gwyneth paltrow juliens auctions sale 2748938

Gwyneth Paltrow is partnering with Julien’s Auctions for a two-day sale on March 24–25 featuring personal items from her homes and wardrobe. The auction includes high-profile red carpet gowns by designers like Atelier Versace and Dior, design sketches for her iconic 1999 Oscars dress, and luxury furniture including pieces by Lindsey Adelman and Julian Mayor. A portion of the proceeds will benefit World Central Kitchen, a non-profit providing meals in response to humanitarian crises.

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Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities unveiled the newly restored Colossi of Memnon, two monumental quartzite statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, at the entrance of his 86-acre Luxor tomb site. The restoration, led by German-Armenian archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian and involving Waseda University, the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the World Monuments Fund, began in 2006 after decades of damage from earthquakes, floods, and looting. The team cleaned, 3D-scanned, and reassembled the statues using original fragments and new additions, also uncovering nearly 300 other sculptures and fragments. The Colossi now stand 45 feet tall, with the pharaoh depicted in royal regalia alongside smaller figures of his wives.

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Parisian auction house Gros and Delettrez is offering a 66 million-year-old Triceratops prorsus skull on December 11, with an estimate of €300,000–€500,000 ($345,615–$576,025). The specimen, which surfaced from Wyoming's Lance Formation, is exceptionally complete with over 70 percent of its original bones and all three original horns intact. This marks the auction house's first dinosaur offering and will christen its new Rive Gauche headquarters, with the skull going on view on December 9 alongside works by Pablo Picasso and Pierre Soulages.

New Bienal de Yucatán to spotlight Mexican region’s growing art scene

The city of Mérida is set to host the inaugural Bienal de Yucatán from November 2026 to February 2027, marking a significant milestone for the region's burgeoning contemporary art scene. Spearheaded by patron and curator Catherine Petitgas with artist Abraham Cruzvillegas serving as artistic director, the biennial aims to provide a formal platform for the city's dense ecosystem of over 40 galleries, international artist studios, and the Universidad de las Artes de Yucatán (UNAY). The announcement follows the successful debut of the Week of Art Yucatán (WAY), a multi-venue festival that showcased the city's unique blend of repurposed industrial spaces and traditional haciendas.

List of Failed Business Ideas Found Beneath Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”

A recent conservation analysis of Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" at the Rijksmuseum has revealed a surprising discovery beneath the painting's surface. Using macro X-ray fluorescence, researchers uncovered a handwritten list of alternative business ideas considered by the young Rembrandt, including face-painting at children's parties, an umbrella repair shop, and making luxury combs from fishbones.

Cult grocery store Erewhon opens café at new LACMA galleries.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened a new café operated by the upscale organic grocery chain Erewhon on its W.M. Keck plaza. The café, located in the plaza's northeast pavilion with a view of Alexander Calder's 1964 sculpture, opened for member previews on April 19th and will be accessible to the general public starting May 4th, running through the summer season.

What Works of Art Sank Aboard the Titanic?

Quelles sont les œuvres d’art englouties à bord du Titanic ?

The RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912, was carrying over 300 paintings, drawings, prints, and art objects according to its cargo manifest. The most famous artwork lost was the 1814 neoclassical painting 'La Circassienne au bain' by French artist Merry-Joseph Blondel, owned by Swedish businessman Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson, which was insured for $100,000. Also lost was the legendary 'Grand Omar,' a jewel-encrusted luxury edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, created by the London bindery Sangorski & Sutcliffe.

The Iran War Is Already Tanking Luxury Sales in the Gulf—Could Art Be Next?

Escalating military conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran, which has included strikes on Gulf states, is disrupting the region's burgeoning art market. Major events like Art Dubai have been postponed and scaled back significantly due to exhibitor withdrawals, and planned fairs like Frieze Abu Dhabi face uncertainty. The instability has also caused a sharp spike in shipping and insurance costs for artworks moving through the region.

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The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced that Leo Castañeda’s video game, Camoflux Recall Grotto, will be featured in the 2026 Whitney Biennial. Ahead of the exhibition's opening, the work is already accessible to the public online, allowing users to engage with a hand-painted digital environment inspired by the Amazon and the Everglades. The game emphasizes "mutualism" and environmental care, tasking players with cultivating "cyberflora" through a meditative, non-violent gameplay loop.

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Miami's Frost Museum of Science has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Transportation seeking the removal of a giant digital billboard on the grounds of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). The 1,800-square-foot sign, which advertises luxury brands like Tiffany and Yves Saint Laurent alongside PAMM programming, was built under a 2023 city commission exception that allowed billboards nearly twice the legal size limit. That exception was later overturned amid controversy over campaign contributions from the billboard's operator, Orange Barrel Media, to the commissioner who introduced it. PAMM argues the sign was approved by all relevant authorities, while Frost Science claims it violates state law, degrades the museum environment, and jeopardizes federal highway funding.

