Dutch police have recovered a 2,500-year-old gold Dacian helmet and two of three gold bracelets stolen in a 2025 museum heist. The artifacts were returned as part of a plea deal with suspects, who were offered reduced sentences and a cash enticement to reveal their location.
Intervista per scoprire Theo Eshetu, unico artista italiano alla Biennale di Venezia 2026
Theo Eshetu (London, 1958), the only Italian artist invited to the central exhibition "In Minor Keys" of the 2026 Venice Biennale curated by Koyo Kouoh, is profiled in an interview. Born to an Ethiopian father and Dutch mother, Eshetu trained in the Netherlands and London before settling in Rome in the early 1980s. He discusses his cosmopolitan background, his early struggles with belonging, and how he transformed that into artistic strength. The interview covers his career, his memories of the Roman art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, and his current work presented at the Biennale, including the piece "The Return of the Axum Obelisk" (2010).
Milano Design Week 2026: guida sulle cose da vedere al distretto di Isola (che compie 10 anni)
The Isola Design Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary during Milan Design Week 2026 with the theme "TEN: The Evolving Now." Originally founded to provide an affordable platform for independent and young designers, the festival has expanded from a local neighborhood initiative into a global organization with a permanent presence in Dubai. The 2026 edition centers on the historic Fabbrica Sassetti, a 1930s wool mill, alongside various venues across the Isola district including Fondazione Catella and Stecca3.
The Wereldmuseum Amsterdam has announced it will no longer publicly exhibit any human remains from its colonial-era collection, which includes around 4,000 body parts such as skulls and a preserved Surinamese newborn. At the opening of the exhibition "Unfinished past: return, keep, or…?", director of content Wayne Modest suggested the museum may create a dedicated space for "ritual practices" where descendants can respectfully engage with ancestral remains until a permanent repatriation solution is found. The exhibition features contemporary artworks, including Pansee Atta's "To Make One Particle," which reproduces each body part as a small wooden token, and draws on a four-year research program called Pressing Matter.
Catherine Couturier Gallery in Houston is presenting "Interpolation," a solo exhibition featuring the work of Dutch-born, London-based artist Sander Vos. This marks Vos's first solo show in Houston, showcasing photographs that deconstruct portraits and everyday objects through layering and spatial manipulation inspired by Cubism. The exhibition opens with a reception and runs through June 20.
手の中の影――上原沙也加「緑の部屋：平和の島」
Photographer Sayaka Uehara, born in Okinawa in 1993, presented the exhibition "Green Room: Peace Island" at Gallery Athos in Naha in February 2025. The show brings together two series—the monochrome "Green Room" and the color "Green Days"—for the first time, focusing on Heping Island (Heping Dao) off the coast of Keelung, Taiwan. Uehara's black-and-white photographs document the island's layered colonial history, from Spanish and Dutch occupation to Japanese rule and the 1947 February 28 Incident, where local Ryukyuan residents were killed. The exhibition uses a circular layout that encourages viewers to move repeatedly through the images, connecting historical violence to the present through small objects like souvenir cookies and bottle openers.
A Dutch government-appointed committee has proposed transferring guardianship of thousands of unclaimed Nazi-looted artworks from a state agency to a Jewish foundation, preferably housed at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam. The plan includes funding for exhibitions and explanatory labels to publicly display the so-called "orphaned" art from the Netherlands Art Property Collection.
Thieves stole the entire silver collection of the Doesburg Silver Museum in the eastern Dutch city of Doesburg in the early hours of Wednesday morning. More than 300 "irreplaceable" objects, including a treasured collection of mustard pots assembled by the museum's founder Martin de Kleijn, were taken after two men forced entry into the 13th-century Martini Church housing the museum. CCTV footage shows the duo using a crowbar to break in and shatter display cabinets. Only ceramics on temporary display were left behind. The museum is insured, but chairman Ernst Boesveld emphasized the loss is about history and cultural heritage, not just the silver price.
A court in Argentina has placed Patricia Kadgien and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso under house arrest as police search for a Nazi-looted painting by Giuseppe Ghislandi. The work, which once belonged to Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker, was spotted in a real estate listing for their house in Mar del Plata by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. The listing has been deleted, and police failed to find the painting during a raid, but prosecutors are also investigating two other works held by another of Kadgien's daughters.
