Sharpsburg’s ZYNKA Gallery turns 5: reflecting on growth and future exhibitions

ZYNKA Gallery in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, celebrates its fifth anniversary. Founded by Jeff Jarzynka in November 2019, the gallery represents over 50 mostly regional artists. Its current exhibition, “Time Between Echoes,” features Dutch-born artist Hans Neleman and runs through June 8. The gallery faced an early challenge when it had to close just months after opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it reopened in summer 2020 with timed visits. Jarzynka has since expanded his curatorial work, including curating exhibitions for The Portal Art Gallery at Bakery Square in East Liberty since February 2024.

Sargent and Paris

The article announces an exhibition titled "Sargent and Paris" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, focusing on John Singer Sargent's formative decade in Paris from his arrival in 1874 through the mid-1880s. It traces his rapid rise as a young American art student who studied under Carolus-Duran at the École des Beaux-Arts, immersed himself in Parisian cultural life, and produced daring portraits of cosmopolitan subjects. The exhibition highlights key works including his scandalous success "Madame X" and other canvases that captured Parisian society, culminating in his reputation as the era's greatest portrait painter.

LACMA Unveils Ambitious David Geffen Galleries Redesign

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has announced the official opening date of April 19, 2026, for its new David Geffen Galleries. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, the 274-meter-long concrete structure will house between 2,500 and 3,000 objects from the museum's permanent collection. The inaugural display will feature a mix of historical masterpieces by artists such as Matisse and Van Gogh alongside new contemporary commissions by Todd Gray, Lauren Halsey, and Do Ho Suh.

Minneapolis Artists Respond to ICE, DHS After Killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti

minneapolis artists against ice dhs renee good alex pretti

Federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE under Operation Metro Surge, have resulted in the deaths of two American citizens, poet Renee Good and nurse Alex Pretti, near major art institutions. The violence and subsequent shelter-in-place orders have directly impacted the local arts community, forcing school closures, remote learning, and causing widespread fear.

art beatriz milhazes exhibition cartier aquarium

Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes created a suspended sculpture titled "Aquarium" in collaboration with Cartier's Artist meets Artisan project, using unused precious and semi-precious stones such as diamonds, Akoya pearls, and black jade. The work, first realized in 2010, translates her signature colorful, rhythmic painting motifs into a three-dimensional mobile that shimmers like a school of fish. It will be installed at Cartier's Boston boutique on Newbury Street on March 25. The article includes an interview with Milhazes discussing the inception, materiality, and evolution of her sculptural practice.

art lauren halsey sculpture park los angeles

Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Halsey has realized a long-held dream with the opening of "sister dreamer," a public sculpture park at the corner of Western Avenue and 76th Street in South Central LA. The park features eight 22-foot-tall pillars modeled after local heroes, sphinxes, benches, fountains, native plants, and gardens, and will remain for 18 months before finding a permanent home. It also serves as a hub for Halsey's nonprofit Summaeverythang Community Center, offering free programming in art, education, and wellness, including partnerships with the Broad, tutoring, yoga, and community dinners.

parties getty images prize ann philbin

The J. Paul Getty Trust awarded its annual Getty Prize to Ann Philbin, who served as director of the Hammer Museum at UCLA for 25 years. A celebratory dinner was held at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, attended by artists, philanthropists, and museum directors. Philbin used the prize's $500,000 grant to support NPR, KCRW, and LAist, emphasizing the importance of free speech and public broadcasting.

jane fonda lauren halsey usher hammer museum

The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles held its 20th annual Gala in the Garden on Saturday night, raising $2.4 million for the institution. The event honored artist Lauren Halsey and actor-activist Jane Fonda, with speeches from director Zoë Ryan, Studio Museum director Thelma Golden, and actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. Attendees included LeBron James, Dustin Hoffman, Will Ferrell, Stormzy, Ed Ruscha, Catherine Opie, Mark Bradford, and Andrea Bowers, with a performance by singer Griff.

Malaysia Showcases Recovered 1MDB Artworks, From Picasso to Miró

Four artworks recovered from the 1MDB scandal—by Picasso, Miró, Balthus, and Maurice Utrillo—have gone on public display for the first time at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Putrajaya. The paintings were repatriated from New York after being traced through Sotheby’s and shipped back to Malaysia on April 14. They are part of a broader art trail linked to the massive financial fraud, with Malaysian officials framing the display as an act of restitution rather than an art event.

butter fine art fair los angeles frieze 2026

Butter, the Indianapolis-founded art fair known for returning 100 percent of sales proceeds to artists, is making its Los Angeles debut at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. Organized by the cultural development firm GangGang, the fair coincides with Frieze Week and features works by Black visual artists including Micah Johnson, Micaiah Carter, and April Bey. The event includes a robust programming schedule featuring a collaborative installation by Lauren Halsey and a screening commemorating the 50th anniversary of Ernie Barnes’s "The Sugar Shack."

