angelina jolie new york studio space legal challenge 1234768257

Angelina Jolie's New York studio space, Atelier Jolie at 57 Great Jones Street, faces a legal challenge over its name. The pre-existing Atelier Jolie in Easton, Pennsylvania, established in 2021 by artist and curator Omnaia Jolie Abdou, has filed an opposition to Jolie's trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, arguing that the name is already used for art and design goods and services. Jolie's lawyers contend there is no competition between the two establishments, and settlement negotiations are ongoing.

guggenheim bilbao museum urdaibai expansion canceled 2732239

The Guggenheim Bilbao has canceled its planned expansion in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-designated site in Spain's Basque country, citing territorial, urban planning, and environmental constraints. The project, first announced in 2022, faced fierce opposition from activists, environmental groups like Greenpeace, and over 1,000 Basque creatives who signed a petition. The expansion would have included a facility in Guernica and a net-zero exhibition space in Murueta, but legal disputes and public pressure led the museum's Board of Trustees to terminate the plan. Local group Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop celebrated the decision as a victory and plans a festival in February 2026 to mark the project's demise.

hauser and wirth russia sanctions case court date 1234769715

A UK judge has scheduled a 10-day trial for January 2028 in the case against mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth and liquidated shipping firm Artay Rauchwerger Solomons over alleged violations of UK sanctions against Russia. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) charged the gallery with making George Condo's 2021 work on paper, *Escape from Humanity*, available in 2022 to a person connected to Russia. The next hearing is set for May 5, 2026, for arraignment. Hauser & Wirth has stated it strongly contests the charge and intends to plead not guilty, while the shipping company went into voluntary liquidation in April 2024.

Philadelphia museums are pooling resources — and telling bigger stories together

Philadelphia’s major art institutions are entering an unprecedented era of collaboration, launching a series of joint exhibitions that pool resources and collections. The centerpiece of this movement is “Bodies and Souls,” a dual-site exhibition hosted by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and the Woodmere Art Museum featuring the contemporary art collection of Robert and Frances Coulborn Kohler. Other notable partnerships include a three-museum retrospective of sculptor Syd Carpenter and an upcoming 18-gallery initiative titled “Radical Americana” led by the Clay Studio.

First Constable 250 exhibition to open this month at Christchurch Mansion

Ipswich Borough Council has announced a major year-long celebration marking the 250th anniversary of John Constable's birth, centered at Christchurch Mansion. The program launches on March 28 with 'Constable: A Cast of Characters,' an exhibition featuring over 100 artworks and personal artifacts—including the artist's paint box and his wife's wedding ring—that explore the social circle and patrons who influenced his career. The celebration will culminate in the historic return of 'The Hay Wain' to Suffolk in July 2026, marking the first time the masterpiece will be exhibited in the county it depicts.

Taichung’s new ‘Museumbrary’ expands Taiwan’s culture credentials

A new cultural complex called the Taichung Green Museumbrary, designed by Japanese architecture firm SANAA, opens tomorrow in Taichung, Taiwan. The 58,000-square-meter project combines the Taichung Art Museum and Taichung Public Library across eight interconnected white-box structures in Central Park. The opening includes site-specific commissions by artists Michael Lin and Haegue Yang, and an inaugural exhibition titled 'A Call of All Beings: See You Tomorrow, Same Time, Same Place' featuring international artists such as Joseph Beuys, Joan Jonas, and Myrlande Constant alongside Taiwanese artists.

Did Qatar’s Courbet acquisition short-circuit French export licence process?

Qatar Museums has acquired Gustave Courbet's early self-portrait *Le Désespéré* (1843-45) from a French collector for €50 million, bypassing the standard French export licence process. The Musée d'Orsay revealed the purchase at a private event in October, announcing the painting will be lent to the museum for five years before moving to Qatar's future Art Mill Museum (opening by 2030). The sale was conducted without an export certificate, with the justification that the work will remain in France for most of the time, using temporary export licences for exhibitions in Doha. Critics, including heritage campaigner Julien Lacaze, argue this exemption is being misused, as it was intended for one-off exhibitions, not recurring rotations.

