Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 8 link 6 artists

mick taylor guitar stolen met museum donation 1234747536

A donation of 500 guitars to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2025, announced via a profile in The New Yorker, has become embroiled in controversy. Mick Taylor, former guitarist for the Rolling Stones, claims through his manager that one of the donated guitars—a Les Paul stolen from the band's French villa in 1971—is his property. The Met initially declined to comment, but later told The New York Times that Taylor played the guitar but never owned it, asserting a well-documented ownership history. The guitars were donated by collector Dirk Ziff, and the museum plans to open a permanent American guitar gallery in 2027.

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article news schedule Jun 17, 2025 visibility 13 link 7 artists

the met taps 3 international craftmakers for new artisan residency 2655780

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Swiss luxury watchmaker Vacheron Constantin have announced the inaugural class of their new Artisan Residency, an 18-month program aimed at nurturing traditional craft techniques while encouraging contemporary innovation. The first cohort includes American furniture maker Aspen Golann, Egyptian ceramicist Ibrahim Said, and Italian jeweler Joy Harvey, selected from a worldwide open call. The artisans will study The Met's collections and work with Vacheron Constantin's master craftsmen in New York and Geneva, with a public presentation of their completed works planned for 2026.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 11 link 4 artists

rachel ruyschs still lifes dutch toledo pinakothek munich mfa boston 1234744513

The Toledo Museum of Art has opened the first major exhibition dedicated to Dutch Golden Age painter Rachel Ruysch, organized with the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and traveling next to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The show features Ruysch's vibrant still lifes of fruits and flowers, often animated by insects, and places her work alongside that of her sister Anna Ruysch and other female scientific illustrators like Maria Sibylla Merian. Curator Robert Schindler's rediscovery of Anna Ruysch's work helped inspire the exhibition, which also draws on botanical research to catalog the global plant species Ruysch depicted, reflecting colonial trade networks.

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article culture schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 11 link 3 artists

severance dieter rams braun vitsoe 2615541

The article examines the use of two iconic minimalist designs—the Vitsœ 620 chair and a Braun wall-mounted hi-fi system—in the Apple TV+ series *Severance*. Both objects were designed by German industrial designer Dieter Rams in the 1960s and appear in the show's dystopian corporate setting, specifically in the lower levels of Lumon Industries where experimental subject Gemma undergoes tests. The production team intentionally selected these pieces to convey themes of power, control, and commerce.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 12 link 4 artists

cracking the parmigianino code at the frick 26652

The Frick Collection is presenting a single-picture exhibition of Parmigianino's portrait 'Schiava Turca' (circa 1531–34), on loan from the Galleria Nazionale di Parma. The painting, whose title means 'Turkish Slave,' depicts a woman in elaborate headdress and chains, whose identity has long been a mystery. Curator Aimee Ng proposes a new interpretation: that the sitter is the poetess Veronica Gambara, based on her confident demeanor and the Pegasus emblem symbolizing poetic inspiration. The article also recounts Vasari's anecdote about Parmigianino's absorption in his work during the 1527 Sack of Rome, and explores the painting's connection to Mannerist ideals of beauty.

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article policy schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

whitney museum breuer building landmarked sothebys 1234743179

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated the former Whitney Museum building at 945 Madison Avenue as both an individual and interior landmark. Designed by Marcel Breuer and completed in 1966, the inverted ziggurat structure with raw concrete interior served as the Whitney's home until 2015, later housing the Metropolitan Museum of Art's contemporary art annex and the Frick Collection during its renovation. Sotheby's acquired the building in 2023 and plans to relocate its global headquarters there, with renovations led by Herzog & de Meuron. Preservationist groups pushed for landmark status amid concerns about commercial alterations, and the designation now legally protects the exterior and key interior elements like the lobby and main staircase.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 8 link 8 artists

bennett prize after deliberation first all women jury winner announced 1234741412

Amy Werntz, a Dallas-based figurative painter, has won the fifth Bennett Prize, the largest art award for women working in figurative painting. The announcement was made at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan, where an exhibition of finalists opened. Werntz, a previous finalist in 2021, received $50,000 and a solo show for her lifelike depictions of elderly people in everyday scenes. For the first time, the winner was chosen by an all-female jury, which included painter Margaret Bowland, artist Angela Fraleigh, and curator Gloria Groom. The runner-up, Nicole Santiago, won $10,000. The traveling exhibition will visit several museums across the United States through 2027.

