Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of London's Serpentine Galleries, revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he has never been able to secure a studio visit with the reclusive painter Jasper Johns. Obrist, known for his extensive artist interviews and visits, stated that Johns, now 95, "doesn't see anyone," making him the one artist who has consistently refused Obrist's requests.
Christie’s New York is set to headline its May marquee sales with a prestigious consignment from the collection of the late media magnate S.I. Newhouse. The offering features approximately 40 masterworks valued at an estimated $450 million, including Jackson Pollock’s drip painting "Number 7" (1948) and Constantin Brancusi’s bronze sculpture "Danaïde" (1913). Both works carry estimates of approximately $100 million, figures that would shatter the existing auction records for both artists if realized.
Christie’s kicked off the fall auction season in New York with a two-part 20th-century art sale that brought in approximately $690 million, led by Mark Rothko’s *No. 31 Yellow Stripe (1958)*, which sold for $62.2 million. The evening featured 18 works from the collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis, totaling $218 million, followed by a 61-lot main sale that realized $471.7 million. Other top lots included Claude Monet’s *Nymphéas (1907)* at $45.4 million and a new auction record for Beauford Delaney’s *The Sage Black (1967)* at $1.5 million.
The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opens with a keynote exhibition conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh and realized by her team after her sudden death in May 2025. The show spans the Central Pavilion in the Giardini and the Arsenale, featuring 110 artists and collectives. Highlights include Bracha L. Ettinger's installation at the Hotel Metropole, where she transforms a room where Sigmund Freud wrote part of *The Interpretation of Dreams* into a feminist 'borderspace,' and works by artists such as Arthur Jafa, Richard Prince, Issa Samb, Beverly Buchanan, and Daniel Lind-Ramos. The exhibition explores themes of history, colonialism, war, and environmental destruction, aiming for a 'sotto voce' tone that nonetheless delivers powerful, liberating statements.
Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London achieved a rare 'white-glove' result, with all 53 lots finding buyers for a total of £131 million ($175 million). The auction was highlighted by a selection of four School of London masterpieces from the private collection of billionaire Joe Lewis, owner of Tottenham Hotspur. These works, including a 1972 Francis Bacon self-portrait and two Lucian Freud portraits, realized a combined £35.8 million ($47.8 million) and established a new auction record for artist Leon Kossoff.
Christie’s 21st-century evening sale at Rockefeller Centre in New York on 19 November achieved $99.5 million before fees ($123.5 million with fees), surpassing last November’s equivalent sale of $106.5 million with fees. The sale featured 45 lots, with only one unsold (a Cecily Brown abstract), resulting in a 2% buy-in rate. Three artist records were set for Firelei Báez, Joan Brown, and Olga de Amaral. A major highlight was the collection of Chicago collectors Gale Neeson and the late Stefan Edlis, comprising 19 lots that realized $40.3 million ($49.2 million with fees), including works by Andy Warhol, Richard Prince, and Diego Giacometti. Other notable sales included Cindy Sherman’s *Untitled Film Still #13* (1978) at $2.2 million with fees, Ed Ruscha’s *How Do You Do?* at $6.7 million with fees, and a Warhol *The Last Supper* (1986) sold to Paris dealer Frederic Larroque for $8.1 million with fees.
Peter Doig's exhibition 'House of Music' at Serpentine South in London centers on the relationship between visual art and sound, featuring paintings like 'Maracas' (2002-08) and 'Music of the Future' (2002-07) alongside a restored Western Electric/Bell Labs sound system from the late 1920s. The show includes a series of live Sunday events called 'Sound Service,' where Doig, Ed Ruscha, Arthur Jafa, and others play records, transforming the gallery into an immersive audio-visual experience.
Dayanita Singh has organized a major exhibition titled "ARCHIVIO" at the State Archives of Venice, marking the first time the institution has opened its doors to the public for an art show. The exhibition, which runs until July 31, features collapsible wooden pillars covered with black-and-white photographs that explore Singh's 25-year relationship with Italy and her broader engagement with archival documents from both Italy and India. Singh achieved this without major institutional funding, instead relying on a "friendship economy" of bartering, negotiation, and individual patrons, and even arranged for local art students to serve as docents in exchange for professional mentorship.
LATINOAMÉRICA EN LA BIENAL DE VENECIA: UN RECORRIDO VISUAL POR LA MUESTRA CENTRAL
The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened its preview days on May 8, 2025, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025). The central exhibition, realized by a team she selected before her death, features 110 participants from around the world, with a strong Latin American presence of 15 artists, collectives, and organizations. The show explores themes of colonial history, plantation economies, geological memory, and environmental crisis through works that emphasize shared materials, politics, and poetics across geographies from Dakar to San Juan.
Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes created a suspended sculpture titled "Aquarium" in collaboration with Cartier's Artist meets Artisan project, using unused precious and semi-precious stones such as diamonds, Akoya pearls, and black jade. The work, first realized in 2010, translates her signature colorful, rhythmic painting motifs into a three-dimensional mobile that shimmers like a school of fish. It will be installed at Cartier's Boston boutique on Newbury Street on March 25. The article includes an interview with Milhazes discussing the inception, materiality, and evolution of her sculptural practice.
Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Halsey has realized a long-held dream with the opening of "sister dreamer," a public sculpture park at the corner of Western Avenue and 76th Street in South Central LA. The park features eight 22-foot-tall pillars modeled after local heroes, sphinxes, benches, fountains, native plants, and gardens, and will remain for 18 months before finding a permanent home. It also serves as a hub for Halsey's nonprofit Summaeverythang Community Center, offering free programming in art, education, and wellness, including partnerships with the Broad, tutoring, yoga, and community dinners.
The German Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale features a dual presentation exploring the country's layered political history. Artist Sung Tieu has cloaked the pavilion's fascist-era facade with a mosaic reconstruction of a GDR housing estate for Vietnamese contract workers, where she lived as a child. Inside, the late Henrike Naumann's immersive installation 'The Home Front' uses furniture and design to stage a confrontation between East and West German domestic and political ideologies. Naumann died in February 2025 at age 41, but her fully realized concept was completed collaboratively by her partner and curator Kathleen Reinhardt.
The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," marks a significant pivot from the historical revisionism of recent editions toward a focus on contemporary, mid-career artists. Posthumously realized based on the vision of the late Koyo Kouoh, the exhibition features 111 participants, including a notable inclusion of artist-led organizations from Africa. Data analysis reveals a balanced demographic split between the Global North and South, moving away from the retrospective focus of predecessors like Adriano Pedrosa and Cecilia Alemani to prioritize living artists and subtler, emotional themes.
A major auction of Apple memorabilia and personal items belonging to Steve Jobs realized $8.1 million. The top lot was the first check ever issued by Apple, signed by founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, which sold for $2.4 million. Other significant items included an early Apple-1 prototype board and personal effects from Jobs's childhood home, including his bedroom desk and a collection of bowties.
A collection of 450 objects owned by the late filmmaker David Lynch was auctioned by Julien's Auctions, achieving a white-glove sale totaling $4.25 million. The top lot was a group of scripts from Lynch's unrealized film project *Ronnie Rocket: The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence*, which sold for $195,000. Other notable sales included scripts for *Mulholland Drive* ($104,000), *Twin Peaks* pilot ($91,000), and *Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me* ($78,000), as well as Lynch's director chair ($91,000), a personal 35mm print of *Eraserhead* ($52,000), and his La Marzocco espresso machine ($45,500).
A visitor at the Palazzo Maffei museum in Verona, Italy, was captured on CCTV breaking a crystal-encrusted chair artwork by Italian artist Nicola Bolla. The man sat on the piece, titled the "Van Gogh" chair, causing it to collapse under his weight. The couple fled before staff realized the damage. Police have been notified but the suspects remain unidentified. The artwork has since been restored and is back on display.
Artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude developed 'The Gates' for New York City's Central Park in 1979, but the project faced over two decades of bureaucratic hurdles before finally being installed in 2005 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The work consisted of 7,503 steel gates with orange nylon fabric along 23 miles of pathways, using 5,390 tons of steel. Now, on its 20th anniversary, a comprehensive survey titled 'Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City' is being held at the Shed, accompanied by an augmented reality experience via the Bloomberg Connects app.
An augmented reality (AR) experience is reviving Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s iconic 2005 installation *The Gates* in New York’s Central Park. Starting in February 2025, visitors can use the Bloomberg Connects app to view virtual saffron-colored fabric panels suspended over 23 miles of park pathways, recreating the original work that featured 7,503 panels on metal arches. The project is a collaboration between the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, the New York City Parks Department, the Central Park Conservancy, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, with support from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Shed is concurrently hosting an exhibition documenting the project’s history, including original arches and a scale-model diorama.
The 2026 Venice Biennale has unveiled the artist list and framework for its international exhibition, "In Minor Keys." The project, which was the final vision of the late curator Koyo Kouoh, is being realized by a collaborative team following her death last year. The exhibition aims to explore themes of minor histories and global narratives through a diverse roster of international artists.
The Royal Commission for AlUla has announced further details about the forthcoming AlUla Contemporary Art Museum, designed by architect Lina Ghotmeh. The museum's curatorial vision, centered on heritage, environment, and community, was unveiled alongside the opening of a preview exhibition, 'Arduna,' co-curated with the Centre Pompidou. The institution plans to build deep, long-term relationships with artists, acquiring comprehensive bodies of work, archives, and unrealized projects to be digitized and made accessible.
Dib Bangkok, a long-anticipated contemporary art museum, opens this weekend in a former steel warehouse near Bangkok's port area. Founded from the vision of the late collector Petch Osathanugrah and realized by his son Purat 'Chang' Osathanugrah, the museum houses over 1,000 works amassed over 40 years, including pieces by James Turrell, Alicja Kwade, Pinaree Sanpitak, and Subodh Gupta. Its opening exhibition, (In)visible Presence, features 81 works by 40 international and Thai artists, positioning the museum as a major new cultural institution in Asia.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art announces a landmark survey of the late American artist Noah Davis (1983–2015), bringing together over 60 works across painting, sculpture, works on paper, and curating. The exhibition marks the final stop of an international tour organized with DAS MINSK in Potsdam, the Barbican in London, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Highlights include "40 acres and a unicorn" (2007), "Isis" (2009), "Savage wilds" (2012), and the "Pueblo del rio" series (2014). Curated by Eleanor Nairne and Wells Fray-Smith, the show is accompanied by a catalog co-published by Prestel with contributions from Tina M. Campt, Claudia Rankine, and others.