Repeat art fraudster arrested for stealing Courbet painting

London gallery owner Patrick Matthiesen consigned a Gustave Courbet painting, *Mother and Child on a Hammock* (1844), to the Nicholas Hall Gallery in New York for Tefaf Maastricht 2023, listed at $650,000. After it failed to sell, Matthiesen was contacted by a man calling himself Thomas Doyle (also A.J. Doyle), who claimed to be a former US Air Force pilot, government contractor, and art dealer with family ties to Doyle Auctions. Despite Doyle having 11 prior fraud convictions—including stealing a bronze Degas statue in 2007—Matthiesen was convinced by artworks Doyle sent for inspection, including works attributed to El Greco, Rubens, and a Michelangelo drawing. In 2024, Doyle borrowed the Courbet to show a potential buyer and never returned it. Doyle has now been arrested for the theft.

MFA Boston returns work by enslaved artist David Drake to his heirs, Wifredo Lam, Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Magi—podcast

The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston has agreed to return two 1857 works by the enslaved potter David Drake to his descendants. One vessel will remain on loan to the museum for at least two years, while the other, known as the "Poem Jar," has been purchased back by the museum for an undisclosed sum, now carrying a certificate of ethical ownership. The episode also covers the opening of the exhibition "Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, featuring the modernist painter of African and Chinese descent, and discusses Domenico Ghirlandaio's "Adoration of the Magi" (1488) in the context of a new book on Renaissance foundlings.

In Prague, the long-term future of Alphonse Mucha’s ‘Slav Epic’ hangs in the balance

Alphonse Mucha’s monumental 20-painting series *Slav Epic*, completed in 1928, has never received the permanent exhibition space in Prague that the artist demanded when he donated the work to the city. For decades the series has been displayed in Moravský Krumlov, and its current loan there was recently extended to 2031. Plans to install the Epic in a vaulted underground space designed by Thomas Heatherwick as part of Crestyl’s Savarin development have stalled due to permitting delays, though Crestyl now expects construction to begin in 2025 and open in 2029. Meanwhile, legal disputes persist: John Mucha (the artist’s grandson) had threatened to revoke the city’s ownership, and another granddaughter, Jarmila Mucha Plocková, has challenged the proposed location as unworthy.

almeida and dale raided missing alfredo volpi works 1234758804

Brazilian police raided the São Paulo branch of Almeida & Dale, a prominent gallery, on Wednesday in connection with three missing paintings by modernist Alfredo Volpi. The São Paulo State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic) executed a search warrant regarding the works, valued at R$6.4 million (about $1.2 million), which have been the subject of a civil dispute. The artist's estate accuses gallery cofounder Carlos Dale of brokering an unauthorized sale in 2006 of the paintings, which were reported stolen in 2008. No artworks were seized, but a laptop was taken, and the gallery has denied wrongdoing, stating it acted as an intermediary in legitimate transactions before any theft report.

strategic pause trend 2739853

A growing number of art fairs and galleries are publicly announcing a 'strategic pause'—a hiatus from their regular exhibition schedules to reassess their models. This week, Vienna's Spark Art Fair invoked the phrase to take a year off, following Berlin dealer Mehdi Chouakri's decision to suspend his gallery's exhibition program after 30 years. Last July, ADAA's Art Show coined the term when it announced a year-long break to reimagine the New York fair, and Taipei Dangdai in Taiwan followed suit days later. In December, an unprecedented number of galleries skipped Art Basel Miami Beach. The trend reflects a broader shift in the art world's willingness to openly acknowledge the need for rest and reinvention.

Urgent Request from Participating Artists and Curators of the 61st Venice Biennale

第61回ヴェネツィア・ビエンナーレ参加アーティストおよびキュレーターによる緊急要請

A group of 73 artists and curators participating in the 61st Venice Biennale, including Yoshiko Shimada and Bubu de la Madeleine, have issued an urgent demand to the Biennale's board to revoke Israel's participation. The collective specifically objects to the decision to relocate the Israeli pavilion to the Arsenale, arguing that its presence contradicts the curatorial vision of Artistic Director Koyo Kouoh, which emphasizes the dignity of all life. They contend that the military and police presence required for the pavilion introduces an atmosphere of violence and fear that undermines the exhibition's integrity.

