Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule Aug 26, 2025 visibility 5 link 3 artists

people inc claes oldenburg coosje van bruggen plantoir sculpture 1234749873

People Inc., the media company formerly known as Dotdash Meredith, sold the 23-foot-tall sculpture *Plantoir* (2001) by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen on August 22. The bright-red garden trowel sculpture, recognized as the World’s Largest Garden Trowel Sculpture, had been a landmark on the former Meredith Corp. campus in Des Moines, Iowa, since 2002. The buyer, sale price, and new location were not disclosed, though the company stated the piece was offered to local organizations before being sold to an out-of-state buyer. The sculpture is expected to be moved by the end of September.

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article policy schedule Aug 25, 2025 visibility 12 link 5 artists

amy sherald speaks out government censorship at the smithsonian 1234749864

Amy Sherald, the painter who canceled her exhibition “American Sublime” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in July due to censorship issues, has broken her silence in a MSNBC article. Sherald canceled her September show after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), depicting model and performance artist Arewà Basit as a Black transgender Statue of Liberty. In her op-ed, Sherald explains that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives played a role, and she cannot comply with a culture of censorship targeting vulnerable communities.

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article news schedule Aug 22, 2025 visibility 13 link 6 artists

rockbund art museum free admission morning links 1234749779

The White House published a list denouncing artworks and exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, including a painting by Amy Sherald of a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty, which Sherald later pulled from a National Portrait Gallery show alleging censorship. Separately, Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum faced operational challenges after introducing free admission in 2025, including overcrowding and visitor complaints, leading to a hybrid reservation system. Other news includes Frieze London and Frieze Masters announcing collaborations and prizes, Sweden moving a historic church for a mine expansion, and Chanel partnering with the Pinacoteca de São Paulo for a women artists residency.

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article policy schedule Aug 22, 2025 visibility 10 link 4 artists

white house smithsonian artworks list refugees fauci 1234749773

The White House published an article on its website denouncing a range of artworks, exhibitions, and objects at the Smithsonian Institution, continuing President Donald Trump's protest against the museum network. The list included previously criticized shows, such as one about sculptures as signifiers of power at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture's displays on 'white dominant culture.' It also named new targets: a painting of a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty by Amy Sherald (which was pulled from a National Portrait Gallery show due to alleged censorship), Rigoberto A. González's 2022 painting 'Refugees Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas,' a stop-motion portrait of Anthony Fauci commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, and a papier-mâché Statue of Liberty from a workers' rights protest. The administration also objected to wall texts at the National Museum of the American Latino and the National Museum of American History's LGBTQ+ History display.

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article policy schedule Aug 21, 2025 visibility 12 link 7 artists

trump slavery museums smithsonian comments meaning 1234749760

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the Smithsonian and museums nationwide, claiming they focus excessively on negative aspects of U.S. history such as slavery. He described these institutions as the last remaining segment of 'WOKE' culture. The article counters his remarks by highlighting the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which presents both the horrors of slavery and themes of survival, liberation, and perseverance through objects like Harriet Tubman's handkerchief and artworks by Jacob Lawrence and Alison Saar. It also references the 2022 exhibition 'Afro-Atlantic Histories' at the National Gallery of Art, which balanced depictions of violence with messages of freedom and resilience.

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article news schedule Aug 20, 2025 visibility 4 link 2 artists

mickalene thomas racquel chevremont harassment allegations 1234749647

Artist Mickalene Thomas has been accused in a legal filing of fostering an abusive work environment and mismanaging funds involving her former romantic partner Racquel Chevremont. Chevremont, a model, curator, and reality TV star, filed a summons in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on August 8, alleging she was not properly compensated for work done for Thomas, that Thomas diverted significant funds and business opportunities, and that she subjected Chevremont to quid pro quo harassment and a hostile work environment. The summons states their romantic relationship ended in 2020 but their professional ties remained strained, and Chevremont is seeking $10 million in damages.

