Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 28, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

The Photography Show fair in New York sets new attendance record

The Photography Show, presented by the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), returned to New York’s Park Avenue Armory for its second consecutive year from 23-27 April, featuring 64 exhibitors. The fair set a new attendance record with nearly 15,000 visitors, driven by strong foot traffic and a buzz around the iconic venue. Executive director Lydia Melamed Johnson noted the optimism surrounding the fair, which also highlighted Indigenous women photographers such as Jessica Eaton, Cara Romero, and Shelley Niro.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 18 link 2 artists

Manhattan D.A.’s Office Returns More Than 650 Looted Artifacts to India

On April 28, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 657 trafficked antiquities valued at nearly $14 million to India. The items were recovered by the D.A.'s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Homeland Security Investigations, and formally returned at a ceremony in New York. Among the repatriated pieces are a bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara (valued at $2 million), stolen from the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum in Raipur in 1982; a red sandstone Buddha statue (valued at $7.5 million) smuggled by convicted dealer Subhash Kapoor; and a sandstone Ganesha sculpture looted by trafficker Vaman Ghiya and sold through Christie's by Nancy Wiener, who was later convicted of antiquities trafficking.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 16 link 3 artists

U.S. Returns Hundreds of Looted Antiquities to Italy

U.S. officials formally returned 337 looted antiquities, archival materials, and artworks to Italy during a ceremony at Rome’s La Marmora barracks. The objects, spanning from the Villanovan era (900–700 B.C.E.) through the Hellenistic period (323–31 B.C.E.), include Etruscan, Greek, Italic, and Egyptian artifacts. The repatriation was coordinated by Italy’s Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. Key items include a marble head of Alexander the Great, a bronze sculpture from Herculaneum, and Egyptian basalt sculptures. Some 221 objects were recovered via the Manhattan DA, while the remaining 116 were secured with help from Christie’s.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 13 link 1 artist

united state returned 7 ancient artifacts egypt mummified fish falcon head 1234769242

The United States repatriated seven ancient artifacts to Egypt, including two mummified fish, a falcon head from the Ptolemaic period, a bronze amulet of Set, a basald scarab, a carved face, a painted wooden funerary figurine, and a stone head from a statue. The objects had been smuggled out of Egypt in separate cases between 2017 and 2018, and were returned through collaboration between U.S. and Egyptian government agencies. Two items were voluntarily handed over by an unnamed American citizen to the Egyptian embassy in Washington, D.C. The artifacts were formally transferred to Ambassador Wael el-Naggar at a ceremony reaffirming Egypt's commitment to recovering smuggled cultural property.

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article local schedule Dec 18, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

rome colosseum metro station archaeology 2731534

Rome's new Colosseo-Fori Imperiali metro station opened on Tuesday after 11 years of construction, featuring archaeological treasures uncovered during excavation, including ceramic fragments, statues, oil lamps, stone vessels, and 28 ancient wells. The station, part of Metro Line C, also revealed a nearly 260-foot early second-century military barracks and a home with frescoes and mosaics at the nearby Porta Metronia station. Mayor Roberto Gualtieri attended the opening ceremony, and the city plans to open a museum in the station.

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gavel restitution schedule Dec 10, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

san francisco asian art museum returns sculptures thailand 1234766049

Four ancient bronze sculptures illegally removed from Thailand in the 1960s have been repatriated from San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum to their original home in Thailand, following an investigation led by the US Department of Homeland Security. The works, which were featured in the museum’s 2024 exhibition “Moving Objects: Learning from Local and Global Communities,” were linked to convicted antiquities trafficker Douglas Latchford and had been acquired by the museum’s founding collector Avery Brundage. The Asian Art Commission unanimously approved the return after a two-stage voting process that began in September 2024 and concluded in April 2025.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 12 link 2 artists

thirty five arrested in bulgaria criminal art trafficking network 1234762594

Bulgarian authorities, with support from Europol, arrested 35 individuals and conducted 131 searches across Bulgaria, seizing over 3,000 cultural artifacts valued at more than €100 million. The operation targeted a criminal network trafficking artifacts from Thracian and Greco-Roman civilizations across Europe, with connections to illegal excavations in Bulgaria and the Balkans. The investigation, which began after a 2020 house raid that uncovered 7,000 artifacts, involved law enforcement from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the UK, and was coordinated from Sofia and Eurojust in The Hague.

