Here’s How Stars at the 2026 Met Gala Nodded to Art History

The 2026 Met Gala, themed "Fashion Is Art," saw celebrities and fashion figures wearing outfits directly inspired by or referencing iconic artworks and art historical movements. Notable nods included Chloe Malle in a gown referencing Frederic Leighton's *Flaming June*, Lauren Sánchez Bezos in a Schiaparelli dress echoing John Singer Sargent's *Madame X*, and Hunter Schafer channeling Gustav Klimt's portrait *Mäda Primavesi*. Other attendees like Anne Hathaway, Hailey Bieber, and Karan Johar also drew from specific paintings, sculptures, and poems, while stylist Law Roach wore a hand-painted piece by Gabonese artist Naïla Opiangah.

U.S. Crowdfunds Its Venice Biennale Pavilion

The United States is crowdfunding its pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, which opens in ten days, due to the absence of major sponsors like the Ford Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. The pavilion, featuring sculptures by Alma Allen, is being organized by the American Arts Conservancy (AAC), which is soliciting donations through a campaign that has been live since at least November. The U.S. government contributes $375,000, but the installation costs significantly exceed that amount. Donors include Nevada-based Republican donors Jim and Aimee Battista, talent manager Tom Ierna, and actor Alex Pita. The AAC has not disclosed the campaign's fundraising goal, amount raised, or end date.

Art Basel Curbs Pre-Fair Sales—and More Art Industry News

Art Basel has launched a "Basel Exclusive" initiative to curb pre-fair PDF sales, encouraging galleries to withhold works from previews to drive in-person discovery at its flagship Swiss event (June 16–21). Around 170 of 232 exhibitors have opted in. Meanwhile, Volta returns to Basel with a new "5,000 Edit" section for works under CHF 5,000 to attract younger collectors, and the alternative fair Esther will hold its third edition in New York during Frieze Week. In other news, Sotheby's set a U.S. record for design auctions with the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection totaling $96 million, and billionaire collector Mitchell P. Rales pledged $116 million to the National Gallery of Art to fund loans to smaller museums. The Smithsonian American Art Museum named Lynda Roscoe Hartigan as its new director, and Gladstone Gallery plans a new Seoul space for 2026.

Art Industry News: November 1, 2021

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The global art landscape is undergoing significant shifts, from the cultural erasure facing Afghan artists under Taliban rule to a surge in grassroots restitution efforts led by organizations like the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign. Meanwhile, major institutional moves include the appointment of Julieta González as artistic director of Brazil’s Inhotim and the opening of the Nesr Art Foundation in Luanda, Angola, which aims to bolster the local contemporary art scene through residencies and private collection displays.

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The Making Their Mark Forum recently convened 350 women in the arts—including artists, curators, and over 20 museum directors—at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. Organized by collector Komal Shah alongside Cecilia Alemani and Loring Randolph, the invitation-only conference coincided with a traveling exhibition of Shah’s collection at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The event featured high-profile speakers like Chelsea Clinton and Ava DuVernay, focusing on dismantling structural gender inequities and celebrating the foundational contributions of women to art history.

Jeweled Snuffboxes Stolen in Brazen Paris Heist Go on Display

Jeweled Snuffboxes Stolen in Brazen Paris Heist Go on Display

Two 18th-century jeweled snuffboxes, stolen in a 2024 axe-wielding heist at Paris's Musée Cognacq-Jay, have been restored and will go on display at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. The boxes, part of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, were among seven luxury objects stolen; five were later recovered after an insurance payment, but a third snuffbox remains missing.

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British artist Thomas J Price has unveiled his largest sculpture to date, an 18-foot bronze titled 'A Place Beyond', outside the forthcoming V&A East in London. The monumental work depicts a fictional woman in everyday attire, continuing Price’s practice of using unidealized figures to critique the traditions of classical sculpture and challenge viewer biases. The installation serves as a public precursor to the museum's official opening on April 18, 2025.

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The Gochman Family Collection, a significant patron of Indigenous art, has announced plans to open two new exhibition spaces totaling 10,000 square feet in Katonah, New York. Scheduled to debut this fall, the venues will showcase selections from a rapidly growing collection of over 750 works by Native artists from the U.S. and Canada. To lead this expansion, the organization has appointed Laura Phipps, a former associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, as its inaugural director.