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person people schedule Aug 20, 2025 visibility 5 link 3 artists

brian ferriso named director dallas museum of art 1234749635

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has appointed Brian Ferriso, the longtime director of the Portland Art Museum (PAM), as its next director, effective December 1. Ferriso succeeds Agustín Arteaga, who left last year to lead the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. During his 18-year tenure at PAM, Ferriso grew the endowment by $40 million, eliminated $7 million in debt, doubled curatorial staff, and made the museum free for visitors 17 and under. He also oversaw major collection diversification, co-commissioned Jeffrey Gibson’s U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, and will open a 100,000-square-foot expansion funded by a $140 million capital campaign.

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article culture schedule Aug 18, 2025 visibility 10 link 11 artists

spike lee art collection highest 2 lowest 1234749536

Spike Lee's new film *Highest 2 Lowest*, an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's *High and Low*, prominently features artworks from Lee's personal collection—or replicas of them—as set decoration. Production designer Mark Friedberg used Lee's collection, previously surveyed at the Brooklyn Museum in 2023, as a reference to establish the character of music tycoon David King, played by Denzel Washington. Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kehinde Wiley, Deborah Roberts, Gordon Parks, Henry Taylor, and others appear in the film, including Basquiat's *Horn Players* (1983) and *Now's the Time* (1985), Tim Okamura's portrait of Toni Morrison, and pieces from Andy Warhol's 'Muhammed Ali' series.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 15, 2025 visibility 10 link 5 artists

sothebys to open its new breuer building hq on november 8 with blockbuster exhibition 1234749349

Sotheby's has announced November 8 as the opening date for its new headquarters in the iconic Breuer Building at 945 Madison Avenue, New York. The auction house purchased the building from the Whitney Museum in 2023 and commissioned Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, along with PBDW Architects, to renovate the landmarked structure. The opening will feature a blockbuster exhibition of modern and contemporary art, followed by major sales the week of November 17. The building, designed by Marcel Breuer and completed in 1966, previously housed the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Frick Collection.

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article news schedule Aug 15, 2025 visibility 6 link 3 artists

london imperial war museum faces critcism morning links for august 15 2025 1234749443

Greenpeace activists climbed a Shell-operated gas rig in the North Sea and unfurled a 315-square-foot crimson canvas created with artist Anish Kapoor, titled "Butchered," to protest environmental destruction. Separately, London's Imperial War Museum faces criticism for an information board in its Holocaust Galleries that historians say contains a serious misrepresentation of the Nuremberg race laws, with The Spectator accusing the institution of "soft Holocaust distortion." Meanwhile, the family of late mixed-media artist John Outterbridge is sifting through the charred ruins of his Altadena home, destroyed in the Eaton Fire, hoping to salvage artworks and archives to create a tribute.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 14, 2025 visibility 9 link 4 artists

rosa barba moma times square moynihan 1234746109

Rosa Barba's exhibition "The Ocean of One's Pause" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York surveys 15 years of her work, featuring over a dozen cinematic sculptures arranged as a single installation. Central to the show is her latest 25-minute film *Charge* (2025), co-commissioned by MoMA and the Vega Foundation, shot at CERN in Geneva. The film will also screen at Moynihan Train Hall and in Times Square as part of the "Midnight Moment" program throughout July. Barba transforms a black box gallery into a cello-like space, with long wires and film projectors creating a celluloid symphony through mechanical clicks and analog apparatuses.

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article news schedule Aug 13, 2025 visibility 17 link 7 artists

morning links august 13 2025 1234749320

The article reports on several art world developments: US museums are making progress on Spanish-language translation efforts despite broader challenges like declining attendance and funding. The Harvard Art Museums have acquired Heinz Mack's Light-Relief (1960), a gift from the Mack Foundation. The Detroit Institute of Arts is opening its first major Native American art exhibition in over three decades, featuring 90 works by Anishinaabe artists. Ukrainian artist David Chichkan was killed fighting against Russia. Additionally, the Natural History Museum is displaying the Alien franchise egg prop in its space exhibition.

