German artist Georg Baselitz dies aged 88

German artist Georg Baselitz has died at age 88, as confirmed by the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery. Known for his expressive paintings and sculptures, Baselitz rose to prominence in the 1960s after a scandal over sexually symbolic works led to a high-profile court case. He pioneered painting canvases upside down from 1969 onward, a technique he used to grapple with German history and collective guilt. His work spanned six decades and included notable sculptures, such as a wooden figure at the 1980 Venice Biennale that appeared to perform a Nazi salute, which he later clarified was inspired by an African artifact. Baselitz achieved international acclaim in the 1980s and became one of Germany's highest-priced living artists, alongside Gerhard Richter.

Tate at a turning point: new director must confront unwieldy ‘beast’ of an art institution

Roland Rudd, chair of Tate, insists the institution is thriving despite recent leadership changes, citing record visitor numbers of 6.2 million, strong exhibition attendance (Turner and Constable at Tate Britain, Lee Miller, and Tracey Emin at Tate Modern), and 155,000 members. However, Maria Balshaw has stepped down as director after nine years, leaving her successor to confront a financially strained organization hit by pandemic losses, multiple redundancies, and low staff morale amid culture war battles.

New US exhibition explores power of monuments – with help from Rocky

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," which uses the iconic Rocky Balboa statue as a focal point to explore the power and meaning of monuments across two millennia of boxing and celebrity culture. Curated by Paul Farber, co-founder of Monument Lab, the show features ancient sculptures, 19th-century works, images from boxing's golden age, and contemporary pieces by artists including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Glenn Ligon. The Rocky statue, placed on the museum's steps in 1982, attracts an estimated 4 million visitors annually, rivaling the Statue of Liberty.

Museums have a duty to inspire the creatives of the future. At V&A East, I’ve made that my mission | Gus Casely-Hayford

Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of V&A East, outlines his vision for the new museum as a collaborative space designed specifically to re-engage young audiences. Highlighting a new commission by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera created with local youth, Casely-Hayford argues that museums must move beyond Victorian-era paternalism toward a model of co-creation. The institution has consulted over 30,000 young people to ensure its galleries, such as the "Why We Make" space, reflect contemporary concerns and community needs.

V&A East architecture review – from ceramics to codpieces, this is a honey-coloured treasure trove of human ingenuity

V&A East has officially unveiled its new museum building in London’s Olympic Park, a striking architectural addition to the city's burgeoning 'East Bank' cultural district. Designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey, the structure features a faceted, honey-colored concrete exterior inspired by the intricate folds of a sleeve in a Vermeer painting and the structural tailoring of Cristóbal Balenciaga. The interior houses a diverse collection of human ingenuity, ranging from Leigh Bowery’s sequined codpieces to historical ceramics, all organized within a framework that emphasizes the process of making.

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.

‘The original triple threat’: two exhibitions celebrate Marilyn Monroe as creative pioneer

The British Film Institute (BFI) and the National Portrait Gallery have announced two major exhibitions to celebrate the centenary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth. The BFI will host a two-month film season titled 'Marilyn Monroe: Self Made Star,' featuring a comprehensive look at her filmography and a theatrical re-release of her final film, *The Misfits*. Simultaneously, the National Portrait Gallery will present 'Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait,' an exhibition exploring her influence on visual culture through works by artists like Andy Warhol and Richard Avedon, including rare photographs taken just before her death.

Dean Sameshima review – did the neighbours really not know? The extreme LA sex clubs hidden in plain sight

A new exhibition at Soft Opening in London presents Dean Sameshima's "Wonderland" series, photographs taken in the mid-1990s that document the exteriors of queer sex clubs and bathhouses in Los Angeles's Silver Lake neighborhood. The images, shot in a stark, formal style during daylight, capture the unremarkable facades of these clandestine spaces, with only descriptive titles hinting at the activities within.

Expecting to live past 100? Then this show, with its rotten fruit and robot companions, is for you

The Wellcome Collection in London is preparing to open a major exhibition titled 'The Coming of Age,' which explores the complex realities and cultural anxieties surrounding aging and longevity. The show features diverse objects, from Japan's official silver sake cups for centenarians to Sam Taylor-Johnson's time-lapse film of rotting fruit and artworks examining biological immortality.

