Christie’s expects Elaine Wynn’s collection to bring $75m, while her record-breaking Bacon triptych goes to Lacma

Christie’s will auction more than a dozen jewels from the collection of the late billionaire and philanthropist Elaine Wynn this autumn in New York, with total estimates exceeding $75 million. Highlights include Lucian Freud's *The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer* (2005) and Richard Diebenkorn's *Ocean Park #40* (1971), each estimated at $15–$25 million, alongside works by Joan Mitchell, J.M.W. Turner, Wayne Thiebaud, and others. Meanwhile, the crown jewel of Wynn’s collection—Francis Bacon’s 1969 triptych *Three Studies of Lucian Freud*, which she bought for a record $142.4 million at Christie’s in 2013—has been bequeathed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) and will debut in its new David Geffen Galleries building next April.

Chef Daniel Humm Is the Latest Star to Leave Their Mark on Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated Auction Series

Chef Daniel Humm, the renowned culinary figure behind Eleven Madison Park, has guest-curated Sotheby's Contemporary Curated auction series, selecting artworks with the same rhythmic and intentional approach he uses in menu creation. In an interview with CULTURED, Humm describes how a transformative encounter with Claude Monet's Water Lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris inspired his curatorial philosophy, emphasizing stillness, contemplation, and dialogue between works. His selections include pieces by Roni Horn, Alex Katz, Keith Haring, Sarah Crowner, and Jean Dubuffet, reflecting personal friendships and a desire to create an immersive, sensory experience akin to a multi-course meal.

Art Basel Miami Beach Diary: big feet, big muscles and big voices descend on Miami

Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 has kicked off with a series of high-energy events, including a Japanese women's wrestling match at the Miami Beach Bandshell featuring the Sukeban league, where Ichigo Sayaka was crowned victor with a belt designed by Marc Newson. The fair also features a performance by Diana Ross at Alex Prager's Mirage Factory launch, a set by rapper 2 Chainz at Soho Beach House, and notable artworks such as Sadao Hasegawa's erotic paintings at Garth Greenan's stand and Pat Oleszko's 13ft-tall inflatable 'Big Foots' at the David Peter Francis stand.

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.

Wander through Adrienna Matzeg’s Embroidered, Late-Night City Explorations

Adrienna Matzeg’s solo exhibition "After Hours" at Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto presents embroidered textile works inspired by her late-night explorations of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Seoul during a July 2025 trip. The pieces capture quiet, illuminated scenes of convenience stores, markets, and roadside attractions, rendered on black linen with a diaristic, snapshot-like quality.

Patti Smith receives Princess of Asturias Award for Arts

Patti Smith erhält Asturien-Preis für Künste

Patti Smith, the 79-year-old American musician and author, has been awarded the Princess of Asturias Award in the Arts category. The Princess of Asturias Foundation in Oviedo, Spain, praised her as the "godmother of punk" who has transcended music to work across poetry, photography, performance art, and video installation, becoming a multidisciplinary and unconventional communicator. Smith first gained fame with her 1975 album "Horses" and remains popular with younger audiences due to her radical sincerity and continued political activism, including criticism of US President Donald Trump. She is the first winner announced this year; the prize includes €50,000 and a replica of a Joan Miró statue, to be presented by King Felipe VI and Crown Princess Leonor in late October.

Lee Miller at the Musée d’Art Moderne: The Future Great Photographer Who Went from Rebel Child to Vogue Model

Lee Miller au musée d’Art moderne : la futur grande photographe passée de l’enfant rebelle au mannequin Vogue

The Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris is hosting a major retrospective dedicated to Lee Miller, tracing her evolution from a rebellious child in upstate New York to a celebrated Vogue model and pioneering surrealist photographer. The exhibition highlights her early life under the influence of her father, Theodore Miller, an amateur photographer who introduced her to the technical aspects of the darkroom, and her subsequent move to Paris in 1930 where she transitioned from being a muse for photographers like George Hoyningen-Huene to a formidable artist in her own right.

Major new Jean-Michel Basquiat collector’s book, priced at $1,400, released from Assouline.

