing original 19th-century windows. Other news includes Pantone defending its 2026 Color of the Year choice, Brussels closing its Centrale for Contemporary Art due to budget cuts, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum returning looted Thai sculptures, and curator Pi Li leaving Hong Kong's Tai Kwun to help found a new museum in Shenzhen.

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article news schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 9 link 1 artist

claes oldeburg yale lipstick sculpture vandalized 1234765176

Claes Oldenburg's 1969 sculpture *Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks* was vandalized in October when the letters "ATB" were etched into its metal base. Yale University is relocating the 24-foot-tall work from the Morse College courtyard to the Yale University Art Gallery for conservation and care, following the discovery of the defacement. The sculpture, a beloved campus landmark originally installed in Beinecke Plaza, has a history of being removed and restored due to weather damage and graffiti.

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article news schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 7 link 3 artists

mississippi museum of art frank lloyd wright home 1234762957

The Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) has acquired the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed property Fountainhead in Jackson, Mississippi, following approval from the Jackson Planning and Zoning Board and City Council. Originally designed in 1948 and completed in 1954 for oil speculator J. Willis Hughes, the 3,558-square-foot Usonian home was later restored by architect Robert Parker Adams and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. The museum plans to open the home for public tours, with bus transportation from its main campus, and to establish community partnerships.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 11, 2025 visibility 10 link 3 artists

stolen painting saint francis returned mexico church 1234761129

A painting of Saint Francis of Assisi, stolen from the Church of San Francisco de Asis in Teotihuacán, Mexico, in 2001, has been recovered and returned to the church. The six-foot-tall work, painted in 1747 by an unknown artist, was among 18 artworks taken in a nighttime theft. It resurfaced in 2018 when it was consigned to Mexico City auction house Morton Subastas, whose due diligence with the Art Loss Register flagged it as stolen. The painting, valued at 280,000 Mexican pesos ($15,000), was returned to the church in a ceremony led by Padre Teodoro García Romero.

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article news schedule Oct 1, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

rembrandt masterpiece undergoes conservation at germanys stadel museum 1234755009

The Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, is undertaking a major conservation treatment of Rembrandt van Rijn's monumental painting *The Blinding of Samson* (1636). The project, expected to last three to four years, will address signs of aging and previous restorations, remove non-original paint, and create a historically accurate frame. The conservation follows a 2021 research seminar and technical studies published in the journal *ArtMatters*, which revealed previously unknown underdrawing techniques and adjustments to the artist's color palette and composition.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 25, 2025 visibility 10 link 16 artists, 1 gallery

sothebys london contemporary evening summer sale report 1234746083

Sotheby's London contemporary evening sale on Tuesday brought in nearly £62.5 million ($84 million), within its pre-sale estimate of £55 million to £74 million. The 48-lot sale achieved an 83% sell-through rate, with five works selling for over £5 million each, led by Tamara de Lempicka's 'La Belle Rafaëla' (1927) at £7.4 million and Pablo Picasso's 'Nu assis dans un fauteuil' (1964–65). The auction saw strong bidding for a Basquiat work on paper, 'Untitled (Indian Head)', which sold for £5.4 million, and a standout result for Yu Nishimura's 'through the snow' (2023), which tripled its high estimate at £230,000.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 8, 2026 visibility 7 link 13 artists

Venice Biennale Special 2026—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast is a Venice Biennale special, covering the opening week of the 2026 edition. Host Ben Luke, along with Louisa Buck and Jane Morris, reviews the main exhibition "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh and realized by five collaborators. The podcast features interviews with artists Gabrielle Goliath, whose work for the South African pavilion was cancelled and is instead staged in a Venice church, and Lubaina Himid, showing in the British pavilion. It also includes conversations with writer Saidiya Hartman and Daniella Kaliada of Belarus Free Theatre about their collateral projects. The episode concludes with a focus on two restored Tintoretto paintings at the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, funded by Save Venice.

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article news schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 13 link 6 artists

Filippo Lippi painting—once the centrepiece of Florence's Palazzo Medici Chapel—to undergo two-year restoration

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin has announced a two-year restoration of Filippo Lippi’s 1459 painting *The Adoration in the Forest*, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the Schoof’schen Stiftung. The tempera-on-panel work, a centerpiece of the Palazzo Medici chapel in Florence, is now in the Gemäldegalerie’s collection. Conservators discovered that a 19th-century varnish layer is degrading the paint, causing it to lift off the panel, particularly affecting the Virgin’s blue cloak, skin, and gold leaf areas. The treatment aims to remove the varnish while stabilizing the paint layer, and may also reveal Lippi’s use of oil paint alongside egg tempera.

