David Bowie Centre, Bukhara Biennial, Hilton Als on Jean Rhys, Hurvin Anderson and Kara Walker—podcast

The latest episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three major stories. Host Ben Luke tours the newly opened David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse in London, a permanent repository for thousands of items from Bowie's archive, discussing the displays with curator Madeleine Haddon. The episode also reports on the inaugural Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan, with art market editor Kabir Jhala delivering a verdict from the opening and curator Diana Campbell offering insights. Finally, the podcast features a 'Work of the Week' segment on two paintings—Hurvin Anderson's 'Untitled' (2025) and Kara Walker's 'West Indies' (2014)—shown in an exhibition at Michael Werner Gallery in London curated by critic and writer Hilton Als, which explores the life and work of Dominican-born writer Jean Rhys.

A brush with… Teresita Fernández—podcast

This article is a podcast interview with artist Teresita Fernández, who discusses her three-decade career as a landscape artist and sculptor. She explores landscapes not only as visual phenomena but also as cultural spaces, using materials like graphite, iron ore, gold, and pyrite. Fernández reflects on influences including Wilfredo Lam, Eva Hesse, Jack Whitten, Robert Smithson, and Cecilia Vicuña, and shares insights from her studio practice. The podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, which highlights institutions that have shown her work, such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, MASS MoCA, and SITE Santa Fe.

A brush with… Jane and Louise Wilson—podcast

Jane and Louise Wilson, identical twin artists born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1967, are featured in a podcast interview where they discuss their collaborative practice since the late 1980s. Working primarily in video installation, photography, and sound, they explore duality and selfhood through loaded sites like abandoned military bases and borderlands. The podcast covers their early inspirations, including John Martin and Cindy Sherman, and the influence of filmmakers such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean Cocteau, and Stanley Kubrick. Their current exhibitions include 'Performance of Entrapment' at London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE (until 10 January 2026) and 'Dendrophiles' at Leadenhall Building as part of Sculpture in the City, London (until spring 2026).

A brush with... Hew Locke—podcast

This episode of 'A brush with...' features artist Hew Locke, who discusses his career and artistic practice. Born in Edinburgh in 1959 to artists Donald and Leila Locke, he moved to Guyana as a child and returned to the UK to study art in 1980. Over three decades, Locke has created sculptures, installations, photographs, drawings, and textiles exploring nationhood, culture, and power, often using found objects and cardboard. He reflects on influences including his parents, a tutorial with Paula Rego, and Hans Haacke's 1993 Venice Biennale pavilion, and discusses his upcoming exhibitions: 'Gilt' at Compton Verney (2025-2027), 'Passages' at the Yale Center for British Art (2025-2026), 'Armada' at Newlyn Art Gallery, and 'Cargoes' at King Edward Memorial Park.

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A Paris court seized 135 allegedly stolen paintings from Paris-based art authenticators ArtAnalysis in January, which had been holding the works for collector Mozes Frisch. The pieces are part of a 1,778-work collection supposedly by heavyweight Russian modernists. Palestinian businessman Uthman Khatib and his son Prince Castro Ben Leon claim the works were stolen from them by Frisch in 2019, and are suing in Germany for return of the works or $323 million. ArtAnalysis owner Laurette Thomas, Frisch, and collector Olivia Amar are countersuing Khatib for return of the Paris-held works plus $30.5 million in damages. The Khatibs' law firm Dentons hired Doerr Dallas Valuations to appraise the 135 disputed works, which assigned a $208 million valuation but included a caveat, likely related to the fact that many works were listed on the Art Loss Register in 2014 during an investigation into disgraced Israeli art dealer Itzhak Zarug, who was suspected of dealing fakes.

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Wes Gordon, creative director of Carolina Herrera, presented the brand's Fall 2026 collection in New York. The runway show featured a cast of prominent artists and art-world figures, including photographer Ming Smith, painter Amy Sherald, gallerist Hannah Traore, and artists Anh Duong, Eliza Douglas, and Rachel Feinstein, who modeled the collection. The presentation venue was adorned with murals by artist Sarah Oliphant, creating a cohesive, studio-like environment.

