The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has booked American singer and rapper Doja Cat as the musical guest for its annual Art+Film Gala on November 1. The event will also honor visual artist Mary Corse, a key figure in the Light and Space movement, and filmmaker Ryan Coogler, known for 'Black Panther' and 'Sinner'. The gala is co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
The family behind the Fiat empire, the Agnellis, is under a new investigation into missing artworks and forgeries, as reported by the Times of London. Italian investigators are focusing on 13 works by artists including John Singer Sargent, Pablo Picasso, and Francis Bacon, allegedly missing from the collection founded by Giovanni Agnelli and expanded by his grandson Gianni, who died in 2003. Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen, Gianni’s daughter, claims she is being cheated out of her inheritance by Marella’s children from a previous marriage. Shippers reportedly brought copies of the works to the family’s Rome residence between 2016 and 2018, and Carabinieri are seeking information on the originals.
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.
A Moscow court sentenced five members of the Russian activist art collective Pussy Riot in absentia to between eight and 13 years in prison. The charges stem from a 2022 music video titled *Mama, Don’t Watch TV*, which denounced the war in Ukraine, and a 2024 protest performance in Munich. The targeted artists are Maria Alyokhina, Diana Burkot, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, and Alina Petrova. They were found guilty of “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” and “spreading false information” about the military.
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has accused the German newspaper Die Zeit of publishing a “distorted and unjust” article about him, following an earlier incident in which he claims the paper censored an article it commissioned him to write. In a series of posts on X, Ai detailed how Die Zeit’s magazine, Zeit Magazin, invited him to write a piece in July, then revised and ultimately refused to publish it—an act he calls censorship. He later agreed to an interview with Die Zeit journalist Olivia Kortas in Kyiv, where he had just unveiled a large-scale installation at Pavilion 13 responding to armed conflict. Ai alleges that Kortas had not seen the exhibition and that her published article, titled “The Annoyance,” contained distortions and subjective judgments, particularly regarding his statements on arms deliveries to Ukraine.
A man was killed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., while unloading a 1979 BMW Art Car custom-painted by Andy Warhol. The accident occurred when a winch securing the vehicle on a flatbed truck failed, pinning the unidentified man beneath the car. The sports car was to be featured in a pop-up exhibition called “Cars at the Capital,” organized by the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, which has since canceled the event out of respect for the deceased.
Jennifer Lynch, daughter of the late artist and filmmaker David Lynch, revealed on Reddit that her father's will stipulates his Los Angeles compound must be sold immediately as a single property, with proceeds split evenly among his four children. The 2.3-acre Hollywood Hills property, listed at $15 million, includes a 10-bedroom home, pool, editing suite, and lime-green kitchen countertops. Jennifer expressed that the family would prefer to keep the property but must follow David's instructions to avoid any sibling feeling less loved.
The Aichi Triennale in Japan has become embroiled in controversy over the Aichi-Israel Matching Program, a business initiative linking local companies with Israeli startups. Protesters, including several participating artists, have signed an open letter demanding the program's cancellation, accusing it of normalizing alleged human rights abuses. The triennial's curator, Hoor Al-Qasimi, has publicly criticized Israel's military actions in Gaza, and one organizing committee member, Hideyuki Tomita, has resigned amid the backlash.
Christie’s has appointed Max Carter as chairman of 20th and 21st Century art for the Americas. Carter, a Canadian-American writer and art specialist who joined the auction house in 2007, previously led the Impressionist and modern art department in the Americas from 2017 to 2022. He has overseen major collection consignments from Anne Bass, Paul Allen, S.I. Newhouse, Mica Ertegun, Robert F. Weis and Patricia G. Ross Weis, and Elaine Wynn, and has achieved record prices for artists like Ed Ruscha and Henri Rousseau. Carter will report to Christie’s global president and succeeds in the role as the auction house prepares for its marquee November sales in New York.
Carter Reese, a 77-year-old former teacher and college admissions consultant from Reading, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 days in prison, two years of supervised release, a $50,000 fine, and $186,125 in restitution for selling forged artworks attributed to Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Joan Miró. Reese pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud in May, admitting that from 2019 to 2021 he sold or attempted to sell counterfeit pieces using false affidavits and signatures, and claimed he acquired them from a supplier using the pseudonym 'Ken James'—who had previously been convicted for selling $1 million in fake art.
