Art News. Vasari Codex

gavel restitution schedule Dec 2, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

British Museum's looted ewer set for return to Ghana on long-term loan

The British Museum is expected to loan the 14th-century Asante Ewer to Ghana on a long-term basis, following discussions between the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi and the London institution. The ewer, made in England and later looted from the Asante royal palace in 1896, has been in the British Museum's collection ever since. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, director of the Manhyia Palace Museum, plans to travel to London to make a formal loan request on behalf of Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II. The British Museum has already lent other looted artefacts to the Ghanaian museum, and the loan would likely be for three years, with Ghanaian authorities acknowledging British Museum ownership.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Nov 13, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

Why former Sotheby's chief executive Tad Smith is bullish on blockchain art

Former Sotheby's CEO Tad Smith, who led the auction house from 2015 to 2019, has emerged as a prominent supporter of blockchain art. The article traces his connection to artist Robert Alice, who first encountered Smith while working as a porter at Sotheby's. Alice, a pioneer in NFT art, sold the first NFT through a major auction house at Christie's in 2020. Now, his blockchain-based painting BLOCK 1 (24.9472° N, 118.5979° E) from the Portraits of a Mind series is being offered at Sotheby's with an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. Smith, who owns another work from the series, is not the consignor or guarantor but expresses hope the sale will promote Alice's work, Bitcoin, and Sotheby's, particularly among younger generations.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Nov 6, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

How China’s private museums are navigating a post-boom era

China's private museum sector, which boomed in the 2010s with hundreds of new institutions often tied to property developments or vanity projects, is now contracting. Notable closures include Guangzhou's Times Museum (shuttered in 2022, later relaunched as a project space), OCAT Shanghai (closed indefinitely in 2021), and Qingdao's TAG Museum (suspended operations in 2024). Other prominent museums like Sifang Art Museum, Yinchuan MoCA, and Shanghai MoCA have scaled back, while Long Museum's future appeared uncertain after its owners auctioned part of their collection. The downturn follows the collapse of China's property sector, Covid-19 restrictions, and a broader economic slump.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

person people schedule Oct 24, 2025 visibility 13 link 4 artists

Lina Ghotmeh: ‘Museums should go beyond conservation to foster exchange, reflection and critical thinking’

In February 2025, Beirut-born, Paris-based architect Lina Ghotmeh won the competition to oversee the remodelling of the Western Range of the British Museum, a series of galleries comprising one-third of the historic London institution. Her project team includes conservation specialists Purcell and engineers Arup. Ghotmeh, known for her human-centred, sustainable approach and her 'archaeology of the future' methodology, has previously designed the Stone Garden tower in Beirut and the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London. She also holds commissions for a contemporary art museum in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, a Venice Biennale pavilion for Qatar, and the Bahrain Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article local schedule Oct 19, 2025 visibility 13 link 3 artists, 8 galleries

Helsinki’s top art galleries

Helsinki's top art galleries are highlighted in a guide featuring recommendations from local artists and art world insiders. The article lists 10 spots, including Galerie Anhava, Helsinki Contemporary, Galerie Forsblom, and Kohta, emphasizing that galleries are low-threshold, free, and welcoming to all. The scene is shifting eastward from the city center to neighborhoods like Kallio, Sörnäinen, Vallila, and Kalasatama, with many galleries closed on Mondays.

newspaper Time Out open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 8, 2025 visibility 14 link 4 artists

Frances Thrasher’s Solo Exhibition ‘The Uncanny Valley’ Under Heaven4theYoung

Multidisciplinary artist Frances Thrasher, working under the name Heaven4theYoung, will present her second solo exhibition, 'The Uncanny Valley,' at ACE/FRANCISCO Gallery opening October 16. The show features new works in ceramics, oil, and watercolor, following her sold-out 2022 debut. Thrasher's painting 'Withered' was recently on view at the Lyndon House Arts Center's 50th Juried Exhibition, and her piece 'Teenage Lobotomy' served as album cover art for Patterson Hood's solo release. At 20, she has also earned a Badge of Honor from the Berlin Music Video Awards for a stop-motion film she made for Hood's song 'The Pool House.'

newspaper Flagpole open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Sep 29, 2025 visibility 17 link 3 artists

Vancouver Art Gallery selects architects for second attempt at new building

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) has selected Formline Architecture and Urbanism, based in Vancouver, and KPMB Architects, based in Toronto, to design its new building at Larwill Park in downtown Vancouver. The announcement comes ten months after the museum abandoned a Herzog & de Meuron design due to a 50% cost increase, and after parting ways with director Anthony Kiendl. The VAG has outgrown its current 1913 courthouse home, and the new project was initiated 13 years ago by former director Kathleen Bartels. A preliminary design is expected next year, though no budget, timeline, or opening date has been revealed.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Sep 22, 2025 visibility 15 link 6 artists

