saudi arabia commission mural domingo zapata 1234773760

Saudi Arabia has commissioned New York-based artist Domingo Zapata to create what is being billed as the world's largest mural, spanning 540,000 square feet. The project, part of the $63 billion Diriyah cultural zone development in Riyadh, is backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and will involve a team of about 100 artists working over four to six years, with Zapata describing it as having "a blank check" for creative freedom.

Caravaggio, Class, Clothes, and Street Style by Elizabeth Currie

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An excerpt from Elizabeth Currie's upcoming book "Street Style: Art and Dress in the Time of Caravaggio" analyzes the significance of clothing in Caravaggio's painting *The Cardsharps*. The author dissects the garments of the three figures—a finely dressed youth, a possibly liveried servant, and a disheveled card sharp—to reveal how their attire provides clues to their social status, professions, and the complex, often deceptive relationships between them.

Remembering Catherine O'Hara, Beetlejuice's Delia Deetz Cover Sculptor

remembering catherine ohara beetlejuice delia deetz cover sculptor 1234771619

Actress and comedian Catherine O'Hara, known for her role as sculptor Delia Deetz in the 1988 film 'Beetlejuice,' has died at age 71. In the film, her character creates abstract sculptures and achieves a fictional milestone by appearing on the cover of Art in America magazine.

riyadh art tuwaiq sculpture 2026 launches open call 1234753124

Riyadh Art has launched an open call for the seventh edition of Tuwaiq Sculpture, scheduled for January and February 2026 under the theme 'Traces of What Will Be.' The open call runs from August 27 to October 1, 2025, inviting sculptors worldwide to submit proposals for a live sculpting experience in Riyadh. Twenty-five artists will be selected to create original works that will be permanently installed across the city. An international curatorial team has been announced: U.K.-based Sarah Staton, German-born Rut Blees Luxemburg, and Saudi artist Lulwah Al Homoud. The edition introduces two new sculpting categories—Granite + Stainless Steel Integration and Reclaimed Metal—and selected artists receive an honorarium plus travel and accommodation support.

pussy riot members sentenced in absentia by a moscow court 1234752387

Five members of the punk art collective Pussy Riot—Maria (Masha) Alekhina, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot, Alina Petrova, and Taso Pletner—have been sentenced in absentia by a Moscow court to prison terms ranging from 8 to 13 years. The charges stem from spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian Armed Forces, linked to the collective’s 2022 antiwar video referencing the siege of Mariupol. The sentences were reported by the state-owned news agency Tass and first covered by the Art Newspaper.

director of sao paulos museu afro brasil dismissed after less than two years 1234746575

Hélio Menezes has been dismissed as director of the Museu Afro Brasil in São Paulo after less than two years in the role. He announced his departure on Instagram, describing the museum's internal decision-making as informal, personalistic, and lacking transparency, and criticized a leadership disconnected from Black representation and the visual arts world. Two board members, Wellinton Souza and artist Rosana Paulino, also resigned. The museum cited budgetary disagreements and accused Menezes of personal attacks against its board chair.

art gaetano pesce final public sculpture

Gaetano Pesce's final sculpture, "Double Heart," has been installed as his only permanent public artwork in the United States. The 30-foot-tall illuminated piece, featuring two interlocking hearts pierced by Cupid's arrow, now hovers above the Massachusetts Turnpike at the Lyrik Back Bay plaza in Boston. Commissioned by developer Samuels & Associates and art advisory Goodman Taft, the work was overseen by gallerist Lucy Chadwick of Champ Lacombe after Pesce's death in early 2024. The sculpture reflects Pesce's signature blend of playfulness and humanism, contrasting with the rigid geometry of modernist design.

art made in la biennial hammer museum

The Hammer Museum has announced the lineup for the seventh edition of its biennial survey "Made in L.A.," curated by Essence Harden and Paulina Pobocha. Starting with a list of over 1,000 artists and no predetermined theme, the curators visited numerous studios over six months to select 28 participants. The exhibition includes artists working beyond traditional definitions, such as online archivist Jerald Cooper and DJ programmer Michael Donte, alongside experimental filmmakers, choreography, ceramics, and installations. The show features works by Pat O'Neill, Carl Cheng, Greg Breda, and others, reflecting Los Angeles's car culture, light, and evolving landscape.

And Just Like That… Carrie Bradshaw’s Closet Hits the Auction Block

Julien’s Auctions is hosting a massive sale of over 500 props, costumes, and furnishings from the HBO series "And Just Like That…". The auction features iconic items associated with characters Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes, including a prop Rolex watch engraved for Mr. Big, high-fashion garments, and furniture from the characters' New York apartments. Bidding began online in early April and will culminate in a live two-day event in California at the end of the month.

