Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Aug 5, 2025 visibility 15 link 3 artists

tate reports budget deficit critics respond

Tate Modern, the world's most visited modern and contemporary art museum, reported a budget deficit six months ago, prompting critics to blame its programming and curatorial strategies for declining foot traffic. While domestic attendance has recovered to 95% of pre-Covid levels, international visitors have dropped significantly—down 39% at Tate Modern, 32% at Tate Britain, and nearly 40% at Tate St Ives. Tate Liverpool remains closed until 2027. Research from The Art Newspaper's annual visitor report, however, points to external factors such as Brexit, socioeconomic shifts, and the cost-of-living crisis as key drivers of the decline, particularly among young European visitors aged 16 to 24.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Jul 25, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

johanna burton director ica philadelphia departs moca la

Johanna Burton, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, has been appointed the next director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Philadelphia, effective November 1. She succeeds Zoë Ryan, who left in January to lead the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Burton, who joined MOCA in 2021 after leading the Wexner Center for the Arts, stabilized the institution following a period of turmoil, reinstating its annual gala, securing major gifts, and hiring senior curator Clara Kim.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 10 link 5 artists

khaled sabsabi reinstatement

Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino have been reinstated to lead Australia’s pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, following an independent review of Creative Australia’s decision to drop them in February 2025. The initial removal came after right-wing politicians raised allegations of antisemitism against Sabsabi, whose work often addresses Islamophobia and Arab identity, particularly his 2007 video "You" featuring Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The reversal follows resignations, boycotts, and widespread protests from the Australian arts community.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 15 link 8 artists

artemisia gentileschi rediscovered works paris

A new exhibition in Paris, "Artemisia Gentileschi: Heroine of Art," at the Musée Jacquemart-André, presents around 40 paintings by the Italian Baroque painter, including four recently rediscovered works. Curator Patrizia Cavazzini deliberately shifts focus away from Gentileschi's rape and trial, instead highlighting her artistic development and achievements. Among the rediscovered pieces are "Virgin of the Annunciation" (c. 1609-10), one of her earliest known works, and a signed portrait of a Knight of the Order of Saint Stephen (c. 1619-20), previously misattributed to Justus Sustermans.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 14 link 4 artists

rachel ruyschs still lifes dutch toledo pinakothek munich mfa boston

The Toledo Museum of Art has opened the first major exhibition dedicated to Dutch Golden Age painter Rachel Ruysch, organized with the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and traveling next to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The show features Ruysch's vibrant still lifes of fruits and flowers, often animated by insects, and places her work alongside that of her sister Anna Ruysch and other female scientific illustrators like Maria Sibylla Merian. Curator Robert Schindler's rediscovery of Anna Ruysch's work helped inspire the exhibition, which also draws on botanical research to catalog the global plant species Ruysch depicted, reflecting colonial trade networks.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 14 link 4 artists

cracking the parmigianino code at the frick

The Frick Collection is presenting a single-picture exhibition of Parmigianino's portrait 'Schiava Turca' (circa 1531–34), on loan from the Galleria Nazionale di Parma. The painting, whose title means 'Turkish Slave,' depicts a woman in elaborate headdress and chains, whose identity has long been a mystery. Curator Aimee Ng proposes a new interpretation: that the sitter is the poetess Veronica Gambara, based on her confident demeanor and the Pegasus emblem symbolizing poetic inspiration. The article also recounts Vasari's anecdote about Parmigianino's absorption in his work during the 1527 Sack of Rome, and explores the painting's connection to Mannerist ideals of beauty.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 27, 2025 visibility 11 link 4 artists

prado museum clara peeters exhibition

The Museo del Prado in Madrid has opened its first-ever exhibition dedicated to a female artist, "The Art of Clara Peeters," 197 years after the museum's founding. The show features 15 major works by the Flemish still-life painter, active in early 17th-century Antwerp, and is curated by Alejandro Vergara, the museum's Chief Curator of Flemish and Northern School Painting. The exhibition runs from October 25, 2026, to February 19, 2017, and is co-organized with the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 23, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

artemisia gentileschi masterpiece restored beruit bombing getty debut

The J. Paul Getty Museum unveils Artemisia Gentileschi's long-lost painting *Hercules and Omphale* (ca. 1635–37) after three years of restoration. The work was nearly destroyed in the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, which caused severe damage to the Sursock Palace where it was housed. Senior conservator Ulrich Birkmaier led the delicate process of reassembling the canvas, removing glass shards and debris, and restoring the original colors.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 12 link 7 artists