Shoplifting, sex shows and sheepdog-breeding: great artists and the side-hustles they did to get by

The article explores the unconventional and often illicit side jobs that famous artists historically took to support their creative pursuits. It details examples like Jean Genet's specialized book theft, Jean-Luc Godard's pilfering of books and cash, Chantal Akerman's ticket-skimming at a porn theater, and Kathy Acker's simulated sex show performances, highlighting how financial necessity drove them to inventive, sometimes desperate, measures.

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Almine Rech is closing her London gallery in Mayfair after more than a decade, as reported by Melanie Gerlis in the Art Newspaper. The space, which opened in 2014 on Savile Row before moving to Grosvenor Hill, hosted exhibitions by artists including Javier Calleja, Chloe Wise, Jeff Koons, and Esther Mahlangu. Rech stated that London remains "important" to her and that she plans to open something in the city in the future, but offered no specifics. The London branch was put into liquidation, with Companies House filings indicating a £6.3 million deficit, though Rech said she owes no money to artists, workers, or suppliers and described the filing as a technical step to restructure a lease. Her gallery will continue operating its other eight locations across Paris, New York, Brussels, Shanghai, Monaco, and Gstaad.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries reframe 6,000 years of history

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing to open its new $720m David Geffen Galleries, a massive undulating concrete structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the new building adds 110,000 square feet of gallery space and 3.5 acres of public parkland, marking the completion of a two-decade capital project led by Director Michael Govan. The facility will house the museum’s permanent collection, which has been largely out of public view for seven years, and features innovative exhibition strategies such as hanging artworks directly onto concrete walls.

Tate Modern to Mount Its First Monet Show Ever

Tate Modern has announced its 2027 exhibition program, headlined by "Monet: Painting Time," the museum's first-ever solo exhibition dedicated to Claude Monet since it opened 26 years ago. The show, opening February 27, 2027, will feature rarely seen works from global lenders and new research, following an initial presentation at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris opening this September to mark the centenary of Monet's death.

The Prototype of an Artist

Der Prototyp eines Künstlers

Timm Ulrichs, the self-proclaimed "Totalkünstler" (total artist) known for his boundary-pushing performances—tattooing himself, locking himself inside a hollowed boulder, and running naked in thunderstorms—has died at age 86 in Berlin. A pioneer of Land Art, Body Art, concrete poetry, and endoscopic imaging, Ulrichs created works that anticipated later artists like Isa Genzken, and was invited to Documenta 6 in 1977. Despite his prolific output and influence on younger generations, he often lamented being overlooked by the international art market compared to peers like Georg Baselitz and Gerhard Richter.

There Has Never Been an Apolitical Venice Biennale

"Es hat niemals eine unpolitische Venedig-Biennale gegeben"

The Venice Biennale is embroiled in political controversy, with the US Pavilion's selection process criticized for bypassing traditional curatorial expertise in favor of a politically connected outsider. Simultaneously, a collective of artists and academics is protesting Russia's return to the Biennale, arguing it uses art as a political instrument to normalize its actions amid the war in Ukraine. An analysis in ArtReview contends the Biennale has never been apolitical, serving as a stage for geopolitical power plays since its inception.

Ascendant Philanthropists Make $23 Million Donation to Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has received a $23 million donation from newly elected trustee Jennifer Rubio and her husband Stewart Butterfield, made through the Rubio Butterfield Foundation. The principal gift will endow the museum's undergraduate and graduate internship program in perpetuity, which will be renamed after the couple starting September 2026. An additional donation supports the Met's new Tang Wing for modern and contemporary art, set to open in 2030.

Who is Yto Barrada, France's representative at the Venice Biennale with a world-spanning work?

Qui est Yto Barrada, représentante de la France à la Biennale de Venise avec une œuvre-monde ?