Cosima von Bonin Loewe Paris

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German artist Cosima von Bonin collaborated with Loewe for its Fall/Winter 2026-2027 womenswear show at the Château de Vincennes during Paris Fashion Week. The artist’s signature plush sculptures, including oversized octopuses and bug-eyed scallops, occupied front-row seats and populated the runway set. Beyond the scenography, von Bonin’s zoomorphic motifs were integrated directly into the collection as jewelry, charms, and minaudières.

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Actor Josh Brolin recently appeared on the Felix Podcast to discuss his extensive journey as an art collector, revealing the challenges even Hollywood stars face when navigating the gallery system. Brolin shared anecdotes about being placed at the back of waiting lists for high-demand artists like Danielle Mckinney and the humbling experience of having to prove his sincere passion for works to dealers like Jeffrey Deitch. The conversation highlighted his collection, which includes works by George Condo, Shara Hughes, and Jammie Holmes.

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The American Federation of the Arts (AFA) has launched a major touring exhibition titled "Abstract Expressionists: The Women," featuring nearly 50 works from the collection of Christian Levett. Currently on view at the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Virginia, the show highlights 32 artists who were pivotal to the movement but often overshadowed by their male peers. The exhibition includes masterpieces by celebrated figures like Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner alongside rediscovered works by lesser-known painters such as Emiko Nakano and Yvonne Thomas.

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Mnuchin Gallery, a blue-chip art gallery on Manhattan's Upper East Side, will close at the end of February after 34 years, following the death of its founder Robert Mnuchin in December at age 91. The gallery, known for museum-quality exhibitions of Modern and postwar art, concluded its final show—a survey of Julian Schnabel's plate paintings—on Saturday. Partner Michael McGinnis said the decision to close was made to end on a high note, honoring Mnuchin's passion and vision.

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Jaiveer Johal, an Indian art collector and logistics heir based in Chennai, discusses the current boom in the Indian art market in an interview for Artnet Pro's newsletter "The Asia Pivot." Johal, who founded the Avtar Foundation for the Arts in 2024 to promote Modern and contemporary South Asian art, notes that auction records for Indian Modern masters have reached new highs while contemporary galleries like Experimenter, Nature Morte, and Jhaveri Contemporary are expanding internationally. He observes that rising prices are pricing out many collectors, including himself, as institutions and wealthy buyers drive demand.

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This week's art industry roundup covers a flurry of developments across art fairs, auction houses, galleries, and museums. A new boutique fair called Enzo will launch alongside Frieze Los Angeles in an Echo Park warehouse with 10 New York galleries, while Felix Los Angeles returns to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with 50 exhibitors. Art Cologne's revived Palma Mallorca fair announces 88 exhibitors for its April debut. At auction, Christie's London will offer the Vanthournout collection of modernist and Surrealist works, including a Magritte painting estimated at $4.7 million, while Bonhams sells rare Oscar Wilde materials and three Bob Ross paintings. In gallery news, Roland Augustine steps down at Luhring Augustine, Lehmann Maupin opens a London space, and several galleries announce new artist representations. Museums see leadership changes at the Park Avenue Armory and Wrightwood 659, and the Rijksmuseum plans a new sculpture garden.

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The Frick Collection reopens to the public on April 17 after a five-year closure and a $220 million expansion and renovation by Selldorf Architects. The project adds 18,000 square feet, including 10 new galleries in the family's original second-floor living quarters, a marble staircase, cafe, gift shop, and a new auditorium. The percentage of the collection on view has increased from 25% to 47%, and Ukrainian artist Vladimir Kanevsky has created porcelain floral arrangements for the reopening. New director Axel Rüger, who joined from London's Royal Academy of Arts, welcomed journalists at a press preview.

