Art News. Vasari Codex

gavel restitution schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 25 link 1 artist

Judge Orders Prado to Hold Disputed Velázquez Painting in Divorce Case

A Spanish judge has ordered the Museo del Prado in Madrid to take custody of a painting attributed to Diego Velázquez, which is at the center of a divorce dispute between steel magnate José María Aristrain and his ex-wife Gema Navarro. The work, a portrait of Philip IV linked to Velázquez’s early years in Madrid, was removed from Aristrain’s residence on March 17 and transferred to the Prado’s storage after Navarro filed a complaint alleging it had been wrongly withheld from her. The Ministry of Culture, acting with court and prosecutorial support, designated the museum as custodian until ownership is resolved. The painting had previously surfaced at auction, failing to sell in 2007 amid attribution doubts, before being acquired by Navarro in 2015 for €878,000.

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article culture schedule Apr 24, 2026 visibility 18 link 4 artists

‘It’s not much but, at the same time, it’s very much’: the enduring impact of Sade’s style

The article discusses the enduring style of Sade Adu, frontwoman of the British group Sade, following the band's announcement of their induction into the 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It highlights how Adu's signature look—scraped-back hair, red lipstick, hoop earrings, and simple black dresses or denim—has become iconic and influential, with her outfits featured in exhibitions like V&A East's 'The Music is Black' and referenced by celebrities such as Drake. The piece traces the origins of her style to her fashion design studies at Saint Martin's School of Art and her early work with designer Fiona Dealey.

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person people schedule Mar 31, 2026 visibility 26 link 7 artists

patricia marroquin norby met museum curator departure

Patricia Marroquin Norby, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s first-ever curator of Native American art, has stepped down from her role after a five-year tenure. While both Norby and the museum cited health reasons for her December 2025 departure, the exit follows intense public scrutiny regarding her claims of Indigenous heritage. A 2024 report by the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) alleged that Norby has no American Indian ancestry, leading to a public debate over her qualifications and identity.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 25, 2026 visibility 15 link 8 artists

whitney biennial technology machine human artists

The 2026 Whitney Biennial features a wave of artists grappling with the unsettling intersection of human identity and advanced technology. Works by Cooper Jacoby and Isabelle Frances McGuire highlight a shift away from the sleek, optimistic 'Y2K' tech aesthetic toward a 'techno-horror' that explores data extraction and biometric surveillance. Jacoby’s 'Estate' series uses AI-generated scripts derived from the social media data of deceased individuals, while McGuire’s sculptures utilize 3D medical scans to create distorted, ghostly figures that blur the line between the organic and the digital.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 24, 2026 visibility 19 link 1 artist

A Truck Driver Spent 20 Years Building a Miniature Model of New York City. Then, It Went Viral

A truck driver named Joe Macken spent 21 years building a massive, 50-by-27-foot miniature model of New York City from humble materials like balsa wood and cardboard. His daughter's suggestion to post it on TikTok led to the project going viral, which subsequently caught the attention of the Museum of the City of New York. The museum has now mounted a dedicated exhibition, "He Built This City: Joe Macken's Model," featuring the sprawling 1:2400-scale creation.

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gavel restitution schedule Feb 25, 2026 visibility 17 link 2 artists

georg kolbe museum to restitute nazi looted sculpture to heirs of holocaust victim

The Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin has announced the restitution of the 1922 bronze sculpture 'Tänzerinnen-Brunnen' (Dancers’ Fountain) to the heirs of its original owner, a Jewish art collector and insurance executive named Stahl. Following an extensive provenance investigation, the museum determined that Stahl was forced to sell his villa and the sculpture under Nazi persecution and economic coercion in 1941, shortly before he was deported and murdered at the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

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article news schedule Feb 18, 2026 visibility 15 link 2 artists

tai shani phaidon book deal leon blacks jeffrey epstein

Turner Prize-winning artist Tai Shani has officially terminated her book contract with Phaidon, the prominent arts publisher owned by billionaire collector Leon Black. Shani cited Black’s extensive financial ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the "horrific allegations" of sexual assault leveled against Black as the primary reasons for her withdrawal. Describing the move as a "feminist practice" of refusal, Shani walked away from a planned monograph despite praising the publisher's editorial team.

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article event schedule Feb 10, 2026 visibility 42 link 7 artists, 73 galleries

tefaf new york names 88 exhibitors for 2026

TEFAF New York has announced the exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, set to take place at the Park Avenue Armory from May 15 to 19. The fair will feature 88 galleries from 14 countries, including nine new participants and 78 returning dealers, with a focus on modern and contemporary art, design, jewelry, and antiquities. Major international galleries like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner will be present.

