Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Oct 15, 2025 visibility 25 link 7 artists

leading artists call for nationwide resistance against authoritarian forces

Visual artist Dread Scott, playwright Lynn Nottage, and dozens of cultural figures have launched "Fall of Freedom," a nationwide weekend of creative demonstrations scheduled for November 21–22, 2025, to protest rising authoritarianism under the Trump administration. The project invites arts communities to organize independent actions—such as storefront readings, pop-up performances, exhibitions, and workshops—at museums, galleries, classrooms, comedy clubs, or any community gathering space. Participating institutions include the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which will host a "Wear Your Rights" silk-screening workshop, and New York's Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, which will turn a gallery into a library of queer art activism books. Other notable participants include artists Marilyn Minter, Robert Longo, and Amy Sherald, who recently canceled a Smithsonian exhibition after concerns over her painting of a Black transgender Statue of Liberty.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 13, 2025 visibility 25 link 13 artists

toledo museum of art digital art ai and future proofing the museum

Adam Levine, director and CEO of the Toledo Museum of Art, has transformed the Ohio institution into a model for digital adaptation. Over five years, he grew the operating budget from $15 million to $23 million, expanded the endowment by $90 million, and launched TMA Labs, an in-house consultancy focused on data, Web3, AI, and emerging technologies. The museum has acquired digital artworks including NFTs and digital numismatics, established a digital artist-in-residence program, and opened the exhibition "Infinite Images," which traces the history of computer and digital art. Levine, one of the youngest museum directors in the U.S. at 38, discussed these initiatives in an interview with ARTnews.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Oct 10, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists

national portrait gallery cancels exhibition events due to government shutdown

The National Portrait Gallery has postponed opening events for its upcoming exhibition “The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today,” originally scheduled for October 16–17, due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown. The decision was communicated in a letter from acting director Elliot Gruber on October 7, citing the shutdown as the reason for the cancellation. The exhibition, which features 35 portraits by 36 artists selected from over 3,300 entries, is part of the museum’s seventh triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and is still set to open to the public on October 18, pending the resolution of lapsed funding.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule Oct 8, 2025 visibility 21 link 8 artists

ken jacobs film artist dead

Ken Jacobs, a pioneering experimental filmmaker who blurred the boundaries between cinema and visual art, died at 92 in New York from kidney failure, according to his son, filmmaker Azazel Jacobs. A key figure in the postwar New York underground alongside Jack Smith and Jonas Mekas, Jacobs challenged conventional filmmaking through works like "Blonde Cobra" (1963) and "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" (1969), using techniques such as live radio accompaniment, slow motion, and looping to deconstruct the medium. He studied painting under Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann and described his own work as "Abstract Expressionist cinema," often drawing direct comparisons between film and painting.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Oct 2, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

saudi arabia deutsche bank ink cultural partnership

Saudi Arabia announced over 5 billion Saudi riyals ($1.3 billion) in new cultural funds and agreements at the first Cultural Investment Conference in Riyadh, held under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Key initiatives include a partnership with Deutsche Bank for training and cultural exchanges, and the immediate establishment of the Riyadh University of Arts, set to open in 2026 with courses in film, performing arts, and theater. The Ministry of Culture also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Royal Commission for AlUla to boost cultural infrastructure in the AlUla oasis.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Sep 26, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

marina abramovic venice accademia 2026

Marina Abramović will celebrate her 80th birthday with a career-spanning exhibition titled "Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy" at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice from May 6 to October 19, 2026, coinciding with the 61st Venice Biennale. The show, previously staged at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai in fall 2024, features 150 works including furniture-sculpture hybrids made from quartz, amethyst, and tourmaline. Abramović's "transitory objects" will be installed throughout the 14th-century building alongside the museum's permanent collection of Renaissance masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto, Giorgione, and Mantegna, with a notable pairing of her 1983 photograph *Pietà (with Ulay)* and Titian's *Pietà* (1575–76).

