Vasari Art Codex

article policy schedule Aug 3, 2025 visibility 5 link 3 artists

smithsonian trump impeachment display update history museum 1234748710

The Smithsonian Institution has addressed the removal of a display at the National Museum of American History that mentioned President Donald Trump's two prior impeachments. The display, which had been on view since 2021 alongside references to Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon, was altered to a 2008 version that predated Trump's presidency. The Smithsonian stated the display will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in U.S. history, denying any external pressure from the Trump administration. The controversy follows earlier tensions, including Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet and artist Amy Sherald's cancellation of her traveling survey due to staff fears of political pushback.

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rate_review review schedule Aug 1, 2025 visibility 6 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

stan douglas bard museum survey review 1234748685

Stan Douglas's survey at Bard College's Hessel Museum of Art features a new video installation titled "Birth of a Nation" (2025), which reworks a racist sequence from D.W. Griffith's 1915 film of the same name. The installation presents the original footage alongside four new videos from different character perspectives, shot in black and white without sound, and ends with a blue screen left bare to suggest the mutability of historical images. The survey also includes earlier works like "Hors-Champs" (1992), which critiques televisual representation through a staged free jazz performance.

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article news schedule Jul 29, 2025 visibility 6 link 4 artists

john roberts smithsonian kim sajet firing 1234748455

Kim Sajet, the former director of the Smithsonian-run National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., resigned after President Donald Trump claimed he fired her via social media. Despite Trump's demand, Sajet continued reporting to work until formally quitting. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, intervened to block internal board suggestions to follow Trump's orders, leading the board to issue a resolution affirming its sole authority to fire museum directors. The controversy followed Trump's executive order accusing the Smithsonian of promoting a "divisive, race-centered ideology" and his post calling Sajet a "highly partisan person" and "strong supporter of DEI." Separately, artist Amy Sherald withdrew her mid-career survey from the National Portrait Gallery after being asked to remove a portrait of a trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 18, 2025 visibility 6 link 7 artists

solange pessoa brazilian sculptor aspen art museum glasgow 1234747756

Brazilian sculptor Solange Pessoa is the subject of a solo exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum, featuring her evolving installation *Bags – Aspen version* (1994–2025). The work, originally created in 1994, consists of burlap sacks filled with organic materials such as coffee beans, seeds, feathers, dried peppers, and records by Brazilian musicians, arranged in towers on a dirt-covered floor. Pessoa, who has long been based in Belo Horizonte, has recreated the piece in various locations over three decades, and this iteration marks one of her few solo museum shows outside Brazil.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 9, 2025 visibility 4 link 9 artists

lorna simpson fort greene brooklyn home art studio hits the market 1234747042

Lorna Simpson's former home and studio in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood, designed by British architect David Adjaye in 2006, has been listed for sale at $6.5 million. The four-story, 22-foot-wide building at 208 Vanderbilt Avenue, dubbed "Pitch Black," features black polypropylene panels on the front and glass walls at the back opening onto over 800 square feet of garden space. Simpson, who created the space after failing to find a suitable existing property, used it as a combined residence and studio with her then-husband, photographer James Casebere, before relocating to a larger commercial space nearby. The property now serves as archival and storage space and is being marketed by the Corcoran Group.

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article news schedule Jul 2, 2025 visibility 4 link 4 artists

khaled sabsabi reinstated for venice biennale 1234746757

Creative Australia has reinstated Lebanese-born artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as the representatives for Australia's pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, following an independent review and months of public backlash. The pair were initially removed in February after a column in The Australian criticized Sabsabi's 2007 video installation "You," which includes manipulated footage of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, accusing the artist and curator of favoring boycotts of Israel. The abrupt removal prompted resignations from senior Creative Australia staff and board members, widespread condemnation from the art community, and an open letter from shortlisted pavilion candidates demanding reinstatement.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 4 link 8 artists, 5 galleries

brice arsene yonkeu amoako boafos dot ateliers gagosian 1234746417

Independent curator Brice Arsène Yonkeu has organized "Ever So Present II: Between Home and Elsewhere," the second installment of a two-part exhibition at Gagosian's Park & 75 space in New York. The show features four emerging artists of African descent—including Emma Prempeh and Josèfa Ntjam—whose works in painting, photomontage, and assemblage explore themes of diaspora, memory, migration, and belonging. Yonkeu is the first curator invited to participate in dot.ateliers' new residency program, a foundation and exhibition space launched by Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo in Accra in 2023. The exhibition expands on questions raised in the first iteration held in Accra, asking what remains "ever so present" in diasporic art across borders and cultures.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 25, 2025 visibility 2 link 2 artists

ai weiwei new artwork ukraine russia 1234745896

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei will debut a new site-specific work in Kyiv, Ukraine, this fall, responding to the country's ongoing war with Russia. Titled "Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Camouflage Uniforms Painted White," the installation will be on view at Pavilion 13, a Soviet-era exhibition space, from September 14 to November 30. Commissioned by the nonprofit Ribbon International, the work reimagines Ai's "Divina Proportione" series (2004–12) using metal spheres encased in camouflage fabric painted white, symbolizing layered realities and the concealment of truth during conflict.