bennett prize after deliberation first all women jury winner announced

Amy Werntz, a Dallas-based figurative painter, has won the fifth Bennett Prize, the largest art award for women working in figurative painting. The announcement was made at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan, where an exhibition of finalists opened. Werntz, a previous finalist in 2021, received $50,000 and a solo show for her lifelike depictions of elderly people in everyday scenes. For the first time, the winner was chosen by an all-female jury, which included painter Margaret Bowland, artist Angela Fraleigh, and curator Gloria Groom. The runner-up, Nicole Santiago, won $10,000. The traveling exhibition will visit several museums across the United States through 2027.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 8, 2025 visibility 18 link 16 artists, 3 galleries

spring break art show surprises 2025

New York's Spring Break Art Show has returned to its namesake season, opening alongside Frieze New York after abruptly canceling its Los Angeles edition due to January's devastating fires. Founded by artist duo Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly, the fair is now held in a former book printing office on Varick Street, featuring offbeat emerging art and boundary-pushing installations. Roughly a third of the presentations were already planned under the theme "Paradise Lost and Found," but the accelerated timeline led to last-minute additions, with some artists joining just the night before. Standout works include Louis Sarowsky's carved stone food sculptures, Kate Rusek's zero-waste porcelain pieces molded from trash, and Colin J. Radcliffe's ceramic sculptures reimagining queer figures in classical iconography.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule May 5, 2025 visibility 16 link 6 artists

national gallery mysterious altarpiece 20 million

London's National Gallery has acquired a mysterious altarpiece painted by an unknown artist around 1510, paying £16.4 million ($21.8 million) for the work titled *The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret*. The painting, arranged via a private sale by Sotheby's and funded by the American Friends of the National Gallery London, features unusual details including a uniquely expressive dragon beneath baby Jesus's feet, playful angels, and subtle symbolic references. The acquisition marks the museum's bicentennial and will go on public display on May 10 in the rehung Sainsbury Wing.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 31, 2026 visibility 26 link 11 artists, 1 gallery

“Iter Subterraneum” / Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen by Adele Seip

Bergen Kunsthall has launched "Iter Subterraneum," a group exhibition inspired by Ludvig Holberg’s 1741 satirical novel about a man who falls through a cave in Bergen into a subterranean world. The show features ten international artists, including Robert Gabris, Anicka Yi, and Cecilia Fiona, whose works span video, sculpture, and performance. By pairing historical editions of Holberg’s book with contemporary installations, the exhibition explores themes of displacement, collective existence, and the blurring of lines between human and non-human life.

newspaper Flash Art open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Apr 16, 2026 visibility 25 link 28 artists

literature hans ulrich obrist curator book

Hans Ulrich Obrist, the prolific Swiss curator and artistic director of Serpentine Galleries, discusses his lifelong passion for books in a new interview timed to the U.S. release of his memoir "Life in Progress." Obrist reveals his daily ritual of buying a book, which has amassed an archive of over 40,000 volumes housed at LUMA Arles, and shares current reading recommendations including Kenneth O. Stanley's "Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned." He also reflects on the serendipitous origins of his Instagram Post-it note project, inspired by philosopher Umberto Eco and artist-poet Etel Adnan.

newspaper Cultured open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule Nov 5, 2025 visibility 23 link 21 artists

art film tina kukielski art21 documentary

Art21, the nonprofit documentary platform behind the PBS series *Art in the Twenty-First Century*, is celebrating its 25th anniversary and the 12th season of its Peabody Award-winning series. In an interview with *CULTURED*, Executive Director and Chief Curator Tina Kukielski discusses how the organization has evolved from its early days in 2001 to embrace digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok, producing over 575 films featuring more than 300 artists. The organization also offers educational programming through Art21 Educators and makes its archive freely available to a global audience of five million.

newspaper Cultured open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 2, 2025 visibility 18 link 9 artists

art nazy nazhand ist festival

Nazy Nazhand has been appointed Arts & Culture director of ISTANBUL’74 and is curating the 15th anniversary edition of IST.FESTIVAL in Istanbul, running from October 10-12. The festival, founded by Demet Müftüoğlu-Eşeli and Alphan Eşeli, adopts the theme “What Is Really Real?” and features public art installations, conversations, and performances. Participants include Jeff Koons, Flavin Judd, Stefan Sagmeister, Lou Doillon, Kid Cudi, and CULTURED editor-at-large Julia Halperin. The main exhibition will take place in the historic Arnavutköy neighborhood along the Bosphorus.