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trending_up market schedule May 5, 2025 visibility 14 link 6 artists

national gallery mysterious altarpiece 20 million 2639437

London's National Gallery has acquired a mysterious altarpiece painted by an unknown artist around 1510, paying £16.4 million ($21.8 million) for the work titled *The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret*. The painting, arranged via a private sale by Sotheby's and funded by the American Friends of the National Gallery London, features unusual details including a uniquely expressive dragon beneath baby Jesus's feet, playful angels, and subtle symbolic references. The acquisition marks the museum's bicentennial and will go on public display on May 10 in the rehung Sainsbury Wing.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 2, 2025 visibility 14 link 3 artists

tefaf restores black book of hours 2638098

TEFAF has selected the Black Book of Hours, a rare 15th-century illuminated manuscript from the Hispanic Society Museum and Library in New York, as the recipient of its 2025 Museum Restoration Fund. The manuscript, one of only seven known black vellum books of hours, will be displayed at TEFAF New York at the Park Avenue Armory before undergoing conservation treatment by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia. The work involves disbinding the 149-folio volume, high-resolution imaging, and addressing centuries of wear.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 11 link 6 artists

king charles royal tour art buckingham palace 2638061

An exhibition titled "The King's Tour Artists" will open at Buckingham Palace on July 10, showcasing over 70 works created by 42 artists who accompanied King Charles on international royal tours over the past four decades. The tradition began in 1985 when the then-Prince of Charles invited artist John Ward to join his tour of Italy, and has continued unbroken ever since, with artists capturing landscapes, figure studies, and historic moments such as the British handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Featured works include Richard Foster's depiction of Charles and Camilla on North Seymour Island in the Galápagos, and Susannah Fiennes's painting of sailors lowering the flag on HMY Britannia.

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trending_up market schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 11 link 9 artists

national gallery acquires curious altarpiece by unknown artist for 20 m 1234740393

London's National Gallery has acquired a $20 million altarpiece, *The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and Two Angels* (1500-10), by an unknown artist. The purchase, funded by the American Friends of the National Gallery of London and brokered by Sotheby's, was made from a private collection to celebrate the museum's bicentenary. The painting, first documented in 1602 in Ghent, Belgium, features iconographical oddities including a unique dragon and a bawdy scene, and is painted on Baltic oak, suggesting a Netherlandish origin despite French elements like the fleur-de-lis.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 23, 2025 visibility 13 link 9 artists

rachel ruysch toledo museum 2632367

The Toledo Museum of Art has opened "Rachel Ruysch: Nature Into Art," the first monographic exhibition dedicated to the 17th-century Dutch still-life painter Rachel Ruysch. Curated by Robert Schindler, the show brings together dozens of her paintings from public and private collections across Europe and America, including her only known work on paper, alongside manuscripts and works by contemporary women botanical artists. The exhibition originated at the Alte Pinakothek Munich and will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston later this year.

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article news schedule Apr 21, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

climate protestors pardoned raphael sistine madonna dresden 1234739014

Two climate activists from the German group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) have received pardons after being convicted for gluing their hands to the frame of Raphael's *Sistine Madonna* at the Dresden Old Masters Picture Gallery in August 2022. The protest left superglue residue on the frame, causing €2,300 in property damage. The activists initially faced fines of €1,500 each, later reduced to €600 by the Dresden District Court, and ultimately halved to €300 on appeal after the court considered their ongoing restitution efforts as a mitigating factor. They have since paid over €2,000 in damages to the Dresden State Art Collections and agreed to a separate settlement of €5,500 with the Free State of Saxony.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 18, 2025 visibility 11 link 4 artists

bayeux tapestry fragment rediscovered in germany 2615620

A long-lost fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th-century embroidered chronicle of the Norman Conquest of England, has been rediscovered in the Schleswig-Holstein State Archives in Schleswig, Germany. The roughly one-inch linen piece belonged to the estate of archaeologist Karl Schlabow, who had been part of a Nazi-affiliated group that re-measured the tapestry in 1941. The fragment will be repatriated to France later this year, but first it will go on public display at the Museum of Archaeology at Gottorf Castle as part of the exhibition “Viking Twilight: Turning Point in the North” from April 16 through November 2.

