55 years. Berggruen Gallery

Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco announces its 55th Anniversary Exhibition, a group show running from June 26 to August 14, 2025. The exhibition features paintings, works on paper, sculpture, film, and archival ephemera from the SFMOMA Library and SFAI archive, showcasing museum-quality works by contemporary and historical artists. Many pieces are on loan from private collections and rarely exhibited publicly. The gallery, founded by John Berggruen in 1970 on Grant Avenue, quickly became a nationally recognized force in shaping the West Coast art scene, bridging New York and international artists with local collectors.

SF's art scene is back— 9 summer shows you shouldn’t miss

San Francisco's art scene is showing signs of recovery after a difficult period marked by the pandemic, federal arts grant cuts, and museum closures. June brought positive developments: the Headlands Center for the Arts raised record funds at its annual auction, the shuttered San Francisco Art Institute plans to reopen as an artist studio, and local criticism magazine SquareCylinder is returning. The article highlights nine summer exhibitions across the Bay Area, including shows by Ruby Neri, William T. Wiley, Hank Willis Thomas, Charlie Tweddle, and Shepard Fairey, ranging from public art installations to gallery retrospectives.

The Met’s Costume Institute Needs an Art History Lesson

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition, "Costume Art," pairs fashion with artworks from the Met's collection, including ancient Greek statues and Andy Warhol screenprints, alongside garments by designers from Charles James to CFGNY. Curator Andrew Bolton aims to suggest that fashion can expand understanding of art, but the show's juxtapositions often feel vague and sloppy, with only occasional resonant pairings like a Jean Paul Gaultier shirt and Joe Brainard drawing linked by queer artist lineage.

An Inside Look at Realizing Koyo Kouoh’s Venice Biennale Exhibition and More: Morning Links for April 29, 2026

The article reports on the 2026 Venice Biennale proceeding without its curator Koyo Kouoh, who died last May from liver cancer. Her husband Philippe Mall and son Djibril Schmed agreed with Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco to continue the exhibition, which opens to the public on May 9. Elsewhere, a Chicago judge sentenced Robert Dunlap to 23 years for a cryptocurrency scam claiming to be backed by artworks by Picasso, Dalí, and van Gogh. A Renoir painting once owned by the Duchess of Alba is returning to Spain, and a robot docent named R1 debuted at Palazzo Madama in Turin.

$60 M. Lichtenstein Comes to the Block at Christie’s, Potentially Joining His Priciest Works at Auction

Christie’s will offer Roy Lichtenstein’s 1964 painting *Anxious Girl* from the collection of legendary New York collector-dealer Holly Solomon and her husband Horace, with an estimate of $40–60 million. If it reaches its high estimate, it will become the artist’s second-priciest work at auction, trailing only *Nurse* (1964), which sold for $95.4 million in 2015. The work leads Christie’s 20th-century evening sale on May 18, amid a flurry of high-value consignments as both Christie’s and Sotheby’s aim to sustain momentum after posting improved 2025 results.

Spain’s Culture Minister Rejects Guernica Transfer, but Basque Leaders Refuse to Take No for an Answer

Spain’s Culture Minister, Ernest Urtasun, has officially rejected a request from the Basque regional government to temporarily transfer Pablo Picasso’s iconic painting, Guernica, to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Citing conservation reports from the Museo Reina Sofía, Urtasun argued that the 1937 masterpiece is too fragile to travel and that his primary duty is to preserve the work for future generations. Basque leaders, led by Lehendakari Imanol Pradales and Senator Igotz López, have challenged this decision, calling for an independent feasibility study and appealing directly to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Christine Ruiz-Picasso, Founder of Museo Picasso Málaga and Artist’s Daughter-in-Law, Dies at 97

Christine Ruiz-Picasso, the daughter-in-law of Pablo Picasso and a pivotal figure in preserving his artistic legacy, has passed away at the age of 97 in Provence, France. Married to Picasso’s eldest son, Paul, she became a primary advocate for the artist's work following her husband's death in 1975. Her most significant achievement was the 2003 founding of the Museo Picasso Málaga, realized through her donation of over 200 artworks and her persistent collaboration with the Andalusian government.

