Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Jan 20, 2026 visibility 10 link 1 artist

philadelphia art museum executive rebrand resigns

Paul Dien, the chief marketing officer behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art's controversial rebranding, has resigned effective February 1. Dien, who joined the museum in 2023, oversaw the institution's name change to "Philadelphia Art Museum" and a new visual identity that drew widespread public mockery on social media. The rebranding was intended to boost attendance, but faced backlash from locals and critics. Dien's departure follows the ouster of former director and CEO Sasha Suda in November, who has since filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the museum.

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article news schedule Nov 24, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

sasha suda philadelphia art museum

Sasha Suda, the former director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has filed a lawsuit against the institution less than a week after her abrupt firing. The legal complaint alleges breaches of contract, bad faith, unfair treatment, and abuse. Suda, who served for three years, is seeking two years' severance and damages, represented by high-profile art world attorney Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel. Her ouster came shortly after the museum unveiled a controversial rebranding, changing its name from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the acronym PhAM and introducing an unpopular griffin logo. The museum has stated the lawsuit is without merit. Louis Marchesano, deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation, is currently serving as interim leader.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 24, 2025 visibility 10 link 3 artists

cia kryptos sculpture code auction

An anonymous bidder has won the solution to the final unsolved puzzle of Kryptos, a famous encrypted sculpture at CIA headquarters in Virginia, for $962,500 in an online auction by R.R. Auction. The artist, Jim Sanborn, offered the handwritten code for the fourth message (K4) along with other unpublished items and a prototype, far exceeding the presale estimate of $300,000–$500,000. The sale came after the solution was accidentally leaked to journalists Jarett Kobek and Richard Byrne, who discovered the plaintext in Sanborn's papers at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, though they have agreed not to release it.

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person people schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 15 link 1 artist

philadelphia art museum daniel weiss director controversy

The Philadelphia Art Museum has appointed Daniel H. Weiss, former president and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as its new director and CEO, effective December 1. Weiss, who led the Met for eight years until 2023 and most recently served as a professor and senior adviser at Johns Hopkins University, will guide the museum through at least 2028. His appointment follows the abrupt ouster of previous director Sasha Suda, who was terminated for cause on November 4 and has since sued the museum, alleging board members falsely accused her of misusing funds. The museum’s board chair, Ellen Caplan, praised Weiss’s leadership experience but did not address Suda’s dismissal.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 27, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

okada museum sells art founder legal bill sothebys

Japan’s Okada Museum of Art is selling 125 works from its collection at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on November 22 to help its founder, Kazuo Okada, pay a $50 million legal bill. The bill stems from a long-running feud with casino magnate Steve Wynn, which began when the two co-founded Wynn Resorts in 2002 and later accused each other of improper payments. The collection includes Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic *The Great Wave Off the Coast of Kanagawa* (1830–32), a rare Qianlong “Eight Treasures” vase, and 16th-century screens by Kano Motonobu. Okada, an 83-year-old billionaire, lost a binding arbitration over the legal fees and must now sell the art.

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museum exhibitions schedule Oct 14, 2025 visibility 21 link 4 artists, 2 galleries

harlesden high street mayfair

Jonny Tanna, founder of the London gallery Harlesden High Street, has launched a pop-up project in Mayfair during Frieze Week, in collaboration with Düsseldorf- and Berlin-based gallery Setareh. The inaugural exhibition, “Forces of Nature,” features London-based artists Abbas Zahedi and Jamiu Agboke, presenting conceptual installation and atmospheric painting. Tanna emphasizes that this is not a permanent relocation but an itinerant extension of his gallery, which exclusively shows artists of color and is known for its community-focused, unvarnished approach.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 14, 2025 visibility 16 link 4 artists, 7 galleries

perrotin relocating hong kong gallery

Emmanuel Perrotin announced that his gallery is relocating from K11 Atelier Victoria Dockside back to Central, Hong Kong’s business district, where it first opened in Asia in 2012. The gallery vacated Dockside on October 1 after six years, citing the need to better serve its community, enhance accessibility, and reduce operational costs. The move follows Pace Gallery’s announcement that it will close its H Queen’s location by the end of October, and comes amid a broader shake-up in Hong Kong’s gallery scene, with other blue-chip dealers like Lévy Gorvy Dayan also shuttering spaces.