newspaper Cultured open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 6, 2026 visibility 21 link 3 artists

The Show the Art World Loves to Hate Gets a Soul

The 60th Venice Biennale, titled "Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere," has opened to a polarized reception. Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, it is the first Biennale led by a Latin American curator and heavily features artists from the Global South, Indigenous creators, and queer artists, marking a significant departure from the Eurocentric focus of past editions.

newspaper New York Times Art open_in_new Read original

person people schedule May 22, 2026 visibility 3 link 4 artists

The Interview: Amar Kanwar

ArtReview interviews Amar Kanwar, a New Delhi-based artist known for films and multimedia installations that blend poetry, activism, and documentary to explore power, conflict, and social justice. Kanwar discusses his career trajectory from documentary filmmaking to occupational health research in a coal mining region, and back to filmmaking on his own terms. His best-known work, *The Sovereign Forest* (2012), addresses government-corporate collusion in Odisha, while his latest, *The Peacock's Graveyard* (2023), is a seven-channel film installation currently paired with *The Torn First Pages* (2004–08) at Palazzo Grassi in Venice under the heading "Co-Travellers." Kanwar has participated in four consecutive editions of Documenta (2002–2017) and was a curator of the 2022 Istanbul Biennial.

newspaper ArtReview open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Apr 23, 2026 visibility 18 link 5 artists

Venice Golden Lion jury won’t consider Russian and Israeli pavilions

The jury for the Golden and Silver Lion awards at the 61st Venice Biennale has announced it will not consider the national pavilions of any country whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. This decision specifically excludes Russia, whose president Vladimir Putin is charged with unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children, and Israel, whose prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is charged with targeting Palestinian civilians and using starvation as a weapon. The jury, presided over by Solange Oliveira Farkas and including Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, issued a full statement explaining their commitment to human rights and alignment with the curatorial vision of the late Koyo Kouoh.

newspaper ArtReview open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 17 link 2 artists

Lisbon’s Culturgest appoints Raphael Fonseca as visual arts programmer

Raphael Fonseca has been appointed as the new visual arts programmer at Culturgest in Lisbon, the cultural foundation of the Portuguese bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos. He will relocate to Lisbon in June while transitioning to a curator-at-large role at the Denver Art Museum, where he currently serves as curator and head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art.

newspaper ArtReview open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 19 link 1 artist

Chanel Will Launch New Culture Fund Fellowship With the Guggenheim

Chanel will launch an annual, one-year fellowship in fall 2026 in collaboration with the Guggenheim. The Chanel Culture Fund Fellowship will host a fellow in New York and at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, targeting MA and PhD-level scholars dedicated to collection studies and curatorial research. The program complements existing Guggenheim fellowship and internship programs, aiming to nurture emerging talent in modern and contemporary art curation.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 19 link 1 artist

Selfie-Friendly Pedro Reyes Sculpture Sparks Controversy at LACMA

Nearly eighty Mexican cultural figures have signed an open letter condemning the installation of Pedro Reyes's sculpture 'Tlali' (2026) in the plaza of LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries. The work, described as a selfie-friendly monolithic face inspired by Olmec art, closely resembles a 2021 proposal for a Mexico City sculpture titled 'Tlalli' that was abandoned after protests from hundreds of cultural workers. Critics argue that Reyes, a male artist who does not identify as Indigenous, should not represent Indigenous womanhood, and that the new work perpetuates colonial stereotypes and nationalistic aesthetics. LACMA has defended the piece, claiming it is entirely different in purpose and meaning, while Reyes has not commented.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

person people schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 26 link 5 artists

Montclair Art Museum Hires New Chief Curator Kate Kraczon

The Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey has hired Kate Kraczon as its new chief curator, replacing Gail Stavitsky. Kraczon previously served as director of exhibitions and chief curator at the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, where she was terminated last December amid university layoffs. At the Bell, she organized the only US screening of "Prisoners of Love, 2025" by Palestinian artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, and an exhibition of Julien Creuzet's work originally shown at the French Pavilion in the 2024 Venice Biennale. Before Brown, she worked as a curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Philadelphia, where she organized the 2018 show "Ree Morton: The Plant That Heals May Also Poison."

