Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 22 link 9 artists

museum launches public appeal to buy rare barbara hepworth sculpture

The Hepworth Wakefield museum, supported by the Art Fund, has launched a public appeal to raise £3.8 million ($5 million) to acquire Barbara Hepworth's rare 1943 sculpture *Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red*. The work was purchased by a private collector at Christie's London in March 2024 for the same amount, but the UK government imposed a temporary export ban in December 2024, citing its outstanding historical and aesthetic significance. The museum has until August 27 to raise the remaining £2.9 million; the Art Fund has already contributed £750,000. If the goal is not met, the collector may export the piece.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 23 link 5 artists

sir joshua reynolds portrait inheritance tax

The Tate in London has acquired a full-length portrait by Joshua Reynolds of the 5th Earl of Carlisle (1748–1825) through the UK's Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which allows art to be transferred to the nation in place of inheritance tax. The painting, valued at $6.1 million (£4.7 million), was painted in 1769 and had hung at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire for over 200 years. It will remain on public display there but will also travel to other venues including Tate Britain.

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article culture schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 16 link 11 artists

renaissance artists raphael and durer were kind of obsessed with each other

The article explores the artistic friendship between Renaissance masters Raphael and Albrecht Dürer, who never met but exchanged letters and artworks across 600 miles. Initiated when both were at the height of their careers, the correspondence began with Dürer sending Raphael a gouache self-portrait, to which Raphael responded with drawings, including "Two male nude studies" (1515) and "Three Standing Men" (1514-16). The friendship lasted only five years, ending with Raphael's death in 1520 at age 37. The exchange is documented by Giorgio Vasari in "The Lives of the Artists," and one surviving drawing bears an inscription by Dürer acknowledging Raphael's gift.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 20 link 21 artists

old masters sales takeaways art detective

Sotheby's underperformed with the highly anticipated Saunders Collection of Old Masters, which was estimated at $80–120 million but sold for only $65.4 million, falling $14.6 million short of its low estimate. The sell-through rate was a dismal 58%, with 16 of 43 lots failing to sell in the standalone auction. Christie's also saw disappointing results, with a smaller sale totaling $6.89 million, 17% below its low target. The collection, amassed by the late banker Thomas A. Saunders III and his wife Jordan, was billed as the most valuable Old Masters collection ever to come to auction.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 18 link 9 artists

manet paintings reunited

Two halves of an Édouard Manet painting, originally a single canvas that the artist split in 1874, have been temporarily reunited at London’s National Gallery for the first time in over a century. The works, *Au café* (1878) and *Corner of a Café-Concert* (probably 1878-80), depict different sides of the same bar at the Brasserie Reichshoffen in Montmartre. They were separated after the death of collector Étienne Barroil in 1887, with *Corner of a Café-Concert* entering the National Gallery in 1924 and *Au café* acquired by Swiss collector Oskar Reinhart in 1953. The reunion, on view through December 15, includes a display of Manet’s original sketch and explores his evolving creative process.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 18 link 16 artists

william dobson acquisition

A rare self-portrait by 17th-century British painter William Dobson has been jointly acquired by London's Tate and the National Portrait Gallery for £2.37 million ($3.2 million), setting a new record for the artist. The painting, considered the first known self-portrait by a British-born painter, was created in the late 1630s and last sold at Bonhams London in 2016 for just over £1.1 million. It will go on view in London before embarking on a national tour in 2026.

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article culture schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 22 link 16 artists

lorde man of the year video walter de maria

Lorde's new single "Man of the Year" from her upcoming album *Virgin* (released June 27) features a music video that visually references Walter De Maria's *New York Earth Room* (1977), a minimalist installation of 280,000 pounds of soil filling a SoHo loft. The video shows Lorde stripping, taping her breasts, and rolling in dirt, while the song's lyrics explore her fluid gender identity. Lorde also cites Italian artist Lucio Fontana and includes an X-ray cover image by photographer Heji Shin.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 15 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

trial ron perelman insurance claim warhol ruscha twombly

The trial between billionaire collector Ron Perelman and a group of insurers began Monday in New York Supreme Court, nearly seven years after a 2018 fire at his Hamptons estate, the Creeks. Perelman claims the fire damaged five paintings—two by Andy Warhol, two by Ed Ruscha, and one by Cy Twombly—insured for a collective $400 million, arguing the works lost their "oomph" due to smoke, humidity, and relocation during the fire. The insurers, including Lloyd's of London, Chubb, and AIG, contend the works sustained no detectable damage and that Perelman's claim is a "money grab" filed amid serious financial difficulties, including margin calls and the sale of 71 artworks for $963 million between 2020 and 2022.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 18 link 12 artists

ruba katrib moma ps1 the gatherers exhibition interview

MoMA PS1 has opened its marquee spring exhibition, “The Gatherers,” a group show featuring 14 artists from around the world who explore the psychic and material burdens of climate change, globalization, and neoliberalism. Curated by Ruba Katrib, the exhibition includes works in sculpture, video, assemblage, and installation, spanning regions from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Lithuania, and is on view through October 6. Katrib, PS1’s chief curator and director of curatorial affairs, emphasizes that the show lets the artworks speak for themselves through form and material rather than delivering a direct lecture.