An international team of malacologists has discovered 46 new species of Southeast Asian microsnails, all under the genus Anauchen. One of them, Anauchen picasso, is named after Pablo Picasso because the angular patterns on its 3mm-wide shell resemble Cubism. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys, based on fieldwork in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, and comparisons with specimens from the Florida Museum of Natural History.
South Korea's impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol's wife, Kim Keon-hee, was arrested in August on charges including bribery. A special prosecutor revealed that a painting by renowned artist Lee Ufan is central to the inquiry. Prosecutors allege that former prosecutor Kim Sang-min purchased Lee's work *From Point No. 800298* in 2023 for about $75,000 on behalf of Kim Keon-hee's brother, Kim Jin-woo, and that the painting was given to the former first lady's circle. The transaction is being investigated for possible links to political favors, including Kim Sang-min's bid for a ruling-party nomination and his later appointment as a legal adviser to the National Intelligence Service.
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.
On September 8, 2025, street artist Banksy unveiled a new mural on the side of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, depicting a judge beating a protester with a gavel. Banksy confirmed the work's authenticity via Instagram, and within hours, the mural was covered up and guarded by security officers. Local reports suggest the artwork references the recent arrest of nearly 900 pro-Palestine protesters in London on September 6.
Christie’s has secured the collection of Robert F. Weis and Patricia G. Ross Weis for its November sales in New York, with 80 lots valued at over $180 million. The collection spans Cubism to Abstract Expressionism and includes major works by Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, and Rothko, with top estimates reaching $50 million. The Weis family, founders of Weis Markets, assembled the collection over more than seventy years, and 18 lots will be sold in a single-owner sale ahead of Christie’s 20th-century evening sale.
Artist Anish Kapoor is selling his New York apartment at 56 Leonard Street in Tribeca for $17.75 million. The 3,576-square-foot unit on the 47th floor features four bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, private outdoor spaces, and a travertine marble bath. The building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, houses a smaller version of Kapoor's famous sculpture Cloud Gate at its base. Kapoor purchased the apartment for roughly $14 million in 2016 and previously listed it for about $18 million last year. The listing is held by Serhant's Krista Nickols and Martin Garcia.
American artist Alan Sonfist, a pioneer of the Land Art movement known for his 1978 work "Time Landscape" in New York City, has opened a solo exhibition titled "Seeds of Time" at Parco Arte Vivente (PAV) in Turin, Italy. Curated by Marco Scotini, the show features a new installation, "Growth Between the Cracks" (2025), for which Sonfist collaborated with local residents to collect soil samples from overlooked urban spaces across Turin. The exhibition revisits Sonfist's early ecological works and includes a conversation between the artist and curator about the evolution of environmental art.
The UK High Court has rejected a final appeal by Icelandic artist Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson, known as ODEE, to retain ownership of his conceptual artwork *We're Sorry* (2023), a fake website that mimicked Iceland's largest fishing company Samherji and apologized for its alleged role in the Fishrot corruption scandal. Judge Anthony Mann upheld a previous order requiring ODEE to surrender control of the domain, ruling that the site was not a parody and constituted an instrument of fraud, thus not protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act.
A fading Banksy mural titled *Migrant Child*, painted on a palazzo in Venice during the 2019 Venice Biennale, was removed from its wall late Wednesday night by a conservation team led by Federico Borgogni. The piece, which shows a child in a lifejacket holding a pink smoke flare, had suffered water damage and salt exposure. The restoration is financed by Banca Ifis, a Venice-based bank, which plans to display the work at free cultural events after conservation. The removal proceeded despite earlier criticism from artists and activists who argued that the work's decay was integral to its meaning.
Refik Anadol's A.I. data sculpture "A Goal in Life," based on Lionel Messi's favorite goal from the 2009 Champions League final, sold for $1.87 million at Christie's. The artwork uses millions of data points, including Messi's biometric voice data, breathing patterns, and heartbeat rhythms, to recreate the moment in an immersive 16K-resolution mirrored room. Proceeds benefit education programs in Latin America and the Caribbean supported by the Inter Miami CF Foundation.
Billionaire collector Ronald Perelman's $410 million insurance trial has finally begun after seven years of litigation, over 1,500 court filings, and a 2018 fire at his East Hampton estate. The dispute centers on five paintings by Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, and Andy Warhol that survived the fire but were exposed to smoke and sprinklers. Perelman claims the works lost their market appeal—their "oomph"—while insurers at Lloyd's of London dispute any detectable damage and allege Perelman quietly tried to sell some of the pieces. The trial has also revealed that Perelman sold over 70 works from his collection after a margin call from Deutsche Bank, with some contested paintings used as collateral.