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Taylor Swift fans have flocked to the Wiesbaden State Museum in Germany to see Friedrich Heyser's painting 'Ophelia' (ca. 1900), which appears in the opening scene of Swift's music video for her song 'The Fate of Ophelia' from her album 'The Life of a Showgirl'. The museum saw hundreds of additional visitors last weekend, with director Andreas Henning expressing surprise and delight at the attention.

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Upsilon Gallery, founded by German-Argentine dealer Marcelo Zimmler, is opening a 200-square-meter space in Milan on November 18, its first continental European location. The gallery, which already has outposts in London and New York, will debut with a Milan chapter of Osvaldo Mariscotti's Valley series, part of a three-city exhibition. The move comes as Milan seeks to establish itself as a global art capital, with other galleries like Thaddaeus Ropac, Cardi Gallery, and Robilant + Voena also expanding there.

upsilon gallery milan opening 1234756444

Upsilon Gallery, founded by German-Argentine dealer Marcelo Zimmler, will open its first continental European location in Milan on November 18. The 200-square-meter space is situated near Via Monte Napoleone in the Quadrilatero fashion district, joining a wave of international galleries—including Thaddaeus Ropac, Cardi Gallery, and Robilant + Voena—that are betting on Milan's potential to become a global art capital. The inaugural exhibition features four canvases from Osvaldo Mariscotti's Valley series, with a bilingual catalogue edited by critics David Ebony and Alex Grimley, and coincides with twin shows in Upsilon's London and New York outposts.

schiaparelli paris recreates stolen louvre jewels 2740242

Schiaparelli's artistic director Daniel Roseberry debuted dramatic recreations of crown jewels stolen from the Louvre during the brand's Paris Haute Couture Week show. The pieces, worn by actor Teyana Taylor, were inspired by a pearl-and-diamond tiara and bow brooch once owned by Empress Eugénie, which were among an estimated $102 million in gems taken in a heist last October.

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Jonathan Anderson presented his debut haute couture collection for Dior, the Spring 2026 line, at Paris Fashion Week. The runway was transformed into a garden with suspended flowers, blending floral motifs with an edgy, exploratory aesthetic. Anderson drew inspiration from ceramicist Magdalene Odundo, whose sinuous forms influenced the collection's sculptural tension, and referenced 18th-century miniatures by Rosalba Carriera and John Smart for couture jewelry. The collection is now on view at the Musée Rodin in a week-long presentation titled "Grammar of Forms," alongside works by Christian Dior and Odundo.

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.

Art Collector and ‘Galerie’ Magazine Founder Lisa Fayne Cohen Fawned Over Jeffrey Epstein in Emails: ‘There Is No One Else Like You’

Newly released documents from the Justice Department's Epstein files reveal that New York art collector and Galerie magazine founder Lisa Fayne Cohen and her husband, real estate developer Jimmy Cohen, were in close contact with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 and 2016. The emails show Cohen seeking Epstein's advice and arranging to photograph his Paris apartment for her magazine, which later featured the residence anonymously in its second issue.

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Banksy has unveiled two identical murals in London, one near Tottenham Court Road Tube station and another in Queen's Mews, Bayswater. The artwork depicts two children lying on their backs, one pointing skyward, and was confirmed via the artist's Instagram. The piece appears during the Christmas season, but its placement near the landmark Centre Point skyscraper—a symbol of London's housing crisis—suggests a critique of homelessness and unaffordable housing.

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Sotheby's will hold its second auction in Saudi Arabia, titled "Origins II," on January 31 in Diriyah, following its first auction in the kingdom in February 2024. The inaugural sale, also called "Origins," achieved $17.3 million within pre-sale estimates but had a 65.8% sell-through rate, with 40 of 117 lots unsold, particularly jewelry and handbags. The upcoming auction will focus exclusively on fine art, featuring over 70 works by international and Middle Eastern artists, including Anish Kapoor, Andy Warhol, Mohammed Al Saleem, Mahmoud Sabri, and Samia Halaby. The sale is scheduled just before the inaugural Art Basel Qatar.

This Watch Witnessed the Rise of the Empire State Building. Now It’s Up for Sale

A rare 1929 Patek Philippe wristwatch, originally owned by Paul Starrett—the chairman of the corporation behind the Empire State Building—is headed to auction at Phillips in New York. The Tiffany & Co. signed timepiece was purchased by Starrett during the construction of the iconic skyscraper and features unique floral engravings alongside his initials. It is expected to fetch between $15,000 and $30,000 during the June sale.

