Roland Augustine, cofounder of New York's Luhring Augustine gallery, is stepping down to focus on philanthropy. Cofounder Lawrence Luhring will continue leading the gallery alongside longtime directors Lauren Wittels and Donald Johnson Montenegro, who will become equity partners. Luhring bought out Augustine's share at the end of last year, and the gallery plans to restructure in 2026, potentially changing its name within three years.
Lévy Gorvy Dayan sold Andy Warhol's 'Muhammad Ali' (1977) for $18 million during the VIP preview of Art Basel Miami Beach. The painting, autographed by Ali and formerly owned by Richard L. Weisman, was displayed just a few hundred feet from the Miami Beach Convention Center, where Ali defeated Sonny Liston in 1964. The consignment was kept secret until ten days before the fair, and the work drew crowds of buyers and admirers, including Ali's sons and figures connected to Warhol's 'Athletes' series.
Michael Werner and Gordon VeneKlasen, partners at Michael Werner Gallery for 35 years, are dissolving their partnership at the start of next year. Werner will continue operating Galerie Michael Werner in Berlin, while VeneKlasen will launch a new international gallery called VeneKlasen, taking over the current New York, London, and Los Angeles locations. The changes take effect in February, with VeneKlasen announcing his program early next year.
The US Department of State confirmed that Mexico-based artist Alma Allen will represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale, opening next May. Jeffrey Uslip will serve as curator, and the commissioning institution is the American Arts Conservancy (AAC), with its executive director Jenni Parido as official commissioner. Allen, who has had only two museum solo shows in three decades, was approached directly by Uslip in October after the State Department had already approved him. The selection process broke from tradition: the National Endowment for the Arts was not involved due to time constraints and staffing transitions, and a prior proposal by artist Robert Lazzarini and curator John Ravenal fell through after negotiations with the University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum collapsed. Allen’s pavilion, titled "Call Me the Breeze," will feature about 30 works exploring elevation and transformation, framed by the State Department as furthering the Trump Administration’s focus on American excellence.
Jack Hanley, a beloved and idiosyncratic New York gallerist, announced he would close his gallery after 37 years in business. In a conversation with Artnet News co-host Kate Brown, Hanley reflects on his career as a disruptor who followed instinct over market logic, giving early shows to now-iconic artists like Günther Förg, Christopher Wool, Sophie Calle, and Christian Marclay, and even hosting Beeple's first gallery show. Hanley, a former Grateful Dead roadie and avid orchid grower, also founded an art fair and ran galleries in multiple cities.
New York's November 2025 auction season is set to feature at least $1.67 billion in art across Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips, a 54% increase in estimates from the same period last year. The season is dominated by major estates, including Leonard Lauder's $400 million trove at Sotheby's with Klimt paintings and Matisse bronzes, Cindy Pritzker's collection featuring a Van Gogh, and anonymous Surrealist works. Christie's offers $736 million in low estimates from collections like Robert and Patricia Weis, Elaine Wynn, and Stefan Edlis. Phillips remains risk-averse, focusing on established names. The market shows a flight to quality, with emerging art reduced and delegated to day sales, while ultra-contemporary segments contract.
Christie's Hong Kong is offering Pablo Picasso's 1944 painting *Buste de femme* with a high estimate of HK$106 million (about $13.6 million) at its 20th/21st Century evening sale, making it the top lot in Hong Kong's September sales across the three major auction houses. Other notable lots include Zao Wou-Ki's *7.3.63* (estimate HK$70–90 million) at Christie's and two Yoshitomo Nara works at Sotheby's and Phillips. In other industry moves, New York's Tilton Gallery is closing after its upcoming Ruth Vollmer exhibition; Esther Schipper Gallery now represents Lotus L. Kang; Başak Doğa Temür and Nilbar Güreş will collaborate on the Turkish Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale; Yan Du Project has appointed Billy Tang as artistic director; and Phillips will auction a juvenile triceratops skeleton in New York.
LA Louver, one of Los Angeles's longest-running galleries, is closing its physical space in Venice, California, after 50 years and shifting to private dealing. The gallery, founded in 1975 by Peter and Elizabeth Goulds, has shown artists including Marcel Duchamp, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, and Doris Salcedo, mounting over 660 exhibitions. The Venice space will host select exhibitions by appointment, while the gallery will focus activities on a private warehouse in LA's West Adams neighborhood. The Huntington library, museum, and botanical garden will receive LA Louver's archive of photography, correspondence, and documents.
