Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 7, 2026 visibility 16 link 5 artists, 1 gallery

ludovic nkoth flag art foundation

Ludovic Nkoth is the latest artist featured in the FLAG Art Foundation’s “Spotlight” series, which showcases a single, previously unexhibited work paired with a commissioned text. The featured painting, "Stars under the border" (2026), depicts figures in a quiet, mundane moment of rest or labor, exploring the tension between aspiration and systemic limitation. Nkoth’s practice, rooted in his Cameroonian heritage and New York base, utilizes nuanced brushwork and color to investigate the psychological complexities of the Black diasporic experience.

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article policy schedule Feb 20, 2026 visibility 11 link 3 artists

south africa officially cancels venice biennale pavilion

South Africa has officially withdrawn from the 2024 Venice Biennale following a legal battle over the cancellation of its national pavilion. The controversy began when Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie pulled the plug on artist Gabrielle Goliath’s planned exhibition, which referenced the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo challenged the decision in court, alleging censorship and a violation of freedom of expression, but a South African judge recently dismissed their case without providing a specific reasoning.

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article news schedule Feb 18, 2026 visibility 12 link 2 artists

saudi arabia commission mural domingo zapata

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.

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article news schedule Jan 22, 2026 visibility 13 link 5 artists

south africa venice biennale court

South Africa's culture minister Gayton McKenzie canceled artist Gabrielle Goliath's selected presentation for the country's national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, prompting Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo to file a constitutional court challenge on January 22. The artist's work, *Elegy*, commemorates victims of injustice including women, queer people, and victims of the Herero and Nama genocide, and was to address deaths of Gazan women and children since October 2023. McKenzie described the work as "highly divisive" and canceled the exhibition on January 2, despite an independent committee's binding selection. The minister now plans to replace it with a project by the collective Beyond the Frames titled "Shameless Rebellions: a South African Chorus."

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article policy schedule Jan 21, 2026 visibility 15 link 4 artists

gabrielle goliath legal action south africa venice pavilion

Artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo are filing a court case against South African culture minister Gayton McKenzie after he canceled their planned pavilion for the Venice Biennale. McKenzie objected to a performance from Goliath's "Elegy" series that would address Israel’s war in Gaza, calling it "polarizing," a move Goliath described as censorship. McKenzie later attributed the cancellation to alleged interference by an unnamed foreign nation, with reports suggesting Qatar was involved, though the Qatar Museums ultimately did not purchase the work. The application, to be filed in the South African high court in Pretoria, seeks to have McKenzie's actions declared unconstitutional.

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article news schedule Jan 16, 2026 visibility 19 link 3 artists

qatar museums gabrielle goliath venice biennale pavilion

Gabrielle Goliath's planned South African pavilion at the Venice Biennale was abruptly canceled by South African culture minister Gayton McKenzie. McKenzie claimed the cancellation was not due to the pavilion's focus on Israel's war in Gaza, but because a foreign nation attempted to purchase the work after the show. The Daily Maverick reported that the foreign entity was actually Qatar Museums, which had expressed interest in acquiring a video recording of Goliath's performance piece 'Elegy,' which addressed violence against women and queer people in South Africa and a genocide in Namibia. McKenzie's statement contradicted earlier reports that he had privately called the pavilion 'polarizing.'

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 26, 2025 visibility 13 link 5 artists

fondazione dries van noten venice

Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten and his partner, chef Patrick Vangheluwe, have acquired the historic 15th-century Palazzo Pisani Moretta on Venice’s Grand Canal to establish the Fondazione Dries Van Noten. The nonprofit foundation, set to open in April 2026 just before the 61st Venice Biennale, will host exhibitions, residencies, and events dedicated to the art of craftsmanship, blending traditional techniques with modern forms like AI and 3D printing. The 43,000-square-foot palazzo, known for its Carnival masquerade balls and film appearances, contains artworks by Tiepolo and was sold only to a buyer with a strong stewardship plan.

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article news schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

lewis carroll rare alice in wonderland oxford

Lewis Carroll's personal copy of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' from the original 1865 run has been acquired by Oxford's Christ Church college and the Bodleian Libraries. The rare volume, donated by American philanthropist and bibliophile Ellen Michelson, contains the author's handwritten notes, sketched plans for a future nursery edition, and 10 original pencil sketches by John Tenniel used for the wood engravings. The book had never before been exhibited in the United Kingdom.