Raphael Met Museum Retrospective Review

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched "Raphael: Sublime Poetry," the first major retrospective of the Renaissance master ever staged in the United States. Curated by Carmen C. Bambach, the exhibition features 237 works, including rare loans of drawings and monumental tapestries that have not left Madrid since the 16th century. While some of his most famous paintings remain in Europe, the show provides an exhaustive look at the artist's development from a teenage prodigy to a papal favorite.

Rosalía Apologizes for Picasso Comments on TikTok

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Spanish pop star Rosalía issued a public apology on TikTok after facing backlash for comments regarding Pablo Picasso. During a podcast interview with writer Mariana Enriquez, the singer initially stated she did not care to differentiate Picasso’s art from his personal life; however, she later retracted those statements, admitting she was unaware of the artist's well-documented history of physical and emotional abuse toward women.

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Digital artist Beeple is bringing his viral robotic installation, "Regular Animals (2025)," to the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin this April. The work features a pack of AI-powered robotic dogs with heads modeled after tech moguls like Elon Musk and art icons like Pablo Picasso, which roam a pen, capture images of the audience, and "eject" AI-filtered prints from their rears. The presentation will coincide with Gallery Weekend Berlin and include a dialogue with Nam June Paik’s "Andy Warhol Robot (1994)."

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Billionaire retail magnate and prominent art collector Les Wexner provided a closed-door deposition to the House Oversight Committee regarding his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. During the testimony, Wexner characterized himself as "naive, foolish, and gullible" for trusting the disgraced financier, whom he labeled a con man. While Wexner denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities, Democratic lawmakers noted that the 88-year-old offered few new details and frequently cited a lack of memory regarding key events.

New Museum MUZEU to Open in Braga, Portugal with José Teixeira Collection

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The city of Braga, Portugal, is set to welcome a new contemporary art institution, MUZEU—Thought & Contemporary Art dst, scheduled to open on April 25. Founded by José Teixeira, chairman of the engineering firm dstgroup, the museum will house a permanent collection of 1,500 works featuring international heavyweights like Pablo Picasso, Anselm Kiefer, and Nan Goldin alongside prominent Portuguese artists such as Paula Rego and Julião Sarmento.

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Sotheby’s has announced the sale of the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection, a two-part auction series scheduled for April and May 2024 with a total estimate of $67 million to $99 million. The offering begins with a dedicated design sale featuring a historic ensemble of 15 Claude Lalanne mirrors commissioned for Yves Saint Laurent, followed by a selection of blue-chip modern and contemporary artworks.

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Brazilian authorities are targeting the art collection and luxury assets of Daniel Vorcaro, the CEO of the recently liquidated Banco Master SA, as part of a massive fraud investigation. Following the bank's collapse due to insolvency and regulatory violations, liquidators filed subpoenas in a Miami federal court to probe Vorcaro’s dealings with blue-chip galleries and auction houses. Officials believe the financier may have funneled bank funds into high-value artworks and real estate to shield his wealth.

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The Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid is seeking an investigation after security officers removed three visitors displaying Stars of David and an Israeli flag from the museum. Video of the incident, published by a conservative Spanish outlet, went viral, showing officers stating other visitors were "bothered" by the symbols. The museum has stated it is investigating the actions of its security team.

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A wave of paintings by women depicting women dominated New York galleries this fall, sparking a critical examination of contemporary feminist figuration. Artists like Emily Coan and Anna Weyant create images of idealized, often sexualized femininity, framing their work as a reclamation of beauty and personal expression.

