Art Basel Diary: star brings K-pop magic, scents and sensibility, and Liam Gallagher’s romantic side

Art Basel 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, saw K-pop star RM (of BTS) visit the fair's Unlimited section, drawing screaming fans and highlighting his role as an art collector. Other notable moments included Friedrich Kunath's romantic portrait of Liam Gallagher (priced at $135,000) on view with Pace gallery, Italian collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo announcing a dual-site exhibition in Turin for her foundation's 30th anniversary, and Fondation Beyeler drawing luminaries like Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Don and Mera Rubell to Jordan Wolfson's VR experience 'Little Room'. The fair also introduced a bespoke fragrance called 'Racing Anticipation' in collaboration with Givaudan, though some staff reported allergic reactions.

‘My bank account is the only thing that slows me down’: Arlene Shechet on trusting her instincts

Artist Arlene Shechet discusses her dual role as creator and collector in an interview with The Art Newspaper ahead of Art Basel. She is installing her welded aluminum sculpture *Midnight* (2024) in the fair's Unlimited section, a work originally commissioned for her show at Storm King Art Center. Shechet reveals that she uses a portion of her sales to buy works by other artists, citing pieces by Fred Sandback, Barry Le Va, Joan Jonas, Kinke Kooi, and Marlon Mullen in her collection. She also mentions a regret over not purchasing a Louise Bourgeois drawing for $5,000 and names a medieval Book of Hours as her dream museum acquisition.

Hot new artist: Jadé Fadojutimi, a colour genius

The article profiles painter Jadé Fadojutimi, highlighted as a "colour genius" by curator and advisor Hervé Mikaeloff in Numéro art's series on hot new artists during the 56th edition of Art Basel. Fadojutimi's large-format, near-abstract compositions feature rich fuchsias, indigos, and yellows with expressionist brushstrokes and oil pastel marks, evoking plant worlds and musical scores. Her work has been shown internationally, including at the Hayward Gallery, Kunstmuseum Bonn, the 59th Venice Biennale, and the National Art Museum in Osaka, and she is represented by Gagosian, Galerie Gisela Capitain, and Taka Ishii. Her first Gagosian solo show in New York in 2024 incorporated a soundtrack, underscoring the role of music, fashion, and animation in her practice.

12 things not to miss at Art Basel's bigger and better 2025 event

Art Basel's 2025 edition in Basel features a packed program across the city, including a new Shop with exclusive drops like a limited-edition porcelain Labubu by Kasing Lung, an FC Basel jersey designed by an artist, and rare prints by Daniel Arsham and Amoako Boafo. Highlights include Jordan Wolfson at Fondation Beyeler, Dala Nasser at Kunsthalle Basel, a ghost train by Rebecca Moss and Augustin Rebetez at Museum Tinguely, and the group show Maison Clearing organized by C L E A R I N G. Joyce Joumaa presents a light-based installation at Art Basel Statements, Thomas Bayrle's 1960s installation Coats appears in Parcours, and Alia Farid shows at Unlimited.

Art Basel 2025: Masterpieces, new galleries, and swimming the Rhine

Art Basel 2025 will feature a large-scale public artwork by Katharina Grosse transforming Basel's Messeplatz, along with a new sector called Premiere for mid-career galleries, the inaugural Art Basel Awards, and 20 first-time exhibitors. Director Maike Cruse highlights major works on offer, including a late-career Pablo Picasso painting at Pace, a Joan Mitchell abstract at Pace, Helen Frankenthaler's 'Swan Lake I' at Yares Art, Leonora Carrington's rare triptych at Di Donna Galleries, and a Heidi Bucher latex imprint at Lehmann Maupin. The Unlimited sector will present 67 monumental works, including Martin Kippenberger's 'Transportable Subway Entrance' and daily performances by Cairo-based dance collective nasa4nasa.

The UAE’s art market is on the up

The UAE's art market is experiencing a resurgence nearly two decades after the 2008 financial crash, driven by a booming economy and strategic investments. Key developments include an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, acquiring a $1 billion stake in Sotheby's, and Art Basel announcing a new fair in Doha, Qatar, set to launch in February 2026. Meanwhile, Christie's is expanding its Dubai office, and Saudi Arabia hosted its inaugural Art Week Riyadh in April, featuring 32 commercial galleries. Despite these regional moves, Dubai remains the Gulf's commercial art hub, with Sotheby's chairman Edward Gibbs noting a 70% increase in regional bidders over five years and Christie's president Anthea Peers reporting that sales of modern Middle Eastern art trebled between 2020 and 2024.