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The article explores the challenge of articulating olfactory experiences in art, focusing on Norwegian artist Sissel Tolaas, who has dedicated her career to scent as a medium. Tolaas has collected over 15,000 smell molecules for her SMELL RE_searchLab in Berlin and invented a language called NASALO to describe scents more precisely. The piece also highlights the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf's exhibition "The Secret Power of Scents," which integrates smell into its permanent collection display, and references historical and contemporary artists like Ernesto Neto, Mike Kelley, and Oswaldo Maciá who have used scent in their work.

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Artnet News published its quarterly list of the most exhibited living artists in U.S. museums for December 2025, compiled by tracking temporary exhibitions across hundreds of institutions. The list ranks artists based on the number and type of shows they appear in, prioritizing career retrospectives, dedicated exhibitions, and biennial appearances. Among the top artists featured are Marie Watt, whose touring print exhibition "Storywork" and numerous group show appearances earned her a high ranking, and Jeffrey Gibson, known for his installation at MASS MoCA. The article notes that Watt also won the $250,000 Heinz Award in September 2025.

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Two concurrent exhibitions in New York explore the intersection of art and UFOs, paranormal phenomena, and extraterrestrial life. "Voice of Space: UFOs and Paranormal Phenomena" at the Drawing Center (through February 1, 2026) features some three dozen works from artists including René Magritte and Isa Genzken, with Magritte's 1931 painting "Voice of Space" as the conceptual centerpiece. Meanwhile, "Paintings Made for Aliens Above" at P.P.O.W (through December 20, 2025) presents new works by Romanian artist Hortensia Mi Kafchin, probing technofuturism's promises and failures. The shows include historical pieces like Paulina Peavy's multimedia works co-credited to her personal UFO, and contemporary works by Char Jeré that interrogate technology and consumerism.

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The 28th edition of Paris Photo, which closed November 16, saw a surge in representation of women photographers, rising to 39 percent of artists on view from 20 percent in 2018. This shift is driven by the fair's Elles program, launched with France's ministry of culture, and a broader market appetite for rediscovered women artists. Notable sales included works by Ming Smith, whose vintage prints sold for up to €60,000 at M77 gallery, and offerings from Les Filles du Calvaire featuring Helena Almeida and Katalin Ladik. Richard Saltoun gallery returned after six years with a booth focused on women photographers.

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Bridget Finn, who became director of Art Basel Miami Beach in July 2023, has organized the 22nd edition of the fair from start to finish for the first time. In an interview days before the VIP opening at the Miami Beach Convention Center, she discussed welcoming 286 galleries, the importance of hospitality, and the fair's role in Miami's art scene. She highlighted 34 new galleries joining this year, notable works by Augusto Machado and Roberto Huarcaya, and the fair's efforts to engage diverse audiences including VIPs, institutions, and the general public.

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The article describes a weekend stay at the Hotel Cipriani, a Belmond hotel in Venice, highlighting its role as a luxurious oasis amid the city's cultural offerings. It details visits to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, including the exhibition "Manu-Facture: The Ceramics of Lucio Fontana," and the Gallerie dell'Accademia, while focusing on the hotel's upcoming redesign by architect Peter Marino, set to debut in 2025 with new suites and a lobby. The hotel's art program, including past collaborations like Daniel Buren's pavilion and future activations tied to the 2026 Venice Biennale, is also emphasized.

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On September 9, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, surpassing Queen Victoria. To mark the occasion, the Royal Collection opened a photography exhibition titled “Long to Reign over Us,” featuring posed portraits and casual family shots of the Queen. Artnet News compiled 30 favorite photos and paintings of the monarch, including works by Cecil Beaton, Andy Warhol, and royal photographer Mark Stewart, highlighting her decades-long reign and her ease in front of the camera.

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The Frick Collection in New York, which recently reopened after a major expansion, does not own a single painting by John Singer Sargent, despite founder Henry Clay Frick's admiration for the artist. Sargent declined Frick's request for a portrait commission late in his career, and after Frick's death, his daughter Helen Clay Frick turned down an opportunity to purchase Sargent's iconic portrait of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw in 1922 because the museum's trustees were undecided about the institution's future. The painting now resides at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. However, the Frick will receive a study for Sargent's famous 'Madame X' as part of a promised gift from collectors Elizabeth and Jean-Marie Eveillard.

