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The Palace of Versailles has announced a major retrospective dedicated to Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film, Marie Antoinette, to mark the movie's 20th anniversary. Set to open in September 2026, the exhibition will be staged within the Petit Trianon, the Queen’s private estate where Coppola was famously granted unprecedented filming access. The show will feature Academy Award-winning costumes by Milena Canonero, alongside never-before-seen storyboards, scripts, and set photography.

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The Brooklyn Museum is preparing to investigate the restoration of Paul Gauguin’s relief panel, *Te Fare Amu*, which was recently gifted to the institution by the Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation. The artwork features a crouching nude figure whose genitals were painted over with green pigment by the collector Henry Pearlman in 1954 to bypass U.S. Customs indecency laws. While a 2017 conservation assessment at the Art Institute of Chicago deemed the overpainting too risky to remove, Brooklyn Museum conservators plan to re-evaluate the piece when it arrives for exhibition this fall.

Profile | Pierre Rosenberg, the former Louvre president, on his long-awaited four-volume Poussin catalogue—and forthcoming museum

Pierre Rosenberg, the 89-year-old honorary president-director of the Louvre, is set to release a definitive four-volume catalogue raisonné of the works of Nicolas Poussin. This monumental publication, weighing eight kilograms, represents over sixty years of scholarship and aims to provide a comprehensive update to the field, addressing previous research by figures such as Anthony Blunt and Louis Marin.

Can you feel the love tonight? Elton John's cosy family portrait captured by Catherine Opie

The National Portrait Gallery in London has unveiled a new family portrait of Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, and their two sons, captured by the acclaimed American photographer Catherine Opie. Taken at the family's home in Old Windsor, the image depicts the group in their library alongside their pet Labradors. The work is a centerpiece of Opie’s major retrospective, "Catherine Opie: To Be Seen," which opens this week.

Mark Bradford and Carrie Mae Weems Among Latest Artists Commissioned for Obama Presidential Center

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The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago has announced its latest cohort of commissioned artists, featuring high-profile names such as Mark Bradford and Carrie Mae Weems alongside local Chicago talents like Tyanna J. Buie and the duo Sam Kirk + Dorian Sylvain. These site-specific installations will be integrated across the center's 19-acre campus, including a three-story atrium collage by Bradford and a jazz-inflected photo mural by Weems. The project, which has already engaged over two dozen artists including Maya Lin and Julie Mehretu, is overseen by art program leaders Louise Bernard and Virginia Shore with direct input from the Obamas.

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Pace Prints is expanding its operations to Los Angeles, with plans to open a new production facility and small gallery space this fall. Unlike a standard gallery expansion, the Hollywood location will prioritize providing West Coast artists with a dedicated environment for long-term experimentation in printmaking. The move coincides with the publisher's debut at Frieze Los Angeles, featuring a roster of local and international artists including Jonas Wood and Hilary Pecis.

Middle East Museums Under Threat Amid War; Morning Links March 2, 2026

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Escalating conflict in the Middle East has placed major cultural institutions under direct threat, with debris from Iranian bombings reportedly falling on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island. While the Louvre Abu Dhabi features fire-protected galleries, the lack of underground armored shelters has raised alarms regarding the safety of its permanent collection and high-profile loans from France. Simultaneously, major museums in Qatar have shuttered indefinitely as a precautionary measure against the widening regional war.

New Bedford Art Museum has Mary Cassatt, Mexican exhibitions coming

The New Bedford Art Museum has unveiled its 2026 exhibition schedule, featuring a diverse range of programming that spans from historical masterpieces to contemporary social issues. The season began with "The Homecoming," a rare display of works by Mary Cassatt and Käthe Kollwitz from private SouthCoast collections, and will continue with a major survey of contemporary Mexican art titled "Resistance." Other highlights include an exploration of ecological anxieties in "Vanishing Ecologies" and a partnership with the American Visionary Art Museum to showcase self-taught artists.

At Frieze Los Angeles, Greg Ito’s bright baggage carries hope

Los Angeles-based artist Greg Ito has presented a striking installation titled "A Cautionary Tale" with Superposition Gallery at Frieze Los Angeles. The booth features stacks of neon orange suitcases and mirrored trunks alongside paintings of symbolic imagery like burning candles and ships in a bottle. The work draws directly from Ito’s family history, specifically the forced relocation of his grandparents to Japanese American internment camps during World War II, where they were restricted to bringing only what they could carry in a suitcase.