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gavel restitution schedule Aug 28, 2025 visibility 12 link 2 artists

egyptian antiquities trafficker jfk airport prison sentence 1234750392

Egyptian doctor Ashraf Omar Eldarir has been sentenced to six months in prison by U.S. District Judge Rachel P. Kovner for smuggling hundreds of ancient Egyptian artifacts into the United States. Eldarir was arrested in 2019 after importing over 600 artifacts without declaring them on customs forms, including a polychrome relief, Roman limestone pieces, gold amulets, and wooden tomb model figures dating to 1900 BCE. The largest seizure of smuggled antiquities at JFK Airport occurred in January 2020, when customs officers found 590 artifacts wrapped in bubble wrap and foam, with loose sand and dirt indicating recent excavation. Eldarir pleaded guilty to four counts of smuggling and used fake provenances—including forged documents and photoshopped photographs—to sell artifacts at U.S. auction houses.

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gavel restitution schedule Jun 10, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

looted antiquities sold facebook marketplace palmyra syria 1234744748

Thieves in Syria are looting ancient artifacts from archaeological sites like Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage city dating back to the 3rd century BCE, and selling them on Facebook Marketplace. The looting has surged since the overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad in December, with traffickers listing funerary gold, statues, and mosaics alongside ordinary secondhand goods. The Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project reports that nearly one-third of its 1,500 Syrian cases occurred in December alone, and sales are happening faster than ever—mosaics that once took a year to sell now move in two weeks.

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article policy schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 14 link 1 artist

eu import regulations 2653480

The European Union's Regulation 2019/880, aimed at combating illicit trafficking and terrorism, will take effect on June 28, imposing stricter import controls on antiquities and artworks over 200 years old and valued above €18,000 ($19,500). The regulation requires importers to provide evidence that an object was lawfully exported from its country of origin, even for items exported decades ago when such documentation was not required. This reverses the presumption of innocence, placing the burden of proof on importers. Dealers and experts express concern that the rules are not based on market realities, as importers must be registered within the E.U., forcing non-E.U. dealers to rely on third-party agents or shippers. The regulation also poses challenges for ancient objects, where borders and export controls may be historically ambiguous.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 9 link 1 artist

manhattan da office repatriates artifacts peru 1234742639

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned eight artifacts to Peru during a ceremony at the Peruvian consulate in New York on May 15. The repatriated items include funerary objects illegally taken from tombs in northern Peru during the 1960s and ’70s, a copper mask believed to represent the Moche deity Ai Apaec (circa 300 BCE) from the looted Loma Negra site, and a ceramic portrait vessel from the Chavín culture (1000–700 BCE). This is the second time New York officials have returned a group of works to Peru.

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gavel restitution schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 22 link 2 artists

US Returns 337 Looted Objects to Italy in Repatriation Effort

The United States officially returned 337 looted antiquities to Italy at a ceremony held at La Marmora barracks in Rome. Of these, 221 objects were repatriated through the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, while the remaining 116 were recovered on April 10, 2026, via joint efforts by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the District Attorney’s Office, and Christie’s New York auction house. The objects span from the Villanovan era (900–700 BCE) to the Hellenistic period (323–31 BCE) and include a 1st-century CE marble head of Alexander the Great, a bronze sculpture from Herculaneum, and two Egyptian basalt sculptures.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

article local schedule Apr 9, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists, 2 galleries

Satellite Galleries with Gravitas

The Gallery at Hotel Willa and the Encore Gallery at the Taos Center for the Arts have emerged as vital "satellite" exhibition spaces in Taos, New Mexico. Managed by the nonprofit Paseo Project under Executive Director Matt Thomas, the Gallery at Hotel Willa has transformed 2,000 square feet of hospitality space into a hub for local talent, featuring high-profile fashion installations by Josh Tafoya and upcoming ecological exhibitions like "Disturbance." Meanwhile, the Encore Gallery leverages the high foot traffic of the Taos Center for the Arts to provide local artists with significant community exposure alongside film and theatrical programming.

newspaper The Taos News open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Mar 2, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 11 link 1 artist

Philadelphia Museum of Art to experiment with pay-what-you-wish tickets on Friday nights

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is reinstating a pay-what-you-wish admission policy for Friday nights from April 2026 through Labor Day. This initiative, funded by the William Penn Foundation and board chair Ellen Caplan, coincides with the museum's 150th anniversary and the launch of "Nation of Artists," a massive collaborative exhibition with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts featuring over 1,000 works.

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article local schedule Apr 21, 2026 visibility 12 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

Solvang Fine Art opens in heart of tourist district

A new gallery called Solvang Fine Art has opened at 482 First Street in Solvang, California, specializing in historic fine prints by American and European artists like Rembrandt and Salvador Dalí. It will also feature contemporary landscape paintings by prominent California artists, particularly those from the Central Coast.

newspaper Santa Ynez Valley Star open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 17, 2026 visibility 19 link 11 artists, 1 gallery

Minor Keys, Major Shifts: Sierra Leone’s Resonant Debut in Venice.

