From New York to Cape Town: Discover 9 new galleries at Art Basel Paris

Art Basel Paris returns to the Grand Palais in 2025 with 206 exhibitors from 41 countries, including 29 first-time participants. The article highlights nine new galleries in the main sector, such as Stevenson (Cape Town), Lodovico Corsini (Brussels), Crèvecœur (Paris), Jan Kaps (Cologne), The Approach (London), and 47 Canal (New York), each presenting distinctive artists and works that reflect global contemporary art trends.

New chapter for Artbo: Colombia’s art market finds resilience amidst flux

The 21st edition of Artbo, Colombia's premier art fair, opened in Bogotá with 46 galleries, down from its peak a decade ago. The fair is framed by the inaugural Bogotá Biennial, which adds international draw, and a leadership change: Jaime A. Martínez, an art historian and former gallerist, takes over from María Paz Gaviria. Early sales include works by Tania Candiani, Marcelo Moscheta, and Ximena Garrido-Lecca, with galleries reporting cautious but engaged Colombian collectors.

New York’s Tilton Gallery staging final exhibition after more than four decades in business

New York’s Tilton Gallery has announced that its upcoming exhibition dedicated to German-born American conceptual artist Ruth Vollmer will be its final show, closing after more than four decades in business. The gallery, founded by Jack Tilton in 1983, has been run by his widow Connie Rogers Tilton since his death in 2017. The Vollmer exhibition runs from 30 September to 15 November, after which Rogers Tilton plans to transition to private sales and research projects.

Sydney Contemporary art fair sees fourth year of decline in sales

Sydney Contemporary, Australia's largest contemporary art fair, reported A$16m (US$10.5m) in sales for its 2025 edition, marking a fourth consecutive year of decline. The fair, held from 11 to 14 September at Carriageworks, featured 116 exhibitors and nearly 500 artists, making it the largest edition to date. Despite the drop from last year's A$17.5m and A$23m in 2022, founder Tim Etchells remains committed, citing record visitor numbers of 26,440 and a shift in buyer behavior where sales often close weeks after the fair. Notable sales included a A$1.5m painting by Emily Kam Kngwarray, still under consideration by a collector. A new photography section, Photo Sydney, debuted and will return next year.

Picasso or Bitcoin? How art’s status is changing among the super-rich

Christie's and Sotheby's reported nearly flat first-half 2025 sales of $2.1bn and $2.2bn respectively, with Christie's 20th/21st-century art sales down 2% but luxury up 29%. The Mei Moses Art Index shows over 50% of auction lots sold at negative compound annual returns, which analyst Michael Moses calls 'the worst overall financial performance in the 21st century.' Meanwhile, Bitcoin, gold, and stocks have significantly outperformed art, with BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF alone attracting $84bn—far exceeding the global art market's total value. A record $43.9m Canaletto sale to a Bezos-linked buyer underscores that top-tier works still command attention, but the broader trend suggests wealthy investors are prioritizing financial returns over art as a status symbol.

Yuan Fang’s Visceral Paintings at Skarstedt Confront the Body’s Fragility and Its Strength

Yuan Fang presents a new series of visceral abstract paintings at Skarstedt Chelsea, created after she was diagnosed with cancer. The works mark a shift from her earlier gestural abstraction, confronting the fragility and resilience of the body through intuitive, layered processes that evoke cycles of generation, decay, and rebirth. Fang, who gained international attention during the pandemic, joined Skarstedt last year and continues to attract collectors in Hong Kong and beyond.

The Slow Death of the Contemporary Art Gallery

The article reports on the decline of the traditional contemporary art gallery model, driven by rising rents, changing collector behavior, and the rise of new artist categories. Tim Blum closed his Blum & Poe galleries in Los Angeles and Tokyo, citing systemic issues rather than market conditions. Art Basel and UBS data show the art market shrank overall but the number of sales increased, indicating a shift toward mid-priced works. Collectors are moving away from "blue-chip" artists toward "red-chip" artists who gain value through viral hype and cultural relevance, exemplified by Olaolu Slawn's accessible solo show at Saatchi Yates. Celebrities like actor Adrien Brody are also entering the market, though his work has been criticized as derivative. Meanwhile, smaller galleries like Tiwa Gallery, Landdd, and Marta are thriving by focusing on genuine connection, and retail spaces like Gentle Monster and Dover Street Market are blending art with commerce.