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article news schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 8 link 6 artists

Most famous image of JMW Turner not a self-portrait, says expert

Dr James Hamilton, a leading Turner expert, has claimed that the most famous portrait of JMW Turner—long believed to be a self-portrait and featured on the UK £20 banknote—is actually by the painter John Opie. Hamilton argues that the work, dated around 1799, was mistakenly included in the Turner Bequest after the artist's death in 1851, when his studio was in disarray and the attribution was never properly verified. He points to stylistic evidence, including Opie's characteristic use of dramatic light and shadow, and calls on Tate Britain to reattribute the painting.

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gavel restitution schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

Portrait looted by Nazis found in home of Dutch SS leader’s family

An artwork looted by the Nazis from the renowned Goudstikker collection has resurfaced in the home of descendants of Hendrik Seyffardt, a notorious Dutch SS collaborator. The painting, *Portrait of a Young Girl* by Toon Kelder, was discovered by art detective Arthur Brand after a family member contacted him, revealing that the piece had hung for decades in the home of Seyffardt’s granddaughter. Brand traced the painting to a 1940 auction where part of the looted Goudstikker collection was sold, and lawyers for the Goudstikker heirs have confirmed the work was stolen and called for its return.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 3, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

Fiona Pardington’s portraits of the lost birds of Aotearoa New Zealand – in pictures

Fiona Pardington has created a new series of human-scale photographic portraits of native New Zealand birds, many of which are extinct or endangered, using taxidermy specimens from regional museums. The series, titled "Taharaki Skyside," will be exhibited at the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Pardington, who has Māori and Scottish ancestry, incorporates the birds' eyes with superimposed historical landscapes to evoke their lost habitats and spiritual significance as intermediaries between human and divine worlds in Māori culture.

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article news schedule May 3, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

Mystery sitter in Holbein portrait could be Anne Boleyn, AI analysis finds

Researchers using AI have analyzed two Renaissance sketches by Hans Holbein from the Royal Collection, known as the Windsor sketch and the Unidentified Woman. The AI model, developed by Professor Hassan Ugail at the University of Bradford, compared the entire Holbein corpus and found that the Unidentified Woman may actually be Anne Boleyn, while the Windsor sketch—long thought to depict Boleyn—may instead show her mother, Elizabeth Howard. The study suggests the works were incorrectly inscribed in the 1700s, leading to centuries of misidentification.

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article policy schedule Apr 17, 2026 visibility 28 link 3 artists

The Guardian view on a much-needed boost for the arts: rebuilding England’s cultural landscape

The V&A East Museum is set to open in Stratford, London, marking a significant milestone for the East Bank cultural quarter. This £135m project joins the V&A East Storehouse and other major institutions in a transformed area of East London, aiming to attract younger and more diverse audiences through accessible art and design collections.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 26, 2026 visibility 19 link 3 artists

Expecting to live past 100? Then this show, with its rotten fruit and robot companions, is for you

The Wellcome Collection in London is preparing to open a major exhibition titled 'The Coming of Age,' which explores the complex realities and cultural anxieties surrounding aging and longevity. The show features diverse objects, from Japan's official silver sake cups for centenarians to Sam Taylor-Johnson's time-lapse film of rotting fruit and artworks examining biological immortality.

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gavel restitution schedule Mar 18, 2026 visibility 16 link 2 artists

Open Letter on the Imminent Departure of the Gelman Collection from Mexico

An open letter signed by hundreds of Mexican artists and cultural figures warns that the core of the renowned Gelman Collection, including eleven Frida Kahlo paintings declared national monuments, is at risk of permanent export from Mexico. The letter alleges that Banco Santander's new Faro Santander museum, through an agreement with collector Marcelo Zambrano, is misinterpreting Mexico's strict heritage laws to justify a "dynamic" but effectively permanent display abroad, which would violate the legal prohibition on the permanent export of Kahlo's work.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 17, 2025 source 4 sources visibility 32 link 25 artists

London 20th/21st Century Frieze Week sales achieve a running total of £141.8m / $189.7m / €162.75m

Christie’s 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale during Frieze Week 2025 achieved £106.9 million, up 30% year-on-year, with a 90% sell-through rate by value. The top lot was Peter Doig’s *Ski Jacket* (1994), sold for £14.27 million after intense bidding, part of the Ole Faarup Collection, which raised £27.3 million total for the Ole Faarup Art Foundation. Other notable sales included works by Lucian Freud, Paula Rego, Gerhard Richter, Pablo Picasso, and Suzanne Valadon, with more than half of all lots selling above high estimate.