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article news schedule Jun 18, 2025 visibility 3 link 9 artists

tefaf cameos in just like that museums respond to rising middle east conflict greek heritage damaged by earthquake morning links for june 18 2025 1234745553

The June 18, 2025 edition of ARTnews' Morning Links reports that Iran and Israel have taken protective measures for artworks and heritage sites amid escalating missile strikes. Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization moved artifacts to secure storage and closed museums, while Israeli museums transferred artworks to protected storage, with Suzanne Landau, director of the Israel Museum, noting the country's familiarity with such crises. Other headlines include a government watchdog finding that President Donald Trump illegally slashed funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an interview with Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova about her performance at MOCA Los Angeles, earthquake damage to monasteries in northern Greece, and details about the Studio Museum in Harlem's inaugural exhibitions. The digest also covers TEFAF's cameo in the TV show 'And Just Like That', a Jenny Saville drawing heading to auction at Sotheby's, and a profile of previously unknown Surrealist painter Henry Orlik.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 2 link 3 artists

rijksmuseum condom erotic print 1234744150

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has announced that a rare condom dating from 1830 will go on display in its print room as part of an exhibition on 19th-century sex work and sexuality. The nearly 200-year-old condom, likely made from a sheep's appendix and featuring an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen with the inscription "Voilà mon choix" ("This is my choice"), is one of only two such surviving objects and was purchased by the museum at auction six months ago.

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article news schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 7 link 14 artists

isp alumni open letter whitney museum palestine performance 1234744083

On Monday, Whitney Museum director Scott Rothkopf announced via email that the museum would "pause" the 2025–26 academic year of its Independent Study Program (ISP), citing a lack of a director and strained operations. The announcement coincided with an open letter from high-profile ISP alumni—including artists Emily Jacir, Andrea Fraser, Mark Dion, and others—denouncing the museum's cancellation of a pro-Palestine performance titled "No Aesthetics Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance" by artists Fadl Fakhouri, Noel Maghathe, and Fargo Tbakhi. The performance was canceled two days before it was to be part of an ISP curatorial exhibition, after the museum accused the artists of "valorizing specific acts of violence" and singling out community members based on belief systems. The letter also referenced the earlier demotion of ISP director Gregg Bordowitz in February.

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article policy schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 3 link 4 artists

national portrait gallery director fired trump 1234743964

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had fired Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., citing her as a "highly partisan person" and a "strong supporter of DEI." Sajet had led the museum since 2013, and her termination follows a series of executive orders targeting the Smithsonian Institution, including one in March that criticized "anti-American ideology" at its museums. The museum currently features the exhibition "America’s Presidents," which includes a portrait of Trump with a caption referencing his impeachments and the January 6 Capitol attack. The National Portrait Gallery did not respond to requests for comment, and no replacement has been named.

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article local schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 2 link 1 artist

washington dc street renamed alma thomas way 1234743798

A street in Washington, D.C., where the acclaimed 20th-century painter Alma Thomas lived and worked for over seven decades was renamed "Alma Thomas Way" on Monday. The new signs now mark the block between 15th and Church streets and 15th and Q streets, near the red brick home at 1530 15th Street, NW, where Thomas maintained a studio in her kitchen. The renaming follows a bill introduced by D.C. council member Christina Henderson in May 2024, approved unanimously by the council, and signed into law by Mayor Muriel Bowser in October. A ceremony with about 30 attendees, including Thomas's grand nephew Charles Thomas Lewis and Susan Talley of the Friends of Alma Thomas group, commemorated the event.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 1 link 10 artists

suzanne valadon post impressionist painter 1234742809

Suzanne Valadon, a self-taught French post-impressionist painter known for her brash, unflinching style and commitment to representation, is the subject of a major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris through May 26. The exhibition, simply titled "Suzanne Valadon," features 200 works and is part of a recent swell of attention that includes six major exhibitions in six years, highlighting her self-portraits, nudes, and depictions of the human body with unidealized realism.