Bollywood Star Sonam Kapoor on the Women Who Shaped Her Eye for South Asian Art

Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor discusses her evolution as an art collector, shaped by the women in her family—her mother Sunita Kapoor and aunt Kavita Singh, a Mumbai-based interior designer and art curator. Kapoor began collecting instinctively, drawn to South Asian modernists like Amrita Sher-Gil and Manjit Bawa, but has recently shifted toward contemporary works and underrepresented artists, especially women and those outside major art hubs. She sources art from galleries such as Jhaveri Contemporary, Chemould Prescott, and Nature Morte, as well as auction houses including Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Saffronart. Kapoor was on the host committee for the Serpentine Summer Party in London, where she admired Arpita Singh’s first institutional solo show outside India.

CLEARING to close its New York and Los Angeles galleries after 14 years.

CLEARING, a New York-based gallery known for representing artists such as Marguerite Humeau, Korakrit Arunanondchai, and Harold Ancart, is closing its Manhattan and Los Angeles locations after 14 years. Founder Olivier Babin announced the closure on Instagram, citing no viable path forward due to rising overhead costs for rent, shipping, and art fairs, alongside declining revenues. The gallery opened in Brooklyn in 2011, later expanded to Brussels, and moved to a larger Bowery space in 2023 before the financial pressures became unsustainable. Its final exhibitions were solo shows by Coco Young in New York and Henry Curchod in Los Angeles.

Art’s new hybrid economy: who is making creative waves in a sector where analogue and digital media exist together?

The article examines how contemporary artists are navigating a hybrid art economy where analogue and digital media converge, particularly in the age of AI. It profiles Simon Denny, recently appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, whose machine-assisted paintings at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler in Berlin address the illegibility of AI-generated images and the militarized rhetoric of Italian Futurism. Other artists featured include Sara Ludy, whose postdigital paintings at Smart Objects, Los Angeles, reflect screen-based perception, and Chris Dorland, whose exhibition at Nicoletti Contemporary, London, exposes the limits of technical systems through glitch aesthetics. Hito Steyerl's new book *Medium Hot: Images in the Age of Heat* (2025) is also discussed, questioning the role of images in an era of operational, nonhuman vision.

Meet Paris’s new art vanguard

The article profiles a new wave of artist-run spaces and independent art venues that have emerged in Paris over the past decade. It highlights collectives like Le Wonder, which began in 2013 and has moved through several post-industrial locations before settling in Bobigny in 2023, and DOC, founded by graduates of the École nationale supérieure d’art de Paris Cergy in 2015. Smaller initiatives such as Tonus, run by artist-graphic designers Jacent, and the bookstore-publisher After 8 Books, which grew out of the earlier space castillo/corrales, are also featured. The Anglo-French duo behind Goswell Road, Coralie Ruiz and Anthony Stephinson, round out the portrait of a decentralized, peer-driven ecosystem.

New dealer-run fair aims to fill gap left by Design Miami

A group of 11 mostly French galleries, led by Charlotte Ketabi-Lebard of Parisian gallery Ketabi Bourdet, have launched Maze Design Basel, a new dealer-run design fair to fill the gap left by the cancellation of Design Miami Basel. The fair is held in the 19th-century Elisabethenkirche church next to Basel's Kunsthalle, with stands arranged throughout the nave, mezzanines, chancel, pulpit, and clerestory. The vernissage on June 16 was playful and relaxed, with sales reported by all exhibitors and about 1,000 guests attending the preview.

London Gallery Weekend 2025: must-see shows for digital art lovers

London Gallery Weekend (LGW) 2025 features a strong digital art focus, with must-see shows by artists including Auriea Harvey, Tyler Hobbs, Beeple, and Robert Alice. Highlights include Beeple's interactive video sculpture *Tree of Knowledge* at the first South By Southwest London festival, LoVid's 25-year exploration of video and hand-stitched textiles at Gazelli Art House, David Salle's AI-assisted paintings at Thaddaeus Ropac, and Máté Orr's digital-first folklore paintings at JD Malat Gallery. The festival, where *The Art Newspaper* moderated a panel, underscores London's emergence as a digital art capital.

Six Shows to See in Beijing This Month

Ocula's China team has selected six must-see exhibitions in Beijing during Gallery Weekend Beijing (23 May–1 June 2025), highlighting emerging to mid-career Chinese artists. The article profiles shows at galleries including White Space, Tabula Rasa Gallery, and others, featuring artists such as Tant Yunshu Zhong, Xinyi Cheng, Evelyn Taocheng Wang, and Li Shurui. The 2025 edition of Gallery Weekend Beijing removes the Visiting Sector, which previously hosted international galleries like Chantal Crousel, Gladstone, and Sprüth Magers, shifting focus to domestic talent.