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article news schedule Aug 13, 2025 visibility 6 link 2 artists

frank lloyd wright building conservancy price tower bartlesville 1234749269

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has acquired 11 original pieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, including the lobby direction board, an armchair, three copper tables, two stools, and four embossed copper panels. The acquisition, funded by donors, was made to prevent further sale and dispersal of the items after they were sold without the conservancy's permission in spring 2024, despite being protected under a preservation easement. The artifacts are currently stored in the Dallas area, and the conservancy intends to return them to Price Tower.

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candle obituary schedule Aug 11, 2025 visibility 23 link 46 artists, 1 gallery

legendary art collector sylvio perlstein has died 1234749167

Sylvio Perlstein, the legendary art collector, patron, and impresario, died on August 6. Hauser & Wirth confirmed the news, calling him a visionary who shaped one of the most important art collections of the past century. In 2018, the gallery exhibited 380 pieces from his collection across its Chelsea and Hong Kong locations in the show 'The Sylvio Perlstein Collection – A Luta Continua'. Perlstein was born in Belgium in the 1930s, fled to Brazil with his family during World War II, and later joined the diamond business in Antwerp. His collection spanned Dada, Surrealism, American minimalism, and Land art, featuring works by Man Ray, René Magritte, Donald Judd, and many others. He maintained close friendships with artists and displayed works throughout his Paris home, which cultural critic Arthur Lubow described as 'a contemporary version of Ali Baba's cave'.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 11, 2025 visibility 17 link 15 artists

aspen air festival 2025 1234749067

The inaugural AIR festival took place in Aspen as part of Aspen Art Week, featuring a mix of talks, performances, and a closed-door retreat for artists, writers, scientists, and theorists. Highlights included a pack of panting huskies, a psychoanalysis talk in a psychedelic chapel, an artist conversing with his AI doppelganger, and a whispery musical performance on a museum rooftop. The festival kicked off with a film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul accompanied by composer Rafiq Bhatia, followed by discussions on dreaming and catastrophe, and site-responsive works by Jota Mombaça and Paul Chan.

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article news schedule Aug 6, 2025 visibility 11 link 5 artists

morning links august 6 2025 1234749003

Sara Nadal-Melsió, the former associate director of the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program (ISP), has spoken out about her termination in June 2025, which occurred shortly after the museum's director Scott Rothkopf announced a suspension of the 50-year-old program. In an essay published in Hyperallergic, Nadal-Melsió describes her dismissal as retaliation for her public protest against the Whitney's cancellation of a pro-Palestinian performance titled "No Aesthetic Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance." She characterizes the museum's actions as part of a broader pattern of institutional obfuscation, corporate culture, and disregard for workers' rights.

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person people schedule Aug 5, 2025 visibility 10 link 2 artists

rosa barba wins the zurich art prize 2026 1234748969

Sicily-born, Berlin-based installation artist Rosa Barba has been named the 19th winner of the Zurich Art Prize, awarded by Museum Haus Konstruktiv and Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. The prize includes 100,000 CHF ($124,000) toward a show at the museum and an additional 30,000 CHF ($37,000). Barba’s conceptual installations combine film, sculpture, and sound to explore time, space, and human impact on the natural world. She recently presented the cinematic installation “The Ocean of One’s Pause” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 5, 2025 visibility 9 link 8 artists

studio museum in harlem opening date new building november 1234748929

The Studio Museum in Harlem will open its new building on Saturday, November 15, with a Community Day celebration, after being closed since 2018. Designed by Adjaye Associates, the 82,000-square-foot, seven-story structure features 14,000 square feet of exhibition space, expanded studios for its Artist-in-Residence program, and dedicated education areas. The reopening includes four exhibitions, two site-specific commissions, and reinstallations of iconic works, including a survey of Tom Lloyd, the subject of the museum's first exhibition in 1968. The museum has also updated its hours and admission policies, offering free entry on Sundays.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 4, 2025 visibility 12 link 15 artists