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A trio of Bob Ross paintings sold for over $1 million at Bonhams' “Americana” auction on January 27, 2026, with proceeds benefiting American Public Television (APT). The top lot, *Change of Seasons* (1990), fetched $787,900—more than 13 times its high estimate—followed by *Babbling Brook* (1993) at $279,900 and *Valley View* (1990) at $203,700. The sale follows APT's record-breaking November auction and is part of a series of 24 Ross paintings to be offered throughout the year.

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A 16th-century portrait of Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk, by Hans Eworth sold for £3.2 million ($4.2 million) at Sotheby’s Old Masters sale in London on December 4, setting a record as the most expensive Elizabethan portrait ever sold. The painting was purchased by the art advisory Clore Wyndham on behalf of the Duke of Norfolk and the trustees of Arundel Castle, where it will be displayed. The work, painted in 1562, depicts Norfolk at the height of his political power, dressed in opulent Tudor fashion, and is one of only two known portraits of him.

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Artist Mark Leckey piloted a free month-long art course called Music and Video Lab this summer in Redruth, Cornwall, aimed at attracting people aged 18 to 25 who lack access to formal art education. The course, costing £15,000 with support from Arts Council England, was initiated by curator Teresa Gleadowe of CAST and artist Liam Jolly of Auction House, with final works screened at CAST from August 5 through September 3.

Sur Arte Radio et dans une expo, l’enquête d’Adrianna Wallis sur les traces de sa grand-mère peintre spoliée par les nazis

Artist Adrianna Wallis (born 1981) discovers that her paternal grandmother, painter Diane Esmond (1910–1981), was a victim of Nazi looting during World War II. After being contacted by historians Patricia Helletzgruber and Sophie Juliard, Wallis learns that much of Esmond's work was systematically destroyed by the ERR, the Nazi organization responsible for art theft in occupied countries. This revelation sparks a personal investigation that becomes a podcast for Arte Radio titled "Il restera la gravité," blending documentary, autobiographical inquiry, and sound installation. Wallis delves into archives, examining microfilms and lists that detail 46 of Esmond's paintings—each methodically described and declared destroyed, such as "Woman in blue evening dress: annihilated."

The artist Fabien Verschaere, creator of joyful shambles, has passed away at age 50

L’artiste Fabien Verschaere, auteur de joyeux capharnaüms, s’est éteint à l’âge de 50 ans

The French contemporary artist Fabien Verschaere has passed away suddenly at the age of 50. Known for his dense, colorful, and highly personal visual language, Verschaere was scheduled to receive the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres distinction just days after his death. His work, which drew heavily from childhood imagery and his own experiences with chronic illness, created a bridge between dreams and nightmares through a cast of recurring characters like ghosts, superheroes, and hybrid creatures.

A Wooden Canopy by Kengo Kuma Casts Dappled Light Around a Copenhagen Museum

Architect Kengo Kuma has unveiled a monumental site-specific installation titled "Earth / Tree" at Copenhagen Contemporary. The structure features a suspended canopy of curved wooden slats designed to evoke the Japanese concept of 'komorebi,' or the dappled light that filters through trees. Positioned over a brick platform and rubble, the installation serves as a material bridge between Nordic and Japanese architectural traditions.

Theme and Artists Revealed for Ekow Eshun–Curated British Art Show 10

Organizers of the British Art Show have unveiled the theme and artist list for its tenth edition, titled "A Chorus of Strangers." Curated by Ekow Eshun, the quinquennial exhibition will launch in Coventry on October 2, 2025, before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle Gateshead through 2028. The show features a diverse roster of contemporary artists including Turner Prize winner Jasleen Kaur, Alvaro Barrington, and Precious Okoyomon, organized around three conceptual pillars: psychological, sociological, and ecological.