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candle obituary schedule May 12, 2025 visibility 1 link 10 artists

koyo kouoh dead zeitz mocaa venice biennale 1234741860

Koyo Kouoh, the celebrated Cameroonian-born curator known for championing African contemporary art, has died unexpectedly at age 57. She passed away in a hospital in Basel, Switzerland, due to cancer, just months after being appointed curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale—making her only the second African-born curator to lead the prestigious exhibition, following Okwui Enwezor in 2015. Kouoh was executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town since 2019, where she organized landmark shows like "When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting" (2022), and founded RAW Material Company in Dakar in 2008, an independent art center now considered a top space in West Africa.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 12, 2025 visibility 2 link 5 artists

moma curator jodi hoptman hilma af klint botanical drawings 1234741702

MoMA has acquired a rare portfolio of 46 botanical drawings by Hilma af Klint, created between 1919 and 1920, and will present them in an exhibition titled “What Stands Behind the Flowers” from May 11 to September 27. Curator Jodi Hauptman discusses how the drawings reveal af Klint’s dual approach—traditional figuration alongside abstract diagrams—and her deep engagement with the natural world, including newly discovered evidence that she worked as a professional scientific illustrator for a mushroom specialist.

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article news schedule May 9, 2025 visibility 4 link 3 artists

britain royal coronation portraits charles iii camilla 1234741047

The United Kingdom unveiled official coronation portraits of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, painted by artists Peter Kuhfeld and Paul Benney respectively, to commemorate the 2023 coronation. Charles is depicted in a red room wearing coronation regalia beside the Imperial State Crown, while Camilla is shown in photorealistic detail in a powder blue silk dress. The portraits are on view at the National Gallery in London.

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article news schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 1 link 5 artists

american civil liberties union of texas artists in residence 1234740261

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU of Texas) has named Houston-based painter Vincent Valdez and Austin-based author KB Brookins as the recipients of its artists-in-residence program for 2025–26. Each artist will receive $30,000 to fund individual projects and will collaborate with the ACLU of Texas and community leaders to advocate for civil rights. Valdez plans to paint portraits of local community leaders and create poster packets combining Know Your Rights information with archival research for statewide distribution. Brookins will address pretrial detention in Texas jails through original compositions, workshops, and public presentations, focusing on mass incarceration issues in Harris County. The pair were selected from roughly 200 applicants following a statewide open call, succeeding artist Kill Joy, who led an immigrants' rights tour with large puppets.

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rate_review review schedule Apr 7, 2026 visibility 27 link 70 artists, 24 galleries

Alex Heilbron at as-is

Artist Alex Heilbron presents a solo exhibition at the Los Angeles gallery as-is. The show is featured as a lead review in the February 2026 issue of Contemporary Art Review LA, highlighting Heilbron's continued exploration of painting and visual language within the Southern California art scene.

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article news schedule Apr 1, 2026 visibility 25 link 61 artists, 24 galleries

Eddie Kang at Gana Art Los Angeles

The article is a table of contents for the February 2026 issue of Contemporary Art Review LA, listing numerous features, interviews, and reviews. It highlights an interview with artist Eddie Kang at Gana Art Los Angeles, alongside other content covering topics like olfactory art, tarot, video art, and reviews of exhibitions across Los Angeles galleries and museums.

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trending_up market schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 8 link 15 artists, 2 galleries

Blue-Chip Names Anchor Showplace’s Art and Design Auction

New York's Showplace is hosting its Important Fine Art and Design Auction on May 14, 2026, featuring 145 lots that span Old Masters to contemporary works. Key highlights include Yayoi Kusama's *Infinity Nets* (1995, est. $100,000–$200,000), Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe's *Yellow Fanny Pack* (2021, est. $12,000–$18,000), Alexander Calder's *Paradis* (1976, est. $60,000–$80,000), Henri Martin's *L'Eglise de Labastide-du-Vert* (est. $60,000–$80,000), and Milton Avery's *Untitled (Winter Landscape Scene)* (est. $20,000–$40,000). The auction brings together blue-chip names like Warhol, Kusama, and Calder alongside emerging artists.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 3 link 2 artists

Tefaf restoration award goes to 500-year-old Medici tapestry

Tefaf has awarded its Museum Restoration Fund prize to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) for the restoration of a 500-year-old Medici tapestry, "The Meeting of Dante and Virgil" (circa 1547-49). The €25,000 grant will support cleaning, consolidation, and lining of the 5.3-meter-high work, which has not been displayed in over 60 years due to severe damage including silk weft loss and open slits. The conservation will be carried out by the Midwest Art Conservation Center, and the tapestry is expected to go on public view at MIA this summer.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 4 link 10 artists

