Art Movements: Michelle Millar Fisher Heads to Cooper Hewitt

Michelle Millar Fisher, formerly curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has been appointed chief curator at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan. She succeeds Matilda McQuaid, who is retiring after 24 years. Separately, the Getty Foundation awarded $1.8 million in grants to eight institutions through its Black Visual Arts Archive initiative, supporting the processing of historical records related to Black art. Other notable appointments include Jamie Blosser as curator of the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graham C. Boettcher as director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum, and Susan Fisher Sterling's retirement from the National Museum of Women in Arts. Artist Nora Turato also unveiled a humorous billboard near the High Line reading 'GIVE US MOM!!!'.

Collateral Events Not to Miss at 61st Venice Biennale

The article highlights several collateral events not to miss at the 61st Venice Biennale, including "The Spirits of Maritime Crossing 2026" at Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfù, featuring 20 artists from Southeast Asia, Ireland, and Serbia, anchored by Marina Abramović's performance piece "Sea Punishing" (2006). Other notable exhibitions include a seven-decade survey of Korean artist Lee Ufan at San Marco Art Centre, "TURANDOT: To the Daughters of the East" at ACP Palazzo Franchetti featuring 11 female artists from Central Asia, Li Yi-Fan's "Screen Melancholy" at Palazzo delle Prigioni, and Nalini Malani's "Of Woman Born" at Magazzini del Sale.

The Essential Works of Rirkrit Tiravanija

ArtAsiaPacific profiles Rirkrit Tiravanija, a pioneering figure in relational aesthetics known for participatory works centered on communal dining and shared rituals. The article traces his career from his first solo exhibition "untitled 1990 (pad thai)" at Paula Allen Gallery in New York, where he cooked and served pad thai to visitors, to his current major retrospective "The House That Jack Built" at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, running through July 26. Tiravanija, born in Buenos Aires in 1961 and raised across multiple countries, has received numerous accolades including the Hugo Boss Prize (2004) and a nomination in the Established Artist category at the 2026 Art Basel Awards. He is also preparing to present a tent-like structure at the Qatari pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale, featuring contributions by Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid, and Fadi Kattan.

Queer Horizon: “Spectrosynthesis Seoul” at Art Sonje Center

The fourth edition of "Spectrosynthesis," Sunpride Foundation's exhibition series dedicated to LGBTQ+ art in Asia, opens at Art Sonje Center in Seoul. Curated by Sunjung Kim and Youngwoo Lee, the show unfolds in two parts: "The Two-Sided Seashell" and "Tender: Invisibly Visible, Unlocatably Everywhere," featuring works by artists including Sin Wai Kin and Young-Jun Tak. The exhibition engages with queer theory, particularly José Esteban Muñoz's concept of queerness as a horizon of potentiality, and responds to South Korea's recent political turbulence, including the 2024 martial law declaration and presidential impeachment.

New Ways of Seeing at the Outsider Art Fair

The 2025 Outsider Art Fair in New York City, featuring 68 exhibitors at the Metropolitan Pavilion, showcased a vibrant range of work by self-taught and autodidactic artists. The event was marked by strong sales and enthusiastic attendance, serving as an egalitarian counterpoint to more traditional blue-chip art fairs.

Where to go this weekend?

Wohin am Wochenende?

Major international exhibitions and events are launching this week, headlined by a massive Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the first of its scale in the U.S. since the 1970s. In Milan, Cao Fei debuts a research-heavy project at Fondazione Prada exploring the intersection of high-tech agriculture and tradition, while Berlin’s Georg Kolbe Museum recovers the legacy of British constructivist Marlow Moss. Additionally, the inaugural Art Cologne Palma Mallorca art festival opens in Spain, attempting to stimulate the market during a challenging economic period.

Re-Air: The Young Painter Curators Are Rushing to Work With

Artnet News resurfaces an interview with painter Taína H. Cruz, who is featured in both the Whitney Biennial and MoMA PS1's Greater New York exhibition. Cruz, born in 1998 and a recent MFA graduate from Yale School of Painting, creates moody paintings often depicting Black female figures, drawing on African American and Caribbean folklore, horror, fantasy, and personal imagery. The interview, conducted by Ben Davis, explores her influences and her response to the sudden surge of attention from major institutions.