Yto Barrada, the artist representing France at the 2026 Venice Biennale, has created a multidisciplinary installation titled "Saturne" for the French Pavilion. The work centers on textiles and natural dyeing, weaving together themes of postcolonial history, migration, craft transmission, and the symbolism of Saturn—from its astronomical mystery to its mythological role as the devourer of children. The installation features wool curtains, Aubusson tapestry, goat skins, wasp-nest sculptures, masks, muzzles, a color chart, and video, all housed in a renovated pavilion designed with the help of numerous artisans. Barrada, born in Paris in 1971 and raised in Tangier, founded the Cinémathèque de Tanger and later The Mothership, a research center focused on textiles and natural dyes. The exhibition is curated by Myriam Ben Salah.

Au musée Picasso, l’artiste africain-américain Henry Taylor dévoile sa peinture d’un quotidien troublé par la violence

The Musée Picasso in Paris is hosting a retrospective of African American artist Henry Taylor, running until September 6. The exhibition centers on Taylor's 2007 painting *From Congo to the Capital, and Black Again*, a bold reimagining of Picasso's *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon* that replaces the original figures with darker-skinned women and introduces Josephine Baker and a white man's arm. The show follows the museum's series on African American painting, after Faith Ringgold in 2023 and ahead of a Harlem Renaissance exhibition in 2027.

At the Guggenheim Bilbao, the Infinite Poetry of Ruth Asawa’s Aerial Sculptures

Au Guggenheim Bilbao, l’infinie poésie des sculptures aériennes de Ruth Asawa

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is hosting the first major European retrospective of American artist Ruth Asawa, showcasing her signature hand-woven wire sculptures. These delicate, organic forms, which challenge gravity and play with transparency, are presented in dialogue with the museum's monumental architecture. The exhibition traces her journey from a childhood spent in Japanese-American internment camps during WWII to her formative years at the legendary Black Mountain College under the mentorship of Josef Albers.

A major Jean-Michel Basquiat painting is expected to sell for more than $5 million in May.

A major Jean-Michel Basquiat painting is expected to sell for more than $5 million in May.

A major painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, titled *Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict*, will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York this May. The 1982 work is a prime example of the artist's raw, graffiti-infused style and is expected to fetch over $5 million. This sale is part of Christie’s marquee spring auctions, highlighting continued strong market demand for blue-chip contemporary art.

Can Art Feel?

Hyperallergic's newsletter explores the question of whether artworks can possess personhood, drawing on Lisa Siraganian's essay that references the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision and Pierre Huyghe's uncanny human statues. Other featured pieces include Ed Simon's review of Elizabeth Goldring's new book on Hans Holbein the Younger, Michael Glover's introduction to George Stubbs's equine portraits at the National Gallery in London, and news of a historic $116M gift to the National Gallery of Art for an artwork lending program. The newsletter also covers Byron Kim's exhibition at James Cohan Gallery, the new V&A East museum in London, and obituaries for Desmond Morris, James Hayward, and Flo Oy Wong.

Art Fair Report: Stress Test

Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 drew 91,500 visitors and featured 240 galleries at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, alongside over 100 galleries at Art Central, three new boutique fairs, four new art spaces, multiple auction previews, and dozens of institutional shows and gallery openings. Despite a challenging 2025 that saw mega-galleries Pace and Perrotin close their Hong Kong spaces and auction results hit an eight-year low, blue-chip galleries reported strong sales, including David Zwirner’s USD 3.8 million sale of Liu Ye’s "Snow White" (2006) and Hauser & Wirth’s USD 2.95 million sale of a Louise Bourgeois work. The prevailing sentiment among collectors and gallerists was cautious optimism, with the phrase "Are you surviving?" overheard frequently.

Dóra Maurer, Hungarian Conceptual Artist, Dies at 88

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Dóra Maurer, a preeminent figure of Hungarian conceptual art, has died at the age of 88. Known for her multidisciplinary approach spanning film, photography, and painting, Maurer rose to prominence for her experimental work created under Soviet rule in Hungary. Her practice frequently explored themes of displacement, perception, and the mathematical shifting of forms, ranging from her 1970s performance-based photography to her later vibrant, geometric "Overlappings" paintings.

