The non-renewal of Sébastien Allard confirms the Louvre's metamorphosis

Le non renouvellement de Sébastien Allard confirme la métamorphose du Louvre

Christophe Leribault, the new president of the Louvre, has decided not to renew the contract of Sébastien Allard as director of the painting department, a position Allard held since 2014. This move is part of a broader shift in leadership style and institutional direction under Leribault, who is described as fostering genuine social dialogue and actively participating in meetings, in contrast to his predecessor.

Two Sales at Christie's

Deux ventes chez Christie's

Christie's in Paris is hosting two significant sales featuring masterpieces from the legendary Veil-Picard collection, which had been largely inaccessible to the public and scholars for decades. Highlights include a perfect Watteau drawing unseen on the market since 1900 and two major Hubert Robert paintings commissioned by the famed salonnière Madame Geoffrin, offering a rare glimpse into 18th-century Parisian interiors.

DePaul Art Museum Advisory Board Calls on University to Save the Institution, Expressing ‘Anger, Frustration, and Deep Sadness’ Over Abrupt Closure

The advisory board of Chicago's DePaul Art Museum has sent a strongly worded letter to DePaul University leadership, condemning the decision to permanently close the 40-year-old museum on June 30. The letter, signed by board chair Scott J. Hunter and members including artists Brendan Fernandes and former Expo Chicago head Tony Karman, expresses "anger, frustration, and deep sadness" over the abrupt closure and the university's unilateral plans for the museum's 4,000-object collection.

Italy purchases rare Caravaggio painting for $34.7 million.

Italy purchases rare Caravaggio painting for $34.7 million.

The Italian government has purchased Caravaggio's *Ecce Homo* for $34.7 million, preventing the 17th-century masterpiece from leaving the country. The painting, which depicts a bound Christ presented to the crowd, was sold by its private owners after its rediscovery and authentication in 2021. The state exercised its right of first refusal to match a sale agreed with an unnamed foreign buyer, securing the work for public ownership.

Hampshire College, Alma Mater to Many in the Arts, Closing

Hampshire College, the experimental liberal arts institution in Massachusetts, has announced it will permanently close after nearly sixty years of operation. The college's board cited insurmountable financial pressures and a failure to meet regulatory requirements as the primary drivers behind the decision, noting that progress toward a stable financial foundation fell short of expectations.

Irving Penn’s portraits of Picasso, Botero, and more head to auction.

A series of portraits by renowned photographer Irving Penn will be auctioned at Christie's New York on April 3rd. The sale features iconic images of major 20th-century cultural figures, including artists Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Isamu Noguchi, as well as writer Joan Didion.

Dream Win With a Catch

Traumgewinn mit Haken

A 58-year-old sales engineer from Paris has won a 1941 Pablo Picasso portrait titled "Tête de femme" through a charity raffle. The winner acquired the masterpiece, valued at approximately €1.45 million, by purchasing a single €100 ticket. Organized to benefit Alzheimer’s research, the international lottery sold 120,000 tickets across 152 countries, raising a total of €12 million.

In “Discipline,” Larissa Pham Explores Predatory Art-World Mentorship

Larissa Pham’s debut novel, Discipline, follows Christina, a young writer and former painter grappling with the psychological aftermath of a formative affair with her art professor, Richard. Set against the backdrop of a book tour for her own autofictional novel, the narrative uses Christina’s observations of art—ranging from Helen Frankenthaler to Edward Hopper—to slowly peel back the layers of a relationship defined by power imbalances and predatory mentorship.

Researchers Link Two Unattributed Works To Michelangelo

Researchers have attributed two previously unattributed works to Michelangelo. The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage of Belgium used radiocarbon dating, pigment analysis, and infrared reflectography to link a 16th-century oil-on-canvas Pietà to the master, finding monograms and a date consistent with his work. Separately, Italian researcher Valentina Salerno published a decade-long study using archival documents and stylistic analysis to attribute a marble bust of Christ in a Roman basilica to Michelangelo.

The Louvre’s new director is inheriting a troubled, traumatised museum—can he repair the damage?

Christophe Leribault has been appointed as the new director of the Musée du Louvre, taking over an institution reeling from a major security breach. The theft of the crown jewels in October exposed severe systemic failures, including neglected security upgrades and a management culture criticized as autocratic under his predecessor, Laurence des Cars. The museum has also been plagued by strikes, ticket fraud scandals, and damaging parliamentary reports.

