The original Le Birkin handbag, crafted by Hermès in 1985 for actress and singer Jane Birkin, sold for €8.5 million ($10 million) at Sotheby's Paris on July 10. The bag, which shows visible wear from decades of use, sparked a 10-minute bidding war among nine buyers and was purchased by a private collector from Japan. It broke records as the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction and the highest-selling fashion item in Europe.
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) will present two exhibitions this winter: "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free" (December 11, 2025–May 31, 2026), the first museum retrospective of Argentine-born, Maine-based artist Josefina Auslender, featuring over 90 drawings from the 1970s to the present; and "Hung Liu: Happy and Gay" (January 22–May 31, 2026), which examines how Hung Liu reinterpreted Chinese propaganda from her childhood during the Cultural Revolution through ten paintings, prints, archival materials, and a video. Both shows explore themes of immigration, history, memory, and personal experience.
An exhibition by Israeli artist Amir Fattal at König gallery in Mexico City was forced to close a week early after a campaign of antisemitic harassment escalated from online abuse to physical protests and vandalism. Vandals spray-painted swastikas, Stars of David, and the phrase "here there are terrorists" on the gallery's facade, and protesters gathered outside calling the artist a murderer and Mossad agent.
London art dealer Oghenochuko Ojiri has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for failing to declare that he sold artworks to Nazem Ahmad, a collector sanctioned by the US government since 2019 for financing Hezbollah. Ojiri pleaded guilty in May to eight charges of failing to disclose potential terrorist financing under the Terrorism Act 2000, marking the first conviction under this specific offense. Evidence showed Ojiri researched Ahmad's identity, saved him as 'Moss Collector' in his contacts to obscure the relationship, and ignored a colleague's warning, all while continuing transactions to boost his gallery's reputation.
The Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, will open a new exhibition titled "Russell’s Retreat: Summers at Glacier National Park" on May 2, 2026. The show focuses on Charles M. Russell’s life and work at his summer home, Bull Head Lodge, and features objects borrowed from museums and private collections, many displayed in Fort Worth for the first time. Highlights include the landscape painting "Storm Over Lake McDonald" (1906), birchbark paintings, and a replica of gnome figures Russell made from moss and twigs.
A book produced by Bowdoin College faculty, highlighting artistic portrayals of ecological change on Maine's Monhegan Island, has won the 2025 Historic New England Book Prize as one of two Honor Books. The interdisciplinary project was co-created by Frank Goodyear, codirector of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, plant scientist Barry Logan, and Jennifer Pye, director of the Monhegan Museum of Art & History, where the accompanying exhibition ran through September 30, 2025. The book and exhibition merge art, science, and history to explore ecological events on the island—such as pastureland formation and abandonment, forest recovery, and land conservation—through visual art and historical artifacts.
The Kelterborn Collection, a German private collection focused on video art and experimental installations, will be exhibited in Italy for the first time at Venice's Contemporary Forces platform from May 7 to September 27, 2026. The exhibition, titled "Who’s a good boy??," is curated by Anastasia Stravinsky and Mario von Kelterborn in collaboration with IKT – International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, and features works by twelve artists including Joseph Beuys, Gary Hill, Laure Prouvost, and Ulay. The show aligns with the theme of the 61st Venice Biennale, exploring power "in minor keys."
Italian photographer Paolo Roversi, based in Paris since 1973, has opened a permanent gallery space in his hometown of Ravenna. The Paolo Roversi Gallery officially opened at the Art Museum of the City of Ravenna (Mar), featuring a recreation of his Paris studio, an archive room, and a muses' room with portraits of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and others. The gallery was curated by Chiara Bardelli Nonino and designed by longtime collaborator Ania Martchenko, building on a previous exhibition at the museum.
A new short film titled 'Silvesterchlausen' by writer and director Andrew Norman Wilson documents the centuries-old Swiss New Year's tradition of the same name. The film captures groups of men and boys in the Appenzell regions who don elaborate, handmade masks and headdresses made from natural materials like pinecones and moss, forming groups to yodel, ring bells, and visit homes over 18-hour days to mark the turn of the year on both the Gregorian and Julian calendars.
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.
The 36th Bienal de São Paulo has opened with a site-specific installation by Nigerian-American artist Precious Okoyomon, titled "Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me" (2025), which features a spiraling path of moss-covered earth and waterfalls evoking Brazil's deforested Cerrado region. The biennial, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with an international team, includes 125 artists—97 international and 28 Brazilian—with more than half of the works commissioned for the exhibition. Notable presentations include a career-spanning display of over 20 paintings by British artist Frank Bowling, alongside works by Brazilian artist Gervane de Paula, who has the largest presence in the show.
