Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 17, 2025 visibility 14 link 3 artists

samurai exhibition british museum

The British Museum has announced a major 2026 exhibition titled "Samurai" that will trace the 1,000-year history of Japan's warrior class. Spanning armor, woodblock prints, paintings, clothing, ceramics, and contemporary media, the show brings together 280 objects from the museum's own collection and international lenders. Highlights include a 17th-century suit of armor recently acquired by the museum, a portrait of envoy Mancio Itō by Domenico Tintoretto, and works by Katsushika Hokusai. The exhibition also examines the modern myth of the samurai as shaped by film, manga, and video games such as Akira Kurosawa's movies and Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 14, 2025 visibility 12 link 2 artists

met repatriates painting korea buddhist temple korean war

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has returned an 18th-century Korean painting, *The Tenth King of Hell* (1798), to Sinheungsa Temple in Sokcho, South Korea. The work, part of a ten-panel series called *Siwangdo* depicting kings of the afterlife, was illicitly taken from the temple in 1954 during the U.S. military presence after the Korean War. The Met purchased the painting in 2007 from a collector via an LLC linked to Bonhams’s Chinese art head. The repatriation was coordinated with the Sokcho Committee for the Return of Cultural Heritage and the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Six other panels were previously returned by LACMA in 2020; three remain abroad.

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article news schedule Nov 6, 2025 visibility 14 link 1 artist

lacma declines to voluntarily recognize union formed by hundreds of workers

Hundreds of staff at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) voted to form a union, LACMA United, in association with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36, calling for higher wages, better benefits, and greater transparency. LACMA leadership declined to voluntarily recognize the union, opting instead for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election, which is currently paused due to the federal government shutdown, effectively delaying the unionization effort. The union has filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), asserting its status as public sector employees.

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museum exhibitions schedule Oct 31, 2025 visibility 13 link 7 artists

vaginal davis moma ps1

The article profiles artist Vaginal Davis and her exhibition "Magnificent Product" at MoMA PS1, which opened shortly after the author visited. Davis, born in 1961, is described as a transformative figure who repurposes fragments of popular culture—from classic Hollywood to gay porn—to create immersive, queer alternate realities. The show includes works like *The Wicked Pavillion* (with *Fantasia Library* and *Tween Bedroom*, both 2021) and a collaboration with Jonathan Berger titled *Naked on my Ozgoad: Fausthaus—Anal Deep Throat* (2024–ongoing). Davis's practice is characterized by a playful, femme-centered critique of mainstream culture, centering Black women and inverting traditional gazes.

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article news schedule Oct 29, 2025 visibility 20 link 2 artists

lacma employees unionization effort

Employees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) have formed a union called LACMA United in association with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36. In a letter dated October 29 addressed to museum leadership, a supermajority of eligible staff across departments requested voluntary recognition by November 5, citing wages that have not kept up with the rising cost of living and the need for fairer compensation, expanded benefits, and greater transparency. The effort comes ahead of the opening of LACMA's new Peter Zumthor–designed David Geffen Galleries, scheduled for next April.

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candle obituary schedule Oct 29, 2025 visibility 18 link 3 artists

artist jackie ferrara died by assisted suicide at 95 in switzerland

Jackie Ferrara, a New York-based artist known for her stacked-wood sculptures, died by physician-assisted suicide in Basel, Switzerland, on October 22 at age 95. She told the New York Times she had fallen twice in the past year and did not want to be dependent on anyone. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland even for those who are not terminally ill.

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article news schedule Oct 28, 2025 visibility 18 link 6 artists

curators museum directors offer support in letter to louvre

Fifty-seven curators and museum directors, including Christophe Cherix of MoMA and Michael Govan of LACMA, signed an open letter published by Le Monde expressing solidarity with Louvre director Laurence des Cars following the theft of the museum's crown jewels. The letter emphasizes that museums are not immune to global violence and that such thefts represent a profound fear for museum professionals, while reaffirming that museums must remain open and accessible despite security risks.

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museum exhibitions schedule Oct 21, 2025 visibility 21 link 17 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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article news schedule Oct 14, 2025 visibility 13 link 2 artists

british museum tudor heart henry viii

The British Museum has launched a high-profile fundraising campaign to acquire the Tudor Heart, a gold pendant from the early reign of Henry VIII, discovered by amateur metal detectorist Charlie Clarke in Warwickshire in 2019. The museum needs to raise £3.5 million ($4.6 million) by early next year to secure the piece, which features symbols of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon and is described as the only surviving Tudor jewelry of its kind. Actor Damian Lewis and historian Mary Beard are supporting the appeal, and the museum will host its first British Museum Ball on October 18 to further fundraising efforts.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 11, 2025 visibility 21 link 3 artists, 4 galleries

upsilon gallery milan opening

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.