Philadelphia’s New Art Fair Is Betting Big on Community

Philadelphia is set to launch a new contemporary art fair called Elsewhere on June 4, organized by Megan Galardi, founder of Blah Blah Gallery. The fair will take over the Yowie Hotel, a pair of 1900s rowhouses, featuring 26 galleries from cities including Los Angeles, Toronto, and London. Booth prices are kept low—around $3,000 for the largest rooms—and some exhibitors can sleep in their spaces to reduce costs. Participating galleries include Harlesden High Street, DARLA, and Blah Blah Gallery, with artists such as Patricia Renee’ Thomas, Emmanuel Massillon, and Qualeasha Wood. The fair also includes panels, DJ sets, reciprocal museum tours, and VIP studio visits.

Luminous Tiffany Window Poised to Net $2 Million at Auction

A late 19th-century Tiffany stained-glass window, known as the Boyd Family Memorial Window (The Falls), is set to be auctioned at Christie's in June with an estimated price of $2 million. The window, depicting a waterfall and sunset landscape, has been installed in the Second Congregational Church in Winsted, Connecticut, for 125 years and was commissioned by Ellen Wright Boyd in memory of her parents.

Art Dubai announces updated gallery list for postponed 2026 edition

Art Dubai has released a revised exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, which was rescheduled to May 15–17 following regional instability caused by the US-Israel war in Iran. The fair will feature 50 galleries at Madinat Jumeirah, down from its original roster after approximately 75 participants—including major Indian and Western galleries—withdrew due to scheduling conflicts and logistics. To support those remaining, the fair has introduced a flexible fee structure where galleries pay a percentage of sales capped at the original stand cost.

The Fashion-Art Collective Captivating New York, One Furry Bridge at a Time

The New York-based Asian-American art and fashion collective CFGNY has opened a new exhibition, "Puddles into Pond," at the non-profit art space Amant in Brooklyn. The show features an immersive installation with a shaggy fur bridge, kinetic sculptures, and ceramic works, running until August 16. This exhibition is part of a significant season for the collective, which also includes a debut installation at the Whitney Biennial and participation in a group show at Pioneer Works.

epstein files leon black indicted dealer douglas latchford

A newly released document from the Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Epstein files has linked billionaire collector Leon Black to a $27.7 million inventory of Southeast Asian antiquities, some of which may be looted. The records indicate that Black acquired high-value Cambodian, Thai, and Vietnamese artifacts, including a $7 million bronze Shiva sculpture that matches the description of a piece handled by the late, indicted antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford. While Black’s representatives state he never dealt with Latchford directly and acquired the works through a reputable dealer, correspondence suggests Latchford was involved in facilitating sales to Black through intermediaries.

introducing the 2022 artnet innovators list

Artnet News has published its second annual Innovators List, highlighting 35 individuals from across the global art world who are driving change. The list, curated with input from 50 art-world leaders, features a diverse range of ages and geographies, spotlighting pioneers in digital art, institutional reform, new sales models, and Web3.

new york city museums climate mobilization act

The New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act, a sweeping piece of legislation designed to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large and mid-sized buildings. The law sets strict emissions reduction targets for 2024, 2030, 2040, and 2050, with the ultimate goal of an 80% reduction by 2050. Major cultural institutions like the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, and the planned headquarters of Pace Gallery are among the buildings affected.

rebecca manson jessica silverman

Rebecca Manson has opened a new solo exhibition, "Rebecca Manson: Time, You Must Be Laughing," at Jessica Silverman gallery in San Francisco. The show features some of her most ambitious works to date, including the large-scale, four-piece ceramic and glass sculpture *Exploding Butterfly (2025)*, and continues her investigations into nature, materiality, and themes of time and change.

battle over 1800 paintings attributed to russian modernist masters intensifies after litigation funder raises authenticity concerns

