Art News. Vasari Codex

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.

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rate_review review schedule Sep 19, 2025 visibility 17 link 9 artists

artists resisted fascism comrades in art andy friend

A group of British artists, frustrated by the Great Depression and inspired by socialist ideologies, founded the Artists International Association (AIA) in the early 1930s. Initially a Communist-inflected agit-prop group, it rebranded in 1935 to broaden its anti-fascist coalition, a move that sparked internal debates about ideological purity. The article, reviewing Andy Friend's book *Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism, 1933–1943*, highlights key episodes such as the AIA's 1940 exhibition 'The Face of Britain,' which opened amid the Blitz after bombs damaged the gallery.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 17, 2025 visibility 12 link 2 artists

cuban museum wont lend wifredo lam works to moma

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has failed to secure loans from the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana for its upcoming Wifredo Lam retrospective, “When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream.” The Havana museum declined to lend works due to fears that artworks entering the United States could be seized by a US court as part of claims by Cuban exiles and others seeking compensation for property confiscated during the Cuban Revolution. The exhibition, curated by MoMA director Christophe Cherix and Latin American art curator Beverly Adams, will feature 150 artworks from the Afro-Cuban Surrealist’s life, including several rediscovered pieces, but without the Cuban museum’s contributions.

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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.

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article news schedule Sep 10, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

jfk international airport terminal six art moma met

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with JFK Millennium Partners, is investing $4.2 billion to bring art from four major New York cultural institutions—the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art—into the new Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The terminal will feature loaned works from these institutions in the international arrivals corridor, plus 19 permanent site-specific installations curated by Public Art Fund and rotating local artwork curated by Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. Highlights include a 140-foot mural from Lincoln Center, an installation by Yoko Ono inspired by her 2019 work *Peace is Power* for MoMA, and installations from the other two museums. The terminal is designed by architect Stanis Smith and will include 10 gates, with the first six opening this year and completion by 2028.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 10, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

patrizia sandretto re rebaudengo new museum commissions

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, a top European art collector and founder of a Turin-based foundation, is partnering with New York's New Museum for a series of commissions. The first commission will be realized by Italian artist Diego Marcon, known for his uncanny videos, with his work titled 'Krapfen'—a musical dance film blending American animation and Italian opera. The New Museum, currently undergoing a renovation and expansion with a seven-story annex, is set to reopen this fall. 'Krapfen' was also co-commissioned by Chicago's Renaissance Society, Paris's Lafayette Anticipations, and the Vega Foundation, run by Canadian collector Elisa Nuyten, and will debut at the Renaissance Society before its New Museum run.

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article news schedule Sep 5, 2025 visibility 18 link 7 artists

us ambassador uk cezzane monet winfield house

America’s new ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, has transformed Winfield House, the official residence in Regent’s Park, into a private museum by installing works from his family’s art collection. The display includes several Cézannes, a Renoir, a Degas, and a centerpiece Monet painting, *Effet de soleil couchant sur la Seine à Port-Villez* (1883), hung above the drawing-room mantelpiece. Unlike most ambassadors who rely on loans from the State Department’s “Art in Embassies” program, Stephens draws directly on his own holdings, which were assembled in partnership with the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.

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article culture schedule Sep 2, 2025 visibility 28 link 30 artists

icons issue fall 2025

The article introduces the annual 'Icons' issue of Art in America, profiling artists whose decades-long practices reflect deep commitment to their mediums. Featured artists include Paul Pfeiffer, who became hyper-aware of image grammar through early video work; Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, who found her voice in textiles; David Diao, who references Barnett Newman; and the late Joel Shapiro, who explored transformation through wood sculpture. The issue also includes an interview with Tehching Hsieh on freethinking and art, plus departments on curatorial challenges, a Bukhara Biennial curator Q&A, and an appreciation of Dara Birnbaum.

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article policy schedule Aug 3, 2025 visibility 18 link 3 artists

smithsonian trump impeachment display update history museum

The Smithsonian Institution has addressed the removal of a display at the National Museum of American History that mentioned President Donald Trump's two prior impeachments. The display, which had been on view since 2021 alongside references to Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon, was altered to a 2008 version that predated Trump's presidency. The Smithsonian stated the display will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in U.S. history, denying any external pressure from the Trump administration. The controversy follows earlier tensions, including Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet and artist Amy Sherald's cancellation of her traveling survey due to staff fears of political pushback.

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rate_review review schedule Aug 1, 2025 visibility 15 link 11 artists

sam gilliam sculpture textile fiber dublin ireland imma

The article reviews an exhibition of Sam Gilliam's work at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin, focusing on 23 works from the 1990s that highlight his use of sewing and stitching. Gilliam, a relentless experimenter who died in 2022, is known for moving from hard-edged stripe paintings to draped, unstretched canvases that blurred painting and sculpture. This show reveals a lesser-known aspect of his practice: patchwork-like assemblages of painted and printed canvas pieces held together by visible machine stitching, often incorporating photographic imagery of botanical forms. The works originated from a 1993 residency in Ballinglen, County Mayo, where Gilliam shipped pre-painted canvases from Washington, D.C., and had a seamstress sew them together.

