Readers react to LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries: L.A. arts and culture this weekend

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing for the public debut of its $724-million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Ahead of the April 19 member opening, public discourse has intensified following a series of reports detailing the building's architecture, the reinstallation of Alexander Calder’s "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)," and the project's massive budget. Reader reactions remain deeply polarized, reflecting a two-decade-long debate over the structure's unconventional design and its impact on the urban landscape.

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, April 2026

San Francisco’s museum landscape is undergoing a significant shift this April, anchored by the major reinstallation "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" at SFMOMA. The exhibition marks a decade of the museum's partnership with the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection, featuring works by Alexander Calder, Sol LeWitt, and Roy Lichtenstein across multiple floors. While the city celebrates these high-profile openings and the announcement of SECA Art Award finalists, the local scene faces challenges as the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has suspended operations due to institutional difficulties.

Venice Biennale 2026: all the national pavilions, artists and curators so far

The 61st Venice Biennale has begun announcing its lineup for the 2026 edition, which is scheduled to run from May 9 to November 22. While the main exhibition will follow a curatorial framework established by the late Koyo Kouoh, various nations have started naming the artists and curators who will represent them in the Giardini, the Arsenale, and satellite venues across the city.

The Best Exhibitions to See Around San Francisco During FOG Design+Art

January brings a full slate of exhibitions across the Bay Area timed to San Francisco Art Week, headlined by the 12th edition of FOG Design+Art at Fort Mason Center (January 21-25). Galerie highlights nine must-see shows, including "100 Candleholders" at Blunk Space, where international artists create candleholders inspired by JB Blunk; "New Work: Sheila Hicks" at SFMOMA, featuring fiber installations tied to personal places; "The Houses Are Haunted By White Night-Gowns" at The Future Perfect, a furniture-and-bowls installation by Studio Ahead; and "Auudi Dorsey: What’s Left, Never Left" at Jonathan Carver Moore, where the painter excavates histories of African American leisure sites.

‘The government understands what is at stake’: Italian art world weighs in on tax cut at Artissima

The Italian parliament reduced VAT on art sales from 22% to 5%, the lowest rate in Europe, a move announced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government. The tax cut was celebrated at the 30th anniversary dinner of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, where politician Federico Mollicone noted it had been over 30 years in the making. The contemporary art fair Artissima, holding its 32nd edition in Turin, became the first Italian fair to test the new tax policy. Italian dealers reported positive effects, including easier deal closures and increased sales to both Italian and European collectors, with some galleries experiencing their best opening day ever.

25 of 2025: 5 Trailblazing Performance Artists to Know

Artnet News spotlights five trailblazing performance artists defining 2025, including Geumhyung Jeong, whose work "Toys, Selected" (2025) at Canal Projects in New York explores the uncanny relationship between humans and robots through intimate, choreographed interactions with machine parts she built herself. Jeong, who studied acting, dance, and film animation in South Korea, has performed at Kunsthalle Basel, the 2022 Venice Biennale, and London's ICA, and is currently unrepresented by a gallery. The article also profiles Maja Malou Lyse, who was tapped to represent her country at the Venice Biennale.

Smithsonian American Art Museum Debuts Monumental New Commission by Nick Cave in February 2026

The Smithsonian American Art Museum will debut "Nick Cave: Mammoth," a monumental new commission by artist Nick Cave, in February 2026. This marks Cave's first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C., and represents the museum's largest-ever commission by a single artist. The installation combines sculpture, video, and found objects, drawing on Cave's childhood in Chariton County, Missouri, and exploring themes of family history, landscapes, and craft traditions. The exhibition will be on view from February 13, 2026, through January 3, 2027, and is organized by curator Sarah Newman.

Untitled Art Houston opens with a slew of four- and five-figure sales

Untitled Art Houston opened its inaugural edition on Thursday, September 18, with a VIP preview that generated uneven but promising sales. Lower-priced works sold well, with notable transactions including a $415,000 piece by Carlos Cruz-Diez at Sicardi Ayers Bacino, a $125,000 painting by John Alexander at McClain Gallery, and a $150,000 bronze sculpture by Clare Rojas at Jessica Silverman. Other galleries reported sales ranging from $2,000 to $55,000, with some dealers selling out their stands. The fair marks Houston's first new art fair in years, following the demise of the Houston Fine Art Fair and Texas Contemporary Art Fair.

