Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule May 20, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 7 link 13 artists

Phillips’ Evening Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art More than Doubles Auction Total from the Previous Year

Phillips’ Evening Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art achieved a total that more than doubled the previous year's auction result, driven by strong demand for works spanning the 19th to 21st centuries. The sale opened with three lots exceeding their high estimates, including record prices for Lee Bontecou's rare 'Untitled' (1985-2001), which set a new record for any two-dimensional work by the artist after nearly five minutes of bidding. Other records were set for Pat Passlof, P.S. Krøyer, and Joseph Yaeger. Top lots included Andy Warhol's 'Sixteen Jackies' ($16.2 million), Claude Monet's 'La Route de Vétheuil, effet de neige' ($9.9 million), and Jackson Pollock's 'Untitled' ($9.2 million). The sale also featured works from The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr., which achieved a combined $8.4 million, with two Vilhelm Hammershøi works acquired by prominent institutions.

newspaper ArtDependence open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 23, 2026 visibility 4

Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices

A fraudster named Andrew Crowley, 46, attempted to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby's, claiming they were inherited from his grandfather. The items—three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette—were valued at up to £680,000 if genuine. However, the scheme unraveled when forensic analysis revealed that the accompanying invoices, purportedly typed in 1976, were produced using printing methods invented in 2001. Sotheby's experts also spotted spelling errors. Crowley received a two-year suspended sentence after admitting to making a false representation to the auction house.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 21, 2026 visibility 4

British Museum reveals ticket prices for Bayeux Tapestry exhibition

The British Museum has announced ticket prices for its upcoming Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, running from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027. Top-price adult tickets will cost £33, with off-peak tickets at £27 and student/disabled tickets at £25. Super-off-peak tickets priced at £25 will be available for the last weekday slot during school terms. Members can book free timed tickets from 16 June, with public booking opening on 1 July. The tapestry, depicting the Norman invasion of 1066, will be displayed in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery while its home museum in Normandy undergoes renovations. Additionally, a garden installation titled 'Tapestry of Trees' by designer Andy Sturgeon has been unveiled on the museum forecourt, featuring 37 silver birch trees inspired by the tapestry.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 13

Parliamentary report calls for major changes at French museums in the wake of Louvre heist

A French parliamentary report published on 13 May, following the October 19 heist of the crown jewels at the Louvre, issues a damning assessment of the country's museum security and management. The commission heard around 100 testimonies and examined some 2,000 museums, dedicating a special chapter to the Louvre. It blames former director Laurence des Cars's leadership for a "dysfunctional drift" that prioritized contemporary art interventions and fashion shows over basic infrastructure and collection protection, allowing the heist to occur. The report lists rising threats including riots, burglaries, cyberattacks (which forced the National Museum of Natural History in Paris to cancel an exhibition after a ransomware attack in July 2025), and terrorist plots. It proposes 40 recommendations, including raising budgets by an estimated €20–25 billion over a decade, enhancing staff training, and overhauling museum leadership.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 18

America’s Museums Have a Building Problem

A new report from the Government Accountability Office, analyzed by The Art Newspaper, reveals that roughly 85 percent of American museums are dealing with deferred maintenance or major repair needs, and about 77 percent have at least one structural issue that could endanger their collections. Many of the country's 16,700 museums are small, under-resourced operations housed in aging or historic buildings, with half reporting over $100,000 in deferred maintenance. Basic repairs like roofs or HVAC systems can consume large portions of annual budgets, forcing some institutions to store artworks in makeshift spaces like garages or bathrooms.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 25

No money, more problems: 85% of US museums in urgent need of building repairs

A recent survey by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that approximately 85% of US museums face a costly backlog of maintenance or building repairs, with 77% having at least one structural issue that puts their collections at risk. Based on a survey of around 300 museums and 17 site visits, the report reveals that institutions across the country struggle to keep buildings updated and safe due to a lack of funding, with challenges especially pronounced in rural and remote locations where shipping materials and finding skilled workers is prohibitively expensive. Many museums are housed in historic homes or sites that are part of their collections, adding further complexity, and smaller museums often lack the budget to address major problems like new roofs or HVAC systems.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 18, 2026 visibility 18

Reimagining communities: inside the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit