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article news schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 24 link 36 artists

whitney museum paused independent study program censorship

The Whitney Museum of American Art has suspended its storied Independent Study Program (ISP) for the 2025–2026 academic year, following widespread outcry over the censorship of a performance titled "No Aesthetic Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance" by artists Fadl Fakhouri, Noel Maghathe, and Fargo Tbakhi. The performance, scheduled for May 14, was canceled by museum leadership after reviewing a video in which Tbakhi made demands that supporters of Israel or America leave the venue. Director Scott Rothkopf informed the ISP community of the pause in an email, citing the need to search for a new director. The museum also confirmed that Sara Nadal-Melsió, hired in 2024 as the ISP's first associate director, will not retain her position. The cancellation drew condemnation from free speech advocates, including the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), which likened the museum's actions to an authoritarian approach.

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article news schedule Jun 3, 2025 visibility 25 link 14 artists

isp alumni open letter whitney museum palestine performance

On Monday, Whitney Museum director Scott Rothkopf announced via email that the museum would "pause" the 2025–26 academic year of its Independent Study Program (ISP), citing a lack of a director and strained operations. The announcement coincided with an open letter from high-profile ISP alumni—including artists Emily Jacir, Andrea Fraser, Mark Dion, and others—denouncing the museum's cancellation of a pro-Palestine performance titled "No Aesthetics Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance" by artists Fadl Fakhouri, Noel Maghathe, and Fargo Tbakhi. The performance was canceled two days before it was to be part of an ISP curatorial exhibition, after the museum accused the artists of "valorizing specific acts of violence" and singling out community members based on belief systems. The letter also referenced the earlier demotion of ISP director Gregg Bordowitz in February.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 2, 2025 visibility 20 link 9 artists

castle where renoir summered hits market

The Château de Wargemont, a 19th-century seaside castle in Normandy where Pierre-Auguste Renoir summered and painted, has been listed for sale by Sotheby’s International Realty for €4 million ($4.5 million). The 17-room property, set on 25 acres, is the last great Impressionist site still in private hands and retains original features including Renoir’s dining room mural The Two Hunts, the only in-situ decor by an Impressionist. Renoir was invited there by diplomat and banker Paul Bérard, and the estate appears in several of his works, including Les rosiers à Wargemont (1879), which sold for $7.5 million at Sotheby’s in 2004.

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article culture schedule Jun 2, 2025 visibility 17 link 11 artists

art bites why tilda swinton napped moma

In 2013, visitors to New York's Museum of Modern Art encountered actress Tilda Swinton sleeping in a raised glass box in the lobby, a performance piece titled *The Maybe*. Swinton first performed the work at London's Serpentine Gallery in 1995, developed with Joanna Scanlan, and has reprised it only twice: at Rome's Museo Baracco in 1996 and at MoMA in 2013. The MoMA iteration, curated by Klaus Biesenbach, featured Swinton alone in the glass case for eight hours a day over seven days, without the historical curiosities that accompanied the original Serpentine installation. Swinton has stated in a 2024 interview that she intends to perform *The Maybe* again "when least expected."

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 1, 2025 visibility 15 link 7 artists

frida kahlo casa roja

A new museum dedicated to Frida Kahlo, the Museo Casa Kahlo, will open on September 27 in Mexico City's Coyoacán district at her family home, Casa Roja. Unlike the existing Museo Frida Kahlo at the adjacent Casa Azul, which focuses on her later career and marriage to Diego Rivera, this institution will explore Kahlo's early life and artistic roots, including her father's photography. The museum will display childhood photographs, dolls, jewelry, letters, her first oil painting, and her only known mural, alongside temporary exhibitions of Mexican, Latin American, and women artists. The project is led by Kahlo's descendants, including Mara Romeo Kahlo and Frida Hentschel Romeo, with support from the Rockwell Group architecture firm and a new nonprofit, the Fundación Kahlo.

