Vasari Art Codex

candle obituary schedule Jan 22, 2026 visibility 4 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

lorena levi painter dead 1234770502

Lorena Levi, a British artist known for her narrative portraits painted on wood, died on January 8 at age 29 after battling pancreatic cancer. Her death was announced via Instagram. Levi gained rapid momentum in the UK art scene over the past few years, staging a show in Milan with M+B gallery, participating in the V.O. Curations program, and being added to Marlborough Gallery's roster shortly before it closed in 2023. Her work is held in the British government's national collection. She was born in Istanbul in 1997, raised in Tel Aviv and the UK, and studied at Art & Guilds in London and Edinburgh College of Art.

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article policy schedule Jan 22, 2026 visibility 7 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

vienna to temporarily close composer museums amid culture budget cuts 1234770477

Vienna will temporarily close several museums dedicated to famous composers, including the apartments of Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, and Joseph Haydn, as part of city-wide budget cuts. The closures, announced on Wednesday, are expected to last up to two years, with Schubert's birthplace also closing for a redesign ahead of the 200th anniversary of his death in 2028. The city's cultural budget has dropped from €29.7 million in 2025 to €28.4 million this year, with further reductions planned for 2027. Other institutions, such as the Prater Museum and Hermes Villa, will also reduce opening hours.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jan 20, 2026 visibility 5 link 3 artists, 2 galleries

serpentine pavilion commission lanza atelier 1234770283

LANZA atelier, a Mexico City-based architecture studio founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, has been commissioned to design the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Kensington Gardens. The pavilion, which will be unveiled on June 6, marks the 25th anniversary of the Serpentine Pavilion program. Inspired by the English serpentine or crinkle-crankle wall, the design features a brick wall of alternating curves, a translucent roof resting on brick columns, and a second wall that harmonizes with the tree canopy. This year’s pavilion will be accompanied by a dedicated architecture program at Serpentine South, honoring the legacy of Zaha Hadid, who designed the inaugural pavilion in 2000.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 2 link 4 artists, 3 galleries

sothebys to unveil 1 b of art and luxury goods during abu dhabi collectors week in december 1234762692

Sotheby's announced that $1 billion worth of fine art and luxury goods will be unveiled during Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week, running from December 2 to 5. The event includes non-selling exhibitions of high-value artworks, such as a Rembrandt drawing and Gustav Klimt's 'Dame mit Fächer,' while luxury items like McLaren racing cars, a Jane Birkin handbag, diamonds, and real estate will be offered at auction or privately, with over $150 million going to auction and $100 million in private sales.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 18, 2025 visibility 4 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

phillips records 10 rise in global sales for 2025 taking 927 m as private sales surge by 66 1234767520

Phillips reported global sales of $927 million for 2025, a 10% increase over the previous year. Auction sales accounted for $725 million, while private sales surged 66% to $202 million. The auction house attributed growth to the launch of Priority Bidding, a platform offering reduced buyer's premiums for early bids, which led to a 275% increase in early selling bids. Phillips achieved an 88% sell-through rate by lot, with seven white-glove auctions and over 110 world auction records. Notable sales included a Patek Philippe watch for $17.6 million and Francis Bacon's *Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne and George Dyer* (1967) for $16 million. The luxury watch division generated $290 million, its highest annual total, and the Dropshop platform attracted many first-time and younger buyers.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 2 link 1 artist, 2 galleries

christies 2025 sales results analysis 1234767047

Christie's closed 2025 with $6.2 billion in projected global sales, a nearly seven percent increase from $5.8 billion in 2024 and in line with its 2023 total. Auction sales reached $4.7 billion, up eight percent year-over-year, while private sales held steady at $1.5 billion. The year's top lot was Mark Rothko's *No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)*, which sold for $62.1 million in New York. Other highlights include a record Picasso sale in Hong Kong ($25.4 million) and the Fabergé Winter Egg in London (£22.9 million). The house also saw strong performance from its automobiles business, Gooding Christie's, which delivered $234 million in sales. Geographically, the Americas grew 15 percent to $2.58 billion, while Asia-Pacific slipped 5 percent.

