From the World Cup and the Olympics to two new museums: upcoming cultural attractions in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is preparing for a major influx of cultural and sporting events, including hosting matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at SoFi Stadium and the 2028 Summer Olympics. The city is also enhancing its cultural infrastructure with new Metro stations featuring site-specific art commissions and the imminent openings of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the David Geffen Galleries at LACMA.

The Iran War Is Already Tanking Luxury Sales in the Gulf—Could Art Be Next?

Escalating military conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran, which has included strikes on Gulf states, is disrupting the region's burgeoning art market. Major events like Art Dubai have been postponed and scaled back significantly due to exhibitor withdrawals, and planned fairs like Frieze Abu Dhabi face uncertainty. The instability has also caused a sharp spike in shipping and insurance costs for artworks moving through the region.

Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter to Co-Headline ‘Immersive Experience’ at Art Basel

Thomas Bangalter, formerly of the electronic music duo Daft Punk, is scheduled to co-headline an immersive experience called 'WAREHOUSE ARTEFACTS' at the Art Basel fair in Basel, Switzerland. The event, produced by Nordstern Basel nightclub in cooperation with Art Basel and Fondation Beyeler, will also feature house music producer Rampa and conceptual artist Julian Charrière.

Thomas J. Price’s Monumental Sculpture Anchors V&A East’s Opening in London

The V&A East Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum's second site in East London, opened to the public on April 18. The inaugural presentation features new site-specific commissions by artists Rene Matić, Carrie Mae Weems, and Tania Bruguera, with Thomas J. Price's monumental sculpture serving as a key anchor piece for the new institution.

sothebys debt delays

Sotheby’s is navigating a complex financial landscape marked by a major debt refinancing effort and the introduction of a controversial delayed-payment program. The auction house is seeking to raise $825 million through five-year bonds to address existing debt due in 2027, while simultaneously facing a $10.2 million lawsuit over real estate commissions. To manage liquidity, the firm has codified a scheme offering sellers a 7 percent interest rate if they agree to wait six months for their payout, a significant departure from the industry standard of 35 to 45 days.

Giacometti Meets the Gods in the Met’s Temple of Dendur Show

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced a landmark exhibition titled "Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur," which will place the Swiss sculptor’s slender, modernist figures within the museum’s iconic 1st-century B.C.E. Egyptian temple. Opening in June, the show features fourteen loans from the Fondation Giacometti alongside works from the Met’s permanent collection, including the placement of "Walking Woman (I)" inside the temple’s offering hall to mimic ancient cult statuary.

miamis design district will host art basels top galleries december

Following the cancellation of Art Basel Miami Beach 2020 due to the pandemic, the Miami Design District has announced plans to host a physical art and design event. Approximately 25 to 30 top-tier galleries will occupy storefronts for a ten-day period starting November 27, while the historic Moore Building will house 'Design Miami/ Podium,' a curated selling exhibition titled 'America(s)' led by Aric Chen.

Unseen George Condo Works Arrive at Auction From Anna Condo’s Collection

Anna Condo, the former wife of American painter George Condo, is bringing 27 previously unseen works from her private collection to auction at Christie’s. The collection, which includes paintings, drawings, and sculptures acquired during their 28-year marriage, will be featured in the Post-War and Contemporary Art day sale on May 21. These works have never been exhibited or sold publicly, offering a rare glimpse into the artist's private creative output between 1988 and 2017.

Painting Has Entered Its Performance Era

The rise of short-form video platforms like Instagram and TikTok has transformed painting from a static medium into a performative spectacle. To compete with algorithmic preferences for transformation and speed, artists are adopting specific visual grammars such as the "art reveal"—where a canvas is dramatically flipped toward the camera—and "speed painting," which turns the creation process into a high-stakes live event. These trends emphasize the labor and human presence behind the work, often utilizing emotional storytelling and direct engagement to build dedicated fanbases outside traditional gallery structures.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Is Writing a Musical About the Heist that Made ‘Mona Lisa’ Famous

Renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced he is developing a new musical centered on the 1911 theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The production will dramatize the true story of Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee who stole the masterpiece and hid it for two years before it was recovered in Italy. Lloyd Webber revealed the project following the Broadway opening of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, noting that he is beginning the writing process immediately.

trump executive orders arts

President Donald Trump’s return to office has triggered a sweeping overhaul of the American cultural landscape through executive orders and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Key actions include the dissolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices at the Smithsonian, the cancellation of thousands of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants, and the removal of high-profile Biden appointees from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board. These measures are accompanied by new tariffs and immigration policies that threaten the international art trade and cross-border collaborations.

data dive venice biennale artists

Adriano Pedrosa, the first Latin American and openly queer curator of the Venice Biennale, has unveiled a record-breaking artist list for the 60th edition titled "Foreigners Everywhere." Featuring 331 artists, the main exhibition is the largest in the event's history and introduces a "nucleo storico" designed to provide belated recognition to overlooked figures from the Global South and marginalized communities. Pedrosa’s selection process intentionally challenges the Western-centric traditions of the art world by focusing on themes of displacement and the "stranger."