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article news schedule Apr 20, 2026 visibility 23 link 5 artists

Recently restored castle in Norwich among five institutions shortlisted for UK's top museum prize

Five UK museums have been shortlisted for the 2026 Art Fund Museum of the Year prize. Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, recently restored through a £27.5 million redevelopment, is nominated alongside the National Gallery in London, The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, The Box in Plymouth, and the V&A East Storehouse in London. The winner, to be announced on 25 June, will receive £120,000.

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article news schedule Apr 17, 2026 visibility 25 link 9 artists

Restored Victorian greenhouse links Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery to its living neighbours

Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery has unveiled the 'Green-House,' a $34m welcome and education center centered around a meticulously restored 1895 Victorian cast-iron greenhouse. Designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), the facility includes classrooms, research archives, and dedicated gallery spaces. The project transforms a formerly dilapidated commercial florist shop into a modern gateway that connects the 478-acre National Historic Landmark to its surrounding urban neighborhood.

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gavel restitution schedule Mar 27, 2026 visibility 20 link 2 artists

One of Donatello’s most important bronze statues is being restored: should it ever be shown outdoors again?

Donatello's monumental 1453 bronze equestrian statue, Gattamelata, has been moved from its outdoor plinth in Padua to a nearby indoor hall for a major €1 million restoration. This marks only the third time the statue has been moved indoors in nearly 600 years, prompted by severe corrosion known as "bronze cancer" and structural concerns about its stone pedestal. The restoration is funded by two American non-profit organizations, Friends of Florence and Save Venice.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 4, 2026 visibility 11 link 3 artists, 2 galleries

art venice faustin linyekula the galeazze project dance

Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula is staging "The Galeazze Project," a performance commissioned by the Venice-based nonprofit Scuola Piccola Zattere (SPZ) in the 16th-century Galeazze shipyard complex, which has been inaccessible since World War II and never open to the public. The performance, a collateral event of the 2026 Venice Biennale, brings up to 500 people into the 32,291-square-foot open-air ruin for two nights, featuring local students, musicians from the Venetian label Cosmogram, and trumpeter Heru Shabaka-Ra, with a soundtrack composed collaboratively.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 2, 2026 visibility 15 link 1 artist

Stolen Van Gogh Back on View at Dutch Museum After Dramatic Restoration

A Vincent van Gogh painting, 'The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring,' stolen from the Singer Laren museum in 2020, has been restored and returned to public display at the Groninger Museum. The painting was recovered in 2023 by Dutch police and art sleuth Arthur Brand, and underwent a meticulous, months-long restoration by conservator Marjan de Visser to repair damage and remove historical overpainting.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 30, 2026 visibility 9 link 4 artists

perugino decemvriri altarpiece sothebys morgan 2741619

Sotheby's is launching its inaugural Old Masters Week at its new Breuer building location in New York with a special exhibition of works heading to auction. The centerpiece is the 'cimasa' (top panel) of Pietro Perugino's 'Decemviri Altarpiece' (1495), on an exceptional loan from Italy's National Gallery of Umbria and traveling outside Italy for the first time. After its display at Sotheby's, the panel will be exhibited at the Morgan Library and Museum alongside Giovanni Bellini's newly restored 'Pietà' (c. 1470), which is also making its U.S. debut.

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article news schedule Jan 27, 2026 visibility 5 link 2 artists

rossett mill jmw turner for sale 2740273

A 450-year-old watermill in Wrexham, Wales, that was the subject of a J.M.W. Turner watercolor has been listed for sale at £1.5 million ($2.05 million). The Rossett Mill, built in 1588, has been converted into a four-bedroom home with modern amenities while retaining its historic features, including a restored corn mill. The property is listed with Currans Unique and was previously owned by Celia and Branden Wilson, who restored it after it was rescued from demolition in 1973.