Sierra Leone has made its inaugural appearance at the 61st Venice Biennale with a pavilion titled 'Worlds of Today' located at the Liceo Guggenheim. Curated with a focus on "minor keys" rather than grand spectacles, the exhibition features Sierra Leonean artists Hawa-Jane Bangura, Ayesha Feisal, Hickmatu Bintu Leigh, and Abu Bakarr Mansaray alongside practitioners from other ECOWAS nations. The pavilion functions as a sensorial, porous space that prioritizes communal resilience and spiritual epistemologies over the commodification of identity.

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article local schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 9 link 3 artists, 2 galleries

Brea Gallery is made for enjoying art

The Brea Gallery in Brea, California, is currently hosting its 41st annual "Made in California" exhibition, featuring nearly 100 artists from across the state. The juried show, which runs through June 28, 2026, includes works in multiple media created within the last three years, with submissions reaching 5,000 this year. The gallery, a 6,500-square-foot space opened in 1980, focuses on contemporary art by living artists and mounts four exhibitions annually. Upcoming shows include "America 350" (opening July 31) and "What Fearful Shadows" (opening October 10), which reimagines early American horror themes.

newspaper Orange County Register open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 17 link 6 artists

Longtime art and studio complex in downtown Wilmington is for sale

Acme Art Studios, a longtime visual arts institution in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, has been listed for sale at $4.4 million. The one-acre complex at 711 N. Fifth Ave. includes a 12,000-square-foot warehouse with studio and gallery space, plus four vacant lots. Founded in 1991 by a collective of artists in a former carpet warehouse, Acme has become a vital hub for the local arts scene, renting to dozens of artists and hosting countless shows over more than three decades. The property is owned by five artists, including co-founder Pam Toll, who said the decision to sell was unanimous and that the timing is right for a number of reasons.

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article news schedule Apr 11, 2026 visibility 16 link 2 artists, 2 galleries

‘Southeast Exchange’: New La Jolla mural showcases findings at Texas discount store

Artist Lizzie Zelter has installed a new large-scale mural titled "Southeast Exchange" in La Jolla, California, as part of the Murals of La Jolla public art initiative. The composition is based on the artist's observations of a discount store in Brownsville, Texas, featuring a dense array of consumer goods and reflective surfaces that explore themes of domestic arrangement and cultural artifacts. The work is designed to be read from right to left, mimicking the flow of pedestrian traffic and challenging traditional visual perspectives.

newspaper San Diego Union-Tribune open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Nov 3, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

Netherlands will return stolen ancient statue—featured at Tefaf art fair in 2022—to Egypt

The Netherlands will return a 3,500-year-old stolen Ancient Egyptian statue to Egypt after it was spotted at the Tefaf Maastricht art fair in 2022 by an eagle-eyed visitor. The stone statue, believed to depict a high official from the dynasty of Pharaoh Thutmose III, was flagged via an anonymous tip, leading the dealer to voluntarily surrender it. An investigation by Dutch police and the Information and Heritage Inspectorate confirmed it was likely plundered unlawfully and illegally exported. The statue will be handed to the Egyptian ambassador in The Hague later this year, in line with the 1970 Unesco convention against trafficking cultural property.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 4, 2026 visibility 23 link 2 artists

VISION brings 15 global artists to Siam Paragon’s new Art Jewel space

A new exhibition titled VISION has opened at the recently launched Art Jewel gallery space within Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall. The show features works by fifteen artists from around the world, including notable figures like Japanese artist Kohei Nawa and Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak, presenting a diverse range of contemporary art in a high-traffic commercial setting.

newspaper Nation Thailand open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 10, 2026 visibility 21 link 5 artists

New public art biennial to take over Dallas’s urban greenbelt park

Dallas is set to launch the KTX Biennial in spring 2027, marking Texas’s first biennial dedicated exclusively to public art. Curated by Jovanna Venegas of New York’s SculptureCenter, the exhibition will feature nearly a dozen contemporary works installed along the Katy Trail, a popular 3.5-mile urban greenbelt. The inaugural edition is themed around a science-fiction story by Ursula K. Le Guin, focusing on the interconnectedness between humans and their environment.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 28, 2025 visibility 18 link 8 artists

Concrete cars for coral reefs: Miami's underwater eco-sculpture park takes shape

The first phase of the Reefline project, an underwater sculpture park off the coast of Miami Beach, has been installed with 22 submerged concrete cars created by Argentine artist Leandro Erlich. The sculptures, titled "Concrete Coral" (2025), sit 20 feet below the surface and are designed to support coral regeneration and marine biodiversity. The project was developed by cultural placemaker Ximena Caminos with a masterplan by architect Shohei Shigematsu of OMA, and will expand over ten years to reach seven miles in length. Visitors can access the site via swimming, diving, or electric paddleboards, and a floating marine learning center is anchored nearby during Miami Art Week.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule May 4, 2026 visibility 17 link 1 artist