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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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Ian McKellen has signed on to star in a new BBC documentary about cult British painter L.S. Lowry, titled "L.S. Lowry: The Unheard Tapes." The film will focus on previously unheard audio recordings Lowry made in the final four years of his life, which contain what is described as the longest interview the artist ever gave. McKellen will lip-sync to Lowry's own words, bringing the artist back to life through his distinctive Lancastrian voice. The documentary is being produced by the BBC and has the support of Lowry's estate.

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The Philadelphia Art Commission has voted to relocate the popular bronze statue of Rocky Balboa from its current position at the bottom of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the top of those steps. The move, budgeted between $150,000 and $250,000, includes the creation of a new 14-foot-tall pedestal. The statue, a fictional boxer played by Sylvester Stallone, has long been a tourist attraction and local icon, though a second casting already exists at the top. The project will be overseen by Creative Philadelphia.

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Choke Hole, a drag wrestling show, issued an apology on Friday for a controversial ICE-themed segment performed at Pioneer Works, a Brooklyn art center. The event, titled ARMAGEDDON, was held in conjunction with a show by artist Raúl de Nieves and featured a character named Visqueen, a sex robot, who announced that an ICE agent was present to deport an alien queen. Wrestler Candy Pain fought the fictional agent and won, but the performance angered spectators, including trans activist Chiquitita, who confronted the cast and criticized the trivialization of real ICE violence. Choke Hole acknowledged the harm, donated over $3,000 to NYC ICE Watch, and urged followers to contribute.

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The Musée d'Orsay in Paris staged a mock trial of Édouard Manet and his model Victorine Meurent for his 1863 painting *Déjeuner sur l'herbe*, which caused scandal at the Salon des Refusés for its nude female figure. The event, part of the museum's Orsay Live program for 18-to-25-year-olds, featured real lawyers, a sitting judge, and students from the Fédération française de Débat et d'Éloquence, with speeches reviewed by Manet specialist Isolde Pludermacher. The trial aimed to explore historical debates about morality, indecency, and artistic freedom in a courtroom format.

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Glenn Lowry, who stepped down last month after 30 years as director of the Museum of Modern Art, has given a wide-ranging interview on the podcast *The Art World: What If…?!* with Charlotte Burns. He discusses the Trump administration’s threats to museums’ tax-exempt status, his upcoming advisory roles for the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Delhi, a prospective leadership campaign for Alice Walton’s Art Bridges Foundation, and a series of talks at the Louvre titled “I Want a Museum. I Need a Museum. I Imagine a Museum.”

A.I. Identifies Holbein Drawing as Possible Portrait of Anne Boleyn

Researchers at the University of Bradford have used artificial intelligence to analyze preparatory drawings by Hans Holbein the Younger in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. The AI model, which previously identified a forgotten Raphael painting, suggests that a drawing long believed to depict Anne Boleyn actually shows her mother, Elizabeth Howard, while another drawing labeled "Unidentified Woman" likely portrays Anne Boleyn herself. The findings, published in Heritage Science, are based on biometric analysis of facial features, bone architecture, and proportional relationships, offering quantifiable evidence to resolve long-standing scholarly uncertainty about the sitters' identities.

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Israeli and U.S. military strikes on Iran, occurring since June 13, 2025, have threatened significant damage to the country's cultural heritage. Israeli bombings targeted the headquarters of the Iranian state broadcaster (IRIB) in Tehran, a major work of Modern architecture designed by the firm of renowned Iranian architect Abdol Aziz Farmanfarmaian. U.S. bombings over the weekend struck a nuclear complex near Isfahan, one of Iran's most historically significant cities, though its historic landmarks appear unscathed. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA), designed by Kamran Diba and home to a major collection of modern Western art, is also a source of concern.

Berlin in Art Spring

Berlin im Kunstfrühling

The Monopol podcast "Kunst und Leben" previews the upcoming Gallery Weekend Berlin, taking place from May 1 to 3. Editors Elke Buhr and Silke Hohmann share their personal watchlist of must-see exhibitions, including shows by Daniel Buren and Lawrence Weiner at Konrad Fischer, Candice Breitz at KOW, Heimo Zobernig at Nagel Draxler, and Jorinde Voigt at Mercator Höfe. The episode also covers performances, tattoo art on moving cars, tapestries, robot dogs, and tips for navigating the weekend.