Rachel Whiteread in a West Sussex woodland: UK’s Goodwood Art Foundation opens

The Goodwood Art Foundation, a new non-profit contemporary art center, has opened on the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, UK, launched by Charles Richmond, 11th Duke of Richmond. The 70-acre site, reimagined by landscape designer Dan Pearson, features refurbished pavilions, a new restaurant by Studio Downie Architects, and a launch season curated by Ann Gallagher. The headline exhibition includes sculptures and photography by Turner Prize-winning artist Rachel Whiteread, alongside works by Rose Wylie, Veronica Ryan, Susan Philipsz, Amie Siegel, Lubna Chowdhary, Isamu Noguchi, and Hélio Oiticica. The foundation opened on 31 May.

Basquiat's monumental work on paper sells for US$16.3m, leading Sotheby's contemporary sale in New York

On May 15, Sotheby's held The Now and Contemporary Evening Sale in New York, achieving a total of US$127.1 million. The top lot was an untitled 1981 work on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which sold for US$16.3 million after a five-minute bidding battle. The sale included 41 lots with a 92.6% sell-through rate, and all nine works from the collection of Roy and Dorothy Leichtenstein were sold, contributing US$29 million to the total.

Tentatively, Photo London's tenth edition moves away from traditional content and crowds

Photo London's tenth edition, under new director Sophie Parker, opened at Somerset House with a deliberate shift away from its traditional focus on established male photographers and celebrity subjects like Kate Moss. The fair eliminated its 'Master of Photography' award and revived the Positions section for unrepresented artists, featuring Palestinian-American Adam Rouhana and British Indian photographer Kavi Pujara. While the main pavilion still showcased familiar names like Sebastião Salgado, newer galleries reported strong early sales, including a £10,000–£15,000 portrait by Chou Ching Hui sold to a Norwegian museum via Taipei's Chini Gallery, and multiple sales at Amsterdam's Hungry Eye Gallery and Paris's Galerie XII.

Why dealers play the waiting game before exhibiting a newly signed artist

David Zwirner Gallery is opening a new 18,000 sq. ft flagship in New York with a solo exhibition by Michael Armitage, his first at a Zwirner location since signing in March 2022. The three-year gap was intentional, aligning with the gallery's expansion and Armitage's other projects. Other dealers like Gladstone Gallery and Mrs. also vary their timelines, sometimes showing artists before officially signing them, as seen with Brook Hsu at Gladstone and Alexandra Barth, Nevena Prijic, and Precious Okoyomon at Mrs.

Comment | Perhaps artists do have only ‘ten good years’—but they can happen at any time in their career

The article reflects on the idea that artists may have only 'ten good years' of peak creativity, prompted by a visit to the exhibition "Anselm Kiefer: Early Works" at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The author contrasts the young Kiefer's deft, emotionally intimate works from 1969–1982 with his later, more grandiose output, arguing that Kiefer's early period surpasses anything he has achieved since. The piece also revisits critic Douglas Cooper's harsh dismissal of late Picasso and former Tate director Alan Bowness's theory of artistic prime.

Antonia Ruder On the Role of Gallery Weekend Berlin in a Changing Art Market

Gallery Weekend Berlin returns for its 21st edition from May 2-4, 2025, featuring fifty-two galleries showcasing established and emerging artists. Antonia Ruder, who joined the event in 2023 and is now preparing her second full edition as director, discusses the festival's origins as a private initiative by five art dealers in 2005, its growth to become a global art calendar highlight, and its role as a premier platform for contemporary art in Germany in the absence of an international art fair in Berlin.

Artist interview

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Hyperallergic’s Guide to the 2026 Venice Biennale

Hyperallergic has published its guide to the 2026 Venice Biennale, detailing what to see and do at this year's edition. The guide covers the three main categories of the Biennale—the Giardini with 29 permanent national pavilions, the Arsenale with temporary rented spaces, and collateral events across the city. Key developments include the return of Russia to its permanent Giardini pavilion and Israel's participation with a new contractual stipulation preventing its artist from closing the pavilion, after Ruth Patir's protest in 2024. South Africa withdrew following the cancellation of Gabrielle Goliath's video installation 'Elegy,' which mourns victims of Israel's genocide in Gaza and will now be shown at a historic church. The United States will be represented by Alma Allen after Barbara Chase-Riboud stepped down, and Qatar is set to become the first country in decades to build a new pavilion in the Giardini.