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article news schedule Jul 29, 2025 visibility 20 link 4 artists

john roberts smithsonian kim sajet firing

Kim Sajet, the former director of the Smithsonian-run National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., resigned after President Donald Trump claimed he fired her via social media. Despite Trump's demand, Sajet continued reporting to work until formally quitting. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, intervened to block internal board suggestions to follow Trump's orders, leading the board to issue a resolution affirming its sole authority to fire museum directors. The controversy followed Trump's executive order accusing the Smithsonian of promoting a "divisive, race-centered ideology" and his post calling Sajet a "highly partisan person" and "strong supporter of DEI." Separately, artist Amy Sherald withdrew her mid-career survey from the National Portrait Gallery after being asked to remove a portrait of a trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 28, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

sam barsky sweaters kohler r u still painting

Sam Barsky, a self-taught knitter who learned from a library book in 1999 after dropping out of nursing school due to chronic illness, creates intricate pictorial sweaters entirely freehand without patterns. His sweaters depict landscapes and landmarks—such as Central Park, the London Bridge, and the Twin Towers—and he often photographs himself wearing them at the actual sites. His first museum solo exhibition, “It’s Not the Same Without You,” recently closed at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, and his work also appeared in the group show “R U Still Painting???” in Manhattan alongside artists like assume vivid astro focus and Uri Aran.

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article news schedule Jul 28, 2025 visibility 8 link 3 artists

picasso les demoiselles davignon african catalan art

New research by French collector and self-proclaimed 'art detective' Alain Moreau challenges the long-held belief that Pablo Picasso's groundbreaking painting *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon* (1907) was primarily inspired by African art. Moreau's paper, published in the *Bulletin of the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts Sant Jordi*, argues that the painting instead drew from Medieval church frescoes in the Spanish and French Pyrenees, such as those in the church of La Vella de Sant Cristòfol in Campdevànol and the Romanesque murals of Sant Martí de Fenollar. He retraced Picasso's travels and notes that the African mask exhibited alongside the painting in a 1939 MoMA retrospective did not arrive in Europe until 1935, decades after the work was completed.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 21 link 4 artists

amy sherald cancels smithsonian exhibition amid censorship concerns

Painter Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming solo exhibition “American Sublime” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which depicts a Black transgender Statue of Liberty. The show was scheduled to open in September. Sherald stated she was informed of internal concerns about the painting and that discussions arose about replacing it with a video featuring reactions and discussion of trans issues, which she opposed over fears it would include anti-trans views. She wrote to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives compromised the integrity of her work.

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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.

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article culture schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 15 link 12 artists

how ancient egypt influenced modern art

The article explores how ancient Egyptian art and design have influenced modern Western aesthetics, from Empire furniture to Art Deco. It traces the phenomenon of 'Egyptomania' back to the 19th century, when European artists and archaeologists like Dominique Vivant Denon, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Howard Carter brought Egyptian motifs and artifacts to public attention. The piece highlights three key examples: the adoption of Egyptian-inspired Empire furniture under Napoleon, the use of Nubian tribute scenes in decorative arts, and the impact of King Tutankhamun's tomb discovery on early 20th-century design.

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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.

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article culture schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 6 artists

diego velasquezs las meninas why so important

Diego Velázquez's 1656 painting *Las Meninas* is examined as one of the most conceptually complex works in Western art history. The article explores how the painting subverts Renaissance artistic conventions by playing with perspective, illusion, and the relationship between viewer and subject, depicting Infanta Margaret Theresa surrounded by her entourage in the Royal Alcázar of Madrid.

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article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

barbara guggenheim abigail asher lawsuit

Barbara Guggenheim Associates, Inc., a New York art advisory firm, is embroiled in legal conflict after founder Barbara Guggenheim and her longtime associate Abigail Asher filed dueling lawsuits in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Guggenheim’s suit, filed in August but only recently reported by Artnet News, accuses Asher of diverting some $20.5 million in firm revenue for personal expenses, including rent, dinner bills, and home repairs, and alleges Asher wrongfully kept commissions from a Jean-Michel Basquiat artwork. Asher countersued, accusing Guggenheim of bullying, gaslighting, and using firm funds for personal costs like funeral expenses and luxury vehicles, while denying the financial misconduct claims. The lawsuits also involve the firm’s CPA, Robert Mandeltort, and Asher’s assistant, Jessica Lewis.

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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.