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article culture schedule Feb 4, 2026 visibility 13 link 4 artists

schiaparelli paris recreates stolen louvre jewels

Schiaparelli's artistic director Daniel Roseberry debuted dramatic recreations of crown jewels stolen from the Louvre during the brand's Paris Haute Couture Week show. The pieces, worn by actor Teyana Taylor, were inspired by a pearl-and-diamond tiara and bow brooch once owned by Empress Eugénie, which were among an estimated $102 million in gems taken in a heist last October.

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article culture schedule Jan 28, 2026 visibility 17 link 5 artists

zahi hawass the man with the hat documentary

Zahi Hawass, the 78-year-old former Egyptian minister for antiquities, is the subject of a new self-mythologizing documentary titled "The Man With the Hat." The film recounts his rise to international fame through countless TV appearances, his role in overseeing major discoveries like the 3,000-year-old "lost golden city" in Luxor, and his leadership in building the $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). Hawass is also shown advocating for the repatriation of artifacts such as the Nefertiti bust and the Rosetta Stone, while sidestepping controversies that have marked his career.

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article culture schedule Jan 27, 2026 visibility 16 link 1 artist

andrew norman wilson baffler naomi scott new music video

Video artist Andrew Norman Wilson, known for a viral 2024 essay in The Baffler about artist precarity, has directed a new music video for British actress and singer Naomi Scott's song "Losing You." Scott, famous for playing Princess Jasmine in Disney's 2019 live-action Aladdin, is releasing her debut full-length album F.I.G. in March. The music video, which Wilson directed, produced, wrote, and edited, is described as disjointed, claustrophobic, and strange, featuring close-ups, mirrors, and a roast chicken tattooed with a broken heart.

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article news schedule Jan 16, 2026 visibility 16 link 2 artists

kunstakademie duesseldorf basma alsharif jewish groups

Three Jewish groups issued an open letter to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, a prominent German art school, calling for the cancellation of a lecture by Palestinian artist and filmmaker Basma Al-Sharif, scheduled for January 21. The groups alleged, without providing proof, that Al-Sharif's past events and social media posts—including one referring to Israel as a "Zionist entity" and stating "The lie of #neveragain is over"—trivialized terrorism and constituted antisemitism. The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf declined to cancel the event, affirming its commitment to free dialogue and noting that Al-Sharif was invited based on her CV, while also condemning the Hamas terrorist attack as a grave crime.

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person people schedule Jan 15, 2026 visibility 19 link 18 artists

united states artists 2026 fellowships

United States Artists, a Chicago-based nonprofit, has named 50 artists as recipients of its 2026 USA Fellowship and awarded the Berresford Prize to Lori Lea Pourier. Each fellowship comes with an unrestricted $50,000 grant, marking the 20th anniversary of the organization founded in 2006. The 2026 cohort spans nine disciplines, including visual art, media, and writing, with notable fellows such as Mendi + Keith Obadike, Nancy Baker Cahill, Edra Soto, Eric-Paul Riege, Macon Reed, Maia Chao, and Johanna Hedva. The Berresford Prize honors Pourier for her decades of advocacy for Native artists and her role in founding the First Peoples Fund.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jan 10, 2026 visibility 18 link 5 artists

sandra mujinga stedelijk museum sculpture performance

Sandra Mujinga, a Congolese-born artist based in Berlin and Oslo, recently unveiled a new performance at the Park Avenue Armory in New York and has a major installation, "Skin to Skin" (2025), finishing its run at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam before traveling to the Belvedere museum in Vienna. The installation features 55 lithe, tentacular figures covered in the artist's own textiles, arranged around mirrored columns in a green-lit environment. In an interview, Mujinga discussed how fashion and clothing function as data and storytelling, reflecting identity and belonging, a theme that permeates her sculptures, videos, and performances.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jan 9, 2026 visibility 16 link 1 artist

delcy morelos barbican london commission

The Barbican in London will present a major commission by Colombian artist Delcy Morelos, her first in the United Kingdom, from May 15 to July 31. The centerpiece is an oval-shaped pavilion measuring roughly 78 feet in circumference, constructed from soil, clay, spices, and plant materials, sited in the Barbican's outdoor Sculpture Court. It is the third public-realm commission by the Barbican and the first in its Sculpture Court. The project is supported by the London-based Bukhman Foundation, founded by Anastasia Bukhman, a new addition to ARTnews's Top 200 Collectors list.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 13 link 8 artists

marie antoinette arts patronage

Marie Antoinette, the final queen of France, is the subject of a blockbuster exhibition titled "Marie Antoinette Style" at London's V&A museum, running through March 22. The show highlights her boldly modern taste, her patronage of women artists like Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun and Anne Vallayer-Coster, and her role as the first French queen to own and redecorate her own palace, the Petit Trianon. The article details how she used her influence to secure Vigée Le Brun's admission to the Académie Royale and pressured the Louvre to exhibit Vallayer-Coster's work, while also exploring how her extravagant spending earned her the epithet "Madame Déficit" and contributed to her downfall during the French Revolution.