'Age alone does not guarantee value': Thomas S. Kaplan is showing his Dutch Old Master collection in US for first time

Collector Thomas S. Kaplan and his wife Daphne Recanati Kaplan are bringing their Leiden Collection, one of the world's largest private holdings of 17th-century Dutch art, to the US for the first time. Around a third of the collection's 220-plus works will be shown in "Art and Life in Rembrandt’s Time: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection" at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach from 25 October 2025 to 29 March 2026. Kaplan is also in discussions to fractionalise the collection into shares and float it as an IPO.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Sep 8, 2025 visibility 19 link 4 artists

Independent 20th Century fair will move to Sotheby’s Breuer Building in 2026

The Independent 20th Century art fair will move to the Breuer Building in New York, soon to become Sotheby’s headquarters, for its 2026 edition running September 24–27. The fair, previously held at Casa Cipriani, will expand to accommodate over 50 galleries. Sotheby’s acquired the landmarked building in 2023 and has made subtle renovations led by Herzog & de Meuron, with the new headquarters opening November 8.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Aug 21, 2025 visibility 13 link 4 artists

‘We’ve faced immense new pressures’: Shanghai museum director on the challenges—and benefits—of going free entry

Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) became one of the only private museums in China to offer free admission in May 2025, marking its 15th anniversary. The move initially required pre-booked timed entry via WeChat, but after city-wide guidance encouraged removing barriers, the museum eliminated the booking system, leading to long wait times and visitor complaints on social media. One visitor reported receiving an inappropriate response from the museum’s official account, prompting apologies from both the museum and its executive director and chief curator, X Zhu-Nowell. A hybrid system of day-ahead reservations and same-day walk-ins was later implemented.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Aug 20, 2025 visibility 18 link 7 artists

Documenta unveils first all-woman curatorial team for 2027

Documenta has announced the first all-woman curatorial team for its 16th edition, set to take place in Kassel, Germany, from June 12 to September 19, 2027. Artistic director Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, selected four curators—Carla Acevedo-Yates, Romi Crawford, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro, and Xiaoyu Weng—to develop the exhibition, publications, and programming. Each curator brings distinct expertise: Acevedo-Yates focuses on diaspora and cultural production; Crawford on race and American visual culture; Rodríguez Castro on writing and editing; and Weng on globalization, feminism, and decolonization.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Aug 19, 2025 visibility 21 link 3 artists

San Francisco’s de Young Museum opens revamped Native American art galleries

San Francisco's de Young Museum will unveil its newly reinstalled galleries of Native American art on August 26, following a years-long overhaul led by a group of predominantly Native curators. The reimagined spaces, called the Arts of Indigenous America galleries, feature contemporary works alongside historical pieces—some over 1,000 years old—as well as recent acquisitions and new commissions. One gallery focuses on Native California with rotating regional exhibits, while another covers all of North America, with ceramics, textiles, paintings, beadwork, and basketry arranged thematically. The museum consulted the communities of origin for historical pieces, as required by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and invited members to help interpret the works.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Aug 15, 2025 visibility 18 link 2 artists

The New Sotheby's Flagship Sets An Opening Date

Sotheby's has announced that its new flagship auction house and gallery space, located in the iconic Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, will open on November 8. The building, designed by Marcel Breuer in 1966, originally housed the Whitney Museum of American Art and later served as temporary home for The Frick Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The opening exhibition will feature works for Sotheby's marquee modern and contemporary art auctions, followed by pieces for Luxury Week in December. The building also includes a new restaurant from the team behind La Mercerie, and the galleries will be free and open to the public.

newspaper Patch open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Aug 14, 2025 visibility 13 link 3 artists

Exhibition Tour—Arts of Africa | Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has reopened its renovated Arts of Africa galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. The exhibition tour was led by curator Alisa LaGamma, assistant curator Jenny Peruski, director Max Hollein, and special guests Manthia Diawara and Angélique Kidjo. The reinstallation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the African subcontinent, shifting the narrative to focus on artworks within their original contexts and as masterpieces. It celebrates recognized masters from sculptor Ọlọ́wẹ̀ of Ìsẹ̀ to contemporary photographer Seydou Keïta, and places works such as Afro-Portuguese ivories and Kente cloth in visual dialogue with adjacent European galleries and contemporary pieces.