The Hong Kong International Cultural Summit returns on March 22-23, gathering cultural leaders from 14 countries in the West Kowloon Cultural District to discuss how institutions can reimagine their relationship with communities. Key figures like M+ Museum Director Suhanya Raffel, Hong Kong Palace Museum Director Louis Ng, and WestK CEO Betty Fung highlight the district's cross-disciplinary, audience-focused approach.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Mar 17, 2026 visibility 13

China’s Tech Capital Wants to Be an Art Hub, Too

Shenzhen, China's major technology hub, is making a concerted push to become a significant player in the art world. The city began 2025 with major announcements from tech giants JD.com and Tencent, which are establishing new art museums in the city, appointing prominent directors Robin Peckham and Pi Li to lead them. This follows years of building cultural infrastructure, including the OCAT museum, the Sea World Culture and Arts Center, and the growth of local art fairs like Art Shenzhen.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Feb 23, 2026 visibility 12

qubbet al hawa egypt tombs pottery discovered

A research team from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities has unearthed a significant cache of artifacts at the Qubbet Al-Hawa necropolis near Aswan. The discovery includes two chambers containing 160 well-preserved pottery vessels, many inscribed with text, alongside a courtyard filled with Middle Kingdom jewelry, bronze mirrors, and kohl containers. These finds were located within rock-cut burial shafts that served as resting places for ancient Egyptian elite.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Feb 12, 2026 visibility 10

belgian museum colonial records congo minerals company

The Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, a museum dedicated to the country's colonial history in Africa, is at the center of a dispute over access to its historical geological records from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese government and KoBold Metals, a mining company backed by billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, are seeking access to these documents, which detail rich mineral deposits, as part of a deal to digitize them and explore for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Jan 29, 2026 visibility 13

mfa boston layoffs

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has laid off 57 employees, with an additional 56 staff members taking voluntary retirement. The cuts are a direct response to the severe financial impact of the museum's extended closure due to the public health crisis, which has led to massive losses in revenue from admissions, events, and retail.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jan 28, 2026 visibility 10

museum of fine arts boston layoffs

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston announced layoffs affecting approximately 30 staff members, a 6.3% reduction of its workforce, effective this Friday. The decision was communicated via an internal email obtained by WBUR, citing an unsustainable deficit and the need for financial restructuring. The MFA, Boston Union, which represents 16 of the affected employees, expressed concern and called for negotiations to avert layoffs and preserve workforce diversity. This follows a previous round of layoffs and early retirements in 2020.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 24, 2025 visibility 11

estruscan exhibition legion honor san francisco

San Francisco's Legion of Honor museum will present "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy" in May 2026, the first major U.S. exhibition on Etruscan civilization since 2009. The show features 180 antiquities from 30 international museums, many never before seen in the United States, and culminates a decade of research led by curator Reneé Dreyfus. Highlights include objects from the Regolini-Galassi tomb, a recently unearthed bronze sculpture from San Casciano dei Bagni, and the longest known Etruscan inscription making its U.S. debut.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 11

louvre director new security plan heist

Louvre director Laurence des Cars defended the museum's security protocols in a New York Times interview following a recent robbery. She revealed that a comprehensive security review had already been initiated, including a master plan to add 100 cameras to the museum's perimeter, and that several companies had bid on the project before the theft occurred. However, she acknowledged that implementation has been slow due to the museum's scale and public procurement rules, with the full camera system not expected to be operational until the end of next year.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 14

grand egyptian museum ticketing policy

The Grand Egyptian Museum, which opened on November 4 after two decades of planning, faced immediate crowd control issues after overselling tickets. More than 27,000 tickets were sold against a daily limit of 20,000, leading to thousands of frustrated visitors being denied entry. Museum CEO Ahmed Ghoneim announced a shift to an online-only booking system and pledged to reassess policies. Controversy also erupted over claims of a ticketing quota favoring foreigners over Egyptians, which Ghoneim denied, stating the museum would ensure no group exceeds a 60-40 split seasonally.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 10