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candle obituary schedule Oct 7, 2025 visibility 11 link 4 artists

mohamed hamidi moroccan modernist painter obituary

Moroccan modernist painter Mohamed Hamidi has died at the age of 84, as announced by the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah. Born in Casablanca in 1941, Hamidi studied at the School of Fine Arts of Casablanca and later at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. A founding father of Moroccan modern art, he returned to Morocco in 1967 and taught at the Casablanca School, helping to democratize its curriculum. He participated in the landmark 1969 exhibition “Manifesto” in Marrakech and founded the Moroccan Association of Plastic Arts in 1972. His abstract, erotic paintings incorporated traditional Maghreb motifs and geometric shapes.

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museum exhibitions schedule Oct 2, 2025 visibility 21 link 9 artists

art nazy nazhand ist festival

Nazy Nazhand has been appointed Arts & Culture director of ISTANBUL’74 and is curating the 15th anniversary edition of IST.FESTIVAL in Istanbul, running from October 10-12. The festival, founded by Demet Müftüoğlu-Eşeli and Alphan Eşeli, adopts the theme “What Is Really Real?” and features public art installations, conversations, and performances. Participants include Jeff Koons, Flavin Judd, Stefan Sagmeister, Lou Doillon, Kid Cudi, and CULTURED editor-at-large Julia Halperin. The main exhibition will take place in the historic Arnavutköy neighborhood along the Bosphorus.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 27, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

menachem begin grandson avinadav art exhibition israel

Avinadav Begin, grandson of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, is currently exhibiting his latest abstract metal and steel works at Sheetrit & Wolf Contemporary Art Gallery in Tel Aviv. The pieces, which he describes as “openings, apertures,” are neither paintings nor sculptures but heavy hybrid forms weighing up to 220 pounds, resembling rubble and broken window frames. In interviews, Begin has emphasized his identity as an artist rather than a politician, distancing himself from the current Likud party leadership under Benjamin Netanyahu, while acknowledging the influence of the ongoing war and hostage crisis on his work.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 14 link 6 artists

nivaagaard collection susanna painting artemisia gentileschi

The Nivaagaard Collection, a small art museum in rural Denmark, has acquired Artemisia Gentileschi's painting *Susanna and the Elders* (1644–48), marking the first work by the Italian Baroque artist to enter a Danish institution. Director Andrea Rygg Karberg secured the painting from a private collection via New York–based Old Masters dealer Nicholas Hall, beating dozens of international galleries. The acquisition is described as the most important addition to the museum since its founding in 1908.

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trending_up market schedule Sep 18, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

interest in asian art strong despite challenges art market

The autumn edition of Asia Week New York is underway, with auction houses reporting strong interest in Asian art despite broader economic challenges. Bonhams kicked off the week with sales totaling $7.3 million, including Chinese ceramics and snuff bottles, though it offered 47% fewer lots than last year. Top results included a blue-and-white jar selling for $1.75 million and a pair of famille rose dishes for $1.5 million. Christie’s sold a Vasudeo S. Gaitonde painting for $2.35 million and a Tyeb Mehta work for nearly $2 million. New US tariffs under the Trump administration have added uncertainty, particularly for cross-border consignments and purchases.

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person people schedule Sep 18, 2025 visibility 15 link 8 artists

art young photographer chris cook

Cultured magazine profiles Chris Cook, a 33-year-old New York photographer nominated by Ming Smith. Cook describes himself as a "native tourist" of New York, chronicling urban life through photography. His book documenting the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests has been acquired by major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University, the British Library, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Cook cites influences such as Jamel Shabazz, Roy DeCarava, Ming Smith, Kerry James Marshall, Gary Simmons, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 10, 2025 visibility 21 link 5 artists

raphael exhibition 2026 metropolitan museum new york

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will open a landmark exhibition dedicated to Renaissance master Raphael in 2026. Titled "Raphael: Sublime Poetry," the show runs from March 29 to June 28 and will be the first major Raphael retrospective ever mounted in the United States. Curated by Carmen Bambach, the exhibition brings together 200 works including paintings, drawings, tapestries, and decorative arts, with loans from major museums worldwide such as the Louvre, the Uffizi, the Prado, and the Vatican Museums. Key loans include the Louvre's "Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione" and the Galleria Borghese's "Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn."

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article news schedule Jul 29, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

wesley lepatner met museum trustee dead

Wesley M. LePatner, a newly elected trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was among four people killed by a gunman in a Midtown office building on Monday. LePatner was a senior managing director at Blackstone, where she served as global head of its Core+ Real Estate division and CEO of the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. She had just been elected to the Met’s board in February and was previously a member of the Met’s Friends of European Paintings group.

