Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

barbara guggenheim abigail asher lawsuit

Barbara Guggenheim Associates, Inc., a New York art advisory firm, is embroiled in legal conflict after founder Barbara Guggenheim and her longtime associate Abigail Asher filed dueling lawsuits in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Guggenheim’s suit, filed in August but only recently reported by Artnet News, accuses Asher of diverting some $20.5 million in firm revenue for personal expenses, including rent, dinner bills, and home repairs, and alleges Asher wrongfully kept commissions from a Jean-Michel Basquiat artwork. Asher countersued, accusing Guggenheim of bullying, gaslighting, and using firm funds for personal costs like funeral expenses and luxury vehicles, while denying the financial misconduct claims. The lawsuits also involve the firm’s CPA, Robert Mandeltort, and Asher’s assistant, Jessica Lewis.

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article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 19 artists

prominent art advisory implodes after 37 years as ex partners fire off lawsuits

Art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher, who ran the blue-chip advisory Guggenheim Asher Associates for 37 years, are now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court allege fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation. Guggenheim claims Asher misappropriated over $20.5 million in revenue, while Asher counters with accusations of unethical behavior, including using sex and kickbacks to secure artworks and lying to collectors. The firm’s clients included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and corporations such as Sony and Coca-Cola.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 15, 2025 visibility 16 link 11 artists

work of the week edouard vuillard

A painting by Édouard Vuillard, *Madame Vuillard à Table* (1896–1897), sold for $2.7 million at Ford Art Auction in 2025, a dramatic increase from its $254,000 sale at Sotheby’s just 18 months earlier. The work, depicting the artist’s mother, was estimated at $350,000–$550,000 and attracted 21 bidders. Ford’s sales director Elizabeth Katz attributed the strong result to the subject’s desirability and the painting’s origin in Vuillard’s Nabis period. The previous Sotheby’s sale was from the estate of William J. Levy, benefiting a University of Pennsylvania scholarship.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 15, 2025 visibility 16 link 5 artists

eames institute opens permanent space

The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity has opened a permanent gallery space in Richmond, California, showcasing the work of designers Charles and Ray Eames. The gallery features over 40,000 items curated by Llisa Demetrios, the Eameses' granddaughter and chief curator, including plywood sculptures exhibited at MoMA in 1944, chairs, prototypes, and ephemera that illustrate the couple's design process. The space also houses the Institute's headquarters and archive, with rotating displays planned as new discoveries are made.

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article news schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 25 link 7 artists

centre pompidou metz cancels caribbean art show

The Centre Pompidou-Metz in France has canceled a planned survey of Caribbean and Guyanese art titled “Van Lévé,” curated by Guadeloupean curator Claire Tancons. The exhibition, scheduled to open in October 2026, was to feature artists including Gaëlle Choisne and Pol Taburet. Museum director Chiara Parisi cited budgetary constraints in an email to Tancons, but Tancons disputed this, noting that the Ford Foundation had already contributed $500,000. A group of artists and curators, including Zineb Sedira and Tabita Rezaire, issued a statement condemning the cancellation and questioning whether bias played a role.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

vermeer the street new research

The Rijksmuseum's 2023 Vermeer exhibition, which brought together 28 of the artist's 34 surviving paintings, was a historic success, drawing 650,000 visitors and inspiring extensive new research. A new book, *Closer to Vermeer*, presents findings from advanced imaging techniques and archival studies, revealing that Vermeer made significant changes to 30 of his paintings. For example, in *The Little Street* (1658–59), the door was originally painted shut, the children were absent, and the woman was positioned differently, showing how Vermeer deliberately opened the scene to viewers. Other alterations include modifications to *The Milkmaid* (1657–58) and *Diana and her Nymphs* (1653–54).

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article culture schedule Jul 11, 2025 visibility 15 link 20 artists

modi johnny depp modigliani film

Johnny Depp has directed a new film titled "Modigliani – Three Days on the Wing of Madness," based on a play by Dennis McIntyre, which dramatizes 72 hours in the life of Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. The film stars Riccardo Scamarcio as Modigliani and follows the artist's struggles with relationships, money, police, and a meeting with a collector, set against his bohemian life in early 20th-century Paris. It marks Depp's first directorial effort since 1997's "The Brave."