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The British Museum has agreed to a six-month loan of the Vrindavani Vastra, a 350-year-old Himalayan tapestry, to the Assam State Museum in India. This 2027 homecoming is contingent on the construction of a specialized preservation facility in Guwahati to house the fragile nine-meter silk textile, which depicts the life of Krishna and features the earliest known Assamese script.

‘Better every year’: Frieze opens to swift sales for Los Angeles artists

Frieze Los Angeles opened its 2026 edition at the Santa Monica Airport with a strong showing of community spirit and rapid sales during the VIP preview. Following a difficult year marked by local wildfires, the fair has seen a surge in institutional acquisitions and commercial success for both emerging local talent and established international figures. Notable early transactions included a $2.8 million sale of a Njideka Akunyili Crosby work by David Zwirner and a complete sell-out of Erica Mahinay’s paintings at Make Room gallery.

Rachael Mayne Unveils Powerful New Solo Exhibition 'A Letter To Them' — Presented With Turua Gallery - Scoop

Auckland-based artist Rachael Mayne is set to debut her latest solo exhibition, 'A Letter To Them,' presented by Turua Gallery at a special offsite location in Newmarket. The collection features large-scale, impressionistic floral paintings that represent a creative evolution for Mayne, who has seen her previous three exhibitions sell out on their opening nights. This show marks a shift toward greater artistic risk and scale, with no presales available to the public ahead of the March 13 opening.

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The Ukrainian government has enacted a new resolution to streamline the evacuation of over three million cultural objects from conflict zones as the Russian invasion nears its fourth year. The policy establishes a mandatory evacuation zone for museum items within 50 kilometers of the frontline and requires storage at least 75 kilometers away. Crucially, the resolution empowers museum directors to act independently during crises and introduces a three-stage evacuation system based on the cultural value of the property.

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The National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh has launched "Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement," a landmark survey exhibition documenting the evolution of the country’s art scene from the 1960s through the 1980s. Curated by Qaswra Hafez and commissioned by the Visual Arts Commission, the show features a vast array of paintings, sculptures, and never-before-seen archival materials. The exhibition is organized into three sections that explore the foundations of the movement, the influence of modernization on daily life, and the specific contributions of four modernist pioneers: Mohammed Al-Saleem, Safeya Binzagr, Mounirah Mosly, and Abdulhalim Radwi.

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The gallery Anthony Meier in San Francisco is hosting "Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Garden = Grid = City," the first exhibition of the late artist’s work since her estate began being co-represented by the gallery and von Bartha. The show highlights Solomon’s diverse eight-decade career, moving beyond her famous "supergraphics" to showcase rarely seen paintings and drawings from the 1980s that explore the intersection of city grids and landscape architecture.

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ART SG concluded its 2026 edition at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands with steady sales and a reported attendance of 43,000 visitors. While the fair lacked the million-dollar trophy sales seen in previous years, blue-chip galleries like Thaddaeus Ropac and White Cube reported significant transactions, including a £475,000 Raqib Shaw painting and a sell-out presentation of Lee Bae works by Johyun Gallery totaling $2.76 million. The event also featured a strategic partnership with S.E.A. Focus, integrating the boutique fair into the main hall to highlight regional talent.

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Refik Anadol’s controversial AI installation 'Unsupervised' at the Museum of Modern Art has sparked a heated debate on the nature of art and technology, recently highlighted in a '60 Minutes' segment. While Anadol defends his work as a poetic use of 'data as pigment' that captures viewer attention for an average of 38 minutes, critics and fellow artists raise concerns about the substance and ethics of the medium. The piece, which uses MoMA’s metadata to create morphing abstractions, became a viral sensation that challenged traditional museum engagement.

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The Reefline, a non-profit eco-art initiative, has launched its first phase of a seven-mile underwater sculpture park and artificial reef along Miami Beach. The project debuted with 'Concrete Coral' by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich, a submerged sculpture depicting a traffic jam designed to provide a habitat for marine life. Future phases include works by Carlos Betancourt, Alberto Latorre, and Petroc Sesti, all overseen by the architecture firm OMA and founder Ximena Caminos.

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London’s Lightroom venue has announced a major new immersive multimedia experience titled “David Bowie: You’re Not Alone,” scheduled to open in April 2026. Developed in partnership with the Bowie estate and designed by 59 Studio, the hour-long spectacle utilizes 36-foot walls to project rare performance footage, interviews, and never-before-seen archival material. The production is led by Mark Grimmer, who previously co-curated the Victoria & Albert Museum’s landmark 2013 retrospective of the artist.