Thinking Infrastructurally: On Diversity of Aesthetics, Part 2

The article, part of a series on e-flux, presents a theoretical analysis of the 1965 Watts rebellion through the lens of Guy Debord's Situationist thought. It examines how the rioters' destruction and theft of commodities, like refrigerators they couldn't power, acted as a rejection of capitalist integration and exposed the false promise of consumer affluence.

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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.

Louis Vuitton Opens Jean-Michel Othoniel Exhibition in Beijing

Art Exhibition Installations

Louis Vuitton has inaugurated 'Dazzling Trilogy,' a solo exhibition by French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel at the Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing. Running from April 15 through September 6, 2026, the show celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Espaces Louis Vuitton program and features four significant works from the Fondation Louis Vuitton collection. Highlights include an early 2002 water-filled glass installation and 'Rivière Rose,' a new site-specific floor piece composed of pink glass bricks.

72 Hours of Art in Salt Lake City: Museum Hopping, Spiral Jetty and Sculpture on the Slopes

Billionaire Reed Hastings, the former CEO of Netflix, has transformed Utah’s Powder Mountain ski resort into a unique 'skiable outdoor art museum.' Collaborating with landscape architect Reed Hilderbrand, the resort now features major installations by artists such as Nancy Holt, James Turrell, and EJ Hill. This development positions the resort as a contemporary companion to the region's historic land art landmarks, including Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty and Holt’s Sun Tunnels.

Step inside Luxembourg artist Massimo Beni’s studio

Luxembourg artist Massimo Beni gives a video tour of his home studio in Esch-sur-Alzette, demonstrating his creative process. Beni explains that his living space doubles as his workspace, allowing him to act on inspiration immediately. He shows how he uses both traditional sketching and digital tools like an iPad to develop his art, emphasizing the importance of never deleting or discarding unfinished work.

Museum Of Contemporary Art, Chicago — Yoko Ono: A Force Of Nature

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago is presenting "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind," a major retrospective of the artist's work that runs from October 18, 2025, to February 22, 2026. The exhibition features over 200 works spanning Ono's career, including interactive installations like "Wish Trees" and "Mend Piece," as well as iconic performances such as "Cut Piece." The show, which originated at the Tate Modern in London and will travel to The Broad in Los Angeles, highlights Ono's role in the Fluxus movement and her pioneering use of instruction-based art, film, and mixed media. The article also notes Ono's connection to Chicago through her permanent public sculpture "Sky Landing" in Jackson Park.

World Economic Forum and J. Paul Getty Trust bring art world leaders together to find ‘Connection in Times of Division’

The World Economic Forum and the J. Paul Getty Trust co-hosted a "cultural table" dinner for art world leaders on 23 October at the Hotel Le Meurice in Paris, themed "Bridging Worlds: Culture as a Force for Connection in Times of Division." The event, held in the Pompadour Room—where Pablo Picasso celebrated his 1918 wedding—was co-hosted by Getty president Katherine Fleming and WEF arts head Joseph Fowler, and marked the first collaboration between the two organizations. Fowler described the initiative as a global movement to place culture at the heart of systemic change, while Fleming emphasized art's unifying power and its measurable health benefits.

Kyle Stephan finds in art the power to activate people

Kyle Stephan has been appointed the new Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Block Museum at Northwestern University. A curator, scholar, and educator with expertise in global contemporary art, time-based media, and interdisciplinary practice, Stephan was inspired to pursue curatorial work after witnessing art's power to activate people and communities while working as a studio manager for artist Lynn Hershman Leeson in the 1990s San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a Ph.D. in art and art history from Stanford University and previously curated the first U.S. survey of Fluxus artist Wolf Vostell at Harvard Art Museums.

A centenary of style: why Art Deco's market appeal is evergreen

Art Deco, the French-led Modernist style that flourished between the world wars, is experiencing a centenary peak this autumn. A major exhibition at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, titled "1925-2025: One Hundred Years of Art Deco" (through April 2026), leads institutional celebrations, with smaller shows at the Musée Zadkine and Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, and a poster survey at the London Transport Museum. The style is also prominent on the art fair circuit: Eileen Gray’s Dragon armchair (1917-19) was redisplayed at FAB Paris, Galerie Jacques Lacoste featured a Deco stand at PAD London, and focused presentations are planned at Salon Art + Design in New York. Galleries like Galerie Marcilhac are expanding, with a new Paris space and plans to showcase Deco designers at upcoming fairs.

Yoko Ono launches playable online chess bot.

Chess.com has launched a digital chess bot inspired by Yoko Ono’s seminal 1966 conceptual artwork, Play It By Trust. The game features an all-white board and pieces, mirroring the original installation where players eventually lose track of their own pieces, forcing them to collaborate or abandon the competitive nature of the game. The release coincides with Ono’s 93rd birthday and the digital debut of the Oscar-winning short film War Is Over!, which draws from her and John Lennon’s peace activism.