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article news schedule Jul 11, 2025 visibility 13 link 6 artists

ulay wins case regarding against former collaborator marina abramovic

A Dutch court has ordered performance artist Marina Abramović to pay her former collaborator Ulay (Ulay Laysiepen) over €250,000 ($280,500) for violating a 1999 contract regarding joint works created between 1976 and 1988. The court ruled that Ulay is entitled to 20 percent net royalties on sales of those works, plus €23,000 in legal costs. Ulay had accused Abramović of failing to provide accurate sales statements and making only four payments over 16 years. The case stems from their decade-long artistic and romantic partnership, which ended in 1988 with their famous walk on the Great Wall of China.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 10, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

indian modernist tyeb mehtas market is soaring how high will it go

Tyeb Mehta's auction market has surged in 2025, with two record-breaking sales in April alone. Saffronart sold his 1956 painting *Trussed Bull* for $7.2 million, the highest price ever for the artist, followed by AstaGuru's sale of *Untitled (Diagonal)* (1973) for $6.8 million. Mehta produced only around 200 canvases in his lifetime, and most key works are held by institutions and private collectors, making major acquisitions rare and competitive. The article analyzes his market performance, including a 100% sell-through rate across seven lots in 2025, totaling $15.3 million.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 9, 2025 visibility 22 link 18 artists

crystal bridges art bridges horseman collection native art

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Art Bridges Foundation in Bentonville, Arkansas, have acquired 90 works of contemporary Native art from the John and Susan Horseman Collection. The acquisition includes pieces by prominent Indigenous artists such as Kent Monkman, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Kay WalkingStick, and Cannupa Hanska Luger. Nine works will go to Crystal Bridges, while the remaining 81 will join Art Bridges' collection, which now totals around 250 works, with Native art making up a third. The works will be displayed in upcoming exhibitions at the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine and Crystal Bridges' expanded campus, with loans to partner institutions planned.

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article news schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

romare bearden catalogue raisonne

The Wildenstein Plattner Institute (WPI) has released the first online tranche of the Romare Bearden Catalogue Raisonné Project, covering over 200 works from 1964 to 1969—a pivotal period when Bearden honed his signature collage style. The free digital publication fills a long-standing gap for the canonical Black American artist, who died in 1988, and includes works verified by an anonymous committee of experts, with a verified icon for examined pieces.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 21 link 17 artists, 2 galleries

life size labubu record asia art news

The article reports on a record-breaking auction sale of a 4-foot-4-inch Labubu doll, which sold for RMB 1.08 million ($150,300) at Yongle International Auction in Beijing, with premium reaching RMB 1.24 million ($174,000). The character was created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, who also collaborated with Art Basel on a limited edition. Other key developments include the closure of the Art Basel Hong Kong satellite fair Supper Club after two editions, Frieze announcing a new year-round space called Frieze House Seoul in Yaksu, and Blum gallery taking on global representation of Japanese ceramic artist Kimiyo Mishima's estate. The article also covers upcoming exhibitions by Christine Ay Tjoe at White Cube New York, Seulgi Lee at Ikon Gallery Birmingham, Kenny Scharf at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, and Trevor Yeung's adaptation of his Venice Biennale show at M+ Hong Kong.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 13 link 6 artists

work of the week emily carr

A painting by Emily Carr, titled *Fir Trees* (ca. 1935), sold for CA$576,000 ($418,370) at Cowley Abbott’s live auction of Canadian and international art in Toronto on May 28, more than doubling its low estimate. The work is a vivid example of Carr’s signature forest scenes, reflecting her deep connection to the British Columbian landscape and her association with the Group of Seven. The auction also saw strong results for other Group of Seven artists, including Franklin Carmichael’s *Old Orchard* (1940) at CAD$768,000, and for Marcelle Ferron’s untitled 1964 abstract painting at CAD$696,000.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 4, 2025 visibility 15 link 6 artists

fra angelico fresco restored

A long-forgotten fresco by the early Renaissance master Fra Angelico, believed to be his earliest known work, has been restored in the chapter house of San Domenico in Fiesole, Tuscany. The painting, a Crucifixion dating to around 1420, was hidden under whitewash for centuries and rediscovered by Bottega Belacqua, a group of Renaissance art enthusiasts. Funding from Friends of Florence enabled conservators Alessandra Popple and Cristiana Conti to revive the work, just in time for a landmark exhibition in Florence.