newspaper The Metropolitan Museum of Art open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Aug 13, 2025 visibility 21 link 6 artists

Sotheby’s Has Set a Debut Date for Its Landmark Breuer Building Headquarters

Sotheby's has announced that its new headquarters in the iconic Breuer Building at 945 Madison Avenue will open on November 8. Originally designed by Marcel Breuer for the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1966, the building later housed the Met Breuer and the Frick Collection during its renovation. Sotheby's purchased the Brutalist landmark from the Whitney two years ago and has renovated it with Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron and PBDW Architects, adding auction rooms and state-of-the-art gallery spaces while preserving original features like bluestone floors and concrete walls. The opening will coincide with a major modern and contemporary art exhibition, followed by fall marquee sales the week of November 17.

newspaper observer.com open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Aug 6, 2025 visibility 18 link 10 artists

Waiting to Be Discovered? Curators Reveal How Emerging Artists Can Get Noticed

Top curators share advice on how emerging artists can get noticed in a tough art world. Key tips include being proactive in building networks, approaching curators directly, and presenting organized online portfolios. Curators like Hitomi Iwasaki (Queens Museum), Marie-Anne McQuay (Liverpool Biennial), and Lisa Long (formerly Julia Stoschek Foundation) emphasize that artists should not wait to be discovered but instead engage with peers, attend shows, and reach out to curators, even those early in their careers.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jul 29, 2025 visibility 19 link 3 artists

Tate reveals the main reason for its lower attendance figures

Tate museums have experienced a significant drop in attendance, with Tate Modern seeing 25% fewer visitors in 2024 compared to 2019, Tate Britain down 32%, and Tate St Ives down 37%. While domestic visitor numbers have recovered to 95% of pre-Covid levels, international visitors are at only 61%, particularly among European 16-to-24-year-olds, whose numbers fell from 609,000 in 2019-20 to 357,000 in 2023-24. The Art Newspaper's research, combining government data and Tate's internal studies, shows that external socioeconomic factors—including a one-tenth drop in EU visitors to the UK overall—are the primary driver, not curatorial programming as some critics have claimed.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jul 8, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists

As an Emily Kam Kngwarray survey opens at Tate Modern this week, contemporary Indigenous artists are finally taking centre stage in the UK

Tate Modern opens its first major exhibition of Indigenous Australian artist Emily Kam Kngwarray (c. 1914–96), featuring over 70 works including early batiks and vast late-career paintings. The show, adapted from a presentation at the National Gallery of Australia, is co-curated by Hetti Perkins and Kelli Cole, who emphasize presenting Kngwarray's work within its Anmatyerr cultural context rather than through a Western abstraction lens. Concurrently, London's Camden Art Centre hosts an exhibition of Duane Linklater and his family, and a Manchester show features Santiago Yahuarcani, signaling a broader UK focus on contemporary Indigenous artists.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

Tate chair floats selling Turbine Hall naming rights for ‘a minimum of £50m’

Tate chair of trustees Roland Rudd has suggested that naming rights for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern could cost a minimum of £50 million. The proposal, reported by The Telegraph, is tied to the institution's new Tate Future Fund, launched last week with a goal of reaching £150 million by 2030. Rudd stated that endowing curators, directors, or naming the iconic space are all potential options for donors, though a Tate spokesperson emphasized the comments were hypothetical and the fundraising campaign is just beginning.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 26, 2025 visibility 17 link 1 artist

A Testimony to Survival and Hope Amid Chaos and Destruction

Vian Sora's first solo museum exhibition in the United States, 'Outerworlds,' is on view at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) through September 7. The exhibition features vibrant, layered abstract paintings that the artist describes as deeply personal, including 'Forest Remains,' a 2023 SBMA acquisition that she considers a self-portrait about migration and assimilation. Sora, born in Baghdad and a survivor of the Iran–Iraq War, Gulf War, and the 2003 invasion, discussed her work in a conversation with SBMA Chief Curator James Glisson, explaining how a 2015 hysterectomy led to a dramatic shift in her style toward bold, colorful compositions. The show will travel to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville and the Asia Society Texas Center after its Santa Barbara run.

newspaper The Santa Barbara Independent open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 19, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

Pompidou moves in as Grand Palais reopens after £395m revamp

The Grand Palais in Paris reopens after a €466m (£395m) four-year restoration led by Chatillon Architectes, the most significant transformation since its 1900 inauguration. The building will serve as a temporary venue for the Centre Pompidou while the museum undergoes its own renovation until 2030. The project restored original sightlines, added over 40 lifts and 30 staircases, and created modular exhibition spaces to meet contemporary curatorial demands.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