Dutch authorities now believe that suspects in the January heist of Dacian gold artifacts from the Drents Museum in Assen hid the items after failing to sell them on the black market, raising hopes that the treasures—including the 5th-century Helmet of Coțofenești—may still be recovered intact. The gold, on loan from Romania’s National History Museum and insured for €30 million, was stolen in a nighttime raid. Three suspects are in custody, with two having their pre-trial detention extended by 90 days on charges of aggravated theft, property destruction, and causing an explosion. New searches in April led to two more detentions, and a full trial is expected in 2026.
The Clay Studio in Philadelphia has launched "Radical Americana," a citywide initiative involving 24 arts organizations and 45 artists to mark the United States' 250th anniversary. The project features 25 exhibitions across the region, showcasing new works that engage with American craft heritage and material culture. Participating artists were tasked with researching historical objects—ranging from Federal-period furniture to Pennsylvania Dutch fraktur—to create contemporary responses that reflect on the nation's complex history.
The exhibition of Michaelina Wautier’s work introduces audiences to a long-overlooked master of the 17th-century Baroque period. Born in Mons around 1614, Wautier operated within the elite circles of the Spanish Netherlands, sharing a studio with her brother Charles and securing patronage from the court of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. Despite her technical brilliance and ability to navigate complex historical and religious subjects, her name remained largely absent from the art historical canon until this recent reappraisal.
The Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Dutch national photo collection, has opened in a new, purpose-built home in Rotterdam. The museum, which holds over 6.5 million images, moved from its previous mixed-use location into a converted and expanded former coffee warehouse, designed to offer public views into its conservation archives and featuring interactive displays.
The Syracuse University Art Museum has announced three new exhibitions for spring 2026: “Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards,” “Afterimages: Legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment,” and “Undressed: The Nude in Dutch Art, circa 1550-1800.” These shows will join the permanent collection exhibition “Human/Environment: 4,000 Years of Art” and an Art Wall Project by artist Bhen Alan. The exhibitions explore themes of disability, race, and the human body, with curator talks and programming scheduled throughout the semester.
Acne Studios has opened its first permanent art space in Paris, named Acne Paper Palais Royal, located beneath the historic arcades of the Palais Royal. The inaugural exhibition, titled '2025', features forty-two portraits of art students from Amsterdam's Gerrit Rietveld Academie by Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker, on view through July 27, 2025. The space is named after the brand's biannual magazine, Acne Paper, and will host art shows, talks, book signings, and cultural events.
Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker has opened a new exhibition titled '2025' at Acne Paper Palais Royal in Paris, featuring portraits of 42 students from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, where he taught photography for 25 years. Commissioned by Acne Studios' magazine offshoot Acne Paper, the show marks the first exhibition in the brand's new permanent gallery space. Kooiker shot the students spontaneously in corridors and classrooms, capturing them in his signature black-and-white style that blends timelessness with a sense of the unsettling, though this project breaks from his usual anonymity by focusing on faces and a specific moment in time.
Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios will open its first permanent art gallery on June 26 under the historic arches of the Palais Royal in Paris. The gallery follows the editorial line of Acne Paper, the brand's biannual publication, and will host a multidisciplinary program including exhibitions, talks, book signings, and cultural events. Its inaugural exhibition features the experimental photography of Dutch artist Paul Kooiker.
A Dutch advisory panel has recommended the creation of a new independent Jewish foundation to manage a vast collection of artworks looted by the Nazis that remain unclaimed. The collection, known as the NK collection, consists of over 3,000 objects currently held by the Dutch state, but whose original owners or heirs have not been identified.
La Roma del Cinquecento vista con gli occhi di uno straniero. La mostra
Fabio De Chirico has been appointed as the new director of the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica in Rome, with a mission to boost research, strengthen international dialogue, and enhance the institution's collections. His tenure opens with the exhibition "Maarten van Heemskerck e il fascino di Roma: percorsi visivi della Città Eterna," curated by Tatjana Bartsch, Rita Bernini, and Giorgio Marini, running until June 7, 2026. The show features drawings by the 16th-century Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck, on loan from the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, alongside over sixty works from the institute's own holdings—including prints, engravings, and archival photographs—plus loans from the Bibliotheca Hertziana, the Musei Capitolini, and the Istituto Archeologico Germanico di Roma.