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article news schedule Jan 5, 2026 visibility 13 link 2 artists

man steals sword paris joan of arc

A man broke the sword off a statue of Joan of Arc in Paris's 8th arrondissement on Monday morning, January 5, 2026. Security camera footage captured him violently shaking the horse before climbing the statue and snapping the sword with his bare hands. The sword shattered into pieces, which were recovered after police apprehended the suspect nearby. Deputy Mayor Karen Taïeb stated the sword will be assessed for repair or reproduction, assuring the statue will be restored.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 1, 2026 visibility 16 link 5 artists

how the dinosaur came roaring back

2025 has been a landmark year for dinosaur fossils in the art world, marked by high-profile sales, seizures, and ethical controversies. In November, a pair of Allosaurus fossils and a Stegosaurus skeleton worth £12 million ($15.6 million) were seized by the UK's National Crime Agency from Binghai Su, a Chinese national linked to a major money-laundering case in Singapore. The fossils had been purchased at Christie's Jurassic Icons auction in 2024. Meanwhile, Sotheby's sold a juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil for $30.5 million in July, far exceeding its $6 million estimate, and Phillips entered the dinosaur market for the first time, selling a juvenile Triceratops skeleton for $5.4 million in November. The most expensive dinosaur fossil ever, a Stegosaurus named Apex bought by hedge fund titan Kenneth Griffin for $44.6 million in 2024, was loaned to the American Museum of Natural History.

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person people schedule Dec 30, 2025 visibility 19 link 2 artists

tristram hunt v and a museum director knighted

Tristram Hunt, director of London's Victoria & Albert Museum, has been knighted by King Charles III on the UK's 2026 New Year Honors list for his "services to museums." Hunt, a former Member of Parliament and shadow education secretary, has led the V&A since 2017, overseeing major exhibitions and expanding the museum's international presence through initiatives like V&A East. Other arts figures recognized include Ekow Eshun (OBE), art historian Marcia Pointon (OBE), Jo Quinton-Tulloch (OBE), Janet Blake (OBE), Susan Bowers (MBE), and Hilary McGrady (CBE).

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article news schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 15 link 3 artists

guggenheim bilbao museum urdaibai expansion canceled

The Guggenheim Bilbao has canceled its planned expansion in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-designated site in Spain's Basque country, citing territorial, urban planning, and environmental constraints. The project, first announced in 2022, faced fierce opposition from activists, environmental groups like Greenpeace, and over 1,000 Basque creatives who signed a petition. The expansion would have included a facility in Guernica and a net-zero exhibition space in Murueta, but legal disputes and public pressure led the museum's Board of Trustees to terminate the plan. Local group Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop celebrated the decision as a victory and plans a festival in February 2026 to mark the project's demise.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

las vegas museum of art francis kere designs

The Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA) has unveiled architectural designs by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré for its first standalone museum, a 60,000-square-foot building at Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas. The design incorporates local stone, baobab trees, and a canopy for shade, drawing inspiration from the Mojave Desert and the city's culture, with a central staircase evoking a canyon. The museum, supported by a land donation from the city and a partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), has raised over half of its $200 million goal and is slated to open in 2029.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 10 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

george washington dollar portrait gilbert stuart auction

Christie’s is launching its largest-ever Americana Week in January, featuring a George Washington portrait by Gilbert Stuart that inspired the dollar bill. The painting, commissioned by James Madison, is expected to fetch between $500,000 and $1 million. The auction includes 700 lots across nine sales, with highlights such as a signed Emancipation Proclamation and the contract that created Apple. The portrait, a Vaughn-type from 1795, was consigned by Clarkson University and has a provenance tracing back to Madison, confirmed by a 19th-century catalog and a note from Madison’s secretary.

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person people schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 17 link 4 artists

2026 ruth awards recipients yuji agematsuwill rawls

The Ruth Foundation for the Arts has named five artists as recipients of its 2026 Ruth Awards: Yuji Agematsu, Ranu Mukherjee, Will Rawls, Ellen Sebastian Chang, and Anna Martine Whitehead. Each winner receives an unrestricted $100,000 grant disbursed over two years. The artists work across diverse media—from Agematsu's miniature street-detritus sculptures and Rawls's multidisciplinary choreography to Mukherjee's painting and film installations, Sebastian Chang's decades-spanning theater and film work, and Whitehead's performance art. The awards are open to artists across North America and are now in their third year.