Ari Aster's upcoming film *Eddington*, premiering at Cannes, uses David Wojnarowicz's 1988–89 artwork *Untitled (Buffalos)* as its poster image. The film, set in May 2020, follows a sheriff and mayor clashing over face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wojnarowicz's work, originally a critique of U.S. government indifference during the AIDS crisis, depicts bison falling off a cliff—a metaphor for societal collapse. The poster slightly alters the image, and A24, the production company, has not commented on the design.
Nadya Tolokonnikova, cofounder of Pussy Riot, has created a performance installation titled "Police State" (2025) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (LA MOCA). The work recreates a Russian jail cell where Tolokonnikova performs daily activities—making music, creating art, and resting—observed by visitors via security camera footage and peepholes. The installation also features artworks by current and former political prisoners from Russia, Belarus, and the United States, curated through Tolokonnikova's Art Action Foundation and the Artistic Freedom Initiative. Originally scheduled for June 5–14, the show was extended due to the museum's closure amid anti-ICE protests and National Guard deployment.
Singer Ed Sheeran is presenting a series of abstract paintings titled the “Cosmic Carpark Paintings” at Heni Gallery in London, with the exhibition opening this Friday. The works, made by dripping and splashing paint onto canvases placed on the floor, closely resemble Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings. Sheeran’s foundation is selling prints for £900 each, with 50% of proceeds benefiting UK schools. Sheeran told the Guardian he painted in a disused Soho car park during tour downtime, and the gallery’s press release describes the works as “inspired by celestial patterns” without mentioning Pollock.
Homeowner Etienne Constable of Seaside, California, was ordered by the town to build a fence to hide the boat in his driveway. Instead of simply concealing it, he hired his neighbor, artist Hanif Panni, to paint a photorealistic mural of the boat on the fence. The story went viral, with Constable paying more for the artwork than the original fine would have been, and local officials praising the creative compliance.
Canaletto's painting "Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day" (1731–32) sold for £31.9 million ($43.9 million) at Christie's Old Masters evening sale in London, setting a new auction record for the Italian painter. The work, which once hung in the offices of Britain's first prime minister Robert Walpole, surpassed its presale estimate of £20 million and is the largest Canaletto composition to appear at market in two decades, noted for its exceptional preservation and execution during the artist's career peak.
A London-based dentist, Dr. Rory Mac Sweeney, has published a new analysis of Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" (c. 1490) in the Journal of Mathematics and Arts. Using his professional training, Sweeney identifies an equilateral triangle hidden between the figure's legs, which he links to "Bonwill's triangle," a 19th-century dental principle describing optimal jaw function. He argues that Leonardo intuitively encoded geometric relationships—including a tetrahedral ratio of approximately 1.64—that anticipate modern understanding of biological architecture.
The article reports on the third annual International A.I. Film Festival held at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York, sponsored by Runway. The festival featured 10 short films judged by directors Harmony Korine and Gaspar Noé. The gold medal was awarded to composer and artist Jacob Adler for his 9-minute essay film "Total Pixel Space," which explores the concept of a finite grid of pixelated color values containing all possible visual images, from personal memories to alien civilizations. The film uses AI-generated imagery to illustrate this philosophical idea without explicitly mentioning AI.
Pablo Picasso's former ceramics studio, the Madoura Pottery workshop in Vallauris, France, is set to reopen to the public in 2027 after a €7 million ($8.2 million) renovation. The studio, opened in 1938 by ceramicist Suzanne Ramié and her husband Georges, was a creative hub for Picasso, Matisse, and Marc Chagall before closing in 1997. Mayor Kevin Luciano has led the project, which includes structural repairs, asbestos removal, a new 3,000-square-foot extension for a museum entrance, and a 20,000-square-foot public garden. The first construction phase is complete, with the second starting this fall.
Christie’s Old Masters evening sale in London set a new auction record for Canaletto on Tuesday, when his painting *Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day* (circa 1732) sold for £31.9 million with fees ($43.7 million), far exceeding its £20 million estimate. The work, once owned by Britain’s first prime minister Robert Walpole, drew five bidders and sold to an anonymous phone bidder via Christie’s international director Alice de Roquemaurel. The previous Canaletto record of £18.6 million was set at Sotheby’s in 2005.