An art exhibition in Millom, Cumbria, will honor the late artist David Frederick Bates (1929–2024), whose sketches and paintings from 1949–50 document the town's ironworks, mines, and landscapes. Organized by Millom and District Local History Society in partnership with Holy Trinity Church, the show runs June 13–15, 2025, and includes a talk by Bates's son Malcolm. The exhibition also features works by Bates's wife June Moss and by Jim Billsborough, a former student of Bates.
The Oshawa Art Association (OAA) is hosting the opening reception and awards night for its 58th annual juried art exhibition tonight at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario. The free event runs from 6 to 9 p.m., featuring live music by local singer David Saliba, attendance from local politicians, and a cash bar. The exhibition, which includes over 100 artworks selected from nearly 300 submissions, will remain on display until May 10. Categories include wildlife, people, abstracts, sculptures, and a youth category for artists aged 12 to 18, with $3,000 in total prize money awarded by jurors Hi-Sook Barker and Lucy Manley.
Social club Moss hosted its inaugural Pride celebration in partnership with the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative at its temporary Moss Studio in Midtown Manhattan. The event brought together a mix of artists, tastemakers, and fashion figures, including Luar designer Raul Lopez, artist Roberto Maria Lino, gallerist Cierra Britton, and art advisor Jonathan Gardenhire, for an evening of cocktails, dancing, and community celebration ahead of Moss's official opening this fall at 520 Fifth Avenue.
The City of Perth (Boorloo) is celebrating NAIDOC Week 2025 from 6 to 13 July, marking 50 years of honoring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, culture, and resilience. The 2025 theme, 'The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy,' is highlighted through a NAIDOC Week Exhibition at Council House Foyer (7 July–15 August), featuring works from emerging and established artists, supported by Mossenson Galleries and the Janet Holmes à Court Collection. Events include an Artist in Conversation with Tyrown Waigana on 9 July, the National NAIDOC Awards Ceremony on 5 July, and cultural performances by Wadumbah. Other city-wide events include the Goologoolup NAIDOC Screenings and the Wangening Bardip – Healing Stories Through First Nations Art exhibition.
The DAB art collective, based in Mossman, has opened a new exhibition titled 'Tropical Spectrum' in Port Douglas to coincide with Carnivale week. The show features 47 local artists from across Douglas Shire, showcasing a wide range of mediums including botanicals, acrylic, watercolour, oil, sketches, pottery, glass work, mosaics, mixed media, and fibre weaving. The exhibition runs at the Port Douglas Community Hall until May 28, marking the first time DAB has exhibited in Port Douglas during Carnivale week.
The Southampton Arts Center (SAC) has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation to support its upcoming exhibition, "The Story of America: 1776-2026, A Celebration of Freedom and Independence." Organized in collaboration with the Museum of Democracy, the show will feature over 250 years of American presidential campaign history through artifacts from the Wright Family Collection. Notable items on display will include the original flag from George Washington’s inauguration and political memorabilia ranging from 19th-century torches to 1960s paper campaign dresses.
Artist Chris Moss is organizing the Eastside 11 Art Crawl, a free, multi-venue art event in Savannah, Georgia, with an opening reception scheduled for Valentine's Day. The event aims to showcase local artists across various businesses and includes a map for self-guided tours.
An exhibition titled '[Face] Value' will be on view from February 6 to March 14, 2026, curated by graduate students from the Fall 2025 Curatorial Practicum. The show examines portraiture conventions, exploring how portraits uphold tradition, shift hierarchies, and showcase communities, featuring works from the museum's collection selected and researched by each student.
A new independent art center called Tend Space has opened in Chauncey, Ohio, in the historic former Chauncey Library building. Run by Len Loomis, who also co-runs galleries and teaches at Ohio University's School of Art and Design, the space held its inaugural exhibition on September 5, 2025, featuring local artists from Athens County. The show included works in paper, sculpture, animation, and other media by artists such as Aneek Mustafa Anwar, Gene Deubler, Lilah Mae Gagne, Erin McKenna, Caroline Murphy, and Moss Nash. Murphy displayed a digitally hand-drawn animation and postcards supporting Palestinian relief. Loomis plans monthly events, including a community salon on October 3, and has opened calls for exhibitions through May 2026.
Photographer Frank Relle continues his long-term artistic exploration of Louisiana's swamps, capturing the ethereal transition between day and night in his series 'Until the Water'. Based in New Orleans, Relle uses submerged lights to illuminate cypress trees and Spanish moss, creating serene, otherworldly images that convey a sense of timelessness and connection to a primordial landscape.
Mossley Bricks is returning to Mossley Methodist Church on May 16, featuring an extensive collection of LEGO models created by adult enthusiasts. The exhibition will showcase detailed and imaginative displays, offering a creative community event for families and hobbyists in the local area.