In Munich, Two Artists Imagine Futures Both Playful and Epic

The Munich gallery Filser and Gräf is presenting a two-person exhibition titled "Medèn ágan – Nothing in Excess," featuring artists Paris Giachoustidis and Toshihiko Mitsuya. The show uses the ancient Greek maxim as a curatorial framework, with Mitsuya's delicate, reflective aluminum sculptures and Giachoustidis's paintings of futuristic, cosmic landscapes exploring themes of balance, scale, and humanity's place in the universe.

venice biennale russia pavilion eu funding 2752812

The European Union has threatened to withdraw a €2 million grant from the Venice Biennale following Russia's decision to return to the international exhibition for its 61st edition. The EU Commission warned that providing a platform for a Russian national pavilion risks legitimizing figures connected to the Kremlin and violating sanctions, while Biennale organizers have defended the move as a commitment to artistic freedom and a rejection of censorship.

tracing the transition from mannerism to baroque at tefaf maastricht 2751235

London-based gallery Trinity Fine Art has announced a curated presentation for TEFAF Maastricht 2026 focusing on the stylistic evolution from Mannerism to the Baroque. The showcase features three significant works: an ambitious 1580 biblical scene by Lavinia Fontana, a rare and well-documented 1610 depiction of St. Jerome by Orazio Gentileschi, and a mature 1620 composition of the Holy Family by Giulio Cesare Procaccini.

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Chris Kraus, the influential contemporary art writer, co-editor of Semiotext(e), and novelist best known for her 1997 autobiographical novel *I Love Dick*, has released a new novel titled *The Four Spent the Day Together*. The book follows a character named Catt Greene, who closely mirrors Kraus's own life: a childhood in Connecticut, later success as an art critic and novelist with *I Love Dick* (adapted into an Amazon series), a marriage to an addiction counselor struggling with his own addiction, and online backlash for being a landlord. In the third part, Greene investigates a real-life murder in rural Minnesota, seeking new material as her own life feels depleted.

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A new exhibition at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York, titled "Spanish Style: Fashion Illuminated, 1550–1700," explores how 17th-century Spanish fashion was governed by strict moral and legal codes. Curator Amanda Wunder highlights that garments like the guardainfante hoop skirt and the ruffled collar were regulated by kings and clergy, with women fined or barred from church for revealing shoulders or wearing lace, and men criticized for effeminate styles. The show features portraits and artifacts that reveal how clothing was used as a tool of social control, power, and gender policing in Habsburg Spain.

art bites durer star charts 2716054

Albrecht Dürer created the first printed star charts in Europe in 1515, producing two 17-inch square woodcut maps of the northern and southern celestial hemispheres. The charts depict 48 constellations, including zodiac signs, and feature portraits of ancient astronomers. Dürer collaborated with mathematician Conrad Heinfogel and imperial astronomer Johann Stabius, and the prints were patronized by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. One set sold for £361,250 at Sotheby's in 2011.

star wars painting auction record price 2728082

The original painting for the 1977 Star Wars movie poster, created by artist Tom Jung, sold for $3.9 million at Heritage Auctions, becoming the most expensive object associated with the Star Wars franchise to date. The acrylic and airbrush artwork served as the half-sheet poster for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and features a triangular composition of characters like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. The painting was consigned by Melissa, daughter of producer Gary Kurtz, and surpassed the previous record for movie poster art.

pig couch craigslist hoax explained 1924990

The article reveals the origin of the infamous 'pig couch' that has appeared in hoax Craigslist ads across the U.S. for years. It is actually a chair titled *Hillhock* (2010), created by fiber artist Pavia Burroughs for her senior thesis at Philadelphia's University of the Arts. The piece, inspired by an illustration from Kit Williams' puzzle book *Masquerade*, is hand-stitched in pink velvet and satin with carved walnut hooves. Since 2015, Burroughs' photo has been used in fake listings, often as part of scams. Twitter user Abigail Rowe first investigated the phenomenon in 2018, uncovering the hoax after responding to a fraudulent ad.

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Chinese artist Zhang Shangfeng presents a solo exhibition titled “The Discourse of Neo-Mythmaking” at Beijing’s Bonian Space, curated by Yang Xi. The show features recent paintings that blend personal experience with contemporary archetypes to create what the artist calls “neo-myths.” Zhang’s work draws on his time in Xi’an, China, and an exchange program at the University of Arts in Belgrade, using stylized, modernist-influenced imagery to explore themes of self, otherness, loneliness, and interpersonal relationships.

empress sisi of austria portrait 2716254

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837–1898), known as Princess Sisi, has re-entered the cultural spotlight after eagle-eyed historians noticed a striking similarity between Franz Xaver Winterhalter's informal portrait of the Empress with her hair down and a bridal scene in Guillermo del Toro's new film *Frankenstein*, where actress Mia Goth appears with flowing auburn locks. The comparison, shared widely on social media by historian Rachael Gibson and others, gave Winterhalter's 19th-century portrait a new viral moment, sparking renewed interest in Sisi's life and the role of hair in Victorian Europe.