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person people schedule Mar 17, 2026 visibility 19 link 21 artists

art mcc chicago madeleine grynsztejn director

Madeleine Grynsztejn, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) since 2008, has announced she will step down at the end of 2025 after 18 years in the role. During her tenure, she oversaw an $82 million renovation, record attendance, major exhibitions including Kerry James Marshall's first museum retrospective and a Takashi Murakami show, and initiatives for gender parity in the collection. She also tripled the museum's endowment and nearly doubled its operating budget through donor engagement.

newspaper Cultured open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 21, 2025 visibility 17 link 18 artists

art robert rauschenberg centennial

Robert Rauschenberg's centenary is being celebrated with a sprawling, interdisciplinary series of events that began this fall and will continue into 2026. At least eight major institutional exhibitions of his work are mounted worldwide, alongside a book of his writings published by Yale University Press and a national tour by the Trisha Brown Dance Company and the Merce Cunningham Trust featuring Rauschenberg's sets and costumes. Cultured magazine invited artists across disciplines to reflect on his legacy, with contributions from Jeff Koons and RJ Messineo, among others.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 8, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

Centre Pompidou to open Seoul outpost

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha is set to open in Seoul this June, housed in a renovated four-story former aquarium in the Yeouido district. Designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the new outpost is the result of a four-year partnership between the Hanwha Foundation of Culture and the Parisian institution. The museum will launch with the exhibition "The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision," which explores the evolution of Cubism and its specific intersections with Korean art history.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 8, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 16 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

Local Collections Shine at Sarasota Art Museum's Latest Exhibition

Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) has opened a new exhibition titled "Something Borrowed, Something New," featuring works from private collectors across Southwest Florida. The show includes pieces by renowned artists such as Chuck Close, KAWS, Richard Serra, Yoko Ono, Ai Weiwei, and Louise Bourgeois, spanning paintings, prints, sculptures, and mixed media from the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition was inspired by a museum trip program, during which executive director Virginia Shearer noticed that local collectors owned significant works by artists featured in major institutions like the Renwick Gallery and Glenstone.

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article policy schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 16 link 1 artist

Chanel Will Launch New Culture Fund Fellowship With the Guggenheim

Chanel will launch an annual, one-year fellowship in fall 2026 in collaboration with the Guggenheim. The Chanel Culture Fund Fellowship will host a fellow in New York and at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, targeting MA and PhD-level scholars dedicated to collection studies and curatorial research. The program complements existing Guggenheim fellowship and internship programs, aiming to nurture emerging talent in modern and contemporary art curation.

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person people schedule Apr 9, 2026 visibility 15 link 4 artists

The Met Hires Star Photography Curator for the Museum’s New Wing

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as a curator in the Department of Photographs, poaching her from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Onabanjo, formerly the Peter Schub Curator at MoMA, will be tasked with managing the landmark gift of over 6,500 photographs from the Walther Family Foundation and curating exhibitions with a focus on twentieth-century media.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 8, 2026 visibility 27 link 1 artist

Paris’s Centre Pompidou to Welcome Seoul Outpost in June

The Centre Pompidou is expanding its global footprint with the opening of a new satellite museum in Seoul this June. Housed in a former aquarium within the Hanwha Group's headquarters in the Yeouido financial district, the Centre Pompidou Hanwha is the result of a four-year partnership between the French institution and the Hanwha Foundation of Culture. The renovated 108,000-square-foot space, designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, will debut with an exhibition titled "The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision," which explores the evolution of Cubism and its intersections with Korean art.

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trending_up market schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 19 link 15 artists

Fair Warning Bets Big on a Banksy That Could Realize $18 Million

Fair Warning, the members-only online sales platform founded by former Christie's rainmaker Loïc Gouzer, is staging a rare live auction on May 20 at Tiffany & Co.'s flagship store in New York. The centerpiece is Banksy's *Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape* (2012), a work from the artist's 'Crude Oils' series that has never been publicly exhibited. Consigned by a private collector, the painting carries an ambitious estimate of $13 million–$18 million, one of the highest ever for a Banksy. Gouzer argues that Banksy is among the most consequential artists of our time, comparing his trajectory to Jean-Michel Basquiat, and sees this sale as a landmark moment for the artist's market.

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