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article culture schedule Dec 16, 2025 visibility 15 link 12 artists

illuminated medieval manuscripts to know

This article explores the history and significance of illuminated manuscripts, correcting the common misconception that they were exclusively produced by medieval European monks. It highlights five standout examples, including the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, made for Jean I, Duke of Berry around 1411 by the Limbourg brothers, and the Book of Kells, created around 800 C.E. by monks of Iona Abbey. The article notes that illuminated manuscripts, defined by the decorative use of gold or silver, date back to the 4th century B.C.E. and span cultures from the Middle East to Africa and Mesoamerica, serving primarily as status symbols rather than reading material.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 16, 2025 visibility 16 link 5 artists

hong kong venice biennale kingsley ng angel hui

Hong Kong will send two artists, Angel Hui and Kingsley Ng, to represent the special administrative region at the 2026 Venice Biennale, marking the first time a duo has been selected. The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) are collaborating for the first time on the presentation, which will take place at the Campo della Tana as a collateral event. Hui, a gongbi ink painter born in 1991, and Ng, a media artist and associate professor born in 1980, will explore "the poetic rhythms of daily life" in dialogue with the Biennale's main exhibition theme, "In Minor Keys." The selection follows HKADC's decision in April to oust M+ museum as the exhibition's organizer, a role it had held since 2013, without citing a reason.

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gavel restitution schedule Dec 11, 2025 visibility 13 link 3 artists

virginia museum fine arts repatriate turkey

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond has repatriated 41 terracotta relief fragments valued at approximately $400,000 to Turkey. The works, acquired by the museum in the 1970s from Summa Galleries and antiquities dealer Harlan J. Berk, were determined to have been illegally excavated from a 6th-century B.C.E. Phrygian temple. The repatriation followed an investigation by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which presented evidence of illicit excavation and illegal export to the museum.

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candle obituary schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 17 link 10 artists

napoleon jones henderson africobra artist dead

Napoleon Jones-Henderson, a key member of the AfriCOBRA collective known for creating art during the Black Power era, died in Boston on December 6 at age 82 after battling cancer. Jones-Henderson was part of the Chicago-based group founded in 1968 by artists including Jeff Donaldson, Wadsworth Jarrell, and Barbara Jones-Hogu, which synthesized African styles with Black American expressions. Despite the group's historical significance, their work was largely overlooked by major museums until recent years, with Jones-Henderson receiving his first major survey at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in 2022.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 14 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

work of the week pieter brueghel the younger

Pieter Brueghel the Younger's painting *The Census at Bethlehem* sold for £5.2 million ($6.9 million) at Sotheby’s Old Master and 19th Century Paintings evening auction in London on December 3, exceeding its £3 million low estimate. The unsigned, undated oil-on-panel work, kept in the same collection for nearly 40 years, was the third-highest seller of the night. The auction overall achieved £30.7 million ($40.5 million), led by Rembrandt's *Saint John on Patmos* at £6.8 million, and Sotheby’s reported a nearly 50% increase in its Old Masters division sales this year.

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article news schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

professor terminated art history paintings muhammad

An adjunct professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Erika López Prater, lost her job after showing her art history class two Medieval paintings depicting the Prophet Muhammad during an online lecture on October 6, 2022. She issued a content warning before displaying the images, which came from a 14th-century manuscript by Rashīd al-Dīn and a 16th-century work by Mustafa ibn Vali. A student, Aram Wedatalla, complained, and the university's administration, including associate vice president David Everett, decided not to renew her contract, calling the incident Islamophobic. The decision has sparked widespread debate, with a Change.org petition signed by over 2,500 scholars and a condemnation from PEN America.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 5, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist, 2 galleries

hauser wirth to open sicily location in historic palazzo

Hauser & Wirth has announced plans to open its first Italian location in Palermo, Sicily, housed in the historic Palazzo Forcella De Seta. The gallery purchased roughly 20,000 square feet of the neo-Gothic palace, which previously served as a venue for Manifesta 12 in 2018 and was once home to Galleria Mediterranea, the city’s first private art gallery. The deal closed in November, but the local government and Italy’s Ministry of Culture retain a 60-day right of public pre-emption due to the building’s status as a historic monument. If that right is not exercised, work could begin in 2026, with completion expected by 2030.

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