lawsuit dismissed yuga labs bored ape yacht club nfts howey 1234755582

A federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, ruling that its digital assets—including Bored Ape NFTs and ApeCoin—do not qualify as securities under the Howey test. The plaintiffs, Adonis Real and Adam Titcher, had alleged that Yuga Labs colluded with celebrities like Justin Bieber, Madonna, and Steph Curry, as well as talent agent Guy Oseary and crypto platform MoonPay, to inflate prices and sell unregistered securities. Judge Fernando Olguin found that while the plaintiffs met one prong of the Howey test—expectation of profits from others' efforts—they failed to satisfy the other requirements, leading to the dismissal.

lawsuit dismissed yuga labs bored ape yacht club nfts howey 1234755582

A federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, ruling that its digital assets—including Bored Ape NFTs and ApeCoin—do not qualify as securities under the Howey test. Plaintiffs Adonis Real and Adam Titcher had alleged that Yuga Labs colluded with celebrities like Justin Bieber, Madonna, and Steph Curry, as well as talent agent Guy Oseary and crypto platform MoonPay, to inflate prices and violate securities laws. Judge Fernando Olguin found that while the plaintiffs satisfied one prong of the Howey test—expectation of profits from others' efforts—they failed to meet the other requirements, leading to the dismissal.

kansas church tiffany window sale 2725402

First Presbyterian Church in Topeka, Kansas, is selling one of its ten Tiffany stained-glass windows at Sotheby's Design sale on December 10. The Jonathan Thomas Memorial Window, a rare medallion window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany himself in 1910, carries an estimate of $1.5 million to $2 million. The church cites the high cost of maintaining its historic building and the Tiffany windows—sending just one window for repair cost over $50,000—as the reason for the sale. The auction also features a magnolia floor lamp designed by Agnes Northrup, estimated at $2 million to $3 million.

Tight security at Malaysian National Art Gallery ahead of’ arrival of art works linked to 1MDB scandal

The National Art Gallery of Malaysia has implemented high-level security measures, including enhanced alarms and restricted access zones, to receive four artworks recovered from the 1MDB financial scandal. The collection includes pieces by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Maurice Utrillo, and Balthus, which were previously owned by former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo. The repatriation was a coordinated effort between the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Collapse Finance, Part 2: Longevity Capitalism—Life as an Asset Class

The essay explores the emergence of "longevity capitalism," a financial and biopolitical regime where biological duration and life expectancy are treated as assets for capital accumulation. As traditional welfare systems and collective pension schemes collapse, the uncertainty of human lifespan has been transformed into a speculative frontier, with retirement security increasingly tied to volatile private equity and cryptocurrency markets.

us holocaust museum canceled programming angering trump 1234780080

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has reportedly removed educational content and canceled programming to avoid potential conflict with the Trump administration. Former employees allege that the museum preemptively scrubbed web pages linking Jim Crow laws to Nazi-era policies and rebranded or canceled workshops on the "fragility of democracy" to avoid being labeled as "woke." While the museum claims these decisions were based on funding challenges, internal records show a significant increase in net assets during the same period.

Ex-Sotheby’s CEO Tad Smith Banks on NFTs, Agrees to Buy Collectibles Platform Candy Digital

Tad Smith, former CEO of Sotheby's and current chairman of the NFT project Doodles, has agreed to acquire most of the assets of the digital collectibles platform Candy Digital. Upon the deal's expected closure in the coming weeks, Smith will also assume the role of CEO, signaling a significant personal and financial bet on the future of the sector.

Wine and Spirits Sales at Sotheby’s Grew 12% Last Year to $127.5 M.