Māori art returns to New York’s Met museum in reimagined exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has reopened its Oceania galleries after an extensive renovation and reimagining from an Indigenous perspective. The new Arts of Oceania installation features over 650 works representing 140 cultures from across the region, including Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Curated by Maia Nuku, the exhibition took eight years to plan and showcases artworks created in the last 500 years, emphasizing the ocean as a connective highway rather than a barrier. The reopening continues the legacy of the landmark 1984 exhibition Te Māori: Māori Art from New Zealand Collections, which set a benchmark for shared decision-making between museums and Indigenous communities.

newspaper RNZ open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

The Met opens reimagined Arts of Oceania galleries showcasing works from the Pacific

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is reopening its Galleries of the Arts of Oceania to the public for the first time since 2021, following a major renovation that allowed curators to reimagine the presentation of art from the vast Pacific region. The galleries feature more than 600 artworks from Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia, and New Zealand, including the iconic Kwoma ceiling installation from Papua New Guinea, which has been reconfigured with input from the artists' descendants to accurately reflect clan groupings. The renovation is part of a broader $70 million overhaul of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, which also houses collections from the ancient Americas and Africa.

newspaper PBS open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 28, 2025 visibility 12 link 4 artists

Troy, ancient site in western Turkey, hosts expansive contemporary art exhibition

The Troy Museum in western Turkey has opened a contemporary art exhibition titled "Emanet" (meaning "trust," "legacy," or "safekeeping") by Turkish artist Vuslat. The show, running from May 25 to July 25, features sculptures, drawings, installations, and sound works placed alongside ancient artifacts in the museum's main halls and gardens, marking the first time contemporary art has been integrated into the museum's primary exhibition spaces near the legendary site of Troy.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 11

A Fashion Revolution at the Met

The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute is undergoing a major transformation, moving from its basement location to become the museum's main entrance gallery. This shift, framed as "Costume Art," elevates fashion exhibitions to a central, welcoming role within the institution, signaling a new era for the department.

newspaper New York Times Art open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 18, 2026 visibility 10

Wisconsin’s Chazen Museum of Art Explores New Ways to Display Its Collection

The Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is implementing a radical reinstallation of its permanent collection galleries. This new curatorial strategy centers each gallery around a single "focus object," which is then surrounded by a "constellation" of supporting artworks designed to highlight specific thematic, historical, or technical connections rather than following a traditional chronological or geographical layout.

newspaper New York Times Art open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 16, 2026 visibility 18

‘Greater New York’ Brings the Noisy, Messy Vitality of 53 Artists

MoMA PS1 has unveiled the latest iteration of 'Greater New York,' its signature quinquennial survey showcasing the diverse output of artists living and working across the five boroughs. This year’s edition features 53 artists and collectives, emphasizing those who operate outside the mainstream spotlight or whose contributions have been historically overlooked. The selection leans into a gritty, experimental aesthetic that captures the complex social and physical realities of contemporary life in the city.

newspaper New York Times Art open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 14, 2026 visibility 21

The City That Inspired Rothko (It’s Not New York)

A major exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, "Mark Rothko: The Artist's Museum," presents a significant collection of the artist's monumental works, including the rarely seen Harvard Murals and the Seagram Murals. The show focuses on Rothko's late-career shift towards creating immersive, chapel-like environments intended for deep, meditative viewing.

newspaper New York Times Art open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 15

Institutions Across the US to Benefit from Transformative $116 Million Gift to National Gallery

Billionaire collector and National Gallery of Art trustee Mitchell P. Rales has donated $116 million to the museum. The gift, the largest programming endowment in the institution's history, will fund the 'Across the Nation' initiative, which loans works from the National Gallery's permanent collection to small and midsize museums across the United States for two-year periods at no cost to the borrowing institutions.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

Between Ruins: Zazou Roddam by Ben Broome

London-based artist Zazou Roddam explores the intersection of pop culture nostalgia and historical trauma through the manipulation of found objects and archival media. Her practice, rooted in a long-standing fascination with the 'detritus of history' found in London’s Portobello Road Market, gained significant attention following her debut solo exhibition at Brunette Coleman. Central to her recent work is the video piece 'Pop Inflection (The City)', which meticulously edits footage from 'Sex and the City' to track the architectural and psychological shifts in New York City before and after the 9/11 attacks.

newspaper Flash Art open_in_new Read original