Assouline has released a new collector's book titled "Basquiat: The World of Jean-Michel," a 348-page volume featuring over 200 artworks and archival photographs of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Priced at $1,400, the book is part of the publisher's Ultimate Collection of large-format, hand-bound volumes, and is organized thematically into six chapters covering Basquiat's depictions of heads, New York City's influence on his work, his use of silkscreens, and spiritual themes.

saudi arabia commission mural domingo zapata

Saudi Arabia has commissioned New York-based artist Domingo Zapata to create what is being billed as the world's largest mural, spanning 540,000 square feet. The project, part of the $63 billion Diriyah cultural zone development in Riyadh, is backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and will involve a team of about 100 artists working over four to six years, with Zapata describing it as having "a blank check" for creative freedom.

domingo zapata worlds largest mural saudi arabia

Spanish artist Domingo Zapata has been commissioned by Saudi Arabia to create the world's largest mural, a 540,000-square-foot work the size of nine football fields. The project, part of the $63 billion Diriyah cultural zone in Riyadh, will take five to six years to complete and involves a team of about 100 artists, engineers, and architects. Zapata describes it as a "Middle Eastern version of the Sistine Chapel."

artists no kings protests against trump

On Saturday, demonstrators across the United States took part in No Kings rallies protesting President Donald Trump, with artists playing a key role in creating protest visuals. In New York City, activists including Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo carried a yellow banner by graphic designer Ange Tran reading “People Over Billionaires,” while Brooklyn artist Julie Peppito led an art build with Indivisible Brooklyn, producing around 100 signs featuring slogans like “people power” and a red sun design. The protests, organized by the 50501 movement alongside Indivisible and MoveOn, drew an estimated 5 to 13 million participants nationwide, making it the largest action since Trump took office in January.

LOOK: Winning artists crowned at Rugby Open exhibition

The Rugby Open 25 exhibition has opened at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, showcasing works from contemporary artists across the Midlands. A panel of judges, including Arts Council Collection director Alona Pardo and Art Riot Collective creative director Kyla Craig, selected the pieces. Paul Anthony Goalby won the overall prize of £1,000 for his painting 'The Placeholder,' plus £500 for a solo exhibition, while Dexter Rudkin won the Youth Open for 'Boo!' Other award winners include Ella Black, Victoria Wyton-Mills, Jo McChesney, Carmen Tilley, Jane Tilley, James Tallon, Katherine Taylor, Sandra Jenkins, and Hannah Venkatasamy. The exhibition also features a supporting show, '25 for 25,' celebrating the venue's 25th anniversary.

Arts Listings: Week of April 9, 2026

The Ventura County arts community is launching a series of local exhibitions and theater productions for the week of April 9, 2026. Highlights include the opening of the political comedy "The Outsider" at the Santa Paula Theater Center and the "Rediscovering" exhibition at Fox Fine Jewelry featuring Lisa Sachs and Thomas Hoerber. Additionally, the Camarillo Art Center is hosting a themed exhibition titled "I dream my paintings, then I paint my dream," alongside various technical workshops in watercolor and gourd art.

parties artists and mothers gala wsa

Over 250 supporters gathered at downtown creative hub WSA on Sunday for the first annual gala of the nonprofit Artists & Mothers, a sold-out fundraiser for the organization’s hallmark $25,000 childcare grants supporting artists with children under three. The event featured interactive installations by Ei Arakawa-Nash, Lisa Alvarado, and Maia Ruth Lee, performances by DJ Cardamami, Sophie Becker, Zeena Parkins, and others, and was attended by co-founders Julia Trotta and Maria De Victoria, incoming First Lady of New York Rama Duwaji, numerous artists, curators, patrons, and gallerists.

Senior Art Exhibition 2026 Showcases the ‘Incredible Crossroads’ of Studio Art Majors

The Senior Art Exhibition 2026 at Colby College Museum of Art's Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art in Waterville showcases capstone projects from 17 graduating studio art majors. The works span painting, photography, printmaking, digital media, and sculpture, created after a yearlong capstone course coordinated by Associate Professor Bradley Borthwick. The exhibition runs through May 23 and includes a catalog with artist statements and critical essays.

Architecture as Microcosm: Interview with Architects Barclay & Crousse Coming to an Exhibition in Milan

Architettura come microcosmo. Intervista agli architetti Barclay & Crousse che arrivano in mostra a Milano

Architects Sandra Barclay and Jean Pierre Crousse, founders of Barclay & Crousse Architecture, are the subject of a feature interview and exhibition in Milan. The studio, established in Paris in 1994 and now based in Peru, is known for projects that deeply engage with the Peruvian landscape, particularly the coastal desert between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. Their notable works include the Lugar de la Memoria (Lima, 2015), the Museo de Paracas (2016), and the Franco-Peruvian School in Lima (2025), which recently won the Grand International Prize at the X Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Santa Cruz (Bolivia) in 2026. The article traces their education across Peru, France, and Italy, and their return to Peru in 2006, where they continue to run a French branch called Atelier Nord Sud.