Il padiglione dei Paesi Bassi alla Biennale di Venezia è una contestazione politica (anche della Biennale stessa)
The Dutch Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "The Fortress" by artist Dries Verhoeven and curator Rieke Vos, transforms the modernist Rietveld Pavilion into a fortress-like enclosure. Inside, a rotating group of thirteen international performers will stage a series of performances throughout the Biennale, focusing on themes of geopolitical uncertainty, social disorder, and the search for stability in an unbalanced world. This marks the first time the Netherlands has used the Rietveld Pavilion for a performance-based project.
La Tribune de l'Art reports that a fundraising campaign has been launched to restore the refectory of the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, specifically the salle de l'Europe. This room features 17th-century murals attributed to Michel Corneille le Jeune, depicting battles from the Franco-Dutch War (1673–1675), including the sieges of Maastricht, Huy, and Limbourg, as well as allegorical scenes of Louis XIV. The restoration is organized by the Musée de l'Armée, which manages the site.
The Tainan Art Museum has opened "The Formosa Era – The Enlightenment of Modern and Contemporary Taiwanese Art," a major exhibition spanning a century of Taiwanese art history. Featuring national treasures and significant works by artists such as Chen Cheng-po, Huang Tu-shui, and Chang Dai-chien, the show is organized into eight thematic sections that trace Taiwan's artistic evolution from the Dutch colonial period through Japanese rule to the post-war era. Highlights include an immersive audio-visual installation that transforms iconic paintings into panoramic, interactive experiences using high-resolution projections and motion sensors.
This article compiles a list of open calls, residencies, and grants for artists in October 2025, including opportunities such as the Hopper Prize offering $4,500 and $1,000 artist grants, the Abbey Harris Mural Fund in the UK providing up to £7,000 for public murals, and the 2026 Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Other listings include the Contemporary Reflection Art Exhibition in London, an open call for exhibitions at Municipal Gallery dlr LexIcon in Ireland, the Glen Arbor Arts Center's INteriors show, the Sight/Geist Film & Performance open call in New York City, a creative commission for the Sycamore Gap tree by the National Trust, and the Discovery Art Fair Frankfurt.
The article explores the rich artistic traditions of Oceania, emphasizing how the vast network of islands and ocean passageways fostered a dynamic exchange of cultures, materials, and ideas over millennia. It describes Oceanic art as vessels for metaphysical journeys, with objects like fishhooks, stick charts, and carved figures serving as tangible expressions of ancestral power and cultural knowledge. The text highlights the role of artists as chiefs and orators who manipulate local materials to manifest spirits, and traces the region's entanglements with European colonial powers from the sixteenth century onward.
Ton Witteman, grandson of Dutch resistance hero Bart Witteman, has laid an unauthorized 'stumbling stone' (stolpersteine) in front of his grandfather's former home in Haarlem, Netherlands. Bart Witteman, a policeman who sheltered two Jewish people during World War II, was arrested, deported, and murdered by the Nazis in 1945. The city council had refused to include non-Jewish resistance figures in its official memorial program, which only covers the 733 murdered Jewish, Sinti, and Roma residents. Witteman obtained the hand-stamped brass plaque from German artist Gunter Demnig's Stolpersteine project and installed it himself with the current homeowners' blessing.
A priceless 2,500-year-old golden helmet and three golden bracelets from Romania's Dacia civilization, stolen from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands in January 2025, were returned to Romania on Tuesday. The artifacts arrived at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport under guard and were displayed at Bucharest's National History Museum, flanked by armed security. The recovery followed 14 months of investigations, diplomatic tensions, and an ongoing trial of three suspects; one bracelet remains missing but Dutch authorities vow to continue the search.
A rare collection of Dutch Old Masters, previously held in a private European collection, is making its first-ever U.S. debut at an American museum. The exhibition brings together a selection of 17th-century paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and other Dutch Golden Age artists, offering a unique glimpse into a collection that has rarely been seen by the public.
The Hendrick I. Lott House, one of New York City’s oldest surviving structures, is set to become the first museum in Brooklyn’s Marine Park neighborhood. Built in 1720 as a Dutch Colonial farmhouse and expanded in 1800, the house remained in the Lott family until 1989. After the city purchased it in 2002 and completed exterior renovations in 2013, plans are now underway to open its interior to the public for the first time, preserving its unique wallpaper and agricultural history.