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person people schedule Sep 29, 2025 visibility 15 link 1 artist

msn warsaw director joanna mytkowska interview

Joanna Mytkowska, director of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (MSN Warsaw) since 2007, discusses the museum's first year in its new building designed by American architect Thomas Phifer. Located in Warsaw's Central Square near the Palace of Culture and Science, the white modernist structure opened last fall with performances and the collection exhibition "The Impermanent." Mytkowska reflects on the museum's controversial reception among local audiences, its role in Poland's political debates—including being mentioned during the recent presidential election campaign—and the institution's long-standing ambivalence toward artistic canons rooted in its close ties to Warsaw's progressive artistic community.

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article policy schedule Sep 5, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

museums association code of ethics fossil fuel sponsorships

The Museums Association (MA) in the United Kingdom has proposed a new code of ethics that, for the first time, explicitly mentions fossil fuel companies. The guidelines recommend that museums transition away from sponsorship by organizations involved in environmental harm, human rights abuses, or other activities misaligned with museum values, and instead seek ethical funding that serves community interests. MA members will vote on ratifying the changes from September 15 until the annual conference on October 7, with the last code updated in 2015.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 15, 2025 visibility 18 link 2 artists

national museum of asian art announces first us exhibition of masterpieces from the collection of former samsung chairman lee kun hee

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) has announced it will host the first US exhibition of masterpieces from the collection of former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee this fall. Titled 'Korean Treasures', the show will feature over 200 items spanning 1,500 years, including a dozen National Treasures designated by the Korean government, many exhibited in the US for the first time. Co-organized with the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Korea, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, the exhibition includes ancient Buddhist sculptures, ceramics, paintings, furnishings, and modern works. Highlights include Jeong Seon’s 'Clearing after Rain on Mount Inwang' (1751) and a 1459 woodblock-print book compiled by King Sejo. Nine items from the Leeum Museum of Art will be shown exclusively at the NMAA before the exhibition travels to Chicago and the British Museum.

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article news schedule Jul 31, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

whitney museum person jumps staff email

An unidentified 34-year-old man died after jumping from the Whitney Museum in New York on Wednesday evening, shortly before the museum closed. Whitney director Scott Rothkopf informed staff via email, stating that authorities confirmed the individual jumped from Whitney property onto the plaza below. The New York Police Department responded to a 911 call at 5:26 p.m. and found the man unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicative of a fall; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The museum delayed its opening to noon on Thursday to allow staff time to process the incident, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is investigating.

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gavel restitution schedule Jul 21, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

antonio solario stolen painting returned

A British woman, Barbara de Dozsa, has voluntarily returned a stolen Renaissance painting by Antonio Solario to the Civic Museum of Belluno in Italy, more than 50 years after it was stolen in a 1973 heist. The work, a Madonna and Child, was purchased by her late ex-husband, Baron de Dozsa, shortly after the theft and later inherited by her. Although UK law allowed her to keep it legally, she was persuaded by art recovery specialist Christopher Marinello to return it on moral grounds, citing the painting's status on the Interpol database and the museum's role as a guardian of cultural heritage.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 1, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

medina triennial western new york

A new contemporary art triennial is set to launch in 2026 in Medina, a small village in Western New York with a population of about 6,000. The Medina Triennial will feature approximately 50 site-responsive works created by invited artists across indoor and outdoor locations, including former industrial buildings and spaces along the Erie Canal. The exhibition is co-directed by Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo, with associate curator Ekrem Serdar, and is conceived by the New York Power Authority and the New York State Canal Corporation to revitalize the canal and highlight its significance. A steering committee includes major regional institutions such as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the University at Buffalo, the Memorial Art Gallery, and the Corning Museum of Glass. The inaugural edition runs from June 6 to September 7, 2026, with a hub opening in September 2025 for public programs.

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article local schedule Jun 17, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

uovo seeking to build second large scale brooklyn facility

UOVO, a collector-founded art storage company, is seeking approval to build a second large-scale facility in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood. The proposed seven-story, 240,000-square-foot building at 74 Bogart Street would expand the company's footprint near its existing 150,000-square-foot Bushwick facility opened in 2020. Founded in 2013 by real estate developer Steven Guttman, UOVO operates 30 locations across the U.S. and stores collections for museums, galleries, and high-net-worth individuals, including artworks, wine collections, and fashion archives. Architecture firm S9 will oversee the design if the plan is approved by the city.

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article news schedule Jun 13, 2025 visibility 13 link 3 artists

national portrait gallery director resigns trump kim sajet

Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has resigned from her post after President Donald Trump claimed on social media that he had fired her. The Smithsonian Institution initially affirmed its independence, stating that only its secretary and Board of Regents control personnel decisions, and Sajet continued working. However, as of June 13, she departed the role she had held since 2013, citing her desire to put the museum first. Trump had criticized Sajet for being a supporter of DEI and for including a wall text with a portrait of him that mentioned his impeachments and the January 6 insurrection.