After 11 Years in Court, Heir Reclaims a Modigliani Looted by the Nazis

A French court has ordered the restitution of a 1918 Amedeo Modigliani painting, "Seated Man with a Cane," to the heir of its original Jewish owner. The artwork was looted by the Nazis in 1944 and had been held for decades by a holding company controlled by billionaire art dealer David Nahmad, who purchased it at auction in 1996.

goliath goes to court abramovic brings installation to davos morning links for january 21 2026 1234770406

South African artist Gabrielle Goliath is taking legal action after her artwork was removed from the country's Venice Biennale pavilion. Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo will file an application with South Africa's High Court in Pretoria, arguing that the decision by Sport, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie is unconstitutional. They have also sent a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, demanding that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) honor the selection committee's original choice and allow the exhibition to proceed. Meanwhile, the DSAC has reportedly restarted the Biennale planning process with the collective Beyond the Frames.

V&A East opens as ‘civic space’ for creativity and community

V&A East Museum, a major new branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, opened on 18 April in London's Olympic Park as part of the East Bank cultural quarter. The free-entry museum features permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions, launching with a landmark show titled 'The Music is Black: A British Story,' which traces over a century of Black British music through more than 200 objects. Developed with BBC Music, the exhibition includes items from artists like Winifred Atwell, Little Simz, Skepta, and Mis-Teeq. The museum's permanent display, 'Why We Make,' was co-created with the V&A East Youth Collective and explores global creative motivations. The opening was marked by a star-studded event with performances by AJ Tracey, Beverley Knight, and MNEK.

Jerrell Gibbs: From NFL Dreams To His First Solo Museum Exhibition

Jerrell Gibbs, a former college football player and two-time college dropout, is now the subject of his first solo museum exhibition, "No Solace in the Shade," at the Brandywine Museum of Art. The article traces his unlikely journey from working double shifts in direct care to rediscovering his passion for drawing after seeing a photo of his wife and daughter, eventually earning a spot at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and building a career as a painter.

European Ministers Call on Venice Biennale to Exclude Russia

Twenty-two European ministers, led by Latvia's Minister of Culture Agnese Līce, have signed a joint letter calling for Russia to be barred from the 61st Venice Biennale. The ministers argue that Russia's planned participation, following its voluntary absence since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, would misuse a major cultural platform to legitimize military aggression and undermine international sanctions.

‘We refuse_d’: rehearsing refusal as method, memory, and possibility.

Marking the fifteenth anniversary of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the traveling exhibition ‘we refuse_d’ has opened at M HKA in Antwerp. Curated by Nadia Radwan and Vasif Kortun, the project draws on the intellectual lineage of Hannah Arendt’s reflections on displacement and the historical precedent of the Salon des Refusés. The exhibition features a constellation of works by artists including Khalil Rabah, Barış Doğrusöz, and Nour Shantout, exploring refusal not as a simple negation, but as a complex strategy for survival, dignity, and the preservation of memory.

underground railroad museum sues trump administration 1234778877

The Underground Railroad Education Center (UREC) in Albany, New York, has filed a lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) following the cancellation of a $250,000 grant. The legal action, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, alleges that the funding was revoked based on race and as part of a broader federal effort to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The center claims this cancellation violates its First and Fifth Amendment rights.

sperone westwater legal dispute closure 1234769268

Sperone Westwater, a 50-year-old New York gallery, closed at the end of 2025 amid a legal dispute between its two co-principals, Gian Enzo Sperone and Angela Westwater. Newly filed court documents reveal governance failures, financial disputes, and allegations of unpaid artists. The petition, filed in New York Supreme Court, seeks judicial dissolution of the corporation and appointment of a receiver, citing irreconcilable divisions and a breakdown in communication between the partners. Financial records show gallery revenue fell from $20 million in 2021 to $3.6 million in 2025, with losses in five of the past seven years.

nefertiti bust egypt zahi hawass demands return 1234768168

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass has renewed his demand for the return of the ancient bust of Nefertiti from Berlin's State Museums, citing the recent full opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near Giza as proof that Egypt can properly safeguard its artifacts. The bust, dating to ca. 1351–1334 BCE and discovered in 1912 by German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, has been on display at the Neues Museum since 2009. Hawass, who has shifted his position over time—calling the bust not looted in 2010 but “brazenly stolen” in 2024—argues that Western museums can no longer claim Egyptian institutions lack adequate climate control and display standards.