California-born artist Matt Mullican has created 'THAT NOTHING SHOULD EXIST: 55 Years of Work', the largest exhibition of his career, which will inaugurate the Roarington Art Center—a virtual museum in the metaverse. The museum, designed by Italian architect Benedetto Camerana, is embedded in the City of Roarington, a digital dreamland launched by Liechtenstein-based entrepreneur Fritz Kaiser through his non-profit The Classic Car Trust (TCCT). The exhibition is scheduled to open to the public in February next year, with viewers navigating the space like an immersive three-dimensional video game.
Antony Gormley, the British sculptor best known for public works like *Angel of the North* and *Another Place*, is opening his first solo exhibition in Seoul this September, titled *Inextricable*, simultaneously at White Cube and Thaddaeus Ropac. The shows coincide with Frieze Seoul and explore how urban infrastructure shapes human consciousness. Gormley also discusses his ongoing collaboration with Japanese architect Tadao Ando at Museum SAN, where their permanent installation *Ground* (2025) is on view, and reflects on past unrealized projects in Korea, including a utopian proposal with the Kim Dae-jung Foundation.
"In Venedig gesehen, in Venedig gekauft"
The article reports on multiple developments surrounding the Venice Biennale. Iran has withdrawn from the Biennale, citing political and economic crises, with logistical challenges such as no flights or postal service making participation nearly impossible. Artist Anish Kapoor has called for the exclusion of the United States from the Biennale, criticizing its "abhorrent policy of hate" and "ongoing warmongering." A memorial installation by Derrick Adams for the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who was set to lead the main exhibition, will be displayed near the Arsenale. Additionally, the Biennale faces a funding cut from the EU due to Russia's continued participation despite the Ukraine war, leading to the resignation of the jury and the culture minister's withdrawal.
Christie’s two-part auction of William I. Koch’s Western art collection realized $84.1 million with fees, more than tripling the previous record for a single-owner Western art collection and setting five new artist records. The sale, reported by the Observer and covered by ARTnews, stands out in a category that has struggled since the 2008 financial crisis, as collectors have shifted focus to postwar, contemporary, and ultra-contemporary work. Specialists attribute the success to structural changes in how American art is presented, growing cultural interest in the American West fueled by popular culture like Yellowstone, and the rare concentration of masterworks in the Koch collection.
Christie's auction "We the People: America at 250" on January 23, 2026, achieved $35.5 million in total sales, doubling its presale estimate. The top lot was a draft of the U.S. Constitution annotated by founding father Rufus King, which sold for $7.3 million. Other highlights included a signed Emancipation Proclamation ($6.7 million), a 1776 Declaration of Independence copy ($5.6 million), and the Apple Computer Company Partnership Agreement from 1976, signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, which fetched $2.5 million. A Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington (ca. 1804) realized $2.8 million, setting a new auction record for the Athenaeum type.
Oscar-winning film director Guillermo del Toro sold the first part of his macabre collection, known as "Bleak House," through Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, for a total of $1.65 million. The trove included art, props, and rare objects tied to his fascination with the macabre, with highlights such as H. R. Giger's painting for the unrealized project *The Tourist* fetching $325,000 (an auction record for the artist), Mike Mignola's original illustration for *Hellboy: Seed of Destruction* selling for over $50,000, and Bernie Wrightson's cover for Meat Loaf's *Dead Ringer* album reaching $167,000. Props from del Toro's films, including a clay model of the Amphibian Man from *The Shape of Water* and drivesuits from *Pacific Rim*, also sold for significant sums.
Damien Hirst has revealed plans for a series of "posthumous drawings" that would allow new works to be created and sold in his name for up to 200 years after his death. In a recent interview with The Times, Hirst described a system where certificates would grant the right to produce a specific sculpture in a given year after his death, with one work released annually. He cited an unrealized 1991 idea for a pig in formaldehyde as an example of a piece that could be made posthumously and dated to its original conception year. The artist also commented on the current art market, noting a "big turn" due to global uncertainty and emphasizing the need to avoid producing unsold work.
Un artista ha raccontato l’incredibile storia di un borgo della Calabria che non c’è più. L’intervista
Italian artist Martin Errichiello has created [campanamuta], a six-part audio work broadcast on RAI Radio 3's Zazà program in late 2025 and now available on RaiPlay Sound. The piece tells the story of Eranova, a farming community founded in 1896 near Reggio Calabria that was destroyed by 1980 after the Christian Democratic party planned—but never built—a steel center on its land, now the site of the Port of Gioia Tauro. Errichiello weaves together interviews with former residents and his own original texts, using non-linear narration to explore the village's utopian origins and forced disappearance.