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article culture schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 5 link 8 artists, 1 gallery

gustav klimt the kiss why so important 1234766409

The article examines Gustav Klimt's iconic painting *The Kiss* (1907–1908) within the turbulent sociopolitical context of Vienna before World War I. It describes the city as a hotbed of ethnic tensions, anti-Semitism, and artistic ferment, where Klimt, alongside figures like Sigmund Freud and Gustav Mahler, explored repressed sexuality and decadence. The painting is presented as a symbol of this era, blending Symbolism, Japanese art, and Art Nouveau, and reflecting Klimt's role as a co-founder of the Vienna Secession, which broke with traditional aesthetics to pioneer modernism.

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candle obituary schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 7 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

franco vaccari artist dead 1234766473

Franco Vaccari, an Italian conceptual artist known for his participatory photography works, has died at 89. His death was announced by his gallery, P420 in Bologna, just four months before a retrospective of his work was set to open at Museion in Bolzano, Italy, in March. Vaccari's most famous piece, Esposizione in tempo reale n. 4, featured a photobooth at the 1972 Venice Biennale where viewers were invited to take and leave their portraits. He continued to explore themes of public and private space, information, and technology throughout his career, including later works with QR codes.

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article news schedule Dec 10, 2025 visibility 4 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

red grooms work tennessee state museum seeks help restoring 1234765337

In 1995, artist Red Grooms created the Tennessee Foxtrot Carousel, a working carousel featuring 36 figures from Tennessee history, installed at the base of Nashville's Broadway. After financial troubles forced its closure in 2003, the Tennessee State Museum acquired and dismantled it in 2004, storing it for years. Though the museum moved to a new $160 million building in 2018, the carousel remained in storage. Now, the museum has issued a request for information seeking partners to restore and operate the carousel, as reported by the New York Times.

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gavel restitution schedule Dec 10, 2025 visibility 10 link 8 artists, 2 galleries

bouvier us discovery 91 missing artworks 1234766044

Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier has filed a Section 1782 petition in US federal court to locate 91 artworks he claims are his, worth approximately $100 million. The filing targets roughly 15 major banks and two auction houses (Sotheby's and Christie's) to compel disclosure of financial and transactional records. The request is tied to Hong Kong legal proceedings against French dealer Pascal de Sarthe, whom Bouvier accuses of failing to return works placed with him for safekeeping. De Sarthe disputes Bouvier's ownership, and his attorney has asked the New York court to delay or deny the application as premature.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 5, 2025 visibility 4 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

diana ross performance alex prager art basel miami beach 1234765441

Diana Ross performed an intimate 20-minute set at a dinner celebrating Alex Prager's immersive installation 'Mirage Factory' during Art Basel Miami Beach. The event, held in a green room evoking Griffith Park, featured Ross singing hits from her Supremes days and solo career. Prager's installation, located in the old Beach Theatre on Lincoln Road, includes a 1:12 scale miniature of Hollywood Boulevard and was created with Capital One and the Cultivist. A performance based on Prager's photograph 'Beverly Palms Hotel' (2025) also took place, with actors embodying characters from the image.

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article news schedule Dec 5, 2025 visibility 4 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

daughter of marisa merz cancels show in kassel over documentas antisemitism policy 1234765391

An exhibition of work by late Arte Povera artist Marisa Merz, planned for the Fridericianum museum in Kassel, Germany, has been canceled by her daughter Beatrice Merz. Beatrice, president of the Fondazione Merz, called off the show in protest of Documenta's newly adopted Code of Conduct, which uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The exhibition was originally scheduled to open in August 2025 and was replaced with a Robert Grosvenor survey. The cancellation was confirmed by Andreas Hoffmann, managing director of Documenta and the Fridericianum.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 1, 2025 visibility 2 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

rediscovered rubens painting sells france 1234764432

A long-lost painting by Peter Paul Rubens, unseen for four centuries, was sold at auction in Versailles for €2.94 million ($3.4 million), nearly double its high estimate. Created in 1613, the work depicts Jesus Christ on the cross and was discovered in a private Paris townhouse by auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat. The painting was authenticated by German art historian Nils Büttner through X-ray imaging and pigment analysis, and its provenance traces back to the 19th-century French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