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article news schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 6 link 5 artists

louvre leak strike 2725275

A water pipe burst at the Musée du Louvre in Paris on November 26, damaging 300 to 400 archival documents related to Egyptian history in the Mollien Pavilion. The leak, which also posed a fire risk due to a nearby electrical cabinet, was followed by a smaller leak days later. Employees, represented by a coalition of unions including CGT, CFDT, and Sud, have voted unanimously to begin a rolling strike next Monday, demanding urgent renovations and the hiring of 200 new staff to restore the workforce to 2014 levels. The Louvre's director Laurence des Cars had previously warned that the museum's buildings were in "poor condition" and "no longer water tight," and a major renovation was announced, but pipe repairs were not scheduled until September 2026.

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article news schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 8 link 4 artists

frank lloyd wright usonian home jackson mississippi 2663742

The Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) has acquired Fountainhead, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian home in Jackson, Mississippi, for $1 million. The residence, built in 1954 for oilman J. Willis Hughes, is one of only four Wright homes in the state and the only one listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was sold by the estate of late architect Robert Parker Adams, who had restored the property after purchasing it in 1980. The museum plans to preserve the home and open it to the public as a cultural destination.

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article culture schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 20 link 12 artists, 2 galleries

the push to preserve nina simones childhood home just got a 6 million boost thanks to venus williams and adam pendleton 2307161

The childhood home of legendary singer and activist Nina Simone in Tryon, North Carolina, has been fully restored after nine years of effort by an artist coalition led by Adam Pendleton, alongside Julie Mehretu, Rashid Johnson, and Ellen Gallagher. The restoration, completed with a $6 million boost from a charity auction and gala co-hosted by tennis star Venus Williams and Pace Gallery, preserved the 650-square-foot clapboard house to its 1933–1937 condition, including historically accurate materials, an ADA ramp, geothermal climate control, and a century-old magnolia tree named “Sweetie Mae.” The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund announced the completion, and the property remains closed to the public while community programming and ethical cultural tourism are being planned.

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person people schedule Nov 14, 2025 visibility 9 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

friedrich kunath 2702451

Artist Friedrich Kunath, known for his sincere yet absurd paintings, discusses his unlikely friendship with tennis star Reilly Opelka, who is also an art collector. The two share a mutual obsession with each other's crafts—Kunath coaches Opelka in tennis, while Opelka seeks Kunath's insights on artists like Philip Guston. Kunath is preparing for his solo debut at Pace Gallery in New York this November, following his move from Blum Gallery, which closed shortly after. He reflects on the loneliness of both tennis and art, and his creative process, which draws heavily from music and film.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 8 link 9 artists

why this french city just trademarked cezanne 2664940

The city of Aix-en-Provence has trademarked the name of Paul Cézanne and the phrase “Cézanne chez lui” as part of a major cultural tourism initiative called “Cézanne 2025.” The city has invested €30 million ($35 million) in a summer-long program of events, centered on a monumental retrospective of 130 works at the Musée Granet, titled “Cezanne au Jas de Bouffan.” The exhibition focuses on the artist’s family home, Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, which has undergone recent conservation and now allows visitors to see murals Cézanne painted on the walls in his twenties. Other highlights include the reopening of his first studio and the restored Atelier des Lauves, his last studio.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 4, 2025 visibility 6 link 5 artists

fra angelico fresco restored 2629896

A long-forgotten fresco by the early Renaissance master Fra Angelico, believed to be his earliest known work, has been restored in the chapter house of San Domenico in Fiesole, Tuscany. The painting, a Crucifixion dating to around 1420, was hidden under whitewash for centuries and rediscovered by Bottega Belacqua, a group of Renaissance art enthusiasts. Funding from Friends of Florence enabled conservators Alessandra Popple and Cristiana Conti to revive the work, just in time for a landmark exhibition in Florence.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 27, 2025 visibility 10 link 3 artists

jo van gogh bonger exhibition 2661552

The Van Gogh Museum will host an exhibition titled "Captivated by Vincent. The Intimate Friendship of Jo van Gogh-Bonger and Isaac Israëls" from September 12, 2025 to January 25, 2026, marking the centenary of Jo van Gogh-Bonger's death. The show features works by Dutch painter Isaac Israëls, who was a close friend of Van Gogh-Bonger and frequently incorporated copies of Vincent van Gogh's paintings into his own compositions. It includes 10 Israëls works inspired by Van Gogh, his portrait of Van Gogh-Bonger (recently restored), and excerpts from her diary, alongside over 100 letters between the two being published in a digital edition.