Arts Listings: Week of May 7, 2026

This article is a local arts listings roundup for the week of May 7, 2026, in Ventura County, California. It includes opening theater productions such as "¡Ay Chihuahua! A Mariachi Musical" at California State University, Channel Islands, "Eleanor" at Rubicon Theatre Company, and "It's a Trip, Man: An Evening with a Hollywood Has-Been" at Ojai Art Center Theatre. Art openings feature the Camarillo Art Center's gourd class and exhibition "May I Have Your Attention!," Canvas and Paper's show of work by L.S. Lowry, and the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation's "r/evolve: celebrating the circular" by Christopher Noxon. The piece also lists auditions for "The Importance of Being Earnest" at Moorpark College and a call for submissions to the Ojai Art Center Theater's 2027 season.

Architects Behind Frick Renovation Tapped for Louvre’s ‘New Renaissance’

The French government has selected STUDIOS Architecture to lead a major renovation of the Louvre Museum in Paris, including new galleries and a second entrance. The project, called the 'New Louvre Renaissance,' was announced by President Emmanuel Macron in early 2025 but stalled after a jewel heist and staff strikes led to the resignation of former Louvre president Laurence des Cars, who was succeeded by Christophe Leribault. The $778 million plan aims to ease overcrowding at the museum, which hosts 9 million visitors annually, and includes a dedicated 33,000-square-foot gallery for the Mona Lisa.

Parliamentary report calls for major changes at French museums in the wake of Louvre heist

A French parliamentary report published on 13 May, following the October 19 heist of the crown jewels at the Louvre, issues a damning assessment of the country's museum security and management. The commission heard around 100 testimonies and examined some 2,000 museums, dedicating a special chapter to the Louvre. It blames former director Laurence des Cars's leadership for a "dysfunctional drift" that prioritized contemporary art interventions and fashion shows over basic infrastructure and collection protection, allowing the heist to occur. The report lists rising threats including riots, burglaries, cyberattacks (which forced the National Museum of Natural History in Paris to cancel an exhibition after a ransomware attack in July 2025), and terrorist plots. It proposes 40 recommendations, including raising budgets by an estimated €20–25 billion over a decade, enhancing staff training, and overhauling museum leadership.

The Louvre’s new director is inheriting a troubled, traumatised museum—can he repair the damage?

Christophe Leribault has been appointed as the new director of the Musée du Louvre, taking over an institution reeling from a major security breach. The theft of the crown jewels in October exposed severe systemic failures, including neglected security upgrades and a management culture criticized as autocratic under his predecessor, Laurence des Cars. The museum has also been plagued by strikes, ticket fraud scandals, and damaging parliamentary reports.

louvre counterfeit ticket scheme fraud inevitable

French authorities have dismantled a massive decade-long ticket fraud scheme involving the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles, resulting in the arrest of nine individuals, including two museum employees. The scam, which allegedly involved Chinese tour guides bribing staff to reuse tickets for multiple groups, is estimated to have cost the institutions millions of euros. Investigators have already seized nearly €1.5 million in various currencies and bank accounts as part of an ongoing judicial probe into organized fraud and money laundering.

netherlands returns 119 benin bronzes to nigeria in landmark repatriation agreement

The Netherlands has signed an agreement to return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, one of the largest repatriations of looted artifacts to date. The transfer, formalized on February 19 by Dutch culture minister Eppo Bruins and Nigerian official Olugbile Holloway at the Wereldmuseum in Leiden, includes 113 bronzes from the Dutch National Collection held at the museum and six additional objects from the municipality of Rotterdam. The artifacts were plundered by British forces in 1897 and later acquired by Dutch institutions, with provenance research confirming the museums were aware of their looted origins.

Artist Yeesookyung Reimagines Works Through AI in Seoul-Jeju Exhibition

Artist Yeesookyung, known for her "Translated Vase" series that repairs broken ceramics with gold, has created new AI-driven video works for the exhibition "Fail Better," jointly held at Forum & Space in Seoul and Vido Gallery in Jeju through June 13. The two-person show, curated by Kim Yoon-kyung, also features media artist Yangachi and includes works like "Moonlight Crown," which uses real-time GPS and weather data to generate ever-changing forms, and "Oh, Rose!," a digitally bred rose series produced through an AI generative system.