sothebys karpidas collection sale lots magritte surrealism 1234748729

Sotheby's has announced the headline lots for the upcoming sale of British socialite and arts patron Pauline Karpidas's collection, set to take place September 17–19 in London. The 250-item auction, described as the 'greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history,' is led by René Magritte's oil painting *La Statue volante* (1940-41), estimated at £9–12 million ($12–16 million). Other highlights include ten more Magritte works, four Andy Warhol pieces from his 'Art from Art' series, and works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Leonora Carrington, along with furniture and design objects.

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article news schedule Aug 4, 2025 visibility 4 link 4 artists

amy sherald trans forming liberty the new yorker cover 1234748747

Amy Sherald's portrait of a Black transgender Statue of Liberty, titled *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), has appeared on the cover of *The New Yorker* after the artist canceled a planned iteration of her traveling survey at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, alleging censorship. Sherald said museum leadership objected to the painting and proposed replacing it with a video discussion that would include anti-trans views. The work is currently on view at the Whitney Museum, where her survey 'American Sublime' runs through August 10. The Smithsonian later stated it sought to contextualize rather than replace the work, while the Trump administration praised the removal as a 'principled and necessary step' amid broader scrutiny of the institution's exhibitions.

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article news schedule Aug 4, 2025 visibility 11 link 9 artists

tate attendance decline china private museums morning links 1234748744

Tate director Maria Balshaw has defended the museum network's programming against criticism linking it to declining attendance, arguing in the Guardian that visitor numbers have returned to 95% of pre-pandemic levels when compared to annual pre-Covid figures rather than the record year of 2019. She cited popular shows for Pablo Picasso, J. M. W. Turner, and Tracey Emin as a strong foundation for future growth, though critics like Catherine Bliss countered that apart from the Lynette Yiadom-Boakye portrait show and El Anatsui's Turbine Hall installation, recent contemporary exhibitions have failed to excite. Separately, the article reports a wave of closures and cutbacks sweeping China's private art museums, including the shutdown of Shenzhen's Jupiter Museum of Art and Qingdao's TAG Art Museum, with the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art also facing financial difficulties.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 4, 2025 visibility 11 link 12 artists

sothebys london to sell greatest collection of surrealism to emerge in recent history in september 1234744885

Sotheby's London will auction the collection of British socialite, collector, and arts patron Pauline Karpidas on September 17 and 18. Described as the 'greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history,' it includes masterpieces by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Leonora Carrington, and Max Ernst, along with works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and others. The sale is expected to fetch £60 million ($81 million), the highest estimate ever placed on a single collection at Sotheby's in Europe. Karpidas, who began collecting 50 years ago after meeting gallerist Alexander Iolas, views herself as a 'temporary custodian' for the artworks.

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candle obituary schedule Aug 3, 2025 visibility 10 link 12 artists, 2 galleries

robert wilson theatre director artist dead 1234748659

Robert Wilson, the influential playwright and artist known for his spare, slow-moving productions that blurred the line between performance art and theater, died Thursday at age 83 in Water Mill, New York. His death was announced by the Watermill Center, the arts center he founded, which stated he died of a brief but acute illness. Wilson's career spanned stage works like the landmark 1976 opera *Einstein on the Beach* (with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs), video portraits of figures such as Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt, and sculptures, all characterized by stillness and a radical use of time.

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article policy schedule Aug 3, 2025 visibility 8 link 3 artists

smithsonian trump impeachment display update history museum 1234748710

The Smithsonian Institution has addressed the removal of a display at the National Museum of American History that mentioned President Donald Trump's two prior impeachments. The display, which had been on view since 2021 alongside references to Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon, was altered to a 2008 version that predated Trump's presidency. The Smithsonian stated the display will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in U.S. history, denying any external pressure from the Trump administration. The controversy follows earlier tensions, including Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet and artist Amy Sherald's cancellation of her traveling survey due to staff fears of political pushback.