Les États-Unis restituent près de 300 biens culturels à l’Italie

Italy presented 337 cultural artifacts repatriated from the United States at the Caserma "La Marmora" in Rome, following operations between December 2025 and April 2026. The objects span from the 5th century BCE to the 3rd century CE, including Roman sculptures, bronze works, pottery, jewelry, coins, and architectural fragments. Among the notable pieces is a marble head attributed to Alexander the Great, stolen from a Roman museum in 1960, and a bronze sculpture looted from Herculaneum. The recovery involved the Manhattan District Attorney's office, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and Christie's New York, with 221 items seized through the DA's collaboration and 116 returned in April.

newspaper Le Journal des Arts open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 15 link 1 artist

337 œuvres et objets volés récupérés : la vaste opération italienne de lutte contre le trafic de biens culturels aux États-Unis

On April 29, Italy's carabinieri dedicated to cultural heritage protection announced the recovery of 337 looted or stolen artworks and objects repatriated from the United States between December 2025 and April 2026. The haul includes archaeological artifacts, archival documents, and other artworks, such as a marble head of Alexander the Great from the 1st century AD, a bronze sculpture stolen from Herculaneum, and two Egyptian basalt sculptures. The objects were dispersed through international markets using forged provenance documents, and their return involved U.S. agencies including the FBI.

newspaper Beaux Arts Magazine open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Apr 23, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

design walter hood lincoln center plaza park

Walter Hood, an award-winning landscape designer known for transforming overlooked urban spaces into vibrant gathering areas, has been selected for his most high-profile project yet: the new $335 million park at Lincoln Center Plaza in Manhattan. In a brief interview for Cultured's 2026 CULT100 honorees, Hood discusses misconceptions about his personality, his inspirations, and the challenges he faces as a creative professional.

newspaper Cultured open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 23 link 8 artists, 2 galleries

First Fridays celebrates art spaces

Every first Friday of the month, around 20 galleries and art spaces in Ithaca, New York, open their doors for free evening exhibitions from 5 to 8 p.m. as part of the First Fridays tradition, also known as Ithaca Gallery Nights. The event, now facilitated by artist and curator Michael Sampson since 2023, features both traditional venues like State of the Art Gallery and non-traditional spaces such as Greenstar Co-op and St. Luke Lutheran Church, aiming to expand participation and include newer artists. Featured shows include "Black and White and …" by Ileen Kaplan and David Watkins at SOAG, and "Geometric Abstraction" by Mauro Marinelli, Michael George, and Laura Dale George at The Gallery at South Hill.

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article local schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 11 link 1 artist, 3 galleries

AMP art walk: making art more accessible

Western Washington University's Arts & Music Productions (AMP) launched a monthly art walk on the first Friday of October, continuing the tradition each month after the closure of the Viking Union Gallery. The event, conceived by AMP supervisor Casey Hayden, aims to introduce students to Bellingham's art scene in a guided, social setting. Skylar Cooney, AMP's visual arts coordinator, leads tours to smaller venues like Bay Street Studios, and the walks have drawn a diverse academic crowd. Participating galleries, such as Voxel Gallery, report increased foot traffic and community engagement, while local artists and professors like Garth Amundson emphasize the importance of free, accessible events for fostering inclusion.

newspaper thefrontonline.com open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 25, 2025 visibility 12 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

Dubai's DIFC transforms into open-air art gallery with over 50 sculptures

Dubai's Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has been transformed into an open-air sculpture park featuring over 50 artworks placed across walkways, plazas, and open spaces. The exhibition, titled 'Enduring Forms,' includes notable pieces such as Jerzy Kędziora's 'Pearl’s Guardian,' Elena Rede's 'We The Future,' and works by Unus Safardiar, Anna Chekh, Mert Ege Kose, and Ayla Turan. The sculptures are integrated into the daily environment of offices, cafes, and restaurants, creating a seamless blend of art and urban life. The park is free to visit and will remain on display until May 2026.

newspaper Khaleej Times open_in_new Read original

article local schedule Jun 12, 2025 visibility 12 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

Art for All: Camas galleries showcase art show openings, artist talks, fundraisers in June

Downtown Camas, Washington, galleries hosted multiple art show openings and receptions during the Downtown Camas Association's First Friday event in June 2025. Highlights include Gallery 408's one-year anniversary fundraiser for Cascade AIDS Project, featuring donated works by artists including Chuck Bloom, Joanne Cavallaro, Kim Nickens, and Michelle Purvis; the Attic Gallery's reopening with a show by Pacific Northwest artist Michael Ferguson; and the Second Story Gallery's 'Storyteller Quilters' exhibition of narrative art quilts by artists such as Gerrie Thompson, CarolAnne Olson, and Judith Phelps. The RedDoor Gallery also featured paintings by Oleg Ulitskiy.

newspaper Camas-Washougal Post-Record open_in_new Read original