Sotheby's reported a 12% increase in its wine and spirits auction sales for 2025, reaching $127.5 million. The growth was driven by a surge in demand for rare and expensive whiskies, with a third of buyers being new to Sotheby's and over half under 50 years old. Key highlights included a record-setting $162,500 sale for a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon and a successful charity auction partnership in Scotland.

appeals court clears spanish dealer convent sculpture 1234774162

The High Court of Justice of Andalusia has overturned a four-year prison sentence for antiques dealer Santos Boy Jiménez Cortés, who was previously convicted of misappropriating a 17th-century Baroque sculpture. The artwork, 'Saint Margaret of Cortona' by José de Mora, was purchased from the Our Lady of the Angels convent in Granada for €21,600 before being resold to a Madrid gallery and eventually offered at TEFAF New York for €400,000. The court ruled that the nuns' claims—that they had only requested a restoration budget rather than selling the piece—were inconsistent and lacked documentation.

nifty gateway nft platform shutters 1234771081

Nifty Gateway, one of the earliest and most prominent NFT marketplaces, announced it will shut down on February 23, 2026, citing sharply declining activity. The platform, founded in 2018 by twins Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster and acquired by Gemini in 2019, has entered withdrawal-only mode, advising users to move their assets before the deadline. At its peak in 2021, Nifty Gateway reported $300 million in gross merchandise value, boosted by a Sotheby's partnership for a $17 million NFT drop by the artist Pak. The closure follows the collapse of the NFT boom, with trading volumes plummeting and other platforms like Async Art, KnownOrigin, and MakersPlace already shuttered.

spain valladolid medieval church apse collapse 1234769931

A section of the apse of the 12th-century Romanesque-Mudejar Church of Our Lady of the Castle (also known as the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption) in Muriel de Zapardiel, Valladolid, Spain, collapsed on Monday morning. The protected Bien de Interés Cultural was immediately closed to the public, with no injuries reported. Heritage experts attribute the collapse to long-standing structural issues such as humidity, cracks, and brickwork erosion, compounded by years of insufficient maintenance. The Archbishopric of Valladolid, which owns the church, stated that inspections last summer had not indicated imminent risk, while regional culture minister Gonzalo Santonja visited the site and called for further analysis.

Glasgow arts hub tenants condemn ‘unsustainable’ rent rises by landlord

Tenants at Glasgow's Trongate 103 cultural hub are protesting what they call "unsustainable" rent and service charge increases imposed by City Property, an arm's-length organization managing buildings for Glasgow City Council. Organizations like Transmission Gallery, Street Level Photography, and Glasgow Print Studio face potential displacement after receiving notices to quit or demands for significant cost hikes, with one group citing a £700,000 annual increase.

From car parks to piers: the 2026 Australian Urban Design awards celebrate utilitarian architecture

The 2026 Australian Urban Design Awards have been announced, celebrating projects that prioritize pragmatic, community-focused design over sculptural spectacle. Winners include the Campbelltown station commuter car park in Sydney, praised for its civic dignity and greenery; the St Kilda pier redevelopment in Melbourne, which balances engineering with tourism and penguin habitat protection; and Balam Balam Place in Brunswick, a cultural landscape honoring Indigenous history.

A new issue of the Pax newsletter on cultural tourism is arriving: Previews to entice those not yet subscribed

In arrivo un nuovo numero della newsletter Pax sul turismo culturale. Le anticipazioni per ingolosire chi non è ancora abbonato

The Italian Ministry of Tourism has partnered with the audio platform Loquis to integrate sound-based storytelling into the country's official tourism portal. This initiative, led by digital entrepreneur Bruno Pellegrini, aims to preserve the memory of Italian territories while promoting future development through an "audio atlas." The project is a central feature of the upcoming issue of Artribune’s Pax newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of cultural tourism, art, and hospitality.

Solana’s first physical art gallery is using a Frank Ape solo show to prove the onchain art model works in the real world

Brandon Sines, the artist behind FrankApeWorld, opens his first solo exhibition in eight years, titled “Let’s Be Frank,” on May 1 at Cycol Gallery in New York. The show features a cohesive, journey-like curation culminating in a site-specific immersive installation, with every piece minted on Exchange.Art. Cycol Gallery, located at 91 Allen Street, describes itself as Solana’s first brick-and-mortar gallery, built on Solana infrastructure and powered in part by the BONK memecoin, which acquired Exchange.Art in March 2025. Physical display uses Blackdove Art’s digital frames, allowing works to exist as tangible objects and verifiable onchain assets simultaneously.

MCA Australia accepts NFTs as payment for entry to exhibition on Art and Artificial Intelligence

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) has announced it will accept Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as a form of payment for entry to its upcoming exhibition focused on the intersection of art and artificial intelligence. This experimental initiative allows visitors to utilize digital assets to gain access to the museum, marking a significant integration of blockchain technology into the physical museum experience.