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article culture schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 18 link 1 artist

lorde man of the year new york earth room

Lorde released a music video for her song "Man Of The Year," the second single from her upcoming album *Virgin*. The video features the singer in a room filled with dirt, which fans quickly noted resembles Walter De Maria's iconic installation *New York Earth Room*. Lorde has acknowledged the homage, describing the work as an inspiration for the song's sound and her personal rebirth. The video was not filmed in the actual installation, which is permanently housed in SoHo and managed by the Dia Art Foundation.

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person people schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

art institute of chicago director on leave airline incident

James Rondeau, the director and president of the Art Institute of Chicago, will return to work on June 2, 2025, after taking voluntary leave following an incident on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Munich on April 18. Rondeau was met by police upon landing after reports that he became intoxicated and removed his clothes mid-flight. The museum conducted an independent investigation and expressed confidence in his leadership, with Rondeau stating he regrets the incident and is grateful to continue furthering the museum's mission.

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article culture schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 17 link 8 artists

the phoenician scheme wes anderson renoir art collecting

Wes Anderson's new film *The Phoenician Scheme* features a protagonist, Zsa-Zsa Korda (played by Benicio del Toro), who is a jet-setting high roller with a vast but neglected art collection housed in a 16th-century palazzo. The collection includes authentic masterpieces such as an 1889 Renoir portrait once owned by Greta Garbo, a 1942 Magritte, and a 17th-century van Schooten still life, alongside replicas like a Peter Paul Rubens. The film, now playing in New York and Los Angeles, uses these artworks as props and backdrops, reflecting the protagonist's indifference to his possessions amid his shady business schemes and fractured family relationships.

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trending_up market schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 12 link 12 artists

georges lemmen record auction

Belgian Neo-Impressionist Georges Lemmen's painting *Jeune femme faisant du crochet (Julie Lemmen)* (1890) sold for $698,500 at Sotheby's New York on May 14, shattering its $50,000–$70,000 estimate and more than doubling the artist's previous auction record. The Pointillist portrait of the artist's sister, Julie Fréderique Lemmen, had been in a private Florida collection since 1960 and was consigned through Sotheby's online portal. The sale drew over a dozen bidders, including a museum, two dealers, and five private collectors, and was backed by an irrevocable bid.

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article culture schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 18 link 8 artists

5 rediscoveries transforming black art narratives

Artnet News highlights five recent rediscoveries and reinterpretations that are reshaping narratives around Black artists and sitters in art history. These include Gustav Klimt's long-lost portrait of Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, an Osu prince exhibited in a racist "human zoo" in Vienna, which resurfaced in 2023 and was shown at TEFAF Maastricht with a $16.4 million price tag. Also featured are Edvard Munch's dual portrayals of Sultan Abdul Karim—one intimate, one stereotyped—on view at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and new research identifying James Cumberlidge, a Black servant in a Jean-Baptiste van Loo portrait, correcting a historical misattribution.

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rate_review review schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 16 link 2 artists, 2 galleries

david hammons artist book hauser wirth

David Hammons has released a "post-exhibition catalogue" through Hauser & Wirth Publishers, six years after his 2019 survey at the gallery's Downtown Los Angeles location. The 12-by-12-inch, nearly 7-pound volume contains hundreds of images—installation shots, artwork reproductions, and ephemera—but no text whatsoever: no table of contents, essays, titles, dates, or page numbers. The book functions more as an artist's book than a traditional exhibition catalog, presenting Hammons's work in a raw, unapologetic sequence that resists scholarly interpretation.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 15 link 12 artists

berruguete restoration altarpiece

The Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao has completed a restoration of Pedro Berruguete's *The Annunciation* (1485–1490), a painting that once formed part of an altarpiece likely for a church in Palencia, Spain. The work, on a five-year loan from the Arburu collection, had suffered from cracks, dirt, and oxidized varnish over centuries. Two specialists—Elisa Mora Sánchez for the paint layer and Mayte Camino Martín for the gilding—cleaned, repaired, and re-gilded the panel, revealing Berruguete's blend of Italian Renaissance, Flemish, and Castilian Gothic influences.

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trending_up market schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 15 link 6 artists

5 essential works rene magritte

René Magritte, the iconic Belgian Surrealist, remains a dominant force in the art market and popular culture. In November 2024, his painting *L’empire des Lumières* (1954) sold for a record $121.2 million at Christie’s in New York, followed by *La reconnaissance infinite* (1933) fetching £10.3 million ($13.7 million) at Christie’s in London in March 2025. Magritte also topped Artnet News’ 2025 Intelligence Report as the best-selling Impressionist & Modern artist, with over $312 million in sales. The article highlights five essential works, including *The False Mirror* (1928) and *The Lovers* (1928), both held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and *The Treachery of Images* (1929), exploring their surrealist themes and enduring appeal.