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article news schedule Dec 1, 2025 visibility 4 link 3 artists, 2 galleries

con artist charged for fraudulent sale of courbet painting 1234764258

American con artist Thomas Doyle, 68, has been charged with wire fraud for allegedly defrauding London gallery owner Patrick Matthiesen over a Gustave Courbet painting. Doyle claimed to manage a family trust with billions in assets and offered to broker the sale of Courbet's 1844 oil painting *Mother and Child on a Hammock* without commission. Instead, he delivered the work to his partner Shalva Sarukhanishvili, who sold it to Jill Newhouse Gallery for $115,000; the gallery then resold it to collector Jon Landau for $125,000. Matthiesen received no proceeds and filed a lawsuit against Doyle, Sarukhanishvili, Jill Newhouse Gallery, and Landau. Doyle has a prior fraud conviction involving a Corot painting and was described by a judge as a "career criminal."

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trending_up market schedule Nov 29, 2025 visibility 7 link 5 artists, 1 gallery

sothebys london lifts lid on its old master and 19th century evening sale with half of works unseen for a century 1234764098

Sotheby's London has announced the full lineup for its Old Master and 19th century evening sale on December 3, featuring 31 works defined by exceptional scholarly significance and rare discoveries. Half of the lots have been hidden from public view for over a century, and 12 have not appeared on the secondary market in 40 years. Top lots include Hans Eworth's portrait of Thomas Howard (estimate £3 million), Pieter Brueghel the Younger's The Census at Bethlehem (£5 million), a rediscovered Peter Paul Rubens oil sketch (£3 million), and a Rembrandt portrait of Saint John on Patmos (£7 million). The sale also includes works from the collection of Dr Hinrich Bischoff, such as Lucas van Valckenborch's Autumn: Landscape with Archduke Matthias of Austria (£800,000).

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 25, 2025 visibility 4 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

tokushima modern art museum wolfgang beltracchi forgery 1234763206

A painting in Japan's Tokushima Modern Art Museum, originally attributed to French Cubist Jean Metzinger and purchased in 1999 for 67.2 million yen ($426,000), has been confirmed as a forgery by notorious German forger Wolfgang Beltracchi. The museum withdrew the work, titled *At the Cycle-Race Track 55*, from an upcoming exhibition after experts identified synthetic pigments from after the mid-20th century. The Osaka-based seller agreed to a refund and return, completed in October and November 2024, and the painting has been removed from the prefectural government's inventory.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 8 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

phillips takes 54 m from modern and contemporary sale bonhams on the move demand for female photographers rising morning links for november 20 2025 1234762537

Phillips' modern and contemporary evening sale in New York on Wednesday netted $67.3 million, with a 94% sell-through rate across 33 lots. Highlights included an untitled Joan Mitchell painting, a Francis Bacon diptych, and a juvenile triceratops skeleton, though two lots—a large gold piece and an oversized painting by Jadé Fadojumtimi—failed to sell. Separately, Bonhams announced it will move its US headquarters to 111 West 57th Street in February 2025, occupying a 42,000-square-foot space in the restored Steinway Hall, which will reopen as a public cultural venue. The article also covers declining DEI-related grants, a survey of William Nicholson, rising demand for female photographers, and the launch of Artsignal, an AI platform for art market intelligence.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 18, 2025 visibility 3 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

park avenue armory 2026 program marina abramovic 1234761974

The Park Avenue Armory in New York has announced its 2026 program, headlined by the US premiere of Marina Abramović's provocative performance piece "Balkan Erotic Epic" on December 8. The four-hour work, centered on nude fertility rituals rooted in Balkan traditions, will be joined by other multidisciplinary works including Céleste Boursier-Mougenot's sound installation "clinamen," Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" conducted by Alan Pierson, a Simon Stone production of "The Cherry Orchard" set in modern-day Seoul, and a Benjamin Millepied dance piece based on Romeo and Juliet. All performances will take place in the Armory's Drill Hall.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 3, 2025 visibility 7 link 11 artists, 2 galleries