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Apr 9, 2026 visibility 19 link 4 artists

The Met Hires Star Photography Curator for the Museum’s New Wing

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as a curator in the Department of Photographs, poaching her from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Onabanjo, formerly the Peter Schub Curator at MoMA, will be tasked with managing the landmark gift of over 6,500 photographs from the Walther Family Foundation and curating exhibitions with a focus on twentieth-century media.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 27 link 11 artists

Jarvis Cocker and Kim Sion to curate art exhibition at Hepworth Wakefield

Jarvis Cocker and his wife Kim Sion will curate a new exhibition titled "Hodge Podge" at the Hepworth Wakefield, opening in May 2027. The show brings together a personal selection of works by artists including Jeremy Deller, Peter Doig, Barbara Hepworth, and others, alongside unknown outsider and visionary artists never before exhibited in UK public museums. The exhibition aims to challenge conventional ideas of art and includes an immersive Dreamachine, a flickering light device co-invented by Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville in 1959.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Apr 20, 2026 visibility 25 link 5 artists

Hans Ulrich Obrist Reveals the One Artist Who Refused to Let Him Into Their Studio

Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of London's Serpentine Galleries, revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he has never been able to secure a studio visit with the reclusive painter Jasper Johns. Obrist, known for his extensive artist interviews and visits, stated that Johns, now 95, "doesn't see anyone," making him the one artist who has consistently refused Obrist's requests.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule Mar 5, 2026 visibility 21 link 10 artists

giancarlo politi founder flash art magazine died at 89

Giancarlo Politi, the influential founder and publisher of Flash Art magazine, has died at the age of 89. Established in Rome in 1967, Flash Art became a cornerstone of international art criticism, famously documenting the rise of the Arte Povera movement and providing an early platform for iconic artists like Marina Abramović, Maurizio Cattelan, and Jeff Koons. Politi, alongside his wife Helena Kontova, transformed the publication into a global network that bridged European and American art scenes, effectively serving as a "hands-on school" for generations of critics and curators.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 18 link 15 artists

philip tinari leaves ucca beijing hong kong tai kwun

Philip Tinari is leaving his role as director and CEO of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing after 14 years to become deputy director and head of art at Tai Kwun Culture & Arts in Hong Kong, starting February 23. He succeeds curator Pi Li, whose contract expires in February. Tinari oversaw UCCA's transition to a nonprofit museum in 2018 and its expansion with three new venues, including UCCA Dune, UCCA Edge, and UCCA Clay, while organizing major exhibitions of artists such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Cao Fei, and Anicka Yi.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

rate_review review schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 19 link 23 artists

j hobermans book everything is now 1960s nyc downtown yoko ono andy warhol

J. Hoberman's new book, *Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York Avant-Garde—Primal Happenings, Underground Movies, Radical Pop*, offers a sweeping cultural history of the downtown New York scene in the 1960s. The book centers on figures like Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and Jack Smith, weaving together experimental films, happenings, music, and the chaotic energy of the era. Hoberman, a longtime critic and curator, draws on his personal connections to the scene, including his mentorship under Mekas, and will present a selection of shorts from the book at Anthology Film Archives in June.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 18 link 8 artists

frieze sells to hollywood kingpin ari emanuel in 200 million deal

Frieze, the art fair and media company, has been sold to Ari Emanuel, the former CEO of Endeavor, in a deal valued at around $200 million. The acquisition, reported by the Financial Times, covers Frieze's seven global fairs, its magazine, and its London exhibition space, No. 9 Cork Street. Emanuel, who stepped down as Endeavor CEO in March following the $25 billion acquisition of the conglomerate by Silver Lake, will own Frieze through a new company backed by a consortium of investors. Simon Fox will remain CEO, and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 26 link 14 artists, 1 gallery

Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), A Black Radical Imagination

The article is a personal tribute by curator Erin Christovale to the late artist Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), chronicling their decade-long friendship and collaboration. Christovale recounts how she first encountered Jenkins's video work at the William Grant Still Arts Center in Los Angeles, and how a conversation with Otolith Group's Kodwo Eshun led to her curating Jenkins's work. She describes key moments including Jenkins's video "Planet X" (2006) about Hurricane Katrina, his 1979 work "Two-Zone Transfer" featuring Kerry James Marshall in blackface masks, and the 2021 retrospective "Ulysses Jenkins: Without Your Interpretation" co-curated with Meg Onli at the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, which later traveled to the Hammer Museum and Julia Stoschek Foundation.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original