What We Know—and Don’t Know—About Private Art Auctions

Artnet recently hosted a virtual deep dive into the burgeoning phenomenon of private art auctions, a trend highlighted in their 2026 Intelligence Report. Unlike traditional public sales, these events are highly curated, invitation-only affairs that prioritize discretion and control over the typical spectacle of the auction block. The discussion explored the mechanics of these sales, which often bypass public records and leave the broader market in the dark regarding final prices and buyer identities.

Marcel Duchamp at MoMA, Dorothea Tanning book, Leonora Carrington at the Freud Museum, London—podcast

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is launching the first major U.S. survey of Marcel Duchamp’s entire career in over fifty years, a landmark exhibition that will later travel to Philadelphia. Accompanying this resurgence of interest in avant-garde pioneers are two significant projects focused on women of the Surrealist movement: the publication of Alyce Mahon’s comprehensive new book on Dorothea Tanning and a specialized exhibition at London’s Freud Museum featuring Leonora Carrington’s 1940 painting 'Down Below'.

Who was Hilma? Af Klint exhibition to highlight exclusion of women from abstract art

The Swedish artist Hilma af Klint is receiving her first major solo exhibition in France, organized by the Grand Palais and the Pompidou Centre. The show focuses on her "Paintings for the Temple," a series of groundbreaking abstract works created years before male peers like Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian claimed to have invented the movement. Af Klint, a mystic who believed she was guided by higher spirits, famously ordered her work to be hidden for 20 years after her death, convinced the world was not yet ready for her vision.

Readymades, replicas, reiterations: MoMA show explores Marcel Duchamp the inventor

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is launching the first major U.S. survey of Marcel Duchamp in over 50 years, organized in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The exhibition features approximately 300 works, including iconic pieces like "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" and "Fountain," organized in a strict linear chronology. This approach highlights Duchamp’s practice of remaking and replicating his own work, presenting replicas only at the point in time they were physically created rather than as stand-ins for lost originals.

Siri Aurdal, Artist Who Elevated Industrial Materials Into Visions of Shared Humanity, Dies at 88

Norwegian artist Siri Aurdal, known for her pioneering use of industrial materials to create socially-driven sculptures, has died at the age of 88 in Oslo. Born into a prominent artistic family, Aurdal rose to prominence in the late 1960s by repurposing materials like reinforced fiberglass and plexiglass—often sourced from Norway’s oil industry—into modular, interactive installations. Her work frequently bridged the gap between fine art and public utility, manifesting in monumental playground structures and politically charged pieces that responded to global events like the Vietnam War.

Pressing issues: the vital role of printmaking in the history of art

Author and journalist Holly Black has released a new book titled 'The Story of Printmaking: A Global History of Art', published by Yale University Press. The publication traces the evolution of the printed image from its 9th-century origins in East Asia through the innovations of Old Masters like Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt to modern digital techniques. Drawing on her training at the London College of Printing, Black demystifies complex technical processes such as intaglio and mezzotint while highlighting both canonical figures like Picasso and influential but lesser-known pioneers like Robert Blackburn.

The story of London's Great Exhibition, as seen through the eyes of artists

Julius Bryant’s new book, the fourth volume in his history of the Victoria and Albert Museum, re-examines the 1851 Great Exhibition through its visual legacy. By analyzing paintings, prints, and ephemera—including the vast archive of Charles Wentworth Dilke—Bryant reconstructs the 'Crystal Palace' experience, highlighting the youth of its organizers and the staggering speed of its construction. The narrative shifts focus away from traditional social theory toward the actual visual evidence of the event, from David Roberts’s massive panoramic paintings to the 235 sculptures that defined the era's artistic output.