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article news schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 16 link 5 artists

raphael rooms restoration discovery

The Vatican Museums have completed the decade-long restoration of the Hall of Constantine, one of the Raphael Rooms, revealing that Renaissance master Raphael himself painted two figures—Justice and Friendship—in the hall, contrary to the long-held belief that the entire room was executed solely by his assistants after his death. Conservators identified Raphael's hand by his distinctive oil-on-resin technique, which differed from the traditional fresco methods used by his assistants Giulio Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni, and Raffaellino del Colle. The discovery was made during a meticulous restoration that began in March 2015 and finished in December 2024.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 21, 2025 visibility 12 link 4 artists

nagakin capsule tower moma

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has acquired and put on display a capsule from the demolished Nagakin Capsule Tower in Tokyo. The capsule, designated A1305, is the centerpiece of a year-long exhibition titled "The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower," which also includes archival materials such as photographs, models, films, and recordings. The tower, designed by Kisho Kurokawa and completed in 1972, was a landmark of the Metabolism movement, featuring 140 prefabricated modules. After years of decline, it was demolished in 2022, but 23 capsules were salvaged, with 16 finding homes in institutions including MoMA.

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article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 13 link 5 artists

mick taylor guitar stolen met museum donation

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 16 link 7 artists

the met taps 3 international craftmakers for new artisan residency

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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article culture schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 13 link 3 artists

severance dieter rams braun vitsoe

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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article culture schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 15 link 3 artists

bint mbareh sound art palestinian resistance

Bint Mbareh, a Palestinian sound artist and stage name assumed around 2019, creates installations and performances that use water and sound as metaphors for Palestinian experience. Growing up in Ramallah and later studying at Goldsmiths in London, she learned geographically specific Palestinian rain-summoning songs, which she twists and destabilizes using digital technology in works like *Time Flows in All Directions: Water Flows Through Me* (2020). After October 7, 2023, she expanded her practice to include a “choir” of collaborators performing collective grief, with appearances at an Artists for Aid benefit concert in London and at Tate Modern. Recent installation works such as *Bodies of Knowledge* (Royal College of Art) and *What’s Left?* (Sharjah Biennial) incorporate water tanks vibrated by sound, evoking both childhood and displacement.

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trending_up market schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 23 link 12 artists, 1 gallery

asian artists under 35 are doing at auction

A new analysis by The Asia Pivot reveals that total global auction sales for Asian artists born between 1990 and 1999 dropped to $9.7 million in 2024, the lowest level in three years. The market for these young artists shows clear signs of cooling, with 696 lots sold out of 1,128 offered, a 62% sell-through rate, and an average price per lot falling 26.5% year-over-year to $13,905. Top-ranked artists like Raghav Babbar and Anna Park saw steep price declines, while a few consistent performers like Yukimasa Ida, Sun Yitian, and Chris Huen Sin-Kan maintained strong market recognition.

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article culture schedule May 27, 2025 visibility 16 link 2 artists

op ed museums gender and pay

The article examines how gender pay disparities and the fear of a "pink-collar" profession persist in the art museum world, triggered by comments from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about "masculine energy" in the workplace. It recounts a 2020 forum where National Gallery of Art director Kaywin Feldman expressed concern that art museums becoming predominantly female could lower salaries, a remark initially seen as sexist but later contextualized by the author's investigation into the origins of such fears. The author traces the concept to a 2016 New York Times article citing research on how female-dominated fields see pay drops, and explores how even progressive leaders like Feldman can inadvertently perpetuate gender bias.

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article policy schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 17 link 2 artists

whitney museum breuer building landmarked sothebys

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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article news schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 15 link 1 artist

protesters crash koch plaza opening at the met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled its new $65 million David H. Koch Plaza on Tuesday, featuring two 48-jet granite fountains, 106 newly planted trees, and shaded seating areas. The dedication ceremony included remarks from Met director Thomas Campbell, outgoing president Emily Rafferty, and trustee David Koch, who funded the project. However, the opening was disrupted by protesters criticizing Koch's climate change denial, leading to police clearing the plaza.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 14, 2025 visibility 18 link 9 artists

hilmas ghost feminist witch collective

At the Armory Show in New York, psychic medium Sarah Potter is offering tarot card readings at the booth of Chicago's Carrie Secrist Gallery using a deck designed by the feminist art collective Hilma's Ghost. The collective, formed during lockdown by abstract artists Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray, created "Abstract Futures Tarot," a series of 78 gouache, ink, and colored pencil paintings inspired by pioneering abstractionist Hilma af Klint and the Rider–Waite tarot deck by Pamela Colman Smith. The works, priced at $4,000 each, are the result of 500 hours of collaborative painting, and the deck is also sold in a limited edition of 300, with 215 already sold.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 13, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

diller scofidio and renfro venice canal water coffee wins golden lion

Diller Scofidio and Renfro (DS+R) has won a Golden Lion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale for "Canal Café," a project that brews espresso using water filtered from the Venetian lagoon. The installation, part of the biennale's exhibition "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective," uses a combination of biological filtration by salt-tolerant halophytes and artificial methods like reverse osmosis to purify the polluted canal water. Michelin-starred chef Davide Oldani selected the coffee blend, and the espresso is sold for €1.20. Originally conceived for the 2008 biennale but delayed due to permit issues, the project was realized with improved filtration technology and support from engineering firms Natural Systems Utilities and SODAI, as well as Webuild.

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