Richard Rezac at Chris Sharp Gallery

Richard Rezac has opened a solo exhibition titled "Tracery" at Chris Sharp Gallery in Los Angeles. The show, featuring new sculptural works, will be on view from February 24 through April 18, 2026.

SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection Including Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art - Christie's

Christie’s has announced a major auction titled "SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection," scheduled for November 6, 2025, in London. The sale features 20 exceptional works from the Beirut-based Dalloul Collection, a premier repository of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern art, alongside pieces from other private owners. Key highlights include masterpieces by Paul Guiragossian, Mahmoud Saïd, and Samia Halaby, with a specific focus on Lebanese and Palestinian artistic heritage.

Ten of the best by Banksy — from Queen Victoria to Kate Moss

Christie’s has highlighted ten of Banksy’s most iconic works following a dedicated online auction held in March 2026. The selection spans the artist's career, featuring famous motifs such as the 'Flower Thrower Triptych'—originally sold through his Gross Domestic Product pop-up shop—and 'NOLA,' a commentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Other notable entries include his 'Pulp Fiction' parody featuring bananas and the globally recognized 'Girl with Balloon,' which continues to command high prices on the secondary market.

Her great-uncle was Jackson Pollock. Now, her fledgling gallery, Argo Fine Arts, is the talk of Paris

Samantha McCoy, the grand-niece of Jackson Pollock, has launched Argo Fine Arts, a new gallery model operating between Paris and New York. Making its high-profile debut at the 28th edition of Art Paris in the Grand Palais, the gallery is garnering attention for its impressive inventory, which includes works by Jackson Pollock, Cy Twombly, and Charles Pollock. McCoy has opted for an "ephemeral" gallery model that prioritizes artists and clients over permanent real estate, reflecting a strategic response to the current economic pressures facing traditional brick-and-mortar galleries.

THE ART OF DR. SEUSS Exhibition to go on View at Gallery Veronique in Cincinnati

Gallery Veronique in Cincinnati has announced the opening of "The Art of Dr. Seuss," a permanent and exclusive exhibition featuring the artistic legacy of Theodor Seuss Geisel. The collection includes concept art from classics like The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, as well as his private "Midnight Paintings" and "Unorthodox Taxidermy" sculptures. This marks the first time this body of work has found a permanent home in Ohio, offering fans and collectors a rare look at the author's surrealist and personal creative output.

Tutto Boetti 1966–1993

Tutto Boetti 1966–1993

Magazzino Italian Art has announced a major survey exhibition titled "Tutto Boetti 1966–1993," scheduled to run from April 2026 through April 2028. The show features approximately 30 works tracing Alighiero Boetti’s career from his early industrial material experiments in Turin to his later collaborative embroideries and graph paper works. The exhibition draws from the museum’s permanent collection, the Boetti estate, and private loans, and will be launched alongside a scholarly symposium organized with the Fondazione Alighiero e Boetti.

An important Italian relief for Nuremberg

Un important relief italien pour Nüremberg

The Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg has acquired and publicly unveiled a previously unknown masterpiece: a large silver relief depicting the Lamentation of Christ, created in the workshop of Luigi Valadier in 1786. The work, purchased from a private collector in 2024 with support from several foundations, is now on temporary display and will later join the museum's permanent collection.

An ecstatic Mary Magdalene for Washington

Une Marie-Madeleine extatique pour Washington

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has acquired Artemisia Gentileschi's painting "Marie-Madeleine en extase" (Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy), dating from around 1625. The work was previously sold at a Sotheby's auction in France in 2014, continuing a trend of important Gentileschi works leaving Europe for American museums.

Verdun enriches itself with a work by a native son

Verdun s'enrichit d'une œuvre d'un enfant du pays

The Musée de la Princerie in Verdun has acquired a painting by Joseph Christophe, a rare artist originally from the city. The work was purchased from the Versailles-based Galerie Barnabé, which specializes in Old Master paintings.

Christine Tien Wang, Rachel Youn at Night Gallery

Christine Tien Wang and Rachel Youn presented a two-person exhibition titled "Factory Doomscroll" at Night Gallery in Los Angeles. The show ran from February 21 to April 4, 2026, and was documented extensively with 82 installation images.

New York Court Orders Restitution of a Modigliani to the Oscar Stettiner Estate

La justice new-yorkaise ordonne la restitution d’un Modigliani à la succession d’Oscar Stettiner

A New York court has ordered the restitution of Amedeo Modigliani’s 1918 painting 'Seated Man with a Cane' to the heirs of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer. The work was seized during the Nazi occupation of Paris and sold at a forced auction in 1944 before eventually being purchased by the billionaire Nahmad family via an offshore company in 1996. Judge Joel M. Cohen ruled that the evidence of Stettiner’s prior ownership was "unusually strong" and dismissed the defense's claims that the painting was a different version or that the claim was filed too late.