Hyde Collection celebrates young artists at annual H.S. Juried Show

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York, has opened its annual High School Juried Show, a long-standing tradition that showcases the creative talents of regional students. This year's exhibition features a diverse range of media, selected by professional jurors from a competitive pool of submissions from local school districts.

In Seine-Saint-Denis, the clever housing for migrants by architect Patrick Rubin

En Seine-Saint-Denis, les logements futés pour les migrants de l’architecte Patrick Rubin

Architect Patrick Rubin of the firm Canal has transformed the former National Road Information Center, known as Bison Futé, in Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) into a housing complex for 169 migrants. The project, commissioned by social landlord Batigere Habitats Solidaires, preserves the original 1986 half-moon building by Ludwik Peretz and Gilbert Delecourt, adding a new floor and a rear half-crown structure. Rubin used 79 prefabricated modules (17–25 m² each), built in workshops near Lyon, each equipped with a bed, kitchenette, bathroom, and window. Inspired by ship cabin manufacturing in Dunkirk and traditions of tiny houses and capsule hotels by Charlotte Perriand, Herman Hertzberger, and Shigeru Ban, the modules were craned into place. The project faced delays due to differing tolerances between concrete and wood construction, pushing delivery from early 2026 to late 2026.

Mexico City: El Desagüe by Luis Ortega Govela

Francis Alÿs’s 1997 performance piece, *Paradox of Praxis I*, serves as a starting point for an exploration of Mexico City’s violent hydrological transformation. By pushing a block of ice through the streets until it evaporates, Alÿs retraces the vanished canals of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital that was systematically drained by Spanish colonizers to establish a terrestrial, European-style urban grid.

Legendary Looks: My Ballroom Story Felix Rodriguez

Filmmaker Felix Rodriguez's archival work is featured in "Legendary Looks: My Ballroom Story," a multi-site exhibition running across Pioneer Works, ArtsWestchester, and City Lore throughout summer 2025. Co-curated by prominent ballroom leaders Jonovia Chase Lanvin, Twiggy Pucci Garçon, and Michael Roberson Maison-Margiela, the exhibition explores the artistry and cultural legacy of the house ballroom community. Rodriguez has documented this community since 1991, amassing an encyclopedic archive of New York's ballroom figures, and his multimedia installation at Pioneer Works highlights the role of commentators who live-narrate balls, presented along a red carpet evoking ball runways.

Detroit’s first fair, Season, revs up for inaugural edition

Detroit will host its first contemporary art fair, Season, from 25-28 September at Michigan Central, the city's renovated former train station. The fair debuts with 11 galleries and a special exhibition featuring ten local artists, evolving from Detroit Art Week, which was launched in 2018 by curator and entrepreneur Amani Olu. Olu, a collector himself, reimagined the festival as Season to fill a gap in the local cultural landscape, offering affordable booth costs of $2,500 and an online viewing room. Participating galleries include four from Michigan, four from New York City, and one each from Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Toronto, alongside talks, studio visits, and large-scale installations.

jeffrey epstein emails show art buying plans studio visits

Newly released documents from the House Oversight Committee reveal Jeffrey Epstein's involvement in the art world, including emails from February 2017 in which Epstein and associates Etienne Binant and Darren Indyke discussed buying art directly from emerging artists, bypassing galleries and fairs. Binant proposed a strategy to "have an impact on the ecosystem" by supporting artists early, and Indyke confirmed $1 million was available for purchases. Separate emails show Epstein commenting on the disputed painting *Salvator Mundi*, claiming it was worth only $1.5 million and linking its sale to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman via Dmitry Rybolovlev.

just stop oil activists dyed stonehenge not guilty

Three Just Stop Oil activists—Luke Watson, Rajan Naidu, and Niamh Lynch—were found not guilty of criminal damage by a Salisbury Crown Court jury on October 31, after dyeing Stonehenge bright orange with a cornflour, talcum powder, and orange dye mixture in June 2024. The defendants argued their actions were protected under freedom of speech and protest rights (Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights), and noted no lasting damage occurred. English Heritage CEO Nick Merriman acknowledged the distress caused but confirmed no visible damage, while the cleanup cost £620.