A legal battle over a collection of 1,800 paintings attributed to Russian modernist masters has escalated after the litigation funder backing the claimants, LitFin, raised concerns it may have been misled about the works' authenticity. The funder is now in a dispute with the claimants, the family of the late Palestinian collector Uthman Khatib, over halted payments and control of the lawsuits, which seek the return of the paintings or $323 million from Israeli-Russian businessman Mozes Frisch, who is accused of stealing them.

judy baca los angeles other art fair

Judy Baca, a pioneering Los Angeles muralist known for her socially engaged public art, is participating in the Other Art Fair for the first time. She is showcasing a new 10-by-22-foot painting, *The 1968 East L.A. Walkouts*, which is the latest addition to her monumental, decades-long project *The Great Wall of Los Angeles*. The fair has commissioned a printed reproduction of the work for exhibition and will donate it to a community center afterward.

aria dean art race tech

Critic and artist Aria Dean, known for her influential essays on digital culture and race, has staged a new theatrical work titled "The Color Scheme" as part of the Performa biennial. The piece imagines a 1920s meeting in Berlin between two Black intellectuals, marking a shift from her usual focus on contemporary online life to historical Black culture and politics. Dean's essays are collected in the recent book "Bad Infinity" from Sternberg Press, and her art has appeared in major exhibitions including the Hammer Museum's Made in L.A. Biennial and the Whitney Biennial.

artemisia gentileschi record nga acquisition

A self-portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi sold for $5.69 million at Christie’s New York, setting a new auction record for the artist. The painting, *Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria*, is one of only five self-portraits by Gentileschi and is believed to be the earliest, painted when she was around 20 years old in Florence. It far exceeded its presale estimate of $2.5–$3.5 million. On the same day, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., announced its acquisition of another Gentileschi work, *Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy* (circa 1625), funded by a gift from Nina J. Cohen and the Patrons’ Permanent Fund.

michelangelo sistine chapel study christies

A previously unknown Michelangelo drawing, a red chalk study for the foot of the Libyan Sibyl on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, was discovered after an owner submitted a photograph to Christie's online estimate service. The work, created around 1511–12, sold at Christie's New York for $27.2 million, far exceeding its $1.5–2 million estimate and setting a new auction record for a Michelangelo drawing. The anonymous seller inherited the piece from his grandmother, and it had been in his family since the late 1700s.

record 12 million at sothebys paris for recently discovered gentileschi

A recently rediscovered painting by Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi sold for €865,000 ($1.19 million) at a Sotheby's Paris auction, shattering the artist's previous auction record set in 1998. The work, which had been hidden for over 80 years in southern France, fetched nearly three times its presale estimate after being identified by Sotheby's Old Master department.

the round up south africa pavilion prado speed painting

The first Art Angle Round-Up of 2026 highlights three major art world stories. The selection includes the controversy surrounding the South Africa pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the Prado Museum's struggle with and plans to manage overwhelming visitor numbers, and the phenomenon of 'speed painting,' exemplified by artist Vanessa Horabuena selling a 10-minute painting of Jesus for nearly $3 million at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser.

zona maco 2026 exhibitor list preview

Zona Maco, one of Latin America's premier art fairs, will return to Mexico City from February 4–8, 2026, at Centro Banamex. The fair will feature 241 exhibitors across nine sections, including a new section called Forma, which blends contemporary art and design, and a revised Diseño Emergente section for emerging designers. Notable participants include Pace Gallery, Galleria Continua, Kurimanzutto, and OMR, with curated sections led by Aimé Iglesias Lukin and Manuela Moscoso. Founder Zélika García highlighted the fair's growth and its commitment to showcasing blue-chip galleries alongside emerging and mid-career talent.