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Sep 26, 2025 visibility 23 link 9 artists

abu dhabi to host most expensive art exhibition staged by sothebys in the middle east valued at 150 m

Abu Dhabi will host the most expensive art exhibition ever staged by Sotheby's in the Middle East on October 1 and 2, valued at approximately $150 million. The exhibition features six masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Frida Kahlo, René Magritte, Camille Pissarro, and Edvard Munch, sourced from major private collections including those of Leonard A. Lauder, Cindy and Jay Pritzker, and Matthew and Kay Bucksbaum. It takes place at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation on Saadiyat Island Cultural District and marks Sotheby's first public fine art show in the UAE, ahead of its Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week in November.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Sep 25, 2025 visibility 22 link 7 artists

lisa phillips steps down new museum

Lisa Phillips, director of New York's New Museum, will retire after more than 25 years in the role, as reported by the New York Times. The museum is currently in the midst of a 62,000-square-foot expansion expected to open this fall, though no date has been set. Phillips, 71, oversaw the museum's relocation to the Bowery in 2007, launched the influential New Museum Triennial in 2010, and added initiatives like New Inc and Rhizome. Her tenure also included controversies, such as criticism over a 2010 show of works owned by a trustee, staff complaints about her $900,000 salary, and tensions around the museum's unionization in 2019.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Sep 25, 2025 visibility 15 link 6 artists

blaffer art museum curator fired jatovia gary canceled

The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston has fired associate curator Erika Mei Chua Holum, leading artists Ja’Tovia Gary and Kenneth Tam to cancel or postpone their exhibitions. The turmoil follows the appointment of Laura Augusta as director and chief curator in 2024. According to a report in Glasstire, Holum was terminated in July over budget disputes she disputes, and Gary pulled her show after budget negotiations broke down. Tam’s exhibition was described as canceled by the artist but denied by the museum, while a show by Thania Petersen also faces uncertainty. The museum previously canceled a Guadalupe Maravilla presentation in February, citing construction concerns.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 10 link 5 artists

hidden vermeer self portrait maid asleep

New research by the Metropolitan Museum of Art suggests that Johannes Vermeer may have hidden a self-portrait beneath his painting *A Maid Asleep* (1656–57). Using scientific analysis, the Met's team discovered an overpainted figure in the background—a man painting with his left hand, likely a reflection in a framed mirror. The image is too obscured to reveal facial features. The theory, first proposed by the Met in 2023, is bolstered by a comparison to Nicolaes Maes's *The Naughty Drummer* (1655), which similarly depicts an artist reflected in a mirror. The Met argues Vermeer likely knew Maes's work.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 19 link 10 artists

john giorno dial a poem online

John Giorno's 1969 conceptual artwork "Dial-A-Poem," originally a phone-based poetry service featured in MoMA's landmark 1970 exhibition "Information," has been relaunched as an online platform. The new version, created by Giorno Poetry Systems, presents randomized readings of both historic and contemporary poems, including contributions from Laurie Anderson, William S. Burroughs, and Gary Snyder. International editions have been added for France, Mexico, Thailand, Italy, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Brazil, with poems recited in their native languages.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Sep 22, 2025 visibility 15 link 5 artists

heirs of jewish collector urge appeals court to reconsider claim to van goghs sunflowers

Heirs of German Jewish banker and art collector Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy have urged the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to revive their lawsuit seeking the return of Vincent van Gogh's *Sunflowers* (1888), which they claim was sold under Nazi duress. The lawsuit, filed in 2022 against Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings, argues that the painting was purchased at a 1987 Christie's auction by Sompo's predecessor, Yasuda, despite provenance indicating Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a Nazi victim. A lower court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of jurisdiction, but the heirs contend that the painting's exhibition in Chicago in 2001 establishes sufficient legal ties to Illinois.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule Sep 17, 2025 visibility 8 link 2 artists

saul dennison art new museum chairman dead at 96

Saul Dennison, a prominent arts patron and longtime supporter of the New Museum in New York, died on September 11 at age 96. Dennison and his wife Ellyn, who died earlier this year, were avid art collectors whose holdings ranged from new media and photography to classical sculpture and conceptual works. Dennison served as president of the New Museum's board of trustees from 1999 to 2013, then as chairman until his death, and was instrumental in the museum's 2007 opening of its permanent home on the Bowery. He also helped the museum secure a crucial challenge grant from philanthropist Vera List by suggesting artworks be accepted as donations toward the fundraising goal.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Sep 17, 2025 visibility 18 link 4 artists

jennifer packer and marie watt win 250000 heinz award

American artists Jennifer Packer and Marie Watt have been named winners of this year's Heinz Awards for the Arts, each receiving an unrestricted cash prize of $250,000. The awards, now in their 30th year, are distributed by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation and honor six recipients annually across three categories: arts, the economy, and the environment. Packer, based in New York, is known for her jewel-toned paintings that explore Black figuration and abstraction, while Watt, a citizen of the Seneca Nation, works with printmaking, textiles, and sculpture to examine Indigenous traditions and community memory, notably through her "Blanket Stories" series.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Sep 16, 2025 visibility 15 link 5 artists