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article news schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

development of rice noodle like glue for historical paintings puts art conservators fears to rest

Art conservators faced a crisis after two key ingredients for Beva 371, a glue used to line historical canvases, were discontinued—first the resin Laropal K-80 in 2005 and then the tackifier Cellolyn 21E in 2020. Researchers from the University of Akron and New York University's Conservation Center, funded by a Getty Foundation grant, developed a new version called Beva 371 Akron. The adhesive is less toxic, less vulnerable to supply-chain issues, and available in three forms: a pre-mixed heat-seal variant, solid spaghetti-like pellets for easy transport, and a solvent-free pure adhesive.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 15 link 12 artists

rolling stone artechouse amplified immersive

Artechouse has partnered with Rolling Stone to launch "Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified, The Immersive Rock Experience," a 50-minute, 270-degree immersive journey through rock history. The showcase draws on Rolling Stone's vast photography archive, featuring over 1,000 images, 200 videos, and 1,300 magazine covers, with a soundtrack of classic rock songs. The experience is divided into thematic chapters such as "Backstage," "Fans," "Studio," and "Hair," and includes narration by actor Kevin Bacon. The creative team, led by former Rolling Stone creative director Jodi Peckman and music director Joe Levy, spent two years curating the archival material, which includes work by renowned photographers like Lynn Goldsmith, Bob Gruen, and Anton Corbijn.

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article policy schedule May 29, 2025 visibility 15 link 12 artists

neh stipends trump

The Trump administration is moving to eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) while simultaneously cutting its funding and reshaping its priorities. In early May, the NEH announced $9.55 million for 68 projects, a sharp drop from $26.2 million for 238 projects the previous year. The number of Summer Stipends was slashed from nearly 100 to just 18, with total funding cut by three-fourths to $144,000. Only one Media Project grant was awarded, down from ten. The administration has also sought to lay off NEH workers, cancel grants, and divert funds to a National Garden of American Heroes, a presidential pet project.

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article local schedule May 28, 2025 visibility 21 link 7 artists

camden art centre gets 99 year lease

Camden Art Centre in London has secured a 99-year lease on its current home after raising £1.9 million. The lease was previously set to expire in 2027. The effort was led by director Martin Clark and board chair Guy Halamish, with contributions from artists including Kara Walker and Alvaro Barrington.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 27, 2025 visibility 16 link 6 artists

tiffany window crystal bridges museum

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has acquired a monumental Tiffany stained-glass window titled "Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window)," created by Tiffany Studios in 1917 and designed by Agnes Northrup. The 9-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide window, which depicts a cascading waterfall and mountains, was previously installed for 94 years at the Sunset Ridge Church and Collective in San Antonio, Texas. It is only the second Tiffany work in the museum's collection, joining a wisteria lamp donated in 2022.

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trending_up market schedule May 26, 2025 visibility 20 link 9 artists

sothebys saunders old masters sale results

A Sotheby's single-owner sale of 55 Old Masters works from the collection of Jordan and Thomas A. Saunders III on May 21 achieved $64.7 million, falling well short of the $80–120 million estimate. The evening sale had a 58.5% sell-through rate, with 17 lots unsold and two withdrawn; a subsequent day sale on May 22 saw a similar 58.3% rate. Top lots included Francesco Guardi's Venetian views at $10.5 million, a record $8.8 million for Jan Davidsz. de Heem, and a record $7.37 million for Frans Post. Despite these highlights, the overall performance was dampened by high estimates, shifting collector tastes, and the prevalence of guarantees.

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candle obituary schedule May 23, 2025 visibility 15 link 5 artists

sebastiao salgado photographer dead

Sebastião Salgado, the acclaimed Brazilian photographer known for his powerful black-and-white images documenting worker exploitation, environmental destruction, and human rights abuses, has died at age 81. His death was announced by Instituto Terra, the organization he co-founded with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado. Salgado had been in declining health since contracting malaria in the 1990s. His work spanned decades and continents, from the Sahel desert to the Amazon rainforest, and he was widely regarded as one of the most beloved photographers of his generation.

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trending_up market schedule May 23, 2025 visibility 21 link 11 artists

saunders collection old masters sothebys

The collection of Old Masters assembled by Thomas A. Saunders III and his wife Jordan sold for $64.7 million at Sotheby’s on May 21, falling below its low presale estimate but still becoming the most valuable trove of Old Masters ever sold in a single auction. Seven artist records were set, including Luis Meléndez’s *Still Life of a Cauliflower…* ($6.3 million) and Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s floral still life ($8.8 million). The top lot was Francesco Guardi’s twin landscapes of Venice ($10.5 million). A further 14 paintings sold the next day, bringing the collection’s total to $65.4 million.

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