nanjing museum alleged art theft probe 1234768108

Chinese authorities have launched multiple investigations into allegations that staff at the state-run Nanjing Museum secretly removed cultural treasures from the collection and sold them on the open market. The scandal erupted after a 16th-century Ming dynasty painting, *Spring in Jiangnan* by Qiu Ying, appeared in a Beijing auction catalog with an estimate of 88 million yuan ($12.5 million), despite being part of a 1959 donation by collector Pang Laichen. The museum claimed the work and four others were deemed forgeries in the 1960s, deaccessioned in 1997, and sold to a provincial relics store in 2001 for 6,800 yuan. An 80-year-old retired employee, Guo Lidian, accused former museum director Xu Huping of orchestrating a large-scale theft and smuggling operation, including falsely certifying authentic works as replicas. Xu has denied involvement.

zohran mamdani signs open letter met museum union 1234767978

New York City Mayoral-Elect Zohran Mamdani has signed an open letter supporting roughly 1,000 workers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art who filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to form a bargaining unit. The vote is scheduled for January 13 and 15, 2026, and if approved, the Met would become the largest unionized museum in the country. The letter, released December 18 by the United Auto Workers (UAW), was also signed by Comptroller Elect Mark Levine and Manhattan Borough President Elect Brad Hoylman-Sigal, among other officials. The proposed union would cover curators, conservators, educators, and retail staff, citing long-term pay inequities, lack of job protection, and increasing workloads.

philadelphia art museum accuses ex director sasha suda theft 1234763125

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has accused its former director and CEO, Sasha Suda, of misappropriating funds and lying to cover up theft, according to a motion to compel arbitration filed by the museum. The motion denies Suda's claims of wrongful termination and alleges that she awarded herself unauthorized salary increases after the Compensation Committee denied her requests. Suda had filed a civil suit earlier this month alleging wrongful termination, unfair treatment, and abuse. Her lawyer, Luke Nikas, called the museum's allegations false and part of a pattern of misconduct.

elizabeth street garden eric adams zohran mamdani 1234761926

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has permanently designated the Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood as public parkland, a move that blocks his successor, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, from building affordable housing on the site. The one-acre art garden, managed by executive director Joseph Reiver since 1991, was previously slated for demolition under Adams to make way for housing, but he abandoned that plan in June after record public outcry and support from celebrities like Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Patti Smith. Mamdani, who campaigned on resurrecting affordable housing for older adults at the location, now needs state legislature approval to develop the land.

elizabeth street garden eric adams zohran mamdani 1234761926

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.

sasha suda investigated philadelphia art museum lawsuit 1234760847

Sasha Suda, former director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has filed a lawsuit against the institution after being dismissed last week. The suit alleges that board members accused her of misusing museum funds for personal gain, which she claims was part of a "sham" investigation. Reports indicate the investigation examined her salary—just under $729,000 in 2023, among the highest for museum leaders—and expenses that had already been cleared. Suda also alleges the "final straw" was a disagreement over board chair Ellen Caplan's attempt to bring lobbyist Melissa Heller onto the board, which Suda opposed. She says she was fired without valid basis while leading an event for international museum leaders.

mfa boston david drake vessels restitution 1234759453

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has restituted two large-scale ceramic vessels by David Drake, an enslaved potter, to his known descendants. The works—a "Poem Jar" and a "Signed Jar," both from 1857—were acquired by the museum in 1997 and 2011 respectively. On October 16, the MFA deaccessioned the jars and transferred ownership to Drake's descendants via the Dave the Potter Legacy Trust. The museum then repurchased the "Poem Jar," which re-entered the collection on October 23, while the "Signed Jar" remains with the family on long-term loan to the museum. The decision followed discussions prompted by the exhibition "Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina," co-organized with the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dartmouth Students Renew Calls to Remove Leon Black’s Name From Arts Center

Students at Dartmouth College have intensified their campaign to remove billionaire collector Leon Black’s name from the school’s visual arts center. The renewed push follows the release of Department of Justice files detailing Black’s extensive financial ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including $170 million in payments for tax and estate advice. While Black has denied all allegations of misconduct and his legal team maintains he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activities, student leaders are citing the college's recent decision to strip César Chávez’s name from a fellowship as a precedent for moral accountability.