faked artworks japan wolfgang beltracchi 1234759877

A painting long attributed to Moïse Kisling, titled *Kiki de Montparnasse* and held by Japan's Yamada Bee Company Group, has been identified as a forgery by notorious art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi. The discovery, reported by NHK, follows a wave of Beltracchi-linked fakes uncovered in Japanese museums and collections, including a purported Marie Laurencin portrait in Tokyo and a forgery of Heinrich Campendonk's *Girl with Swan* at the Museum of Art, Kochi. Beltracchi admitted to forging the Kisling around 1990, claiming he studied the artist deeply.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 28, 2025 visibility 1 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

salvador dali necklace sea sothebys surrealism sale 1234759258

A Salvador Dalí-designed necklace, the Swirling Sea Necklace, sold for €736,600 ($858,500) at Sotheby's 'Surrealism and Its Legacy' auction on October 24, doubling its pre-sale estimate. The 18-karat gold piece, inlaid with diamonds, a cultured pearl, and sapphire and emerald beads, was conceived by Dalí in 1954 and first owned by São Schlumberger, a frequent patron of the artist. The necklace had previously sold at Sotheby's in 2014 for $665,000 to Anne Schlumberger, who died in April, prompting its return to auction.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 28, 2025 visibility 3 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

pablo picasso dora maar portrait sells 37 million 1234759152

A previously little-known Pablo Picasso portrait of Dora Maar, titled *Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar)* (1943), sold for $37 million at Lucien Paris auction house on October 24, 2025—nearly four times its $9.5 million estimate. The painting had been owned by the same family since 1944 and was shown publicly for the first time in 80 years at Hôtel Drouot before the sale. Auctioneer Christophe Lucien called it the highest auction price for any artwork in France this year.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 28, 2025 visibility 5 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

sothebys records highest ever totals in france for surrealist and modern sales during art basel paris week 1234758910

Sotheby's Paris achieved record-breaking totals for surrealist and modern art auctions during Art Basel Paris week, with combined sales of €89.7 million ($104 million) across its Surrealism and Its Legacy and Modernités sales—a 50 percent increase over the same event last year. The top lot was Amedeo Modigliani's *Elvire en buste* (1918-1919), which sold for €27 million ($31.3 million), the highest auction price for a painting by the Italian artist in France and the most valuable work ever sold by Sotheby's Paris. Other highlights included Modigliani's *Raymond* (1915) at €10.6 million, René Magritte's *La Magie Noire* (1934) at €10.7 million, and a complete set of Pablo Picasso's *Séries 347* etchings, which set a French auction record for any print by the artist.

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article news schedule Oct 1, 2025 visibility 4 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

judge denies motion to dismiss swizz beatz 1mdb case 1234754469

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss music producer and art collector Kasseem Dean, known as Swizz Beatz, from a bankruptcy case tied to the 1MDB scandal. Dean and his two companies, Monza Studios and Swizz Beatz Productions, were named as defendants in a suit filed in October 2024 by joint liquidators Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla, seeking to recover $7.3 million allegedly transferred to Dean from entities controlled by Jho Low, the mastermind of the $7.65 billion 1MDB fraud. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled that the plaintiffs' claims are not time-barred, that they have standing, and that sufficient facts have been pleaded to proceed to discovery.

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trending_up market schedule Sep 30, 2025 visibility 5 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

claude monet sale bankruptcy george allen weiss 1234754305

Financier George Allen Weiss is seeking court approval to sell Claude Monet's painting *Nymphéas* (1914–17) for $36.5 million to an unnamed buyer, as part of his bankruptcy proceedings. Weiss filed for bankruptcy in June after a federal judge ruled he owed over $100 million in debt tied to his hedge fund, Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, which also filed for bankruptcy in 2024. The sale, handled through Weiss's GW Crown Holdings LLC, is intended to cover $123 million in debt to Bank of America, but Jefferies Strategic Investments has filed a limited objection demanding the buyer's identity be disclosed, citing a comparable Monet that sold for $65.5 million at Sotheby's.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 26, 2025 visibility 7 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