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article policy schedule Jun 10, 2025 visibility 17 link 1 artist

smithsonian institution challenges kim sajet firing trump

The Smithsonian Institution issued a statement asserting its independence after President Donald Trump claimed he fired National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet. The statement did not name Sajet or Trump directly but affirmed that all personnel decisions are made by the Secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, with board oversight. It followed reports that Sajet continued working despite the supposed firing and that the Trump administration had compiled a 17-point list of grievances against her. The statement also noted the Board of Regents directed the Secretary to ensure unbiased content in Smithsonian museums.

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article news schedule Jun 2, 2025 visibility 7 link 1 artist

etruscan sarcophagus spouses restoration rome

The National Etruscan Museum in Rome is undertaking a public restoration of the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, a 6th-century B.C.E. Etruscan terracotta tomb that was discovered in Cerveteri in 1881 and reassembled from 400 fragments by the museum's founder, Felice Barnabei. The open restoration will begin with the couple's legs, using digital technologies, and aims to highlight the work of art professionals while creating a long-term conservation plan for the masterpiece.

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article news schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

james rondeau returns as director of art institute of chicago following plane incident

James Rondeau is returning as director of the Art Institute of Chicago after taking a voluntary leave following an incident in April 2025 in which he reportedly undressed on a flight from Chicago to Munich. CBS News reported that police were called after a passenger—identified as Rondeau—stripped off his clothes, having consumed alcohol and prescription medication. The museum’s board conducted an independent investigation and expressed confidence in Rondeau’s leadership, allowing him to resume his role as President and Director on Monday. Rondeau issued a statement expressing regret and gratitude for the opportunity to continue his work.

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article news schedule May 23, 2025 visibility 11 link 2 artists

sutton hoo bromeswell bucket not bucket

Archaeologists have discovered the base of the Bromeswell Bucket, a Byzantine-era vessel from Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, U.K., revealing that it was used as a cremation urn. The bucket, first found in fragments in 1986, 2012, and 2023, features a hunting scene and a Greek inscription. Excavations by the TV program Time Team, the National Trust, FAS Heritage, and volunteers uncovered the base, which contained cremated human and animal remains, including a skull and talus, as well as bones from an animal larger than a pig. The remains were likely stored in a bag, confirming the bucket's funerary purpose.

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gavel restitution schedule May 20, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

ucla fowler museum returns artifacts australia larrakia

The Fowler Museum at UCLA has voluntarily returned 11 culturally significant objects to the Larrakia Community of Australia’s Northern Territory. The items, including a kangaroo tooth headband and 10 glass spearheads dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were handed over in a ceremony on May 20. Half of the objects arrived at the museum in 1965 via a large donation from the Wellcome Trust, while the rest were gifts from private collectors. Since 2021, Larrakia elders have worked with AIATSIS and the Fowler Museum to identify and facilitate the return. The Larrakia community plans to open a cultural center next year to house the repatriated items.

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gavel restitution schedule May 12, 2025 visibility 14 link 4 artists

open restitution africa research organization profile

Open Restitution Africa (ORA), an African-led research organization, has compiled case studies including the Ngadji drum, a sacred instrument confiscated from Kenya's Pokomo people by British colonial officers in 1902 and now held by the British Museum. With a $600,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, ORA provided microgrants to scholars like William Mutta Tsaka of the National Museums of Kenya, who documented the drum's cultural significance and the community's ongoing struggle for repatriation. The project aims to fund independent researchers and community activists across Africa, covering fieldwork costs often neglected by larger provenance grants.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 9, 2025 visibility 12 link 3 artists

bryn mawr college nekisha durrett monument lab

Monument Lab and Bryn Mawr College have unveiled a permanent public artwork by Nekisha Durrett titled "Don't Forget to Remember (Me)" in the school's Cloisters courtyard. The installation features 9,000 custom pavers arranged in an intertwined knot pattern, with 250 of them engraved with the names of Black staff whose labor was essential to the college's early operations but went unrecognized. The project emerged from a multiyear initiative called Art Remediating Campus Histories, which included symposia, lectures, and community consultations to address the institution's histories of systemic exclusion.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 24, 2025 visibility 11 link 3 artists