trump mamdani roosevelt salisbury portrait 2718933

New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani visited President Donald Trump at the White House on November 21, where the two former online adversaries found common ground on issues like crime, rent, and affordable housing. They posed together in front of Frank O. Salisbury's portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which Trump claimed to have rediscovered in White House vaults, though it was previously hung by President Joe Biden. The article traces the history of Salisbury's 1935 painting and its copies, including the official White House version commissioned by Harry S. Truman in 1947.

hispanic society spanish fashion 2711741

The article examines 'Spanish Style: Fashion Illuminated,' an exhibition at the Hispanic Society Museum in New York curated by Amanda Wunder. It explores how Spanish fashion from the Habsburg dynasty (1516–1700) used luxurious materials like logwood black, gold, silver, silk, and lace to project imperial power and religious austerity. The show features portraits of royalty and nobility, including works by Diego Velázquez and Juan de Pareja, highlighting how clothing served as a uniform of status and belonging rather than individual expression.

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Gian Lorenzo Bernini's iconic Baroque sculpture *The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa* (1647–1652) is examined in detail, depicting the Spanish Carmelite nun Saint Teresa of Ávila in a moment of divine rapture as an angel pierces her heart with a golden arrow. The artwork, housed in the Cornaro Chapel at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, was commissioned by Cardinal Federico Cornaro and remains one of Bernini's most celebrated and controversial masterpieces, blending theatricality, religious fervor, and virtuosic marble carving.

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Archaeologists from the Penn Museum and Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University have discovered an 8th-century B.C.E. royal tomb in Gordion, Turkey, containing 88 well-preserved objects including bronze cauldrons, vessels, and iron tools. The tomb, located near the famous Midas Mound, suggests a connection to the legendary King Midas or his family, and its cremation burial method predates previous evidence of elite cremation in the region by over a century.

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Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have uncovered one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever found in London at a development site in Southwark. The fragments, which shattered into thousands of pieces, were discovered in a pit and took three months to reassemble by senior building material specialist Han Li, who described it as assembling "the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle." The plaster includes rare evidence of a painter's signature, unusual Greek alphabet graffiti, and a crying face graffito, along with vibrant yellow panel designs featuring birds, fruit, flowers, and lyres.

can art act as silent diplomacy these sculptors think so 2652392

A 4.9-meter stainless steel sculpture titled "Chaînes de Lumière" was unveiled on March 15, 2025, in Bikfaya, Lebanon, by artist duo Pierre and Cedric Koukjian. The work, composed of seven monumental links, was inaugurated in the presence of local officials including Bikfaya Mayor Nicole Gemayel, former President Amine Gemayel, Swiss Ambassador Marion Weichelt, and several UN envoys. It is part of a series of chain-motif sculptures installed globally, with previous works like "X-Link" (2022) in Geneva, Switzerland, and future installations planned for London and Bristol.

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Martin Scorsese's 1990 film *Goodfellas* features a brief but memorable scene where mobsters Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) visit Tommy's mother, played by Scorsese's own mother Catherine. She shows them a small painting of a man in a boat with two dogs facing opposite directions, prompting an improvised, humorous exchange of amateur art criticism that ties into the film's dark plot. The painting was actually based on a photograph by Adam Woolfitt from the November 1978 issue of *National Geographic*, depicting Irish river advocate John Weaving and his dogs Brocky and Twiggy; the on-screen version was created by Pileggi's mother.

ORDINARY MIRACLES. A Conversation with Rene Matić by Bianca Stoppani

Artist Rene Matić discusses their multidisciplinary practice and the personal history that informs their exploration of British identity, race, and subculture. The conversation highlights Matić’s deep connection to skinhead culture—inherited from their father—and their use of an "ethnographic methodology of the Self" to document queer BIPOC communities and personal memories.

Read a book, flip off a Nazi: when reading meant resistance – in pictures

A new exhibition at Poster House in New York, titled "Reading Under Fire: Arming Minds & Hearts During Wartime," showcases vintage posters from World War I and World War II that promoted reading and book donations to support troops. The posters, drawn from the collections of the American Library Association, the YMCA, and other organizations, encouraged the public to supply soldiers with reading material as a form of morale-boosting and education. The exhibition runs until 1 November and is curated by Molly Guptill Manning.

‘We’re attached to this land like a tree is rooted in soil’: unexpectedly timely exhibition speaks up for the people of south Lebanon

An exhibition titled 'Forget Me Not: South Lebanon in Memory and Motion' was held at London's Palestine House earlier this month. It featured archival news footage from 2000, photographs, audiovisual materials, and children's drawings to document the history, culture, and resilience of southern Lebanon, a region experiencing renewed conflict.

In Bloom review – this riproaring history of botanical adventurers disturbs and delights

A major exhibition titled "In Bloom" explores the intertwined history of botanical science, colonialism, and human obsession with flowers. It features works and stories from figures like Mary Somerset, Carl Linnaeus, and Joseph Hooker, tracing how global plant collecting transformed European gardens and culture.