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person people schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 19 link 10 artists

curator xiaowen zhu interview

Xiaowen Zhu, director of Esea Contemporary in Manchester, discusses her journey and the evolving representation of Asian artists in the global art world. Born in Shanghai, Zhu reflects on her formative encounter with Ai Weiwei's *Fairytale* at Documenta 12 in 2007, which shaped her understanding of diaspora and belonging. She now leads the UK's only non-profit art center dedicated to East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) artists, and serves on the British Council’s Arts and Creative Economy Advisory Group.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 19 link 6 artists, 4 galleries

marisa adesman magic anat ebgi

Marisa Adesman, a rising artist based in Chicago, is presenting her solo exhibition “Under the Rose” at Anat Ebgi in New York, featuring six new paintings that blend trompe l’oeil and surrealism to create nocturnal interior scenes of magic, eroticism, and domestic disobedience. The show follows her Los Angeles debut “Forklore” in 2021 and her first museum exhibition at KMAC Contemporary Art Museum in 2023, where her painting sold for $90,000 at Art Basel Miami.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

work of the week marlow moss

Marlow Moss's painting *White, Black, Blue and Red* (1944) sold for £609,600 ($819,912) at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction in London, far exceeding its presale high estimate of £480,000. The work, backed by a guarantee, sparked a bidding war among seven bidders and set a new auction record for the British Constructivist artist. The previous record was set in 2022 at Christie’s London.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 16 link 13 artists

turner rediscovered masterpiece auction

A rediscovered oil painting by J.M.W. Turner, titled *The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol*, sold for £1.9 million ($2.6 million) at Sotheby’s Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings evening auction in London—more than six times its high estimate. The work, painted in 1792 when Turner was 17, had been misattributed and sold for just $506 at a Dreweatts auction the previous year. After cleaning revealed Turner’s signature, scholars confirmed its authenticity, and it was identified as Turner’s first publicly exhibited oil painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793. The winning bidder was a private collector in the U.K., outbidding Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which had raised over £100,000 from donors in a failed attempt to acquire the work.

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article news schedule Jul 2, 2025 visibility 13 link 7 artists

bathroom stall performance space new york

Performance Space New York is auctioning naming rights to the stalls in its fourth-floor unisex restroom as a fundraising campaign. Artist Bailey Hikawa will create custom resin toilet seats and commemorative plaques for each stall, collaborating with donors to reflect their personal aesthetics. One stall remains available and will be auctioned online this summer. The campaign coincides with a sound installation by Kevin Beasley that transforms the restroom into an immersive acoustic environment. Senior director Pati Hertling produced a promotional video using AI tools, featuring a synthetic newscaster announcing the fundraiser.

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article culture schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 21 link 8 artists

shana moulton wellness culture buffalo interview

Shana Moulton, an artist and chair of the art department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses her exhibition "Meta/Physical Therapy" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and her retrospective at the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art. The article centers on Moulton's semi-autobiographical alter ego, Cynthia, a hypochondriac navigating New Age wellness culture through video installations, performances, and a collection of eccentric objects. Moulton explores themes of hypochondria, hospital art, and the absurdity of wellness consumerism, drawing from her upbringing in a California mobile home park and her long-running video series "Whispering Pines" (2002–18).

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists, 3 galleries

brice arsene yonkeu amoako boafos dot ateliers gagosian

Independent curator Brice Arsène Yonkeu has organized "Ever So Present II: Between Home and Elsewhere," the second installment of a two-part exhibition at Gagosian's Park & 75 space in New York. The show features four emerging artists of African descent—including Emma Prempeh and Josèfa Ntjam—whose works in painting, photomontage, and assemblage explore themes of diaspora, memory, migration, and belonging. Yonkeu is the first curator invited to participate in dot.ateliers' new residency program, a foundation and exhibition space launched by Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo in Accra in 2023. The exhibition expands on questions raised in the first iteration held in Accra, asking what remains "ever so present" in diasporic art across borders and cultures.

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gavel restitution schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 19 link 6 artists

parthenon marbles update

Greece is building a cultural coalition with Italy to strengthen its campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum. Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli pledged support during a visit to Athens and announced the repatriation of 145 ancient coins. Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni is leading efforts to build international backing, and the two countries have devised joint cultural initiatives, including an exhibition of modern Greco-Italian metaphysical painters. Meanwhile, the U.K.'s Labour government has taken a neutral stance on the issue, departing from the previous Conservative government's opposition, and negotiations between Greece and the U.K. are described as "ongoing and constructive."