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article local schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 15 link 5 artists

elizabeth street garden mamdani reconsider demolition

For 12 years, a one-acre community garden in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood, Elizabeth Street Garden, has been locked in a battle with New York City officials over plans to build affordable housing on the site. The city, under former Mayor Eric Adams, had scheduled an eviction for March 2024 to make way for Haven Garden, a 123-unit senior housing development. After a last-minute impasse, the Adams administration abandoned those plans in June, instead rezoning three nearby sites. However, newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on closing the garden for housing, has revived uncertainty. Just before Mamdani took office, the Adams administration permanently dedicated the land as public parkland, requiring state legislative approval for any future development.

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article local schedule Nov 17, 2025 visibility 13 link 4 artists

elizabeth street garden eric adams zohran mamdani

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has permanently designated the Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood as public parkland, blocking plans for affordable housing on the site. The move comes just weeks before Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes office, who had campaigned on building affordable housing for older adults on the lot. The garden, a one-acre green space managed by executive director Joseph Reiver since 1991, had previously faced eviction under Adams before he abandoned the housing project in June. Mamdani now needs state legislature approval to pursue any development on the land.

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article local schedule Nov 5, 2025 visibility 12 link 2 artists

vaillancourt fountain will be dismantled san francisco

The San Francisco Arts Commission board of directors voted eight to five on November 3 to dismantle the controversial Vaillancourt Fountain, a brutalist concrete sculpture by Armand Vaillancourt at Embarcadero Plaza. The city's recreation and parks department plans to spend $4.4 million on a disassembly consultant to take apart the fountain and store its pieces for three years, citing disrepair and safety hazards including corrosion, asbestos, and lead hazards. Critics, including the Cultural Landscape Foundation, dispute these claims, arguing the city deliberately neglected maintenance to justify removal.

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article policy schedule Oct 29, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

trump fires commission of fine arts members

All six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that reviews major construction projects in Washington, D.C., including President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch and a new White House ballroom, have been fired. The commissioners, appointed under former President Joe Biden to four-year terms, received termination emails on October 28, with several expected to serve through 2028. The move follows a pattern of political turnover at the agency, as Biden had previously fired Trump appointees in 2021. Architect Bruce Becker, one of the fired commissioners, noted the commission’s role in shaping the nation’s capital and reviewing plans for the new structure replacing the historic East Wing.

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article news schedule Oct 15, 2025 visibility 14 link 1 artist

san francisco may destroy vaillancourt fountain in redevelopment plan

San Francisco is considering destroying the Brutalist Vaillancourt Fountain by Armand Vaillancourt as part of a redevelopment plan for Embarcadero Plaza. City officials, including Recreation and Park Commission general manager Phil Ginsburg, have discussed the redevelopment for over a decade, and the San Francisco Arts Commission is preparing to vote on deaccessioning the fountain. The fountain, completed in 1971, has been fenced off since June 2024 due to safety concerns and has not had running water since then, with repairs estimated at $28.9 million.

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article policy schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 10 link 2 artists

bernard arnault wealth tax france backlash

Bernard Arnault, the billionaire art collector and LVMH chairman, harshly criticized a proposed French tax on the ultra-wealthy, calling it "offensive" and "deadly for our economy." The plan, devised by economist Gabriel Zucman, would impose a 2% tax on the wealth of the richest individuals, projected to raise 20 billion euros ($27 billion). Arnault, worth $156 billion according to Forbes, insulted Zucman as a "far-left activist" with "pseudo-academic competence," prompting a rebuttal from Zucman and support from economist Thomas Piketty.