'It’s like the natural world. Nothing lasts forever': Tadashi Kawamata on creating his temporary sculptures

Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata created a temporary wooden vortex sculpture titled "Tornado" inside the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, made from 5,000 individual pieces of wood and installed on the grand staircase for just two weeks in February. The work was commissioned by Ruinart as part of its "Conversations with Nature" series, which presents a piece in Paris before permanently installing it at the champagne house's headquarters in Reims. Kawamata, who has lived in Paris for 18 years, is known for using found materials and creating site-specific, temporary interventions on or inside architecture, emphasizing spontaneity and impermanence.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 6 link 5 artists

From monumental glass sculptures to a lagoon in the sky: what to see beyond the Venice Biennale pavilions

The article highlights several must-see exhibitions and installations beyond the main Venice Biennale pavilions. Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's redevelopment of the island of San Giacomo opens on 7 May, transforming abandoned Napoleonic-era powder magazines into exhibition spaces with a solo show by British artist Matt Copson and a group show from her collection. American artist Melissa McGill presents 'Marea', a street-spanning installation of 100 paintings created with local residents and students, addressing climate change and rising sea levels. Dale Chihuly returns to Venice with 'Chihuly: Venice 2026', featuring monumental glass installations along the Grand Canal, including 'Gold Tower' (2025). Wallace Chan unveils titanium sculptures at the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pietà, with a parallel exhibition at the Long Museum in Shanghai.

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article culture schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 6 link 8 artists, 3 galleries

Harnessing the winds of societal change: how art dealers have been able to shape taste for centuries

Valentina Castellani, a former Gagosian director, has authored a new book titled *Trading Beauty: Art Market Histories from the Altar to the Gallery* (out 1 May). The book traces how art dealers have historically leveraged societal changes—political, economic, and social—to reshape taste and market structures. Castellani begins in the Middle Ages, when art was made only on commission for patrons like the Catholic church and monarchies, and moves through key shifts such as the Dutch Republic's first open art market in the 17th century, which gave rise to the professional art dealer. She highlights dealers like Paul Durand-Ruel, Joseph Duveen, and Leo Castelli who capitalized on anti-establishment energy, new wealth, and post-war consumer culture to bring avant-garde art to the forefront.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 24, 2026 visibility 15 link 12 artists

Pittsburgh’s new $31m Arts Landing combines public art with civic engagement

Pittsburgh's new $31 million public space, Arts Landing, opened on 17 April, just before the NFL Draft and the 59th Carnegie International. Developed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the project features public artworks by vanessa german, Darian Johnson, Lenka Clayton, Phillip Andrew Lewis, Sharmistha Ray, Mikael Owunna, Marques Redd, John Peña, Shikeith, and the late Thaddeus Mosley. Highlights include Shikeith's neon sculpture *Hold*, part of his *Project Blue Space*, and Mosley's *Touching the Earth* series, originally commissioned by New York's Public Art Fund. The space also includes a playground, bandshell, and artist-designed pickleball courts.

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article news schedule Apr 21, 2026 visibility 13 link 7 artists

New catalogues reveal Royal Collection's vast sculpture holdings—and Queen Victoria's acquisition spree

A new four-volume catalogue, authored by former royal surveyor Jonathan Marsden, documents approximately 1,800 sculptures in the Royal Collection. The publication reveals the unsystematic nature of the collection's growth, driven by royal tastes and historical opportunities, and highlights significant discoveries like a previously unknown bronze satyr by Benvenuto Cellini.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 20, 2026 visibility 11 link 5 artists

Rare Books Stolen From Ex-MoMA President’s Home Recovered After Nearly 40 Years

Seventeen rare books, valued at over $2 million and stolen nearly 40 years ago from the Long Island estate of former Museum of Modern Art president John Hay Whitney, have been recovered and will be returned to his descendants. The trove includes a $2 million portfolio of handwritten letters from poet John Keats and first editions of works by James Joyce and Aleister Crowley.

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article culture schedule Apr 17, 2026 visibility 25 link 15 artists

How Wayne McGregor’s epic ballets draw on help from his artistic friends

Choreographer Wayne McGregor’s upcoming production at the Royal Opera House, 'Alchemies', highlights his career-long commitment to cross-disciplinary collaboration with visual artists and designers. The program features a world premiere with costumes by fashion designer Saul Nash, alongside revivals of 'Yugen' and 'Untitled, 2023'. These works incorporate significant contributions from the art world, including set designs by ceramicist Edmund de Waal and previous collaborations with figures like Tacita Dean and Olafur Eliasson.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 16, 2026 visibility 48 link 5 artists

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.

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