After a Decade of Delays, a 5th-Century Church in Glasgow Will Become a Museum

The Govan Heritage Trust is moving forward with a $6 million redevelopment of Govan Old, a historic 5th-century church site in Glasgow, following a decade of financial and pandemic-related delays. The project, designed by jm architects, will transform the late 19th-century building into a self-sustaining cultural complex featuring a museum, tourist attraction, and commercial business spaces.

Chris Mullen obituary

Chris Mullen, a distinguished educator and historian of art and design, has died at the age of 81. Throughout a career spanning over three decades at the Norwich School of Art and the University of Brighton, Mullen became a pivotal figure in integrating contextual studies with studio practice. He was renowned for his vast personal archive of printed ephemera and his digital project, "The Visual Telling of Stories," which served as a vital resource for generations of students and researchers.

‘The Christophers’ Review: Fine Art, Frayed Artists

Director Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, 'The Christophers,' features standout performances by Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel in a narrative centered on the high-stakes intersection of the art world and global finance. The story follows the psychological and professional fraying of artists and dealers as they navigate a landscape defined by ego, commerce, and the pursuit of prestige.

Pond Gallery in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Pond Gallery, a new artist-run exhibition space, has opened in the basement of a former flower shop on the downtown square in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Founded in May 2024 by artist-friends Taylor Loftin, Ty Barnes, and Christian Schultz, the gallery operates on a DIY model, with the founders handling construction, curation, and rent. Its programming, including recent shows by Akeylah Imani Wellington and Natalie Conway, focuses on creating a communal hub for local artists.

Top Five: April 9, 2026

Glasstire has released its weekly 'Top Five' list of essential art exhibitions across Texas for April 2026. The selection highlights a diverse range of regional talent, including a group show at the Rubin Center in El Paso focused on Chihuahuan Desert ecology, a 50-year retrospective of digital pioneers MANUAL at Moody Gallery in Houston, and a lifetime survey of Vietnam veteran and educator Hector Homero Rubio in Corpus Christi. Other featured shows include Freddy Ortega’s MFA thesis at TCU and Juan Pablo Hernandez’s multimedia glasswork.

In John Constable’s Hometown, a Trio of Shows Marks His 250th Birthday

A series of three exhibitions in Suffolk, England, celebrates the 250th anniversary of John Constable's birth. The program, hosted at Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich, includes "Constable: A Cast of Characters," focusing on his personal life and circle; "The Hay Wain: Walking Constable's Landscape," featuring his iconic paintings including *The Hay Wain* displayed in its depicted county for the first time; and "Constable to Contemporary," examining his ongoing influence on modern artists.

Hong Kong’s live art auctions are thriving thanks to Picasso and Nara

Hong Kong’s art auction market opened 2025 with significant momentum, characterized by a shift toward high-quality, museum-grade works and selective collecting. Major auction houses like Christie's, Bonhams, and Phillips reported strong results for blue-chip artists, highlighted by the sale of Pablo Picasso’s "Buste de Femme" for HK$196.75 million. While the market has become more deliberate, the demand for rare, impeccably sourced pieces by both Western masters and Asian contemporary icons remains robust.

Calling all creatives: Evolved Gallery opens submissions for seven deadly sins exhibit

Evolved Gallery in Ventura, California, has announced an open call for its upcoming exhibition titled "SE7EN," themed around the seven deadly sins. Founded by Christina Van Ryzin in late 2025, the gallery is seeking traditional and digital paintings or illustrations that explore these vices through modern social or political lenses. The submission deadline is April 15, with the exhibition scheduled to run from April 25 through June 28, 2024.

NYU Steinhardt Presents 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibitions

NYU Steinhardt's Department of Art and Art Professions is presenting its 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibitions in two parts at the 80WSE Gallery in Greenwich Village. The first exhibition, titled 'Hoodwinked,' runs from April 1 to April 18 and features works by Nicholas Koby, Richard Medina, Roselynn Sadaghiani, Mario Saponaro, and Brooke Schneider. The second, 'Eggshells,' runs from May 6 to May 23 and showcases artists Ariel Barish, Christopher Chan, Mélanie Dumas, Roxie de Là, and Fan Qi.