palestinian artist samia halaby wins munch museum award

The Munch Museum in Oslo has awarded the second Munch Award to Palestinian artist Samia Halaby, recognizing her long-standing courage and integrity in artistic expression. The prize, worth 300,000 Norwegian krones (about $30,000), honors Halaby's decades-long commitment to protesting injustices related to class, gender, and race, as well as her vocal criticism of censorship in the arts. The jury included Munch director Tone Hansen, artist-curator Wanda Nanibush, Yvette Mutumba of Contemporary And, Cosmin Costinas of Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and Munch curator Tominga O’Donnell.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Sep 15, 2025 visibility 19 link 12 artists

leonard lauder sothebys klimt matisse

Sotheby's has secured a major consignment of approximately $400 million in art from the collection of the late Leonard Lauder, who died in July at age 92. The highlight is Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" (1914–16), expected to fetch over $150 million, potentially shattering Klimt's auction record. The sale also includes two other Klimt landscapes, six bronzes by Henri Matisse, a $20 million Edvard Munch painting, and an Agnes Martin work, totaling 55 artworks. The auction will inaugurate Sotheby's new space in the former Whitney Museum building, designed by Marcel Breuer.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Sep 8, 2025 visibility 23 link 16 artists

john pritzker donates 188 dada surrealist works to the metropolitan museum of art new york

John Pritzker, a Top 200 collector and Metropolitan Museum of Art trustee, has donated 188 Dada and Surrealist works by 37 avant-garde artists to the Met. The Bluff Collection includes pieces by Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Francis Picabia, and others, spanning collages, paintings, photographs, objects, and rare publications. Many works will feature in the museum's upcoming exhibition “Man Ray: When Objects Dream,” opening September 14, which includes 35 Man Ray pieces from the collection. The gift also establishes a research program funded by the John Pritzker Family Fund.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Aug 20, 2025 visibility 11 link 2 artists

mickalene thomas racquel chevremont harassment allegations

Artist Mickalene Thomas has been accused in a legal filing of fostering an abusive work environment and mismanaging funds involving her former romantic partner Racquel Chevremont. Chevremont, a model, curator, and reality TV star, filed a summons in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on August 8, alleging she was not properly compensated for work done for Thomas, that Thomas diverted significant funds and business opportunities, and that she subjected Chevremont to quid pro quo harassment and a hostile work environment. The summons states their romantic relationship ended in 2020 but their professional ties remained strained, and Chevremont is seeking $10 million in damages.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule Aug 18, 2025 visibility 19 link 12 artists

spike lee art collection highest 2 lowest

Spike Lee's new film *Highest 2 Lowest*, an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's *High and Low*, prominently features artworks from Lee's personal collection—or replicas of them—as set decoration. Production designer Mark Friedberg used Lee's collection, previously surveyed at the Brooklyn Museum in 2023, as a reference to establish the character of music tycoon David King, played by Denzel Washington. Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kehinde Wiley, Deborah Roberts, Gordon Parks, Henry Taylor, and others appear in the film, including Basquiat's *Horn Players* (1983) and *Now's the Time* (1985), Tim Okamura's portrait of Toni Morrison, and pieces from Andy Warhol's 'Muhammed Ali' series.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Aug 13, 2025 visibility 14 link 3 artists

frank lloyd wright building conservancy price tower bartlesville

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has acquired 11 original pieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, including the lobby direction board, an armchair, three copper tables, two stools, and four embossed copper panels. The acquisition, funded by donors, was made to prevent further sale and dispersal of the items after they were sold without the conservancy's permission in spring 2024, despite being protected under a preservation easement. The artifacts are currently stored in the Dallas area, and the conservancy intends to return them to Price Tower.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Aug 4, 2025 visibility 22 link 18 artists

sothebys karpidas collection sale lots magritte surrealism

Sotheby's has announced the headline lots for the upcoming sale of British socialite and arts patron Pauline Karpidas's collection, set to take place September 17–19 in London. The 250-item auction, described as the 'greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history,' is led by René Magritte's oil painting *La Statue volante* (1940-41), estimated at £9–12 million ($12–16 million). Other highlights include ten more Magritte works, four Andy Warhol pieces from his 'Art from Art' series, and works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Leonora Carrington, along with furniture and design objects.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

rate_review review schedule Aug 1, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists, 2 galleries

stan douglas bard museum survey review

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.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jul 25, 2025 visibility 18 link 4 artists