Matt Bangser, a longtime director at Blum gallery (formerly Blum & Poe), will join Art Intelligence Global (AIG) as senior director on September 8. Bangser spent 16 years at Blum overseeing global sales and securing major estates like Robert Colescott, and previously held senior posts at Van de Weghe Fine Art, Phillips, and Christie's. His move follows the closure of Blum's Los Angeles and Tokyo galleries last month, when founder Tim Blum announced he was leaving the traditional gallery model. AIG co-founder Amy Cappellazzo said Bangser's experience across galleries, auction houses, and artist studios made him a rare hire.
The article examines the meteoric rise and current cooling of the market for Labubu, the Nordic fanged monster character created by artist Kasing Lung. After a decade of slow development, Labubu exploded in popularity through Chinese toy blind-box manufacturer Pop Mart, leading to record auction sales in 2025. Yongle Auction in Beijing organized the world's first themed Labubu sale, where a mint-green sculpture sold for RMB 1.242 million and a painting, 'Pure' (2021), fetched RMB 1.61 million, setting successive records. The frenzy attracted a diverse range of buyers, from streetwear collectors to traditional ceramics enthusiasts, many of whom share their purchases on social media platforms like Douyin.
Tim Blum, co-founder of the influential Blum & Poe gallery, is stepping away from the traditional gallery model after more than 30 years. He told ARTnews that the decision was driven by burnout with the relentless cycle of art fairs, openings, and obligations, not by financial strain. His Tokyo and Los Angeles locations will close after summer exhibitions, and a planned New York space may not open as a conventional gallery. Blum will instead pursue a more flexible model involving special projects and collaborations, while continuing to buy and sell art personally.
Adam Lindemann, a collector-turned-dealer, announced he will close Venus Over Manhattan, the New York gallery he founded 14 years ago. The gallery's final exhibition, a solo show for painter Susumu Kamijo, will run until July 18. Lindemann revealed the decision in an opinion piece for Artnet News, citing the challenges of straddling the roles of collector and dealer, as well as the politics of art fairs. He plans to return to collecting full-time.
Artnet News celebrates Pride Month by spotlighting queer artists featured on the Artnet Gallery Network. The article highlights five artists: Kyle Dunn, whose intimate paintings blend smooth and photorealistic surfaces; Tom of Finland, the iconic queer artist known for hyper-masculine, erotic illustrations; David Hockney, whose early work depicts an intimate bedroom scene; Anthony Goicolea, whose photography and paintings explore sexuality and adolescence; and Michela Griffo, an activist and artist whose work examines queer desire and domestic unease.
London's Piano Nobile gallery has opened "Barbara Hepworth: Strings," the first exhibition dedicated to the British sculptor's use of string in her work. The show explores how Hepworth (1903–1975) incorporated string into sculptures, paintings, and drawings from 1939 onward, including pieces never before exhibited in the U.K. Highlights include the rediscovered "Theme on Electronics (Orpheus)," 1956, commissioned by Mullard and long thought lost, and "Pierced Hemisphere (Telstar)," 1963, making its U.K. debut. Curated by Michael Regan, the exhibition draws on Hepworth's letters and archival material to illuminate her innovative approach to tension, space, and light.
Art Basel announced a partnership with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and QC+ to launch Art Basel Qatar in Doha in February 2026, marking the first major international art fair in the Middle East. The inaugural edition will feature a tightly curated selection of approximately 50 galleries, significantly smaller than Art Basel's other fairs, and will be held at M7, a creative hub in the Doha Design District. A director for the fair will be announced in the coming months.
The article profiles billionaire Greek Cypriot collector Dakis Joannou, focusing on his superyacht *Guilty*, painted by Jeff Koons in dazzle camouflage, and his Deste Foundation's project space on Hydra. It describes the 2023 group show "Dream Machines," co-curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Massimiliano Gioni, featuring works by Koons, Andro Wekua, Mire Lee, and others, and includes an interview with Joannou about the yacht's design and his art collection.
Jean-Paul Engelen, currently president for the Americas and worldwide co-head of modern and contemporary art at Phillips auction house, will join Acquavella Galleries as a director starting July 1. Engelen spent a decade at Phillips, where he helped increase auction sales by 72 percent between 2015 and 2021, and previously worked at Christie’s for 16 years and at Qatar Museums.
Expo Chicago 2025 wrapped on Sunday with upbeat energy and larger crowds than usual, thanks to a scheduling change that allowed VIPs earlier access. The fair, now in its second edition under Frieze ownership, featured 170 exhibitors, a new magazine with artist profiles of Caroline Kent and Nick Cave, and a partnership with KIAF and the Galleries Association of Korea that brought 20 Korean galleries. Dealers reported healthy sales, including a sold-out presentation by Jaylon Hicks at Maximilian Williams gallery, with works priced from $3,000 to $20,000. Frieze leaders attended major events, signaling continued commitment to Chicago nearly two years after acquiring the fair.