ronen zien tel aviv museum of art

Ronen Zien, an artist born in the Arab city of Shefa Amr in northern Israel, presents a solo exhibition titled "Walking Into" at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The show features works that explore memory, time, and borders, including a life-size video piece where Zien walks into a faded family photograph from the 1990s. Using chroma key technology, he inserts himself into images from his childhood and historic photographs, such as a 19th-century print by Félix Bonfils. The exhibition draws on Zien's family history within the Druze community, which is divided by the Israel–Syria border, and includes works created in the six months before its February 2025 opening, amid ongoing war tensions.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 21, 2025 visibility 12 link 4 artists, 2 galleries

sarah cunningham death accidental inquest

A new inquest has determined that the death of British abstract painter Sarah Cunningham at age 31 last year was accidental. Cunningham, represented by Lisson Gallery, went missing after a night out in London on November 2, 2023, and was later found dead on the tracks at Chalk Farm Underground Station. The Poplar Coroner's Court concluded on April 9 that although she jumped onto the track, she did not intend to take her own life, noting she was intoxicated at the time. Her body was discovered after a train struck her 18 minutes later.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 20, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 9 link 11 artists, 1 gallery

From the artist who painted with his feet to the splashes of Pollock: abstraction takes over the Centre Pompidou Malaga

The Centre Pompidou Malaga has opened the exhibition 'Gesture and Matter. International Abstractions (1945–1965)', running until September, featuring around 30 works by 26 artists. The show highlights abstract art as a post-World War II response, with key pieces including Jackson Pollock's 'Number 26A. Black and White' and Kazuo Shiraga's 'Planet Nature', painted with his feet while suspended from ropes. Co-curated by Anne Foucault and Christian Briend, the exhibition traces abstraction's development from Paris and New York to Asia and Europe, emphasizing painting as a full-body, performative act of freedom.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 21, 2026 visibility 58 link 19 artists, 3 galleries

Andrew Cranston’s Paintings of Dreamlike Domesticity

Scottish artist Andrew Cranston has opened a new solo exhibition titled 'I’m going in a field' at Modern Art gallery in London. The show features eleven paintings that blend landscape, memory, and domestic scenes, drawing inspiration from the artist's childhood in Hawick, Scotland, and his reflections on activities like golf, which he views as a form of landscape experience.

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person people schedule Apr 20, 2026 visibility 47 link 14 artists, 1 gallery

The Enviable Life of a 1970s Soho Gallerist

Paula Cooper opened her pioneering gallery in Soho in 1968, betting on the then-desolate industrial neighborhood as artists began moving into its lofts. She cultivated deep, personal relationships with the artists she represented, such as Lynda Benglis and Joel Shapiro, as well as with other major figures like Jasper Johns, fostering a slower, more humane art world pace. Her success helped transform Soho into a major gallery district, attracting institutions like Sonnabend and Castelli.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 20, 2026 source 4 sources visibility 38 link 11 artists

Drones, Uncle Sam, and Grand Master Rafael: 10 Must See Exhibits This Spring

New York City’s museum landscape is entering a major spring season characterized by high-profile retrospectives, institutional reopenings, and the 82nd Whitney Biennial. Key highlights include a massive Raphael survey at the Metropolitan Museum of Art featuring over 200 works, the reopening of the expanded New Museum with a tech-focused exhibition on the future of humanity, and a major survey of sculptor Carol Bove at the Guggenheim. The season also features thematic shows exploring American folk art, Dutch Golden Age masterpieces, and the relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

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article culture schedule May 18, 2026 visibility 13 link 3 artists

Art Lovers Movie Club: Elisabeth Brun, ‘Big Tech Blues’, 2025

ArtReview's Art Lovers Movie Club presents Elisabeth Brun's film 'Big Tech Blues' (2025), an auto-documentary that follows a small village in northern Norway as it resists the installation of a SpaceX Starlink 'Gateway' transmission site. The film blends personal essay, documentary footage, and interviews with residents who protest the hub over concerns about noise pollution, radiation, and environmental impact on the rural coastline. Brun contrasts slick Starlink promotional material with slow, intimate scenes of the landscape and community organizing on Facebook, highlighting the irony of using digital tools to fight digital infrastructure.

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candle obituary schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 10 link 1 artist

Décès de Jacques Gairard

Jacques Gairard, a figure in the French art world, has died. The announcement appears in Le Journal des Arts, which also covers the opening of the Venice Biennale amid controversy, the final adoption of a law on the restitution of cultural property looted during colonization, the V&A East's focus on young audiences, the uneven economic impact of Monet's legacy in Giverny, and the structuring of the Nabis art market.

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