The Langmatt Museum in Baden Reopens Its Doors

Le Musée Langmatt de Baden rouvre ses portes

The Langmatt Museum in Baden, Switzerland, has reopened after a two-year, €21 million renovation of its Art Nouveau villa, which required urgent structural intervention. The project was co-financed by the city of Baden and the canton of Aargau, with the city contributing CHF 10 million. To secure the museum's endowment fund, the Langmatt Foundation controversially sold three Paul Cézanne masterpieces at Christie's New York in November 2023 for a total of CHF 40.32 million, sparking ethical debate in museum circles. The renovation covered all 75 rooms, including new fire protection, an elevator, accessibility upgrades, a glass pavilion, and restoration of the historic park, while preserving the villa's character.

5 Standout Artists at MoMA PS1’s “Greater New York”

MoMA PS1's sixth edition of the "Greater New York" quinquennial exhibition has opened, showcasing the work of over 50 artists and collectives. The show aims to capture the current state of New York's art scene, highlighting new and ambitious work created despite challenging economic and political conditions.

Joan Miró | Quelques Fleurs Pour Des Amis: Milani (#25) (1964) | For Sale

A lithograph by Joan Miró from his "Quelques Fleurs pour des Amis" series, titled *Milani (#25)* (1964), is being offered for sale through Palm Beach Modern Auctions. The work is a limited-edition print on paper, signed in plate, from an edition of 150, printed by Mourlot, Paris, and published by Societe Internationale d'Art XXe Siecle, Paris. The listing includes details on condition, buyer's premium, and bidding terms.

UAE art guide: 12 museum and gallery exhibitions to see, including Gallery Isabelle's 20th anniversary show

The UAE art scene is currently hosting a diverse array of exhibitions across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, despite regional disruptions. Key highlights include a major Picasso retrospective at Louvre Abu Dhabi, a 10th-century anniversary celebration at 421 Arts Campus titled 'Rays, Ripples, Residue,' and the inaugural photography exhibition at Sharjah Art Foundation’s new Al Manakh venue. These shows range from historical surveys of the human form to contemporary explorations of UAE’s urban development and climate change.

5 noteworthy art gallery exhibitions to check out during Expo Chicago

Expo Chicago returns to Navy Pier from April 9-12, featuring over 130 international galleries and anchoring a city-wide week of major art programming. Local institutions and commercial galleries are strategically timing their most significant exhibitions to coincide with the fair, including a major presentation of Chicago Imagist Roger Brown at Gray gallery and architectural collages by Marshall Brown at Western Exhibitions.

Exhibitions Coming to Houston Area Art Venues In Spring 2026

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).

Giant Buddha Lands in New York

Artist Xandra Ibarra staged a nude performance titled "Nude Laughing" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, walking through the contemporary galleries to challenge viewer etiquette and spark conversations about consent, art history, and the human body. Separately, a 27-foot-tall Buddha sculpture has been installed on the High Line in New York, serving as a resurrection of the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas and a critical piece of cultural heritage.

London 20th/21st Century Frieze Week sales achieve a running total of £141.8m / $189.7m / €162.75m

Christie’s 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale during Frieze Week 2025 achieved £106.9 million, up 30% year-on-year, with a 90% sell-through rate by value. The top lot was Peter Doig’s *Ski Jacket* (1994), sold for £14.27 million after intense bidding, part of the Ole Faarup Collection, which raised £27.3 million total for the Ole Faarup Art Foundation. Other notable sales included works by Lucian Freud, Paula Rego, Gerhard Richter, Pablo Picasso, and Suzanne Valadon, with more than half of all lots selling above high estimate.

Must-See National Pavilions at the 61st Venice Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale features standout national pavilions from Japan, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Singapore, and India. Japan presents Ei Arakawa-Nash's 'Grass Babies, Moon Babies,' an interactive exhibition with hand-sewn baby dolls and sound pieces exploring queer parenthood and collective care. The Philippines showcases Jon Cuyson's 'Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig,' a solo show using 'mussel thinking' to highlight Filipino seafarers. Timor-Leste's 'Across Words' brings together three artists addressing ethnolinguistic diversity and cultural memory, while Singapore presents Amanda Heng's 'A Pause,' a feminist performance on vulnerability and resilience. India's pavilion features Ranjani Shettar's work, supported by Talwar Gallery.