How the National Gallery of Art is Using AI to Unlock New Insights into Art and Pain Managment

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is leveraging its extensive digitization program to apply artificial intelligence to new fields, including pain management. Through partnerships like the PHAROS consortium and a collaboration with McGill University researcher Hannah Derue, the museum's open-access collection of over 61,000 high-resolution images is being used to train AI models for PAin+, a software platform that helps chronic pain patients articulate and track their experiences using art-based mindfulness and machine learning.

Istanbul exhibition features artist voice via art at Karaköy Palace | Daily Sabah

The Kültür Medeniyet Vakfı (KÜME) opened its ArtıKÜME 2025 and ODAK exhibitions at Karaköy Palas in Istanbul on Saturday, featuring 25 projects across disciplines from digital art to calligraphy under the theme 'Mümkün' ('Possible'). The exhibition transforms the historic Karaköy Palas into a platform for experimental and process-driven works, with artists like Muharrem Dalhan presenting interactive installations such as 'Threshold,' which critiques algorithm-driven media environments. The ODAK project was also introduced as a platform tracking cultural production across Türkiye, with its first publication, the ODAK 2025 book, launched alongside the exhibition.

How Expensive Art Auctions Really Are

Wie teuer Kunstauktionen wirklich sind

Art auction houses often promote transparency through public bidding, but the final hammer price is merely the starting point for a complex web of additional costs. Buyers frequently face buyer's premiums, value-added taxes, and resale right royalties (droit de suite) that can inflate the final invoice by up to 50 percent beyond the initial bid.

A new certification has been created to improve the management and valorization of Italian cultural heritage

È nata una nuova certificazione per migliorare gestione e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale italiano

A new certification standard called SGPI01:2024 has been launched in Italy to improve the management and valorization of cultural heritage. Developed by Certiquality and the Stati Generali del Patrimonio Italiano (SGPI), the standard was presented in Florence at Palazzo Guadagni Strozzi Sacrati, with the patronage of the Tuscany Region. It applies to all public and private entities that own or manage cultural and landscape assets, introducing a comprehensive management system that goes beyond legal compliance, focusing on conservation, economic sustainability, accessibility, and safety through independent third-party audits.

Cultural heritage reform. The 'Italia in scena' law gives some answers but raises many questions

Riforma dei beni culturali. La legge “Italia in scena” dà alcune risposte ma produce tante domande

Italy's parliament approved the "Italia in scena" law in March 2026, a cultural heritage reform aligned with right-wing priorities: territorial valorization, local identity promotion, autonomy, and private-sector involvement. The law establishes a digital registry (Anagrafe), a roster of accredited operators, and a framework for private management of cultural assets, but allocates only €4.5 million annually—a symbolic sum compared to France's cultural mediation budgets. It also opens participation to the Third Sector (cooperatives, community foundations) but defers all critical details to implementing decrees with no strict deadlines or enforcement mechanisms.

The recovery of the art market, collecting trends, and other analyses in the newly published report

La ripresa del mercato dell’arte, i trend del collezionismo e altre analisi nel nuovo report appena pubblicato

The global art market has returned to growth in 2025, recording a 4% increase compared to the previous year despite geopolitical tensions and financial uncertainty. According to the fourth edition of the "Collectors and the Value of Art in Italy 2026" report by Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, buyers are increasingly shunning speculative assets like NFTs and ultra-contemporary art in favor of established categories. Significant growth was noted in Modern art, Impressionism, and Old Masters, signaling a flight to quality and historical stability.

New art exhibition to open at BankOnArt Gallery

BankOnArt Gallery is launching a new exhibition titled "The Future of Finance," featuring works by contemporary artists who explore the intersection of art, technology, and the financial world. The show includes digital installations, paintings, and sculptures that critique and reimagine concepts like cryptocurrency, market data, and economic inequality.