british museum tobacco deal health pact

The British Museum has ended a 15-year sponsorship deal with Japan Tobacco International (JTI) after concerns that the partnership violated the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which the UK signed in 2004. The decision followed pressure from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which provides the museum with around £75 million annually. The sponsorship had funded acquisitions of over 2,400 Japanese objects, a curatorial post, an African heritage tour, and diversity training, while giving JTI access to museum galleries for private events and filming, which critics said allowed the tobacco company to launder its reputation and meet policymakers.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Jul 2, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 gallery

hauser amp wirth owners relocate switzerland from uk

Iwan and Manuela Wirth, owners of the global art gallery Hauser & Wirth, have relocated their permanent residency from the United Kingdom to Switzerland, where the gallery’s holding company is based. The move was registered in documents filed with Companies House this month, and the gallery confirmed to the Financial Times that the decision was for personal reasons, unrelated to tax law changes. Despite the relocation, the Wirths plan to open a new London location in 2026, and their UK gallery reported a 13 percent drop in turnover to £144 million in 2023.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Jun 30, 2025 visibility 13

netherlands returns 119 benin bronzes to nigeria in landmark repatriation agreement

The Netherlands has signed an agreement to return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, one of the largest repatriations of looted artifacts to date. The transfer, formalized on February 19 by Dutch culture minister Eppo Bruins and Nigerian official Olugbile Holloway at the Wereldmuseum in Leiden, includes 113 bronzes from the Dutch National Collection held at the museum and six additional objects from the municipality of Rotterdam. The artifacts were plundered by British forces in 1897 and later acquired by Dutch institutions, with provenance research confirming the museums were aware of their looted origins.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Jun 26, 2025 visibility 16

new european union law antiquities trafficking june 28

A new European Union law, Regulation 2019/880, aimed at preventing the sale of looted antiquities, is set to go into effect on June 28. The law imposes heightened due diligence requirements on anyone importing cultural goods from outside the EU, including fine arts, antiquities, and decorative arts. It categorizes cultural goods into three groups, with the strictest rules for archaeological items over 250 years old, which require an import license and proof of legal export. Non-compliance could lead to seizures or criminal consequences for art dealers, collectors, and professionals. While there is a partial exemption for temporary exhibitions, it primarily benefits museums outside the EU, leaving private collectors without the same protections.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Jun 17, 2025 visibility 9

israeli attacks on palestinian heritage sites constitute war crimes un report

A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Israeli attacks on cultural and religious sites in occupied Palestinian territory constitute war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. The report focuses on ten specific sites in Gaza, including the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, the Great Omari mosque, Al Mat'haf Museum, and the Pasha Palace Museum, which were destroyed, looted, or severely damaged between October and December 2023. The commission found that Israeli security forces should have known the locations and significance of these sites and that their attacks violated international law, including intentionally directing attacks against religious and historic monuments and causing excessive damage to civilian objects.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 20, 2025 visibility 14

getty villa reopen june 27 palisades fire

The Getty Villa will reopen on June 27 after closing on January 7 due to the Palisades Fire, which burned 23,448 acres and destroyed many homes of artists and art professionals. Seventeen Getty staff members volunteered to stay on site to protect the museum, sealing galleries and extinguishing small fires, while LAFD water drops and firefighting efforts helped spare the institution. The reopening will feature the exhibition "The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece," showcasing over 230 works from the Late Bronze Age, including clay tablets in early Greek script and the Pylos Combat Agate sealstone dating to 1450 BCE.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule May 9, 2025 visibility 8

us regional arts organizations decry nea cuts

Regional arts organizations across the United States are speaking out against recent cuts by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Trump administration proposed budget cuts that would effectively eliminate the agency by 2026, prompting the NEA to cancel many of its 2025 grants. A collective of U.S. Regional Arts Organizations issued a joint statement urging Congress to restore grant funding and maintain bipartisan support for the NEA. The cancellations also affect humanities councils in 56 states and jurisdictions, which expected about $65 million from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) out of its $210 million annual budget. Three humanities organizations are currently suing the NEH and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the dismantling.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 12