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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.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 10 link 7 artists

art market minute jul 14

Sotheby’s held Saudi Arabia’s first-ever international auction on February 8, 2025, in Diriyah, offering fine art and luxury items in a historic amphitheater. The event, led by auctioneer Oliver Barker, underscores the Gulf states’ rapid expansion in the art world, with major firms like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Art Basel launching new ventures in the region.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 17 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.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 12, 2025 visibility 23 link 19 artists

must see site santa fe international cecilia alemani once within a time

Curator Cecilia Alemani has organized the latest edition of the SITE Santa Fe International, titled "Once Within a Time," inspired by Godfrey Reggio's 2022 film of the same name. The exhibition, which opened in 2025, centers on storytelling and features Reggio's trippy 55-minute film alongside works by over a dozen artists, including Helen Cordero, D.H. Lawrence, Louise Bonnet, Norman Zammitt, Joseph Yoakum, John McCracken, Karla Knight, and Ali Cherri. The show extends beyond SITE Santa Fe to multiple venues across New Mexico, such as the New Mexico Military Museum, a hotel, and a cannabis shop, weaving together themes of eros, energy, the military, and the state's archetypes like UFOs, Land art, and Native spirituality.

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article culture schedule Jul 11, 2025 visibility 15 link 20 artists

modi johnny depp modigliani film

Johnny Depp has directed a new film titled "Modigliani – Three Days on the Wing of Madness," based on a play by Dennis McIntyre, which dramatizes 72 hours in the life of Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. The film stars Riccardo Scamarcio as Modigliani and follows the artist's struggles with relationships, money, police, and a meeting with a collector, set against his bohemian life in early 20th-century Paris. It marks Depp's first directorial effort since 1997's "The Brave."

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person people schedule Jul 11, 2025 visibility 15 link 7 artists

maya man art

Maya Man, an artist who earned her MFA from UC's Media Art program in 2023, is the subject of a conversation with critic Ben Davis. Her work *A Realistic Day in My Life Living in New York City* is the first commission for the Whitney Museum's 'On the Hour' program, appearing on the museum's website for 30 seconds each hour. Man also founded the experimental art space HEART in New York City, which operated briefly but left a significant impact on the online/offline art scene before closing earlier in 2025.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 10, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

indian modernist tyeb mehtas market is soaring how high will it go

Tyeb Mehta's auction market has surged in 2025, with two record-breaking sales in April alone. Saffronart sold his 1956 painting *Trussed Bull* for $7.2 million, the highest price ever for the artist, followed by AstaGuru's sale of *Untitled (Diagonal)* (1973) for $6.8 million. Mehta produced only around 200 canvases in his lifetime, and most key works are held by institutions and private collectors, making major acquisitions rare and competitive. The article analyzes his market performance, including a 100% sell-through rate across seven lots in 2025, totaling $15.3 million.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 9, 2025 visibility 17 link 10 artists, 5 galleries

art basel 2025 blue chip galleries sales trend

ARTnews analyzed publicly reported sales from five blue-chip galleries—Hauser & Wirth, Pace, Thaddaeus Ropac, White Cube, and David Zwirner—at Art Basel 2025, finding a combined total over 35% lower than in 2024, around 8% below 2023, and just over 20% down from 2022. The high-water mark was $204 million in 2024, boosted by eight-figure works from Hauser & Wirth. Meanwhile, the number of artists sold by these galleries rose steadily from 109 in 2022 to 157 in 2025, indicating a shift toward broader, less concentrated inventory. Dealers reported mixed sentiments, though seven-figure deals still occurred, and some noted that market uncertainty has led to more scattershot presentations with wider price ranges.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 21 link 17 artists, 2 galleries

life size labubu record asia art news

The article reports on a record-breaking auction sale of a 4-foot-4-inch Labubu doll, which sold for RMB 1.08 million ($150,300) at Yongle International Auction in Beijing, with premium reaching RMB 1.24 million ($174,000). The character was created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, who also collaborated with Art Basel on a limited edition. Other key developments include the closure of the Art Basel Hong Kong satellite fair Supper Club after two editions, Frieze announcing a new year-round space called Frieze House Seoul in Yaksu, and Blum gallery taking on global representation of Japanese ceramic artist Kimiyo Mishima's estate. The article also covers upcoming exhibitions by Christine Ay Tjoe at White Cube New York, Seulgi Lee at Ikon Gallery Birmingham, Kenny Scharf at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, and Trevor Yeung's adaptation of his Venice Biennale show at M+ Hong Kong.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 13 link 6 artists

work of the week emily carr

A painting by Emily Carr, titled *Fir Trees* (ca. 1935), sold for CA$576,000 ($418,370) at Cowley Abbott’s live auction of Canadian and international art in Toronto on May 28, more than doubling its low estimate. The work is a vivid example of Carr’s signature forest scenes, reflecting her deep connection to the British Columbian landscape and her association with the Group of Seven. The auction also saw strong results for other Group of Seven artists, including Franklin Carmichael’s *Old Orchard* (1940) at CAD$768,000, and for Marcelle Ferron’s untitled 1964 abstract painting at CAD$696,000.

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