Philadelphia’s Bankrupt UArts Sells off Library of Rare Art Books

Philadelphia’s bankrupt University of the Arts (UArts) sold off rare books and manuscripts from its library at a Freeman’s | Hindman auction on September 10, 2024. The 38 lots from UArts’ collection fetched $163,328, nearly 20% of the sale’s $806,519 total. Top lots included a deluxe first edition of Andre Level’s 1928 monograph on Pablo Picasso, signed by the artist, which sold for $35,200; a complete portfolio of Josef Albers’s 1965 *Die Oberflache*, which brought $21,760; and a limited edition of James Joyce’s *Ulysses* illustrated by Robert Motherwell, which sold for $16,640. UArts closed abruptly in June 2024, citing financial fragility and declining enrollments, and later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, selling its real estate holdings for nearly $75 million.

hong kong adrian cheng web3 blockchain immersive experiences 1234753119

Adrian Cheng, the mega-collector and regular on ARTnews' Top 200 Collectors list, has announced his new venture ALMAD Group after resigning as CEO of his family's Hong Kong property firm New World Development Co. (NWD) last year. The company will focus on digital assets, blockchain technologies, and immersive digital experiences across entertainment, sports, and media in mainland China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. ALMAD has absorbed Cheng's art-meets-commerce platform K11 by AC, which includes the K11 Craft and Guild Foundation, the K11 Art Foundation, and the K11 Art Malls that pair luxury retail with exhibitions by artists like Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami.

neuehouse files bankruptcy shutters locations 1234751574

NeueHouse, a high-end coworking space known for hosting art events, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate its assets and closed all its locations on September 5. The company cited legacy liabilities as the reason for its demise, though specific debts remain unclear. NeueHouse had locations in New York, Hollywood, and Venice Beach, and was a hub for the art, fashion, media, and entertainment industries, cohosting events with ARTnews sister publication Art in America and Artnet.

matthew christopher pietras death by suicide 1234751475

Matthew Christopher Pietras, an arts patron who pledged millions to the Metropolitan Opera and the Frick Collection, died by suicide on May 30 in his Manhattan apartment, as ruled by the New York City medical examiner. His death was attributed to acute intoxication from a combination of prescription drugs. Pietras had made a $15 million pledge to the Met Opera, but when he attempted to transfer $10 million, the transaction was flagged as fraudulent, and it was later revealed that the funds belonged to the Soros family, not to Pietras himself. He worked as a financial manager—or, more accurately, a personal assistant and property manager—for Gregory Soros, the youngest son of billionaire George Soros.

basquiat picasso works linked to global 1mdb scandal net 36 m in auction by us marshals 1234751018

Four artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, and Diane Arbus, seized by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, sold for a combined $36 million in an online auction conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. The lots included Basquiat's *Self Portrait* (1982) for $8.3 million and *Red Man One* (1982) for $22 million, Picasso's *Tête de taureau et broc* (1939) for $5 million, and Arbus's *Child with a Toy Hand Grenade* for $500,150. The auction, held by Gaston and Sheehan in Texas, ran from July 16 to September 4.

barbara gladstone gallery chelsea townhouse sold 13 million 1234750511

The Chelsea townhouse of the late gallerist Barbara Gladstone sold for $13.1 million, over $1 million above its $11.99 million asking price, in an all-cash deal that closed on August 27. The 19th-century Greek Revival row house at 344 W. 22nd St was purchased by an unnamed buyer, with brokers Scott Hustis and Mark Jovanovic of Compass reporting the sale set a record per square foot for a Chelsea townhouse. Gladstone, who founded the Gladstone Gallery in 1980 and became one of New York's most prominent dealers, died in June 2024 at age 89. She had bought the property in 2011 for $6.3 million. Architect Annabell Selldorf designed the current iteration of the 4,395-square-foot home, and Piet Oudolf designed its garden. The home featured gallery-like Venetian plaster walls and white oak floors that showcased works from Gladstone's private collection.

rapa nui easter island moai statues sea levels flooding 1234749640

A new study published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage warns that rising sea levels will impact Chile’s Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, by 2080. Coastal flooding threatens at least 51 culturally significant artifacts, including the iconic Moai statues—nearly 1,000 volcanic tuff figures created by a native Polynesian tribe over 500 years ago, some weighing up to 80 tons. Researchers from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa used advanced computer models to simulate wave patterns and map projected flooding, overlaying this data with the locations of cultural assets provided by local partners.