A book exploring the evolution of J.M.W. Turner’s positions on slavery

Art historian Sam Smiles has released a comprehensive new book examining J.M.W. Turner’s complex relationship with the slave trade, expanding on his 2007 discovery of the artist's personal investment in a Jamaican cattle farm that utilized enslaved labor. The research traces Turner’s financial ties from his early patronage by wealthy plantation owners to his own speculative ventures, challenging the long-held perception of the artist as a straightforward abolitionist.

A Brush With... Lorna Simpson—podcast

Artist Lorna Simpson joins the 'A Brush With...' podcast to discuss the vast array of cultural influences that have shaped her conceptual practice. From her early photo-text works to her recent large-scale paintings, Simpson details how she subverts conventional framing of identity and navigates the boundaries between reality, fiction, and historical archives. She highlights the specific impact of figures such as David Hammons, Francisco de Zurbarán, and filmmaker Chantal Akerman on her evolving visual language.

How Caravaggio’s Dark Masterpieces Mirror the Crimes in Netflix’s Ripley

as seen on ripley netflix caravaggio

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.

epstein files leon black antiquities smuggler douglas latchford

Newly released documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files suggest a direct link between billionaire collector Leon Black and the disgraced late antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford. An inventory titled "Leon Black/ Narrows South East Asian Art Inventory" found in Epstein’s emails lists 12 Southeast Asian works purchased by Black for $23.85 million. Among these is a $7 million bronze Shiva that matches the description of a piece featured in Latchford’s 2004 book, raising significant questions about the provenance of Black's collection.

the hunt edmonia lewis death of cleopatra statue

Edmonia Lewis’s monumental marble sculpture, 'The Death of Cleopatra', debuted to massive acclaim at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia before vanishing into a bizarre century-long obscurity. After failing to sell, the two-ton masterpiece transitioned from Chicago saloons to a racetrack—where it served as a grave marker for a horse—and eventually sat neglected at a shopping mall construction site, exposed to vandalism and the elements.

The New Museum’s ‘New Humans’ Reckons With Human-Machine Relations in the Workplace

The New Museum has inaugurated its recently renovated space with 'New Humans: Memories of the Future,' a sprawling exhibition featuring over 700 works across four floors. The show explores the historical and evolving relationship between humanity and labor, tracing the narrative from ancient Mesopotamian myths to the industrial age and the rise of robotics. Key sections like 'Mechanical Ballets' highlight how artists have historically responded to the dehumanization of the workforce through the lens of early 20th-century avant-garde movements.

Why Filmmaker Ming Wong Is the Ultimate Shape-Shifter

Berlin-based Singaporean artist Ming Wong premiered a new film, *Dance of the Sun on the Water | Saltatio Solis in Aqua*, at London's National Gallery. The work, created during a residency, reimagines Saint Sebastian as a queer, shape-shifting figure, with Asian performers of multiple genders enacting the martyrdom amidst the museum's collection of historical paintings of the saint.

From The Drama to Malcolm in the Middle: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

The article is a weekly entertainment guide covering cinema, gigs, art, stage, streaming, games, albums, and other cultural events. In the art section, it highlights two major exhibitions in London and its surroundings: a solo show of new paintings by British artist Cecily Brown at the Serpentine Gallery, created in response to Kensington Gardens, and a display of Henry Moore's iconic Shelter Drawings at his studio in Perry Green, focusing on his depictions of Londoners during the Blitz.

Local Resort Reportedly Pays $45 M. for Rauschenberg’s Famed Captiva Island Property

South Seas, a resort on Florida's Captiva Island, has purchased Robert Rauschenberg's 22-acre property, including his studio and beachfront, for $45 million. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation sold the estate, citing unsustainable maintenance costs and the need to focus on its core mission, despite the property having survived Hurricane Ian.

8 Books We’re Looking Forward to in April

ARTnews previews eight notable art and culture books scheduled for release in April 2026. The list includes Ben Lerner's novel "Transcription," a dual biography of artists Peter Hujar and Paul Thek by Andrew Durbin, Luke Goebel's art-world satire "Kill Dick," and an academic study of Alberto Giacometti's 1930s work by Joanna Fiduccia. Also featured are a memoir by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, a book on Dorothea Tanning, and Julia Langbein's unconventional book about Monica Lewinsky.

Meet the Gallerists Trading White Cubes for Unconventional Architecture

A growing number of gallerists are moving away from the traditional 'white cube' gallery model, opting instead for spaces with unconventional architecture and distinct character. These include locations in repurposed industrial buildings, historic structures, and uniquely designed new constructions that actively shape the visitor's experience of the art.