The Neue Galerie, a private museum on New York's Upper East Side founded by collector Ronald S. Lauder, will merge with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2028. The institution will be renamed the Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie, or Met Neue for short. Lauder and his daughter Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer will contribute funds toward a $200 million endowment, along with 13 works from their collection, including a prized Gustav Klimt and paintings by German Expressionists. The Met plans to exhibit some holdings at its Fifth Avenue base, but Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" will remain at the townhouse.
Over 350 Mexican cultural professionals have signed an open letter demanding greater transparency from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) regarding the management and export of the Gelman Collection. The collection, recently acquired by the Zambrano family and rebranded as the Gelman Santander Collection, includes 18 works by Frida Kahlo and other major 20th-century Mexican artists, with 30 pieces designated as national artistic monuments requiring state oversight.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is presenting the first UK exhibition dedicated to Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Titled 'Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art,' the show features over 400 objects, including 100 ensembles, and traces her work from the 1920s to the present under current creative director Daniel Roseberry. It highlights her collaborations with major 20th-century artists.
The Studio Museum in Harlem is set to inaugurate its new $160 million, purpose-built home on Manhattan’s 125th Street. Designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, the 82,000-square-foot facility nearly doubles the museum's previous exhibition space and replaces a repurposed 1914 bank building that lacked essential infrastructure like loading docks and large elevators. This milestone marks the first time in the institution's history that it will operate out of a structure specifically designed to support its mission of championing artists of African descent.
On Curating Carnage
The Berlin-based art journal *OnCurating* published a September 2025 issue titled "Let’s Talk About… Anti-Democratic, Anti-Queer, Misogynist, Antisemitic, Right-Wing Spaces and Their Counter-Movements." The article critiques this publication, arguing it uses the language of feminism, anti-racism, and anti-Semitism as a political tool to unconditionally support Israel and demonize the Palestinian cause, thereby aligning with German state policy and a specific strain of leftist thought known as Antideutsch.
2025 Art21 at the Movies
On October 8 and 10, 2025, Art21 hosted its second 'Art21 at the Movies' event in New York. The two-day program featured film premieres, artist talks, and screenings at venues including the Metrograph and the Museum of Modern Art. It highlighted artists from the 'Art in the Twenty-First Century' series and included discussions with filmmakers and curators.
Melvin Edwards, a pioneering sculptor known for his steel assemblages that explored Black history and experience, has died. He was the first African-American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 1970. His signature series, Lynch Fragments, began in the 1960s as a response to the civil rights movement and evolved over his lifetime to incorporate references to the Vietnam War and African cultural practices.
The US Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, often called the 'art world Olympics,' is mired in controversy and delays under the Trump administration. Curator Jeffrey Uslip insists the process has been smooth and artistically autonomous, but the selection of sculptor Alma Allen and commissioner Jenni Parido—a former pet supply shop owner with a new nonprofit—has raised eyebrows. The usual vetting process by the National Endowment for the Arts was disrupted, new language banning diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts was added to applications, and a government shutdown left only six months to fundraise and plan the exhibition, which coincides with the US's 250th anniversary.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice has announced a major exhibition for 2026 titled "Peggy Guggenheim in London: The Making of a Collector." The show focuses on the pivotal period between 1938 and 1939 when Guggenheim operated her first gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, on Cork Street. It will feature approximately 100 works by avant-garde masters such as Vasily Kandinsky, Jean Cocteau, and Yves Tanguy, alongside archival materials documenting her early career as a gallerist and patron.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is debuting a radical curatorial overhaul within its new David Geffen Galleries, moving away from traditional 19th-century departmental silos. Led by Director Michael Govan and a team of 45 curators, the museum is implementing a cross-disciplinary approach that organizes the collection around "oceanic nodes"—the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific. This strategy allows for the juxtaposition of disparate media and cultures, such as contemporary photography alongside ancient textiles, to highlight the historical circulation of ideas and people across bodies of water.
The 2024 edition of TEFAF Maastricht has opened with a significant focus on rediscovered female Old Masters, highlighted by the third annual 'Map of Women Artists' which now features over 670 works. Major dealers like Lullo Pampoulides and Koetser Gallery are showcasing high-value pieces by Artemisia Gentileschi, Virginia da Vezzo, and Michaelina Wautier, drawing immediate attention from institutional leaders including Metropolitan Museum of Art director Max Hollein.
A cyberattack targeted the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD), a network of 15 museums in eastern Germany, on Wednesday. The attack disrupted large parts of the digital infrastructure, including the online shop and visitor services, but the museums remain open and physical security is intact. IT specialists and forensic experts are working to clean up and rebuild systems, with no timeline yet for full restoration. The SKD is cooperating with the Dresden Police and State Criminal Police Office, as confirmed by the Saxon State Minister for Culture and Tourism.