Previews: 61st Venice Biennale: In Minor Keys

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens amid global turmoil and internal controversy. Kouoh, who passed away in May 2025, conceived the exhibition around the metaphor of a "creole garden," emphasizing deep affinities between 111 artists from diverse locations such as Dakar, Beirut, and Salvador. The Biennale is overshadowed by recent geopolitical events, including US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, and faces protests: over 70 participating artists signed an open letter opposing the participation of Israel, Russia, and the US, while the Australian pavilion saw the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi after being dropped, and South Africa withdrew its official pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's femicide project, which she will still present independently.

Turin's new art gallery is an apartment where works are displayed in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom

La nuova galleria d’arte di Torino è un appartamento dove le opere si espongono in cucina, bagno e camera da letto

The Italian branch of Paris-based gallery CiacciaLevi is relocating from Milan to Turin in September 2026, opening a new space that is an apartment where artworks will be displayed in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Founders Antoine Levi and Nerina Ciaccia, who first met and began their careers in Turin between 2005 and 2010, describe the move as both a professional and personal life choice, deepening their ties to the city where they previously worked with Galleria Franco Noero and a.titolo.

Ides Kihlen, Abstract Painter and Argentine Art Legend, Dies at 108

Ides Kihlen, the beloved Argentine abstract painter, died on April 14 at age 108. Her first solo exhibition came at age 85 in 2002 at the National Museum of Decorative Arts in Buenos Aires, after which her career blossomed with presentations at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo and the Emilio Caraffa Fine Arts Museum. Known for rhythmic compositions blending geometric forms, experimental line work, and collage on varied supports, Kihlen maintained a daily routine of painting from morning and playing piano after sunset, reflecting her lifelong dual commitment to art and music.

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The Louvre Museum has installed security bars on the French window of the Apollo Gallery, the entry point used by thieves in a $102 million jewel heist on October 19. The museum announced the measure on X, showing workers installing the bars before dawn. Additional security upgrades include a mobile police base, distancing devices on the Quai François Mitterrand, and plans for 100 new perimeter cameras by 2026. These steps are part of a $92 million security master plan. Ticket prices for non-E.U. visitors will rise 45% to $37 starting January 14, 2026, to help fund the improvements. The museum also revealed that a 2018 audit sponsored by Van Cleef and Arpels had flagged the balcony's vulnerability, but then-director Jean-Luc Martinez did not act. Louvre president Laurence des Cars offered to resign after the security failures came to light but was asked to stay.

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The Louvre Museum board has voted to raise ticket prices by 45% for visitors outside the European Economic Area, effective January 14. The price will increase from €22 ($25) to €32 ($37), affecting tourists from the United States, Britain, and Russia. The move is part of a broader effort to fund infrastructure upgrades and security improvements following a high-profile heist in October in which thieves stole nine pieces of jewelry worth an estimated $102 million from the Apollo Gallery. The museum's director, Laurence des Cars, acknowledged that the institution has "very inadequate" and "outdated" security systems, and a full overhaul is not expected until 2032.

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A 2018 security audit commissioned by the Louvre from Van Cleef and Arpels identified critical vulnerabilities in the museum's Apollo Gallery, including a balcony accessible via a lift platform—the exact entry point used by thieves in a daring October 19, 2025 heist. The audit, which included diagrams highlighting a window facing Quai François-Mitterrand as a major weakness, was not passed on to current Louvre president Laurence des Cars when she took over in 2021. The museum only discovered the document after the theft, prompting an internal review and referral to France's General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs. French authorities have since arrested four more suspects, bringing the total to eight, as the investigation continues into the theft of eight valuable pieces including Napoleon Bonaparte's emerald-and-diamond necklace.

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Four suspects have been arrested for allegedly stealing the French crown jewels from the Louvre Museum last month. One suspect, identified as 39-year-old Abdoulaye N., is a former security guard at the Centre Pompidou and a social media influencer known for motocross stunts under the name Doudou Cross Bitume. His DNA was found at the crime scene, and he is suspected of breaking into the museum's Apollo gallery through an unsecured window before escaping on a motorbike. He has a prior criminal record including a 2014 jewelry store robbery conviction, and was due in court for a separate case. The stolen jewels have not yet been recovered.