4000 year old greek vase smashed

A museum visitor at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum on Crete tripped and fell, grabbing a 4,000-year-old Minoan vase to break her fall and completely shattering the artifact. The Greek Culture Ministry reported the visitor suffered minor leg injuries, but restorers are optimistic and believe the vase could be back on display as soon as today. The vase had previously been repaired in antiquity, suggesting it was also damaged thousands of years ago.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 25, 2025 visibility 11

terracotta warriors return bowers museum

The Bowers Museum in California is set to open "World of the Terracotta Warriors" on May 24, bringing together 110 newly discovered archaeological treasures from Shaanxi, China, including Terracotta Warriors, bronze vessels, chariot regalia, and jade and gold artifacts. The exhibition, curated by Tianlong Jiao, expands beyond the famed terracotta army to showcase decades of archaeological research across Shaanxi, highlighting social and cultural changes from about 2300 B.C.E. to 206 B.C.E., with finds from sites like Shimao and Zhaigou.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 22, 2026 visibility 2 link 3 artists

Double Take: Recurrent Dialogues in the Art of Herbert Bayer

The Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies in Aspen, Colorado, is opening a new exhibition titled "Double Take: Recurrent Dialogues in the Art of Herbert Bayer" on June 12, 2026. The show features over 70 works by Bayer, many rarely seen, on loan from the Denver Art Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the George Eastman Museum. The exhibition pairs and clusters Bayer's works to explore the interdependency of mediums across his career, from 1930s surrealist photomontages to 1970s geometric abstractions.

newspaper Aspen Public Radio open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 13 link 3 artists

Racine Art Museum announces sizzling slate of summer events

The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and its Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts campus have announced a packed schedule of summer events for 2026, including new programs like the Twilight Garden Series, which combines cocktails, creativity, and themed activities. Highlights include Free First Friday, a Master Workshop with artist Liandra Skenandore on black ash plaiting, Kids Day inspired by the Handcrafted exhibition, and City Movie Night featuring a screening of Lilo & Stitch (2025). Wustum also offers one of Wisconsin's largest museum-based studio arts programs with over 60 class options in ceramics, drawing, glass, fiber, jewelry, painting, and paper arts.

newspaper Milwaukee Record open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 19 link 4 artists

Meet the artist turning Venezuelan protest music into art

Nadia Hernández, a Venezuelan-born artist now based in Melbourne, has created a multidisciplinary installation titled "Para verte mejor, en todo tiempo" (To see you better, at all times) currently on view at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The work traces the history of Venezuelan protest music, incorporating a textile collage, a soundscape, and a site-specific mural. Hernández, who won the Grace Cossington Smith Art Award in 2021 and was a finalist for the Ramsay Art Prize and Sulman Prize in 2023, began this project two years ago as an evolving archive of protest songs, building on earlier iterations shown at the Oslo Freedom Forum, TarraWarra Biennial, and Art Basel Hong Kong.

newspaper Australian Broadcasting Corporation open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup

This article appears to be about an exhibition titled "Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup" hosted by the National Gallery of Canada (www.gallery.ca). However, the provided text consists solely of a security verification page and error messages, not the actual article content. No substantive information about the exhibition, the artist, or any events is available from this text.

newspaper gallery.ca open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 4, 2026 visibility 16 link 6 artists

Discover The Met Store’s Special-Edition Products in Celebration of “Costume Art” for the 2026 Met Gala

The Met Store has launched a range of special-edition products to commemorate the 2026 Met Gala and its accompanying exhibition "Costume Art" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection includes bespoke items from designers such as Tory Burch, Thom Browne, Michael Kors, John Derian, Elif Uras, and Jean Paul Gaultier, as well as an exhibition catalogue by Andrew Bolton. The products are available online and in-store starting May 5.

newspaper Vogue open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 16 link 10 artists

Painting LACMA's David Geffen Galleries with Light, Shadow, and Color

LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries, designed by architect Peter Zumthor, feature custom-tinted concrete walls that break from traditional museum aesthetics. The walls are coated with a transparent, nano-scale mineral glaze developed by Zumthor and Swiss craftsman Marius Fontana, manufactured by German company Keim. The palette—dusky red, vibrant blue, and nuanced black—was inspired by ancient Indigenous American pigments prepared by artist Porfirio Gutiérrez for the museum's exhibition "We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art." Diana Magaloni, LACMA's Senior Deputy Director for Conservation, Curatorial and Exhibitions, led the conceptualization and application of the glazes, which are designed to enhance the building's interplay of light and shadow without obscuring its raw concrete surfaces.

newspaper LACMA open_in_new Read original