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article culture schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 16 link 10 artists

the art angle canyon art basel adrien brody

The Art Angle podcast team reviews three major art stories from June. First, Canyon, a new museum-like venue dedicated to immersive video art, has been announced for New York's Lower East Side. Second, the team discusses the outcomes of Art Basel in Switzerland, the art world's most important fair, and ongoing volatility in art pricing. Third, they examine the buzz—and mockery—surrounding Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody's painting exhibition in New York City. Culture editor Min Chen joins host Ben Davis and senior editor Kate Brown to analyze these developments.

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person people schedule Jun 26, 2025 visibility 21 link 7 artists

justin vivian bond current cultural climate

Justin Vivian Bond, a multidisciplinary artist and performer, is profiled in ARTnews as part of their Newsmakers series. Bond, who received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2024, discusses their upcoming performances at Joe’s Pub in New York, including a show titled “Well, Well, Well” inspired by lesbian singer-songwriters and the novel *The Well of Loneliness*. They also mention resurrecting their duo Kiki & Herb in London, and reflect on their 2017 exhibition at the New Museum, “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon,” whose wallpaper is now installed at the V&A East Storehouse.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 26, 2025 visibility 17 link 6 artists

cara romero photographer hood museum exhibition

Cara Romero, an enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, is the subject of her first institutional solo exhibition, "Panûpünüwügai," at Dartmouth's Hood Museum in New Hampshire. The show features her photography that fuses Indigenous ancestral memory with pop culture, depicting Native women as powerful agents reclaiming space against colonial stereotypes. Romero has also been featured in over 10 museum group exhibitions since last fall, including shows at the Hudson River Museum and Cantor Art Center.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 25, 2025 visibility 17 link 2 artists

ai weiwei new artwork ukraine russia

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei will debut a new site-specific work in Kyiv, Ukraine, this fall, responding to the country's ongoing war with Russia. Titled "Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Camouflage Uniforms Painted White," the installation will be on view at Pavilion 13, a Soviet-era exhibition space, from September 14 to November 30. Commissioned by the nonprofit Ribbon International, the work reimagines Ai's "Divina Proportione" series (2004–12) using metal spheres encased in camouflage fabric painted white, symbolizing layered realities and the concealment of truth during conflict.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 25, 2025 visibility 18 link 15 artists, 1 gallery

sothebys london contemporary evening summer sale report

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.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 25, 2025 visibility 9 link 4 artists

aby rosen pays 55 million for gilded age building artist jay maisel bought for 102000 around 1966

Art collector and real estate financier Aby Rosen paid $55 million for the Gilded Age landmark building at 190 Bowery in New York, which had been owned for decades by photographer Jay Maisel. Maisel bought the property—the former Germania Bank building—around 1966 for a reported $102,000, making the sale a dramatic example of New York real estate appreciation. The building, located near the New Museum, was listed on Rosen's company RFR Holdings before he entered a contract to purchase it in August, and was subsequently re-listed for sale through Cushman & Wakefield.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 24, 2025 visibility 17 link 7 artists

john singer sargent and dollar princesses

A new exhibition titled “Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits” at London’s Kenwood House explores the phenomenon of the “dollar princesses”—American heiresses who married into the British aristocracy between 1870 and 1914. The show features eight paintings and ten charcoal studies by John Singer Sargent, including portraits of notable figures like Nancy Astor and Consuelo Vanderbilt, and runs through October 5. Curated by Wendy Monkhouse of English Heritage, the exhibition examines the complex social dynamics behind these transatlantic unions, which were often criticized as mercenary transactions.

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article news schedule Jun 24, 2025 visibility 12 link 4 artists

selfie taking tourist damages painting uffizi gallery

A tourist at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence damaged an 18th-century portrait of Ferdinando de’ Medici by Anton Domenico Gabbiani while taking a selfie on June 21. The man tripped backward onto the canvas, causing a small tear near the subject's right foot. Museum staff quickly removed the painting for assessment, and the work is expected to return to display soon in the exhibition “Florence and Europe: Arts of the Eighteenth Century.” The perpetrator was apprehended and reported to authorities; director Simone Verde vowed to prosecute and implement “anti-selfie measures.”

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