art books surrealism

Artnet News published a list of must-read books on Surrealism, marking the movement's 100th anniversary since André Breton's 1924 Surrealist Manifesto. The article highlights key texts including Breton's own "Manifestoes of Surrealism" and his novel "Nadja," Patrick Lepetit's "The Esoteric Secrets of Surrealism" exploring occult influences, and Whitney Chadwick's "Farewell to the Muse" focusing on women Surrealists who were often marginalized as muses rather than artists.

judge denies motion to dismiss swizz beatz 1mdb case

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss music producer and art collector Kasseem Dean, known as Swizz Beatz, from a bankruptcy case tied to the 1MDB scandal. Dean and his two companies, Monza Studios and Swizz Beatz Productions, were named as defendants in a suit filed in October 2024 by joint liquidators Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla, seeking to recover $7.3 million allegedly transferred to Dean from entities controlled by Jho Low, the mastermind of the $7.65 billion 1MDB fraud. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled that the plaintiffs' claims are not time-barred, that they have standing, and that sufficient facts have been pleaded to proceed to discovery.

basquiat picasso works linked to global 1mdb scandal net 36 m in auction by us marshals

Four artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, and Diane Arbus, seized by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, sold for a combined $36 million in an online auction conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. The lots included Basquiat's *Self Portrait* (1982) for $8.3 million and *Red Man One* (1982) for $22 million, Picasso's *Tête de taureau et broc* (1939) for $5 million, and Arbus's *Child with a Toy Hand Grenade* for $500,150. The auction, held by Gaston and Sheehan in Texas, ran from July 16 to September 4.

salvador dali mustache origin

Salvador Dalí's iconic mustache, voted the Most Famous Mustache of All Time in a 2010 Telegraph survey, originated in the 1940s after he initially sported a more subdued "Menjou" style in the 1930s. The artist developed his flamboyant upturned mustache, first appearing in his painting *Soft Self-Portrait with Grilled Bacon* (1941), and maintained it with meticulous daily grooming using date-based wax. Dalí treated the mustache as a personal logo and creative symbol, even co-authoring a 1954 book with photographer Philippe Halsman titled *Dalí's Mustache*, featuring 28 surreal photographs.

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With ‘Sister Dreamer’ Park, Lauren Halsey Brings Her Heroes Home

Artist Lauren Halsey has unveiled a new installation titled 'Sister Dreamer' Park in South Central Los Angeles. The work features stone monuments that elevate familiar faces from the neighborhood, celebrating local heroes and community members. The installation is part of Halsey's ongoing practice of centering Black and brown communities in her art, using architecture and sculpture to create spaces of empowerment and memory.

Arles Drawing Festival: What Not to Miss at This Fourth Edition

Festival du dessin d’Arles : ce qu’il ne faut surtout pas rater pour cette quatrième édition

The fourth edition of the Arles Drawing Festival has opened, featuring over forty exhibitions across the city. The highlights include two major private drawing collections being publicly presented: Marin Karmitz's collection, displayed at the Sainte-Anne church under the title "Et la vie continue…", and the Collezione Ramo from Milan, showcased at the Museon Arlaten chapel as part of a focus on Italian art.

art amanda precourt cookie factory denver

Amanda Precourt, a 52-year-old philanthropist and real estate developer, has transformed a former fortune cookie factory in Denver's Baker neighborhood into a combined private residence and public art space called Cookie Factory. Over the past nine years, she has amassed a contemporary art collection at a rapid pace, designing her 8,000-square-foot home around specific works—such as Anselm Kiefer's monumental painting *Engel der Geschichte* (2017) and Jeffrey Gibson's beaded punching bag *Know Your Magic, Baby* (2016). The lower 5,700 square feet of the building serves as a free, self-funded public gallery, where Precourt, her partner Andrew Jensdotter, and artistic director Jérôme Sans invite artists to create site-specific works inspired by Colorado. The space opened last May with an exhibition by Sam Falls, and a second show featuring Gary Simmons runs through May 9.

Philadelphia Museum welcomes Rocky statue with new exhibition | Daily Sabah

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is opening a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," which explores the cultural and artistic significance of the Rocky Balboa statue that sits at the museum's steps. Guest curator Paul Farber organized the show, which spans over 2,000 years of boxing imagery and includes works by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol. The exhibition marks a shift in the museum's long-standing ambivalent relationship with the statue, which was originally placed on the steps during filming of the "Rocky" movies and later relocated before returning in 2006. After the exhibition closes in August, the statue will be permanently installed at the top of the museum's steps for the first time.

Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibit featuring Rocky Balboa statue gets underway

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," centered on the iconic bronze statue of fictional boxer Rocky Balboa that sits at the bottom of the museum's steps. Guest-curated by Paul Farber, the show explores the statue's transformation from a movie prop into a real-world symbol of perseverance and public devotion, tracing over 2,000 years of boxing imagery through works by artists such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol. The museum, which once fought to have the statue removed, now embraces it as part of Philadelphia's identity.

Museum of Art brings Rocky statue inside

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is opening a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments" that brings the iconic bronze statue of fictional boxer Rocky Balboa inside the museum for the first time. Guest curator Paul Farber organized the show, which spans over 2,000 years of boxing imagery and places the statue within art history and Philadelphia's identity. The museum, which had a historically rocky relationship with the statue—initially fighting to have it removed from its steps—has now embraced it, with plans to permanently install the statue at the top of the museum's steps after the exhibition closes in August.

History, Culture, and Place Ground LACMA’s Breathtaking New David Geffen Galleries

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a long, elevated concrete structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The building, more than 20 years in the making, replaces much of LACMA's mid-century campus with a single winding gallery that hovers above Wilshire Boulevard. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Sunday, followed by a two-week member preview, with the public opening scheduled for May 4. The project is the vision of longtime director Michael Govan, who sought to create a museum without hierarchy, placing objects from different geographies and time periods in dialogue. Artist Mariana Castillo Deball was commissioned to create a plaza installation that incorporates native animal tracks, Mesoamerican imagery, and the labor of migrant workers, reflecting themes of migration and cultural exchange.

Louise Trotter Introduces ‘Bottega Veneta for the Arts’ With Peter Fraser

Bottega Veneta's creative director Louise Trotter has launched 'Bottega Veneta for the Arts,' a new collaborative series aimed at connecting the fashion house with the art world. The inaugural project features British photographer Peter Fraser, who documented Trotter's debut collection in Italy's Veneto region, the brand's birthplace. This follows previous art collaborations with photographer Duane Michals and painter Poppy Jones.

Member Lecture: Christina Ramberg—A Retrospective

The Art Institute of Chicago is hosting a major retrospective of Christina Ramberg, a pivotal figure in the Chicago Imagist movement. Co-curated by Thea Liberty Nichols and Mark Pascale, the exhibition features approximately 100 works, representing nearly 80% of the artist's total career output. The lecture by Nichols highlights Ramberg’s multidisciplinary practice—spanning painting, quilting, and printmaking—and her deep engagement with an informal archive of ephemera and source material.

Duchamp and the Museum

The Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art have co-organized a major exhibition and catalogue exploring Marcel Duchamp’s complex relationship with art institutions. Despite his reputation as a skeptical iconoclast who famously claimed to avoid the Louvre, Duchamp spent decades actively reshaping how museums function through his "portable museum" projects, curatorial collaborations, and the strategic placement of his legacy within permanent collections.

LACMA announces April 19 opening for new galleries

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will open its new David Geffen Galleries building on April 19. Designed by architect Peter Zumthor, the 900-foot-long structure spans Wilshire Boulevard and will house the museum's permanent collection, featuring a non-hierarchical, single-level display of approximately 2,500-3,000 objects. The opening will be marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony and two weeks of priority access for members.

LACMA’s new galleries have an opening date(s). Here’s when you can visit.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has announced the opening schedule for its long-awaited David Geffen Galleries, a new single-building replacement for its eastern campus. A ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 19, 2026, will kick off two weeks of previews for members and donors, with general public access beginning on May 4. The building, designed by architect Peter Zumthor, will feature a mix of returning collection highlights, recent acquisitions, and new commissions.

Museum acquisitions round-up: a 17ft sculpture by Anselm Kiefer, a $1.7m dinosaur skull, and a 17th-century genre painting

Three major museums have announced significant new acquisitions for their permanent collections. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem received a monumental 2014 sculpture by Anselm Kiefer, titled *Die Erdzeitalter (Ages of the World)*, donated by collector Martin Z. Margulies. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., acquired a $1.7 million Pachycephalosaurus dinosaur skull, donated by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy. Meanwhile, the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem purchased an early 16th-century genre painting by Maarten van Heemskerck.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (12/15—12/21)

Wandering Between Worlds Exhibition at Pullen Arts Center

Pullen Arts Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, is presenting the group exhibition "Wandering Between Worlds" in its Main Gallery, featuring seven local artists: Alison Coleman, Ari Ferro, Jenn Hales, K. Orr Ambrose, Nancy Goodrich, Marcia Moran, and Min Zhong. The show explores landscapes both real and imagined, with a closing reception scheduled for October 25 and an artist talk on September 18. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and artwork is available for purchase through the center.