suzanne duchamp retrospective zurich kunsthall schirn frankfurt 1234753306

A new retrospective at Kunsthaus Zurich, soon traveling to Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, spotlights Suzanne Duchamp (1889–1963), a French artist often overshadowed by her brothers Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, and Jacques Villon. The exhibition, titled “Suzanne Duchamp: Retrospective,” showcases her highly individual painterly practice rooted in Cubism and Dada, featuring works like *Radiation of Two Solitary Separates Apart* (1916–20) and *Marcel’s Unhappy Readymade* (1920), which reappropriates her brother’s readymade concept. The show includes a new catalog commission by painter Amy Sillman, who created digital drawings inspired by Duchamp’s formal dynamics.

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article news schedule Sep 25, 2025 visibility 5 link 2 artists, 2 galleries

french artist invader lawsuit julien auctions street art 1234753692

French artist Invader, whose real name is Franck Slama, sued the parent company of Julien Auctions for copyright infringement, theft, and violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act. The lawsuit claims 15 of his original mosaic artworks were stolen from their installation sites worldwide—including Tokyo, Paris, and other French locations—damaged or distorted, and then offered in the auction house's "Street Art: Paint & Pavement" sale on September 25. Invader demanded the works be removed, and a U.S. District Court in California granted a restraining order halting the auction of those pieces. The auction house's co-founder Martin Nolan defended the sale, arguing that street art created in public spaces transfers ownership to those who lawfully acquire it.

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article culture schedule Sep 16, 2025 visibility 7 link 16 artists, 1 gallery

new yorker covers marilyn minter awol erizku 1234751997

The New Yorker has commissioned six contemporary photographers—Marilyn Minter, Awol Erizku, Ryan McGinley, Collier Schorr, Camila Falquez, and Alex Prager—to reimagine historical illustrated covers for the magazine’s centennial. Each photographer created a celebrity portrait inspired by a past cover, such as Erizku’s photo of Spike Lee as Eustace Tilley and Minter’s recreation of a 1925 cover featuring actress Sadie Sink. The project marks only the third time in the magazine’s history that photography has been used for its cover.

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article news schedule Sep 15, 2025 visibility 5 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

edgar davids art collection theft 1234751809

A London court heard that Edgar Davids, the former Netherlands soccer star known as “the Pitbull,” was defrauded by a trusted friend who allegedly stole his $255,000 art collection. Nabila Habiby, who had keys to Davids’ mansion, removed 37 artworks—including 33 pieces by Paul Insect and two by Ron English—and pawned them for loans totaling just $42,800. When she failed to repay, pawnbrokers sold the works at auction. Davids only discovered the theft in 2017 after a buyer in Hong Kong contacted him via Instagram. Habiby admitted to two counts of fraud and faces up to 34 months in prison.

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trending_up market schedule Sep 11, 2025 visibility 4 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

lost jesus painting peter paul rubens paris mansion osenat 1234751588

A long-lost painting of Jesus Christ's crucifixion by 17th-century Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, titled *Christ on the Cross* (1613), was discovered in a Parisian mansion by auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat last September. The large Baroque work, measuring 42 by 29 inches, was authenticated by German curator and art historian Nils Buttner, chairman of the Centrum Rubenianum, through X-ray imaging and pigment analysis. It will be auctioned by Osenat's auction house in Fontainebleau on November 30, with no estimate yet released.

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article culture schedule Sep 11, 2025 visibility 3 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

mahmoud khalil nan goldin market tanked palestine activism 1234751605

Artist Nan Goldin and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil discussed Khalil's 104-day ICE detention, the 'Palestine Exception' to free speech, and the backlash faced by pro-Palestinian activists in a conversation published in Dazed magazine. Khalil was arrested in March 2024 after serving as a negotiator during Columbia University protests, with the Trump administration alleging he undermined foreign policy and later claiming he failed to disclose information on his green card application. Goldin compared her own experience leading the activist group PAIN, which successfully pressured museums to cut ties with the Sackler family over the opioid crisis, noting that pro-Palestinian activism has faced far greater criminal and professional repercussions.

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