Taiwan's newest art institution taps into a flourishing local scene

A new art museum, the New Taipei City Art Museum (NTCAM), will open on 25 April in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Designed by Kris Yao of Artech, the 32,641 sq. m building features eight floors, five exhibition halls, and a 500-seat auditorium, part of a larger complex with a park and creative cluster. Director Lai Hsiang-ling, who previously led Shanghai's Rockbund Art Museum, aims to help the city emerge from Taipei's cultural shadow by leveraging its grassroots creative energy and industrial capabilities. Four inaugural exhibitions will showcase local artists including the Xindian Boys, Yuan Goang-ming, and Wu Mali, alongside an international advisory committee featuring Aric Chen, Patrick Flores, and Clara Kim.

Why the inaugural Art Week Riyadh was a fair in everything but name

The inaugural Art Week Riyadh (AWR), organized by Saudi Arabia's Visual Arts Commission, took place from April 6-13 in the Jax district of Diriyah. Though officially billed as a non-commercial curated exhibition, the event functioned much like an art fair, with 32 galleries displaying available works, price lists visible on stands, and sales conducted throughout the week. The main exhibition, titled "At The Edge," was curated by Vittoria Matarrese with associate curators Basma Harasani and Victoria Gandit Lelandais, featuring galleries from Saudi Arabia and the wider region. Standout presentations included works by Ayesha Sultana, Mohamed Bourouissa, Mohammed Al Resayes, and Miramar Al Nayyar, alongside a moving image section and a satellite program of open studios and gallery shows.

Canadian art museum gets $36m funding boost for expansion from provincial government

The Ontario provincial government has announced a C$50 million ($36 million) investment to expand and modernize the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario. This is the first capital investment from the province in 43 years, and it will fund repairs, upgrades, and expansion of the 70-year-old building, increasing capacity for programs and events. The museum, founded in 1966, is Canada's largest publicly funded art museum focused exclusively on Canadian and Indigenous art, housing over 7,000 works including pieces by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, and First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and contemporary artists.

Air de Paris, a Radical Stalwart of the French Gallery Scene, Is Closing

After 36 years and over 400 exhibitions, the radical Parisian gallery Air de Paris is closing due to bankruptcy. Co-founders Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino decided to shutter the gallery after its financial situation became fragile, compounded by Bonnefous's health issues (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and their refusal to adapt to the increasingly profit-driven, corporatist art market. The gallery's final show, titled “Oh What a Time,” in Romainville featured works by artists including Joseph Grigely, Amy Vogel, Allen Ruppersberg, Pierre Joseph, Mona Varichon, Pati Hill, Lily van der Stokker, and Trisha Donnelly.

The Illuminated Room

The article presents an excerpt from Nathaniel Dorsky's book "Devotional Cinema," focusing on a chapter titled "The Illuminated Room." Dorsky explores the historical and perceptual relationship between cinema, vision, and spirituality, comparing the experience of watching a film in a dark theater to medieval conceptions of self-luminosity, as exemplified by stained glass windows in cathedrals like Chartres.

Hong Kong show offers 'most comprehensive survey' of 21st-century Chinese art

Tai Kwun in Hong Kong is presenting a two-part exhibition titled 'Stay Connected: Art and China Since 2008,' aiming to be the most comprehensive survey of 21st-century Chinese art. The first part, 'Navigating the Cloud,' examined the early internet's influence, while the current second part, 'Supplying the Globe,' focuses on the physical world of labor and China's manufacturing supply chain. The show is structured thematically, exploring ecological footprints, reconfigured labor, networks of exchange, and global realignment.

Group "New Generation" Plans "Art Protest" on Wednesday

Gruppe "Neue Generation" plant "Kunstprotest" am Mittwoch

The activist group "Neue Generation" has announced a week of protests in Berlin under the theme "Revolution Days," promising creative and artistically designed actions. Their activities began with a "protest dance" on the steps of the Reichstag building, leading to three participants being investigated for trespassing. The group has scheduled a "Kunstprotest" (art protest) for Wednesday and a "revolutions attempt in the government district" for Thursday.

Where are the Louvre Jewels?

Wo sind die Louvre-Juwelen?

Six months after a high-profile heist at the Louvre, investigators remain in pursuit of stolen jewelry valued at approximately €88 million. While four suspects are currently in custody, the bulk of the Second Empire-era treasures remains missing, leading to fears that the pieces may have been dismantled or melted down. The investigation has shifted focus toward how the thieves obtained a sensitive 2018 security audit that detailed vulnerabilities in the museum's defenses.