Art’s hot this August and here is where to be this month

August 2025 brings a vibrant lineup of art exhibitions across India, from Chennai to New Delhi and Mumbai. Highlights include Akhil Anand's solo debut "Morphogenesis" at ArtSpace by KalpaDruma in Chennai, blending mathematics, mythology, and nature; the group show "The Personal is Mythical" at LATITUDE 28 in New Delhi, curated by Bhavna Kakar and featuring Bhajju Shyam, Neha Sahai, and Viraj Khanna; the all-women showcase "Objects May Appear Softer" at Black Cube Gallery; antique map and print sales at Nilaya Anthology's Gallery 2; and the Mumbai debut of London's Evoke and Bangalore's Kaash, hosted by Srila Chatterjee.

Female artists and new buyers breathe life into the art market

The global art market contracted by 12% in 2024, falling to an estimated $57.5 billion in sales from its 2022 peak, according to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025 compiled by Dr. Clare McAndrew. Despite the overall decline, the number of transactions grew by 3%, driven by a broadening collector base and increased engagement with more affordable works. The report highlights a surge in interest in female artists, with galleries raising their representation to 41%, and notes that art fairs remain the most common entry point for new buyers. The Aotearoa Art Fair, opening May 1-4 at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre, exemplifies these trends with strong Indigenous and Pacific representation, emerging artist platforms like Horizons 2025, and affordable works under $5,000 from established galleries such as Gow Langsford Gallery.

Alice Tippit’s Mischievous Erotics

Alice Tippit's solo exhibition "Rose Obsolete" at the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago features 23 small oil paintings, three murals, a neon sign, word drawings, and a series of 46 notepad drawings. The works toggle between multiple interpretations—snakes and smiles, blouses and pears, curtains and bodies—inviting viewers to see shifting forms like a psychological test. Tippit, born in 1975 near Kansas City and based in Chicago since 2006, paints each oil work in a single day without tape, achieving sharp edges and subtle layering that reward close looking.

Juan Uslé’s Childhood Shipwrecks

The Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid has opened a major retrospective of Spanish painter Juan Uslé, titled "That Ship on the Mountain." The exhibition features approximately 100 works spanning four decades, tracing the artist's journey from his childhood in Cantabria to his established career in New York City. It notably uses the traumatic shipwreck of the Elorrio, which Uslé witnessed as a boy, as its conceptual starting point.

"Man besitzt Kunst nicht, man ist nur ihr Verwalter"

The 61st Venice Biennale opened on Saturday without ceremony or an opening celebration, amid political turmoil over the participation of Russia and Israel. Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli criticized Biennale director Pietrangelo Buttafuoco for not informing the government about Russia's participation request, suggesting it could have been used as leverage for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The entire jury resigned after attempting to exclude both Russia and Israel from prize awards, leading to the cancellation of the traditional jury decision in favor of a public vote, which over 70 participating artists have protested by withdrawing from this year's prizes. Separately, a rare photograph from the early 1940s has surfaced showing Lucas Cranach the Elder's painting "Venus with Cupid as Honey Thief" in Adolf Hitler's Munich apartment, raising unresolved questions about whether the work was looted from Jewish owners before 1935.

Bruno Bischofberger, gallerist to Warhol and Basquiat, 1940–2026

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist who founded his eponymous gallery in 1963, has died at age 86. He was best known for his decades-long relationship with Andy Warhol, securing right of first refusal on all of Warhol's new works after purchasing eleven early paintings in 1968. Bischofberger also represented Jean-Michel Basquiat internationally from 1982 and gave solo exhibitions to a generation of major artists including Julian Schnabel, David Salle, George Condo, and Francesco Clemente. In 2013, his gallery relocated to a former factory in Männedorf, Switzerland, redeveloped by his daughter and son-in-law.