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Frieze Los Angeles has announced its 2026 exhibitor list, featuring 95 galleries from 22 countries at the Santa Monica Airport, running from February 26 to March 1. The lineup includes blue-chip names like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner, alongside local staples such as Commonwealth & Council and David Kordansky Gallery. First-time participants include El Apartamento, Bradley Ertaskiran, and Sprüth Magers returns after a hiatus. The Focus section, curated by Essence Harden, highlights galleries under 12 years old. Notable absentees include Marian Goodman Gallery, Bortolami, and Sean Kelly, while five galleries that participated in 2025 have since closed. The fair follows a challenging 2025 edition impacted by LA wildfires, which prompted withdrawals and a charity initiative.

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P.P.O.W. gallery has taken on representation of artist Owen Fu, while Nicola Vassell Gallery now represents Na Kim, known for her book covers and paintings. Jessie Washburne-Harris has been named Global Director at White Cube, overseeing the gallery's U.S. growth. Chris Sharp Gallery added Mark A. Rodriguez to its roster, and Berry Campbell took on the estate of Louisa Chase. Mexico City dealers Misa Yamaoka and Yuna Cabon launched an artist residency program at Third Born gallery. The article also reports that combined evening sales at Christie's, Phillips, and Sotheby's in Hong Kong totaled $136 million, a significant drop from $208.6 million last fall, and highlights the rising market interest in 17th-century artist Michaelina Wautier.

museum of plastic pollution opens clearing gallerist talks end of business and more morning links for august 11 2025 1234749196

The article reports on the death of Matthew Christopher Pietras, a prominent New York patron who was found dead after the Soros family claimed that a $10 million donation he made to the Metropolitan Opera actually belonged to a family member. It also covers the closure of Clearing gallery in New York, the fourth such closure in a month, following Blum, Venus Over Manhattan, and Kasmin. Additional news includes a Russian drone strike damaging a historic synagogue in Odessa, the death of collector Sylvio Perlstein, the launch of Victoria Miro's digital platform Live / Archive, and a feature on Enzo Suma's Archeoplastica museum of plastic waste.

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The Armory Show has announced its 2025 exhibitor list, featuring over 230 galleries set to participate in the fair from September 5–7 at the Javits Center in New York, with a VIP preview on September 4. This edition marks the first under new director Kyla McMillan, who has introduced a revised floor plan, a new section called Function organized by dealer Ebony L. Haynes, and a reconfiguration of the large-scale works Platform section led by Souls Grown Deep. More than 20 exhibitors are returning after a hiatus, including White Cube and Andrew Kreps, while 55 galleries are participating for the first time, such as Skarstedt and Megan Mulrooney.

Art Dubai announces updated gallery list for postponed 2026 edition

Art Dubai has released a revised exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, which was rescheduled to May 15–17 following regional instability caused by the US-Israel war in Iran. The fair will feature 50 galleries at Madinat Jumeirah, down from its original roster after approximately 75 participants—including major Indian and Western galleries—withdrew due to scheduling conflicts and logistics. To support those remaining, the fair has introduced a flexible fee structure where galleries pay a percentage of sales capped at the original stand cost.

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The article examines the growing role of artist estates in the art market, particularly for smaller and emerging galleries. While mega-galleries like Hauser & Wirth have long profited from managing blue-chip estates, a new wave of smaller galleries is now turning to overlooked and under-researched artists who died without established legacies. These galleries invest in building archives, cultivating institutional relationships, and reintroducing artists to contemporary audiences, often at more accessible price points with significant room for growth. Examples include Gunia Nowik Gallery working with the estate of Polish artist Krzysztof Jung and Gianni Manhattan representing Estonian sculptor Anu Põder.

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Art Basel in Switzerland has a unique ritual: many attendees swim in the Rhine River, which flows through Basel. Participants use waterproof bags (often the fish-shaped Wickelfisch brand) to store clothes and belongings, then float downstream from the Museum Tinguely past the Trois Rois hotel. The practice is embraced by dealers, advisers, artists, and art handlers alike, with some describing it as a rejuvenating escape from the fair's intensity. However, not everyone is a fan—gallerist David Nolan calls the river "dirty, dangerous, deeply infested with microplastics," and some attendees avoid it due to concerns about pollution or safety.