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gavel restitution schedule Sep 12, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

ohio dutch paintings looted nazis monuments men foundation

The auction of two 17th-century Dutch still-life oil paintings of flowers was halted at Apple Tree Auction Center in Newark, Ohio, after the Monuments Men and Women Foundation and the Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project identified them as Nazi-looted art. The paintings, originally part of Adolphe and Lucie Haas Schloss's collection, were seized in 1943 and later stored in Hitler's Führerbau before being looted again. Foundation founder Robert Edsel traveled to Ohio to alert the auction house, which cooperated by removing the works from sale and placing them in a vault. The consignor's identity remains undisclosed, and the foundation is working to return the paintings to the Schloss family.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 26, 2025 visibility 11 link 2 artists

sothebys fee structure trump tariffs

A New Yorker profile of Sotheby's and its billionaire owner Patrick Drahi reveals the chaotic aftermath of the auction house's failed 2024 fee restructuring. The plan, announced in February 2024 and enacted that May, standardized seller's commissions and buyer's premiums but backfired, driving away business and causing profits to plummet. By December, Sotheby's reversed course. The article quotes former and current employees who compare Drahi's management style to Donald Trump's tariff disputes, and recounts a tense June 2024 meeting where contemporary art chairman Grégoire Billault told Drahi he was losing business, only to be told by Drahi that everyone is replaceable.

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article policy schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 8 link 1 artist

ringling museum donors pull support desantis

Donors are reportedly withdrawing or reconsidering planned gifts to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, totaling over $750,000, following Governor Ron DeSantis's proposed transfer of the museum from Florida State University to New College of Florida. Although the transfer was not included in the final state budget, the controversy has deepened concerns about the museum's future stewardship under the smaller, conservative-aligned New College, whose reputation has shifted under DeSantis's appointments and policy changes.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 8 link 2 artists

lincoln center editions lilian martinez

Lincoln Center's Summer for the City Festival, now in its 2025 season, commissioned artist Lilian Martinez to create a limited-edition benefit print titled *Calla Lily Dancer* (2025). The archival pigment print, produced in an edition of 36, features Martinez's signature vibrant palette and flat planes of color, depicting a woman dancing with a trumpet and coconut drink amid symbolic objects like calla lilies, candles, and potted plants. The print is available through Lincoln Center Editions, and all festival offerings remain free or choose-what-you-pay.

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person people schedule Jun 27, 2025 visibility 9 link 2 artists

english heritage nick merriman steps down

Nick Merriman has stepped down as chief executive of English Heritage, the British conservation charity, after just over a year in the role. He resigned for personal reasons related to family health, effective immediately. Merriman’s tenure was marked by a controversial restructuring plan that proposed cutting 7 percent of the workforce (189 jobs), reducing opening hours by 10 percent across its 400 sites, and closing 21 sites over winter. The charity had begun consulting staff and unions on the proposals, which were not finalized before his departure. Interim chief executive Geoff Parkin has been appointed to replace him.

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article news schedule Jun 10, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

can art act as silent diplomacy these sculptors think so

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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article policy schedule Jun 2, 2025 visibility 9 link 2 artists

ancient rock art australia woodside energy burrup peninsula

The Australian government has conditionally approved a 40-year extension for Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas plant on the Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga), home to an estimated one million petroglyphs dating back 50,000 years. Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the decision on May 28 after a six-year review, imposing strict conditions on air emissions and cultural heritage management, though the specific conditions remain confidential. Archaeologist Benjamin Smith of the University of Western Australia has warned that pollutants from the extended operations pose a grave risk to the rock art, which includes the world's earliest depictions of human faces.

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article local schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 8 link 6 artists, 1 gallery

Memorial Art Gallery raises $9 million to make admission free in 2027

The Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) at the University of Rochester has raised over $9 million through its "Free for All, Forever" fundraising initiative, surpassing its original goal and timeline. The museum will now open its doors free of charge to all visitors sometime in 2027, much sooner than anticipated. Key donors include Alexander and Lucy Levitan, who contributed a $1 million capstone gift; Doug and Abby Bennett and the Sands Family Foundation, who gave a $3 million leadership gift; and Mary Ellen Burris, who donated $2 million. The announcement was celebrated at MAG's Flourish For All, Forever gala on May 9, 2026.

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article culture schedule Apr 13, 2026 visibility 16 link 2 artists

Simultaneous or Poly-Cinema

The Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy proposes a radical departure from traditional filmmaking in his 1925 text, "Simultaneous or Poly-Cinema." He envisions a cinematic experience that moves beyond the static, rectangular screen, suggesting instead curved, spherical, or multi-planar surfaces that can accommodate multiple simultaneous projections. By utilizing rotating prisms and intersecting film strips, Moholy-Nagy describes a system where different narrative threads—such as the lives of multiple characters—can physically overlap and merge, creating a dynamic architectural arrangement of light and movement.