Robot dogs with Musk and Zuckerberg heads roam around Berlin gallery in Beeple's new exhibit

American artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) has installed an interactive piece titled "Regular Animals" at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, featuring robot dogs with hyper-realistic silicone heads modeled after Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Beeple himself. The dogs roam the gallery and "poo" printed AI-transformed images of their surroundings, with each dog's output reflecting the worldview of its human figure—for example, the Picasso dog produces Cubist-style images. The work, first shown at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, includes QR codes on prints that grant access to free NFTs.

Chanel and Guggenheim Launch Transatlantic Curatorial Fellowship

Chanel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation have announced a new transatlantic curatorial fellowship, set to launch in 2027. The Chanel Culture Fund Fellowship is a one-year program for MA- and PhD-level scholars, who will begin at the Guggenheim Museum in New York before moving to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. The announcement coincides with the start of the Venice Biennale, and the open call for fellows will begin this fall. The fellowship includes a stipend and travel support, and is designed to complement the Peggy Guggenheim Collection's existing International Fellowship.

Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, a New Sort of Street Artist, Rises from Art History’s Margins

Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, a late Japanese American collagist who lived and worked as a street artist in New York City, is the subject of a new solo exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art in Kansas City, on view through June. Co-curators Maki Kaneko and Kris Imants Ercums organized the show thematically rather than chronologically, reflecting Mirikitani's fragmented life—from surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and incarceration at Tule Lake to arriving in New York in the 1950s. The exhibition draws on years of research, including visits to the parks where he lived and to Hiroshima, and builds on Linda Hattendorf's 2006 documentary *The Cats of Mirikitani*.

Inside Sotheby’s Latest Financial Maneuvers

Sotheby's is under financial scrutiny due to two key developments. A New York real estate broker has filed a $10.2 million lawsuit against the auction house over commissions from the sale of its former Manhattan headquarters, a claim Sotheby's disputes. Concurrently, the company has launched a new delayed-payment program for clients, raising questions about its liquidity.

kansas church tiffany window sale

First Presbyterian Church in Topeka, Kansas, is selling one of its ten Tiffany stained-glass windows at Sotheby's Design sale on December 10. The Jonathan Thomas Memorial Window, a rare medallion window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany himself in 1910, carries an estimate of $1.5 million to $2 million. The church cites the high cost of maintaining its historic building and the Tiffany windows—sending just one window for repair cost over $50,000—as the reason for the sale. The auction also features a magnolia floor lamp designed by Agnes Northrup, estimated at $2 million to $3 million.

jack butcher self checkout abmb

Artist Jack Butcher (b. 1988) debuted his first-ever booth at Art Basel Miami Beach, titled *Self Checkout*, where he sells art—literally receipts—on a pay-what-you-wish model. Each receipt includes a seed phrase creating a custodial Ethereum wallet holding a digital copy, but the NFT cannot be sold; it merely proves ownership of the physical receipt. The project features a real-time tracker showing his progress toward recouping the $74,211 total cost of the booth, with purchases made at self-checkout kiosks or online in Ethereum. By the fair's second day, the amount needed had dropped to $33,103.56, and Butcher was optimistic about breaking even. If the countdown hits zero, he will auction the flip board and receipt case as a one-of-one sculpture.

madrid court spanish count pay sale goya portrait

A Madrid court has ruled that Fernando Ramírez de Haro, 10th Marquess of Villanueva del Duero, must pay his brother Íñigo Ramirez de Haro, Marquis de Cazaza in Africa, €853,732 from the proceeds of the 2012 sale of Francisco de Goya's portrait *Portrait of Valentín Belvís de Moncada* (ca. 1795–1800). The painting, inherited from their father, was sold for €5.8 million to billionaire Juan Miguel Villar Mir via Sotheby's. Íñigo sued Fernando for failing to distribute shares of the sale to siblings as agreed in a 2014 family settlement, alleging fraud, document falsification, and that Fernando's wife, former Spanish minister Esperanza Aguirre, abused her office by not registering the work as national heritage.

crystal bridges to mount exhibition by singer songwriter jewel venice biennale

Crystal Bridges Museum will present an exhibition dedicated to singer-songwriter Jewel during the Venice Biennale, running from May 10 to November 22 at the Salone Verde, near Fondazione Prada. Titled “Matriclysm: An Archeology of Connections Lost,” the show is organized by Crystal Bridges curator-at-large Joe Thompson and features paintings from Jewel's “Ceremony” series, a tapestry, and three large-scale sculptures—including “Heart of the Ocean,” an eight-foot-tall piece that uses live oceanic data from NASA and Stanford University to control 60,000 programmable lights. The exhibition explores themes of feminine memory, matriarchy, and connection.