work of the week polk george washington

Two nearly identical portraits of George Washington by Charles Peale Polk, depicting him after the 1777 Battle of Princeton, will be auctioned on consecutive days in New York. Christie’s offers a 1793 version (number 53) on January 23, estimated at $200,000–$300,000, which was selected by Jackie Kennedy for the White House in 1962 and remained there until 1992. Sotheby’s offers a 1790–93 version (number 30) on January 24, estimated at $400,000–$600,000, previously sold at Christie’s in 1971 and at Sotheby’s in 2010 for $458,500. Both paintings have passed through Hirschl and Adler Galleries and depict Washington in uniform with Princeton’s Nassau Hall in the background.

can brainrot be art beeple thinks so

Digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, joined Ben Davis on the Artnet News podcast "The Art Angle" to discuss his work and the evolving perception of digital art. Beeple first gained global attention in 2021 when his NFT artwork "Everydays, The First 5,000 Days" sold for $69 million at Christie's, making him a symbol of the NFT boom. Since then, he has continued to experiment with new media, including interactive video sculptures shown at LACMA and robot dogs with human heads displayed at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025.

artist estates

The article examines the growing role of artist estates in the art market, particularly for smaller and emerging galleries. While mega-galleries like Hauser & Wirth have long profited from managing blue-chip estates, a new wave of smaller galleries is now turning to overlooked and under-researched artists who died without established legacies. These galleries invest in building archives, cultivating institutional relationships, and reintroducing artists to contemporary audiences, often at more accessible price points with significant room for growth. Examples include Gunia Nowik Gallery working with the estate of Polish artist Krzysztof Jung and Gianni Manhattan representing Estonian sculptor Anu Põder.

li hei di market analysis

Li Hei Di, a young Chinese-born painter based in London, has emerged as one of the most closely watched artists in the ultra-contemporary market despite its recent downturn. Since joining Pace Gallery in September 2024 as its youngest artist, Li's works have appeared at auction 12 times, with eight sales in Hong Kong. Nearly every lot has exceeded expectations, often doubling or tripling high estimates. A standout was the painting *There Was One Summer Returning Over and Over; There Was One Dawn I Grew Old Watching* (2023), which sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong for HK$2.67 million—more than double its high estimate—setting a new auction record. Auction specialists and dealers emphasize that Li's market reflects a slow, sustained buildup rather than a speculative spike, with bidding and buying activity spanning Asia, Europe, and the United States.

diego marcon

Diego Marcon, a Milan-based artist working primarily in moving image, is gaining international attention for his unsettling and emotionally charged video installations. His work *Fritz* (2023), featuring a computer-generated boy slowly dangling from a noose while singing, exemplifies his method of dissecting genre cinema through animation, prosthetics, and pop culture references. Marcon has been featured in major exhibitions including the 59th Venice Biennale (2022), Fondazione Between Art and Film in Venice, and Kunsthalle Basel, with a new commission *Krapfen* touring internationally after premiering at the Renaissance Society in Chicago. His upcoming solo exhibition at the Consortium Museum in Dijon opens December 5, 2025.

tiffany birches irises sale christies

Christie's will auction a collection of Tiffany Studios glassworks on December 12 at its Rockefeller Center headquarters, led by works from the collection of literary agent Albert Zuckerman. The star lot is the landscape window "Birches and Irises" (estimate $400,000–$600,000), alongside a daffodil chandelier ($300,000–$500,000) and a tulip floor lamp ($100,000–$150,000). The sale also includes pieces from other private collections, such as a rare landscape floor lamp estimated at $500,000–$700,000.

strongan african artist collective calls museums rectify their debt plantation workers seven easy steps strong

The Congolese Plantation Workers Art League (CATPC), an artist collective based at a plantation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has released a toolkit titled "Seven Easy Steps for Museums to Liberate the Plantations that Funded Them." The toolkit urges major museums—including London's Tate Britain, Cologne's Ludwig Museum, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven—to acknowledge and rectify their historical reliance on plantation wealth and exploited labor. CATPC presented the toolkit at a restitution conference at the Wereldmuseum in Amsterdam, organized with the Mondriaan Fund. The collective, founded in 2014, creates art from chocolate and has exhibited internationally, including at the 2024 Venice Biennale and the 2017 Armory Show.