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article policy schedule Jun 16, 2025 visibility 12 link 18 artists

new york mayoral candidates arts 2025 2655110

On June 24, New Yorkers will vote in the Democratic primary for mayor, with candidates including embattled incumbent Eric Adams, former governor Andrew Cuomo, and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, who is gaining support from artists and art dealers. The article outlines the arts-related positions of several candidates: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams restored $53 million in cultural funding after proposed cuts; Eric Adams has an uneven record, having proposed cuts but later launching the 'NYC Create in Place' pilot program; and Andrew Cuomo's arts stance is mentioned but not detailed.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 16, 2025 visibility 6 link 8 artists

masterpieces reunited 2638602

The article reports on several instances where fragmented masterpieces have been reunited in recent years. Examples include two halves of a medieval manuscript page from the Hours of Louis XII, Édouard Manet's split painting Au café and Corner of a Café-Concert, Giorgio Vasari's ceiling Allegories of Virtues, and two landscapes by Paul Cézanne cut from the same sheet of paper. These reunions were made possible through the work of art historians and curators, with exhibitions at institutions like the Getty Museum, London's National Gallery, and the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice.

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article news schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 6 link 8 artists

howard castle completes restoration 2635867

Castle Howard, the historic North Yorkshire estate known for its role in Netflix's *Bridgerton* and the 1981 film *Brideshead Revisited*, is reopening to the public after major restoration work. The centerpiece is the tapestry drawing room, which had stood as an empty shell since a 1940 fire devastated much of the house. The room has been fully reconstructed with a new ceiling, floor, fireplace, paneling, and window casings, overseen by architect Francis Terry. Four 18th-century tapestries by John Vanderbank, depicting the seasons, have been restored and reinstalled in their original locations for the first time since the early 1700s. The restoration also prompted a rehang of the Long Gallery and a reimagining of the grand staircase, which now displays artifacts collected by the earls of Carlisle.

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article culture schedule May 8, 2026 visibility 4 link 5 artists

Story of enslaved boy featured in 1748 Joshua Reynolds portrait emerges in new study

A research project by the National Trust, the National Gallery in London, and Royal Museums Greenwich has uncovered new details about the identity of an enslaved boy known only as “Jersey,” who appears in a 1748 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The painting, which hangs at Saltram in Devon, depicts Jersey with his enslaver, naval officer and MP Paul Henry Ourry. Through admiralty records, muster books, and baptismal certificates, researchers identified the boy as “Boston Jersey,” later baptised as George Walker, and found evidence of his naval service and possible path to freedom.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 18, 2026 visibility 17 link 3 artists

‘Old masters too’: Ghent exhibition celebrates female artists of the baroque

The Ghent Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) has opened the exhibition 'Unforgettable: Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750,' featuring over 40 female artists from the Baroque period in the Low Countries. The show highlights painters like Judith Leyster and Maria van Oosterwijck, as well as practitioners of crafts like paper-cutting and lace-making, aiming to restore these women to a historical narrative dominated by male 'Old Masters' like Rembrandt and Vermeer.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 27, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

Art Publisher Owes $102.2 Million in Damages for Late Robert Indiana Works

A Manhattan jury has ordered art publisher Michael McKenzie to pay $102.2 million in damages for creating unauthorized or adulterated versions of works by the late Pop artist Robert Indiana. The lawsuit, brought by Indiana’s former business partner the Morgan Art Foundation, alleged that McKenzie produced Indiana-related junk products that infringed trademark and copyright, including reproductions of Indiana’s iconic “LOVE” design and the artworks *The Ninth American Dream* (2001) and *USA FUN* (1965). The jury found McKenzie liable for exploiting Indiana in the final years of his life, after the artist granted power of attorney to his caretaker, Jamie Thomas.

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article news schedule Feb 5, 2026 visibility 10 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

louvre to restore empress eugenie crown 2743111

The Louvre Museum in Paris will restore Empress Eugénie's crown, which was severely damaged during a $102 million heist on October 19, 2025. Thieves broke into the museum, used an angle grinder to cut through a display case, and stole crown jewels, but dropped the crown in their escape. The lightweight, diamond-and-emerald crown was deformed, with four of its eight decorative palmettes broken off and one gold eagle missing. However, all 65 emeralds and most of the 1,354 diamonds remain intact. The museum has opened a bidding process for an accredited restorer, overseen by an expert committee chaired by Louvre director Laurence des Cars, to reshape and fully restore the piece for display in the Galerie d'Apollon.

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