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rate_review review schedule Aug 1, 2025 visibility 10 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

stan douglas bard museum survey review 1234748685

Stan Douglas's survey at Bard College's Hessel Museum of Art features a new video installation titled "Birth of a Nation" (2025), which reworks a racist sequence from D.W. Griffith's 1915 film of the same name. The installation presents the original footage alongside four new videos from different character perspectives, shot in black and white without sound, and ends with a blue screen left bare to suggest the mutability of historical images. The survey also includes earlier works like "Hors-Champs" (1992), which critiques televisual representation through a staged free jazz performance.

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article news schedule Jul 29, 2025 visibility 10 link 4 artists

john roberts smithsonian kim sajet firing 1234748455

Kim Sajet, the former director of the Smithsonian-run National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., resigned after President Donald Trump claimed he fired her via social media. Despite Trump's demand, Sajet continued reporting to work until formally quitting. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, intervened to block internal board suggestions to follow Trump's orders, leading the board to issue a resolution affirming its sole authority to fire museum directors. The controversy followed Trump's executive order accusing the Smithsonian of promoting a "divisive, race-centered ideology" and his post calling Sajet a "highly partisan person" and "strong supporter of DEI." Separately, artist Amy Sherald withdrew her mid-career survey from the National Portrait Gallery after being asked to remove a portrait of a trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 28, 2025 visibility 8 link 4 artists

sam barsky sweaters kohler r u still painting 1234748203

Sam Barsky, a self-taught knitter who learned from a library book in 1999 after dropping out of nursing school due to chronic illness, creates intricate pictorial sweaters entirely freehand without patterns. His sweaters depict landscapes and landmarks—such as Central Park, the London Bridge, and the Twin Towers—and he often photographs himself wearing them at the actual sites. His first museum solo exhibition, “It’s Not the Same Without You,” recently closed at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, and his work also appeared in the group show “R U Still Painting???” in Manhattan alongside artists like assume vivid astro focus and Uri Aran.

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article news schedule Jul 25, 2025 visibility 6 link 4 artists

top art collector david geffen sued by estranged husband for breach of contract 1234748265

Entertainment mogul and top art collector David Geffen was sued on Tuesday by his estranged husband, model Donovan Michaels, for alleged breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims Geffen promised Michaels lifelong financial support but cut him off after initiating divorce proceedings. The 33-page complaint describes their relationship as exploitative, comparing it to the plot of "Trading Places." Separately, Geffen is also entangled in a legal dispute with crypto billionaire Justin Sun over an Alberto Giacometti sculpture allegedly stolen and traded as part of a fraud scheme.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 5 link 4 artists

amy sherald cancels smithsonian exhibition amid censorship concerns 1234748194

Painter Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming solo exhibition “American Sublime” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which depicts a Black transgender Statue of Liberty. The show was scheduled to open in September. Sherald stated she was informed of internal concerns about the painting and that discussions arose about replacing it with a video featuring reactions and discussion of trans issues, which she opposed over fears it would include anti-trans views. She wrote to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives compromised the integrity of her work.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 8 link 9 artists

berlin biennale evasive palestine paul klee angel histor 1234747787

The 13th Berlin Biennale opened amid controversy over its handling of the Gaza conflict. In a tense press conference, curator Zasha Colah faced questions about whether any invited artists had withdrawn in solidarity with the Strike Germany campaign, and whether she had experienced state repression for addressing the genocide in Gaza. Colah acknowledged one artist’s withdrawal but denied experiencing state repression, while the biennial’s title, “passing the fugitive on,” and its theme of “the fox” were criticized as evasive. The article describes the event as a case study in how German cultural institutions navigate political pressure and censorship.

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