Star-Studded Doc on Auction Icon Simon de Pury Heads to Cannes

A new feature-length documentary titled "The Hammer" will premiere at this spring's Cannes Film Market, chronicling the five-decade career of Swiss auctioneer and art advisor Simon de Pury. Produced by Simon Wallon, who previously made a documentary on casting director Bonnie Timmermann, the film features cameos from artists Marina Abramović, Jeff Koons, Ai Weiwei, and Chloe Wise, and includes executive producer Catherine Quantschnigg. Filming took place in New York, Tokyo, London, Cannes, Miami, and Monaco between July 2023 and February 2025.

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This episode of the Art Angle podcast, hosted by Kate Brown with co-hosts Ben Davis and Andrew Russeth, covers three major art-world stories: crypto collector Justin Sun’s escalating legal battle with billionaire David Geffen over a Giacometti sculpture; Jeff Koons’ trio of massive Hulk sculptures that debuted at Frieze New York; and the first round of the new Art Basel Awards. The discussion weaves together legal disputes, market signals, and institutional recognition.

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An exhibition titled “How Quantel’s Paintbox Changed Our World” at the Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre in Leicester, U.K., showcases 20 long-lost digital artworks made with the Quantel Paintbox, a pioneering 1980s computer graphics machine. The works, created by artists including David Hockney, Keith Haring, Larry Rivers, and Jennifer Bartlett, were tracked down by graffiti artist and photographer Adrian Wilson, an early Paintbox user. The exhibition is organized by the Computer Arts Society and marks the first public display of these pieces.

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The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced its 2025 Arts Writers Grant recipients, awarding a total of $1.04 million to 31 writers. The grants, ranging from $15,000 to $50,000, are distributed across four categories: Articles, Books, Short-Form Writing, and a newly introduced Translation category with a $30,000 purse for translating books on contemporary visual art into English. Recipients include past and current contributors to ARTnews and Art in America, such as Glenn Adamson, Jeremy Lybarger, Zoé Samudzi, and Catherine G. Wagley.

Last chance: hurry to see these Parisian exhibitions before they close in May 2026.

A roundup article lists numerous exhibitions closing in May 2026 across Paris and the Île-de-France region, including shows at the Fondation Louis Vuitton (Nocturne Calder #1) and Perrotin Gallery (Soulages–Hartung: Elective Affinities, Lee Mingwei's When Beauty Appears, and Susumu Kamijo's When I Think of You in Spring). The piece also highlights free-entry days at castles and museums in Yvelines and Seine-et-Marne, and the Parcours d’art de la Boucle de Seine open-studio event.

KAWS | Along the way (Gray Variant) (2019) | For Sale

APC ART is offering for sale a gray variant of KAWS's iconic figure "Along the Way" (2019), a painted cast vinyl sculpture measuring 10 × 7 1/2 × 3 1/2 inches. The work is a miniature version of the artist's 2013 wooden sculpture, originally exhibited at Mary Boone Gallery in New York. The piece features two of KAWS's signature "Companion" characters leaning on each other for emotional support. The work is brand new, in hand, signed in plate, and includes a certificate of authenticity. It is offered exclusively by APC ART, which ships from the USA.

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.

What to See and Do at the Denver Art Museum - Spring 2026 Guide

The Denver Art Museum has unveiled its spring 2026 programming, featuring a diverse slate of new and ongoing exhibitions. Highlights include the loan of two Rembrandt portraits from the National Gallery of Art, a major survey of contemporary Australian Indigenous art, and exhibitions on fashion, design, and regional printmaking. The season also sees the reinstallation of Francisco Clapera's complete casta painting series and new collection displays ranging from Japanese bamboo art to historic flatware.