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Thaddaeus Ropac is opening a new project space in New York and has hired Emilio Steinberger as a senior director. Hauser & Wirth now represents artist Conny Maier in collaboration with Société in Berlin. Zippora Elders Tahalele has been appointed director of the Nederlands Fotomuseum. The Tulsa Artist Fellowship announced its 2026–28 cohort of ten artists and arts workers. The ADAA appointed four new board members: Elizabeth Feld, Bridget Moore, Yancey Richardson, and Melissa Timarchi. Sotheby's second sale in Saudi Arabia, 'Origins II,' totaled $19.6 million, with a record $2.1 million for Safeya Binzagr's work. The article also covers Art Basel Qatar's first edition, with comments from Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and artistic director Wael Shawky.

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Tony Shafrazi, the legendary and controversial New York art dealer, is returning to the art fair circuit for the first time since 2012 with a booth at the Independent 20th Century fair in New York. He is presenting works by Armenian sculptor Zadik Zadikian, whose installation of gold bricks Shafrazi first exhibited in Tehran in 1978 before they were lost in the Iranian Revolution, alongside paintings by Brandon Deener. Shafrazi, now in his 80s, closed his New York gallery in 2011 and was banned from Art Basel in 2012 for breaking the fair's rules.

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A recently released set of files related to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein has implied that his ties to collector Leslie Wexner, the former Victoria's Secret CEO, ran deeper than previously thought. An FBI email released by the Department of Justice referred to potential “co-conspirators” who worked with Epstein, and while heavily redacted, the message clearly references Wexner, the namesake collector behind the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. Wexner's spokesperson denied the implication, stating that he was “neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect” in the inquiry.

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Gustav Klimt's 'Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer' (1914–16) sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby's New York on November 18, 2025, after 20 minutes of bidding. The painting, which started at $130 million, was won by a phone bidder represented by Sotheby's specialist Julian Dawes, with the hammer price at $205 million. The work was the highlight of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection sale, a 55-work trove valued at over $400 million, and proceeds will go to the Lauder trust. The portrait had been restituted after Nazi-era confiscation and was acquired by Lauder in the mid-1980s.

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The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., is proceeding with plans to auction major works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, and Georges Seurat at Sotheby's on November 20, despite sharp backlash from former curators, members of the Phillips family, and the museum's non-governing members body. The works—including O'Keeffe's *Large Dark Red Leaves on White* (estimate $6–8 million), Seurat's conté crayon drawing ($3–5 million), and Dove's *Rose and Locust Stump* ($1.2–1.8 million)—are considered central to founder Duncan Phillips's vision. Director and CEO Jonathan Binstock argues the proceeds will fund a permanently restricted endowment for commissioning new work by living artists, acquisitions, and collection care, aligning with Duncan Phillips's belief in supporting contemporary practitioners.

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Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana announced that its exhibition “From the Heart to the Hands” will travel to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, opening February 6, 2026, and running through June 14. Curated by fashion historian Florence Müller, the show features over 300 pieces from the brand’s archival and recent collections, including its Alta Moda, Alta Sartoria, and Alta Gioielleria lines, displayed in immersive rooms inspired by art, architecture, folklore, and the dolce vita. The exhibition also includes collaborations with visual artists such as Quayola, Alberto Maria Colombo, Obvious, Vittorio Bonapace, and Felice Limosani.

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German police have dismantled an international forgery ring attempting to sell fake artworks attributed to masters including Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, and Frida Kahlo. The suspected ringleader, a 77-year-old German man from Bavaria, was arrested after trying to sell two counterfeit Picasso paintings, one a portrait of Dora Maar. Investigators, who code-named the operation “Dora Maar,” conducted raids across Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, seizing 19 fake works with asking prices ranging from $460,000 to $16 million. A 74-year-old accomplice is accused of producing forged expert reports to authenticate the fakes.