Meloni takes control of Italian museums

Meloni reprend en main les musées italiens

Italy’s culture ministry under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has appointed 14 new directors for so-called “second-tier” museums, reinforcing a shift away from the international “super-director” model introduced by the 2014 Franceschini reform. All appointees are Italian except for French director Axel Hémery, who was reappointed at the Pinacoteca di Siena due to his strong performance. The move follows the earlier ousting of foreign directors at top-tier museums, with only two foreign-born directors—Eike Schmidt and Gabriel Zuchtriegel—remaining, both of whom hold Italian citizenship.

How the State Supports Provenance Research

Comment l’État soutient la recherche de provenance

The French Ministry of Culture has created two specialized missions to assist museums in researching the provenance of their collections, addressing looted artworks, human remains, colonial acquisitions, and illicit trafficking. The Mission for Research and Restitution of Looted Cultural Property (M2RS), established in 2019, focuses on Nazi-era spoliations (1933-1945) with a budget of €220,000 annually, while the newer Mission "Provenance," launched in 2024 under curator Catherine Chevillot, covers human remains, colonial-era objects, and illicit goods with a €450,000 budget. These missions provide expertise, funding, and coordination with institutions like the Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation (CIVS), though most museums still only initiate provenance checks during acquisitions or donations.

Outsourcing Museum Reception: A Booming Model

Externaliser l’accueil dans les musées, un modèle en plein essor

French museums are increasingly outsourcing front-of-house services, including ticketing, reception, and crowd management, to specialized private firms. This trend, which gained momentum with the opening of the Musée du quai Branly in 2006, allows public institutions to focus internal resources on core missions like conservation and curation while utilizing flexible, external labor for high-traffic operations. The market for these cultural services in France is projected to reach approximately €50 million by 2025.

A young but already highly competitive profession

Un métier jeune mais déjà très concurrentiel

The museum visitor services sector in France is undergoing rapid professionalization as specialized outsourcing firms compete for lucrative contracts. Companies like Marianne International, Pénélope, and City One—originally rooted in corporate reception and event management—are now managing front-of-house operations for major institutions including the Palais de Tokyo, MuCEM, and the Musée d'Orsay. This shift reflects a broader trend of museums treating visitors as customers and seeking the high-volume staffing expertise found in the corporate world.

In Shanghai, a spectacular spiral opera house designed by Snøhetta is revealed

À Shanghai, un spectaculaire opéra en spirale conçu par l’agence Snøhetta se dévoile

The Shanghai Grand Opera House, a massive 147,000-square-meter cultural landmark designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta, has reached structural completion in the Houtan district. Inspired by the form of a traditional Chinese fan, the building features a dramatic white helical roof that doubles as a public walkway, connecting the urban landscape to the waterfront. The interior, which includes a 2,000-seat main hall and various modular spaces, is currently being finalized ahead of a scheduled opening in the second half of 2026.

National Assembly Unanimously Votes on Law for Restitution of Looted Colonial Works, but with Restrictions

L’Assemblée vote à l’unanimité la loi sur la restitution des œuvres pillées pendant la colonisation, mais avec des restrictions

The French National Assembly has unanimously passed a landmark law establishing a permanent legal framework for the restitution of cultural property looted during the colonial era. Moving away from the previous requirement for case-by-case legislation, the new law allows the government to return artifacts via decree following consultations with scientific and parliamentary commissions. This shift fulfills a long-standing promise to simplify the return of African heritage currently held in French public collections.

Brooklyn Museum Plans $13 Million Overhaul for New African Art Galleries

The Brooklyn Museum has announced a $13 million renovation project to create new Arts of Africa galleries, set to open in Fall 2027. The 6,400-square-foot space on the museum's third floor will display 300 works from its 4,500-piece collection, spanning from antiquity to the present day. The project, led by architectural firm Peterson Rich Office, will repurpose latent storage space and reconnect galleries architecturally.

Historic Strike Disrupts Biennale as Thousands March in Venice

On May 8, 2026, artists and cultural workers staged the first strike in the 131-year history of the Venice Biennale, disrupting the pre-opening of the international exhibition. At least 27 of the 100 national pavilions were partially or fully shut down, and thousands marched through Venice to the Arsenale, which was barricaded by Italian riot police. The strike, organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) and local activist groups, was a 24-hour action for Palestine and workers' rights, with some artists altering or draping their works in the main exhibition, "In Minor Keys."