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Nicole Wittenberg's new painting series "Ain't Misbehavin'" is on view at Maison La Roche in Paris through July 19, 2025. The exhibition, a collaboration between Massimo De Carlo and Fondation Le Corbusier, features large floral works that eliminate depth and press blossoms against the picture plane, creating a dialogue with Le Corbusier's purist modernist architecture. Wittenberg, a San Francisco-born artist who studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, has work in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the Albertina.

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This week's art industry roundup covers major developments across art fairs, auction houses, and galleries. Ahead of Art Basel in Basel, Artnet's Editor-in-Chief Naomi Rea investigates how the trade lost control of the pricing narrative amid a market breakdown. The Armory Show announces its 2025 edition with over 230 galleries and new curated sections, while Frieze will open a gallery space in Seoul. Sotheby's London will auction Pauline Karpidas's collection estimated at over $81 million, and a rare Rodin marble sold for $1.2 million. Caroline Lang steps down as chair of Sotheby's in Switzerland after four decades. Gallerist Kamel Mennour donates 180 works to Paris's Musée d'Art Moderne, and Marian Goodman Gallery now represents the estate of Ana Mendieta.

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Art advisor Naomi Baigell recalls that when she managed Prudential's corporate art collection in the late 1980s and 1990s, executives refused to hang textile works by Colombian-born artist Olga de Amaral, preferring abstract paintings instead. Now 93 and still working, Amaral is experiencing a major market and institutional renaissance: the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami is hosting a solo show of her work (through October 12), her pieces are included in MoMA's "Woven Histories" exhibition, and she has been represented by Lisson Gallery since 2019. In 2025, her auction performance has been stellar, with a new record of $1.16 million set in May for *Imagen perdida 27* (1996) at Phillips New York, and total sales of $4.07 million as of June.

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Marley Freeman is preparing for her new exhibition "no when" at Karma's Chelsea gallery, running through July 18, 2025. The article delves into her background as the daughter of a textile dealer, which deeply influences her abstract paintings made from gesso, acrylic, and oil. Freeman's career includes breakout shows with Karma in 2019 and 2022, and her works are held by LACMA, the Hammer Museum, and the Whitney Museum. She has collaborated with artists Lukas Geronimas and Jared Buckhiester, and her current show features collaborative pieces.

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Artist Do Ho Suh presents his first solo exhibition at London's Tate Modern in two decades, titled "The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House." The show features his signature translucent fabric architectural sculptures, including the newly created installation "Nest/s" (2024), a collection of 1:1 scale replicas of spaces where Suh has lived and worked across Seoul, New York, London, and Berlin. The exhibition explores themes of home, memory, and migration, drawing from Suh's own experiences moving from Seoul to New York and later London.

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Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ) returned for its ninth edition from May 22 to June 1, 2025, adopting a new invitation-only model that emphasizes curatorial integrity. The event expanded beyond the 798 Art District into neighboring areas including 751 district, Caochangdi, and the Beijing Free Trade Zone Art District. A committee of five gallerists selected participants, aligning with an inaugural 'Beijing Art Season' that also includes Beijing Dangdai and Art021 Beijing. The article spotlights five emerging local artists: Cheng Xinyi, Liao Wen, Guo Cheng, and others, highlighting their exhibitions and market traction.

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This week's art industry roundup covers major auction results, including Sotheby's $51.8 million sale of the Saunders Old Masters collection (a record for a single-owner sale in that category) and the $12.5 million sale of the Lalanne's 'Ostrich Bar' in Paris. The Breuer Building, purchased by Sotheby's in 2023, has been landmarked by New York City, preserving its interior during renovation by Herzog & de Meuron. Art Basel announced a new fair in Doha, Qatar, launching next February with 50 exhibitors, while Untitled Art revealed 84 exhibitors for its first Houston edition. In gallery news, Yan Du will open YDP in London, Annely Juda Fine Art is moving, and Jean-Paul Engelen joins Acquavella Galleries. Gladstone Gallery hired Julian Ehrlich from Christie's. Saudi Arabia opens its first specialized art storage facility in Jeddah. Creative Australia chair Robert Morgan retires amid controversy over the Venice Biennale team appointment, and Monash University reversed a decision to cancel an exhibition.