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The ARTnews article reports on several major art market moves as of October 22, 2025. Highlights include Nahmad Contemporary offering a $50 million Picasso at Art Basel Paris, likely the 1941 work 'Femme au corsage bleu (Dora Maar)'; Gagosian Gallery now representing the estate of Richard Diebenkorn with a November exhibition; Alison Jacques Gallery joining Tina Kim and Silverlens to represent the Pacita Abad Estate; Gladstone Gallery taking on Celia Paul in New York; and Freeman's | Hindman expanding its trusts and estates team across the US. The piece also notes Rodder's inaugural show for Wyatt Kahn and Kaufmann Repetto adding Bice Lazzari to its roster.

heirs of jewish collector urge appeals court to reconsider claim to van goghs sunflowers 1234752961

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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The estate of Elaine Wynn, the late casino magnate and top art collector who died in April 2024, has announced plans for her renowned collection. Francis Bacon's triptych *Three Studies of Lucian Freud* (1969)—which Wynn purchased for a record $142.2 million at Christie's in 2013—will be donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), where she served as board cochair. The painting, the first Bacon to enter LACMA's collection, will debut in the museum's new David Geffen Galleries when they open next year. Separately, Christie's will auction 20 works from Wynn's collection across three sales in New York this November, with estimates totaling at least $75 million. Highlights include Richard Diebenkorn's *Ocean Park #40* (1971), Lucian Freud's *The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer* (2004–05), Joan Mitchell's *Sunflower V* (1969), and J.M.W. Turner's *Ehrenbreitstein* (1835).

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Sotheby's has announced the headline lots for the upcoming sale of British socialite and arts patron Pauline Karpidas's collection, set to take place September 17–19 in London. The 250-item auction, described as the 'greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history,' is led by René Magritte's oil painting *La Statue volante* (1940-41), estimated at £9–12 million ($12–16 million). Other highlights include ten more Magritte works, four Andy Warhol pieces from his 'Art from Art' series, and works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Leonora Carrington, along with furniture and design objects.

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Tate director Maria Balshaw has defended the museum network's programming against criticism linking it to declining attendance, arguing in the Guardian that visitor numbers have returned to 95% of pre-pandemic levels when compared to annual pre-Covid figures rather than the record year of 2019. She cited popular shows for Pablo Picasso, J. M. W. Turner, and Tracey Emin as a strong foundation for future growth, though critics like Catherine Bliss countered that apart from the Lynette Yiadom-Boakye portrait show and El Anatsui's Turbine Hall installation, recent contemporary exhibitions have failed to excite. Separately, the article reports a wave of closures and cutbacks sweeping China's private art museums, including the shutdown of Shenzhen's Jupiter Museum of Art and Qingdao's TAG Art Museum, with the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art also facing financial difficulties.

sothebys london to sell greatest collection of surrealism to emerge in recent history in september 1234744885

Sotheby's London will auction the collection of British socialite, collector, and arts patron Pauline Karpidas on September 17 and 18. Described as the 'greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history,' it includes masterpieces by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Leonora Carrington, and Max Ernst, along with works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and others. The sale is expected to fetch £60 million ($81 million), the highest estimate ever placed on a single collection at Sotheby's in Europe. Karpidas, who began collecting 50 years ago after meeting gallerist Alexander Iolas, views herself as a 'temporary custodian' for the artworks.

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Sotheby's London contemporary evening sale on Tuesday brought in nearly £62.5 million ($84 million), within its pre-sale estimate of £55 million to £74 million. The 48-lot sale achieved an 83% sell-through rate, with five works selling for over £5 million each, led by Tamara de Lempicka's 'La Belle Rafaëla' (1927) at £7.4 million and Pablo Picasso's 'Nu assis dans un fauteuil' (1964–65). The auction saw strong bidding for a Basquiat work on paper, 'Untitled (Indian Head)', which sold for £5.4 million, and a standout result for Yu Nishimura's 'through the snow' (2023), which tripled its high estimate at £230,000.