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article news schedule Mar 3, 2026 visibility 14 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

‘It doesn’t put walls around everything’: behind the plans for Manila’s new contemporary art centre

The Ayala Foundation has announced the development of the Kontempo Center for Contemporary Art in Manila, appointing Reuben Keehan as its inaugural artistic director. Designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture in collaboration with Lor Calma & Partners, the center will be located on the site of a former racetrack in Circuit Makati. The facility will prioritize exhibitions, commissions, and public programming over a permanent collection, featuring three large galleries and extensive green space for public art installations.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 16 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

Major exhibition to transform USC Pacific Asia Museum into an immersive journey through myth and the immigrant story

USC Pacific Asia Museum (USC PAM) has announced "Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry," a major exhibition conceived by Los Angeles–based Korean American artist Dave Young Kim. Opening February 14, 2026, the 12-room immersive installation blends approximately 100 objects from the museum's collection—spanning 5,000 years of Asian and Pacific art—with new media technology and contemporary works by over 20 artists, including Dinh Q. Lê, Lily Honglei, Wendy Park, Momoko Schafer, Kyungmi Shin, Sanjay Vora, and Lauren YS. The exhibition uses mythology as a visual language to explore the immigrant experience, featuring environments like a shadowy night crossing, a recreated first apartment, and a gilded room with a gold Jin Chan frog. A limited public preview runs December 20, 2025–January 4, 2026.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 14 link 1 artist

A Curator Died Suddenly. Could the Venice Biennale Be Saved?

Koyo Kouoh, the curator of the Venice Biennale’s centerpiece exhibition, died suddenly of cancer at age 57, just months into her tenure. She left behind a detailed plan for the exhibition, which her assistants are now working to realize in her absence.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 24, 2026 source 3 sources visibility 20

Louvre Plans Its ‘Most Ambitious’ Painting Restoration Ever: A Refresh for Rubens’s Medici Cycle

The Louvre Museum has announced a four-year restoration project for Peter Paul Rubens's monumental 'Marie de' Medici Cycle,' comprising 24 large-scale paintings. The works will be removed from public view starting this fall as the museum transforms their dedicated gallery into an on-site restoration studio to address yellowed varnishes and discordant past retouching.

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article news schedule Mar 20, 2026 source 3 sources visibility 20

Natural History Museum tops UK attraction list with record visitors

London's Natural History Museum attracted a record 7.1 million visitors in 2025, making it the UK's most popular attraction. Its success is attributed to free entry, renovated gardens, and the popular 'Fixing Our Broken Planet' climate gallery, which drew over 2 million visitors alone.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 10 link 3 artists

Dries Verhoeven on Representing the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale

Dries Verhoeven will represent the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026) with a new work titled *The Fortress*, installed in the Dutch Rietveld Pavilion in the Giardini. The 25-minute performance piece transforms the sunlit pavilion into a darkened bunker, featuring a raw vocal composition using only false vocal cords. Verhoeven describes the work as a meditation on transition and self-preservation, reflecting a Western society caught between its enlightened self-image and a dark vision of the future. The piece responds to geopolitical unrest outside the Biennale grounds and is designed to be melancholic and confrontational, contrasting with the main exhibition's theme, *In Minor Keys*.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 22 link 4 artists

Sung Tieu on Representing Germany at the 61st Venice Biennale

Sung Tieu, who is co-representing Germany at the 61st Venice Biennale alongside Henrike Naumann, responds to a questionnaire from ArtReview about her plans for the German Pavilion. She describes her inspiration as her mother and childhood home, a site built for foreign contract workers in the GDR that later became a refuge for the diaspora. Tieu states that her work relates to the Biennale theme "In Minor Keys" through the lens of Gehrenseestrasse, a concrete record of collective memory. She also expresses skepticism about the Biennale's importance, noting that the German Pavilion's fascist architecture compels artists to work against it, and that national pavilions reveal how much work remains in undoing nationalism.

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