black portraiture peregrine tyam letter

A 17th-century British portrait at Claydon House, a National Trust property, depicts Mary Lawley and Peregrine Tyam, a Black enslaved attendant whose identity is known—one of the earliest such examples. Historian Hannah Lee published research in British Art Studies revealing new details about Tyam, including a rediscovered letter he wrote in 1699 to his enslaver John Verney, offering rare firsthand insight into the lives of enslaved people in aristocratic households. The portrait, attributed to the little-known artist Lenthall, was commissioned by Verney to mark his marriage in 1692 and shows Tyam wearing a silver collar, a symbol of enslavement.

trump inauguration donors major art patrons warren stephens

Major art collectors Warren Stephens, Ken Griffin, Paul Singer, and Charles and Helen Schwab were among the top individual donors to President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration fundraising committee, according to data from the Federal Election Commission and Open Secrets. Stephens, a major donor to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, gave $4 million, the largest individual contribution, while Griffin, Singer, and the Schwabs each donated $1 million or more. The article also details additional political donations from these collectors, including Griffin's $100 million in conservative election spending, and notes that many large corporations like Amazon and BlackRock also contributed.

A Culture Lover’s Guide to Northwest Arkansas, a Land of Contradictions

This travel guide explores the cultural landscape of Northwest Arkansas, focusing on the upcoming 114,000-square-foot expansion of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, set to open June 6, 2026. The author recounts a road trip from Little Rock to the Ozarks, visiting the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (with its new Studio Gang-designed building), dining at Coursey's Smoked Meats, and encountering a white supremacist billboard in Harrison, while also highlighting Thorncrown Chapel by E. Fay Jones as a transcendent architectural stop.

Statement of Withdrawal from Visitor Lion Awards

Sotheby’s Paris Notches a $41 M. Modern and Contemporary Sale, Led by a $12 M. Monet Unseen for a Century

Sotheby’s Paris achieved a landmark result for its modern and contemporary art sale, totaling €35 million ($41 million) and surpassing its high estimate. The auction was headlined by two Claude Monet paintings that had been hidden from public view for roughly a century, including 'Vétheuil, effet du matin' (1901), which sold for €10.2 million ($12.1 million), setting a record for the artist at auction in France.

10 top lots auction 2025

Gustav Klimt's portrait of Elisabeth Lederer topped the list of the most expensive artworks sold at auction in 2025, achieving $236.3 million at Sotheby's New York on November 18—far exceeding its $150 million estimate and setting a new record for the artist. The painting came from the collection of the late Leonard Lauder, who died in June at age 92. Other top lots included two more Klimts from Lauder's collection, a newly offered Basquiat, and a record-setting Frida Kahlo work, alongside notable sales by van Gogh, Rothko, Mondrian, Monet, and Picasso, with many of the highest prices achieved during the blockbuster November auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's.

blink 182 banksy sale

A Banksy painting from his 2005 'Crude Oils' exhibition sold for £4.3 million ($5.5 million) at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction in London. The work, *Crude Oil (Vettriano)*, came from the collection of Mark Hoppus, co-founder of the pop-punk band Blink-182, who acquired it in 2011. The painting reimagines Jack Vettriano’s *The Singing Butler*, replacing the idyllic beach scene with environmental pollution, including hazmat-suited workers and a sinking container ship. The sale occurred shortly after Vettriano’s death at age 73.

philip falcone blce art loans picasso hirst ruling

The New York Supreme Court ruled against former hedge fund manager Philip Falcone in a case brought against pawnbroker BLCE over loans secured by artworks and a diamond ring. Judge Lyle E. Frank sided with BLCE's counter-claims of fraud and breach of contract, finding that Falcone made misrepresentations when securing loans with the same artworks—including pieces by Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, and Richard Prince—from multiple lenders. Falcone had claimed the ring was "wrongfully foreclosed," but the court determined he failed to raise genuine issues of material fact.