Bridge Street Studios mark 30 years with anniversary exhibition

Bridge Street Studios, a cornerstone of the Dundalk arts community, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a special group exhibition titled "The things that matter most are the things that can’t be seen." Hosted at the Basement Gallery in An Táin Arts Centre, the show features works from current studio members including Orlaith Cullinane, Rachel Tinneswood, and Sarah McKenna, among others.

devyani saltzman abruptly leaves her role as director of the barbican in london 1234773690

Devyani Saltzman has abruptly left her position as Director of Arts and Participation at the Barbican Centre in London. Her departure, which comes just weeks after the arrival of a new CEO and shortly after she unveiled a five-year creative vision for the institution, marks another sudden leadership change at the major UK arts center.

'Train Dreams' Pop-Up Immersive Experience to Open in Los Angeles

A pop-up gallery exhibition titled 'Train Dreams: The Visual Journey' is opening in Los Angeles. It features curated art, stills, and an immersive projection experience with unseen footage from the Netflix film 'Train Dreams,' created by director Clint Bentley and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso. The exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look at the film's visual language.

Mangkuluhur ARTOTEL Suites Unveils "Weaving The Unseen" Art Exhibition: A Solo Debut by Ratih Alsaira

Mangkuluhur ARTOTEL Suites in Jakarta has opened a solo exhibition titled "Weaving The Unseen" by local artist Ratih Alsaira. The show, featuring ten primary works, explores the resilient strength and multifaceted nature of women, using tailoring and domestic crafts as central metaphors. It runs from February 13 to May 30, 2026, at the hotel's ARTSPACE gallery.

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Faculty at the University of North Texas's College of Visual Arts and Design have issued an open letter protesting the abrupt and unexplained cancellation of a solo exhibition by artist Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez. The letter, addressed to university leadership, argues the removal violates UNT's own policies on academic freedom and non-discrimination based on content, and demands an explanation for the decision.

british museum explains removal palestinian wall texts 1234773551

The British Museum has disputed a Telegraph report claiming it removed the word 'Palestinian' from wall texts in its Middle Eastern galleries due to pressure from the pro-Israel group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). Museum director Nicholas Cullinan stated the changes to two panels, which altered 'Palestinian descent' to 'Canaanite descent' in one instance, were made last year and were unrelated to the UKLFI letter, which he claimed not to have seen until after the controversy erupted.

Michael Joo: Sweat Models 1991–2026

Space ZeroOne in New York will present "Michael Joo: Sweat Models 1991–2026," a solo exhibition of the Korean American multimedia artist's early works, from February 20 to April 18, 2026. The show, organized by guest curator Christopher Y. Lew, will feature rarely seen pieces from the 1990s and the first realization of a large-scale installation, "Concatenations," conceived in 1990.

Henrike Naumann—selected for this year's Germany pavilion at the Venice Biennale—has died

Artist Henrike Naumann, who was selected alongside Sung Tieu to represent Germany at the 2024 Venice Biennale, has died at age 39. She passed away on February 14 in Berlin after a short, serious illness, which her website identified as a late cancer diagnosis. The Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (Ifa), which oversees the German Pavilion, confirmed her death and stated that her planned work for the Biennale will be realized posthumously according to her completed vision.

Modern mega gallery: Global art gallery to open Bay Area branch

The global mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth is opening a new branch in Palo Alto, California, in the historic Downing Block building, a former U.S. Post Office. The gallery, designed by architect Luis Laplace, will open in the fall and aims to bring influential contemporary art exhibitions to the Bay Area.

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Artnet Pro's Asia Pivot newsletter consulted feng shui masters and artists versed in Chinese metaphysics to forecast trends for the 2026 Year of the Fire Horse. Predictions include high volatility in financial markets and the art sector, a potential slowdown in traditional Western markets like Europe and North America, and continued growth in emerging regions such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Gulf. A 'big disruption' from the Global South is anticipated in the first half of the year, followed by market growth in the latter half.

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The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia has opened a major exhibition, 'Henri Rousseau: A Painter's Secrets,' featuring around sixty works, including the institution's own iconic Rousseau paintings. The survey, co-curated by Nancy Ireson and Christopher Green, aims to present a cohesive look at the self-taught artist's career.