top art collector david geffen sued by estranged husband for breach of contract

Entertainment mogul and top art collector David Geffen was sued on Tuesday by his estranged husband, model Donovan Michaels, for alleged breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims Geffen promised Michaels lifelong financial support but cut him off after initiating divorce proceedings. The 33-page complaint describes their relationship as exploitative, comparing it to the plot of "Trading Places." Separately, Geffen is also entangled in a legal dispute with crypto billionaire Justin Sun over an Alberto Giacometti sculpture allegedly stolen and traded as part of a fraud scheme.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 13 link 13 artists

berlin biennale evasive palestine paul klee angel histor

The 13th Berlin Biennale opened amid controversy over its handling of the Gaza conflict. In a tense press conference, curator Zasha Colah faced questions about whether any invited artists had withdrawn in solidarity with the Strike Germany campaign, and whether she had experienced state repression for addressing the genocide in Gaza. Colah acknowledged one artist’s withdrawal but denied experiencing state repression, while the biennial’s title, “passing the fugitive on,” and its theme of “the fox” were criticized as evasive. The article describes the event as a case study in how German cultural institutions navigate political pressure and censorship.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists

who was j m w turner why so important british artist

This article profiles British painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), detailing his rise from a barber's son to one of Britain's most famous artists. It covers his early training at the Royal Academy Schools, his mastery of watercolor and oil, and his prolific output of over 500 oil paintings and thousands of works on paper. Key works discussed include *Jedburgh Abbey* (c. 1832), *Fishermen at Sea* (1796), and *The Battle of Trafalgar* (1822), the latter of which sparked controversy for historical inaccuracies. The piece notes that for his 250th birthday, international institutions are celebrating his legacy.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 19 artists

prominent art advisory implodes after 37 years as ex partners fire off lawsuits

Art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher, who ran the blue-chip advisory Guggenheim Asher Associates for 37 years, are now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court allege fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation. Guggenheim claims Asher misappropriated over $20.5 million in revenue, while Asher counters with accusations of unethical behavior, including using sex and kickbacks to secure artworks and lying to collectors. The firm’s clients included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and corporations such as Sony and Coca-Cola.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 6 artists

crystal bridges tiffany stained glass window acquisition

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has acquired a monumental stained-glass window by Tiffany Studios, titled *Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window)* (1917). Measuring approximately nine feet by seven feet, the window was commissioned by the fraternal organization Woodmen of the World as a memorial to its founder, Joseph Cullen Root. Its design is attributed to Agnes F. Northrop, a lead designer at Tiffany Studios for half a century. The window was originally installed in Omaha, Nebraska, moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1931 for a tuberculosis hospital chapel, and later stewarded by the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ. The acquisition, facilitated by stained-glass restorer Bryant J. Stanton, took about a year to finalize.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Jul 15, 2025 visibility 16 link 11 artists

work of the week edouard vuillard

A painting by Édouard Vuillard, *Madame Vuillard à Table* (1896–1897), sold for $2.7 million at Ford Art Auction in 2025, a dramatic increase from its $254,000 sale at Sotheby’s just 18 months earlier. The work, depicting the artist’s mother, was estimated at $350,000–$550,000 and attracted 21 bidders. Ford’s sales director Elizabeth Katz attributed the strong result to the subject’s desirability and the painting’s origin in Vuillard’s Nabis period. The previous Sotheby’s sale was from the estate of William J. Levy, benefiting a University of Pennsylvania scholarship.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 25 link 7 artists

centre pompidou metz cancels caribbean art show

The Centre Pompidou-Metz in France has canceled a planned survey of Caribbean and Guyanese art titled “Van Lévé,” curated by Guadeloupean curator Claire Tancons. The exhibition, scheduled to open in October 2026, was to feature artists including Gaëlle Choisne and Pol Taburet. Museum director Chiara Parisi cited budgetary constraints in an email to Tancons, but Tancons disputed this, noting that the Ford Foundation had already contributed $500,000. A group of artists and curators, including Zineb Sedira and Tabita Rezaire, issued a statement condemning the cancellation and questioning whether bias played a role.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 18 link 14 artists, 2 galleries

zero art fair new york free art

The Zero Art Fair, running through Saturday at the Flag Art Foundation in Chelsea, New York, offers visitors the unusual option of taking artworks home for free. Co-founded by artists Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida, the fair operates on a model where buyers can either purchase a piece outright or acquire it at no cost, with the condition that their name appears on a public registry and they agree to lend the work for exhibitions. If no paying buyer emerges after five years, the free acquirer keeps the work permanently. The fair's first edition took place during Upstate Art Week in a Hudson Valley barn, and this second edition is supported by sponsors including collector Glenn Fuhrman's Flag Art Foundation and Gagosian gallery.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original