Vasari Art Codex

article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 2 link 4 artists

mick taylor guitar stolen met museum donation 1234747536

A donation of 500 guitars to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2025, announced via a profile in The New Yorker, has become embroiled in controversy. Mick Taylor, former guitarist for the Rolling Stones, claims through his manager that one of the donated guitars—a Les Paul stolen from the band's French villa in 1971—is his property. The Met initially declined to comment, but later told The New York Times that Taylor played the guitar but never owned it, asserting a well-documented ownership history. The guitars were donated by collector Dirk Ziff, and the museum plans to open a permanent American guitar gallery in 2027.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 3 link 2 artists

rachel ruyschs still lifes dutch toledo pinakothek munich mfa boston 1234744513

The Toledo Museum of Art has opened the first major exhibition dedicated to Dutch Golden Age painter Rachel Ruysch, organized with the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and traveling next to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The show features Ruysch's vibrant still lifes of fruits and flowers, often animated by insects, and places her work alongside that of her sister Anna Ruysch and other female scientific illustrators like Maria Sibylla Merian. Curator Robert Schindler's rediscovery of Anna Ruysch's work helped inspire the exhibition, which also draws on botanical research to catalog the global plant species Ruysch depicted, reflecting colonial trade networks.

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article news schedule May 30, 2025 visibility 3 link 2 artists

museum removes maori artist new zealand flag diane prince 1234743927

The Suter Art Gallery in Nelson, New Zealand, removed an artwork by Māori artist Diane Prince after public outcry. The piece, a new version of her 1995 work *Flagging the Future*, featured the New Zealand flag printed with the words “PLEASE WALK ON ME” and was part of a solo show organized by Pātaka Art + Museum. Local resident Ruth Tipu protested by picking up the flag daily, citing distress over the flag being walked on, especially given her grandfather’s service in the Māori Battalion. The museum cited an escalation in hostile discourse as the reason for removal, while affirming support for freedom of expression.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 6, 2026 visibility 6 link 2 artists

bavaria will investigate claims looted art returned nazis 558638

The Bavarian Parliament has unanimously ordered a comprehensive investigation into revelations that the state returned Nazi-looted artworks to the families of high-ranking Nazi officials instead of their rightful Jewish owners. A report by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE) exposed that state-owned museums in Munich profited from these stolen works for decades, in some cases selling them back to Nazi descendants at nominal prices or keeping them in public collections.

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person people schedule Feb 5, 2026 visibility 4 link 3 artists

philadelphia art museum new director 2718492

The Philadelphia Art Museum has appointed Daniel Weiss, former CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as its new director, effective December 1. Weiss takes over amid a legal battle with recently ousted director Sasha Suda, who filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit after her November 4 dismissal. The museum has escalated its defense, alleging Suda misappropriated funds prior to her firing. Weiss, who previously restored fiscal stability at the Met, is expected to guide the institution through this tumultuous period, which also includes backlash over a controversial rebrand.

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article news schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 5 link 3 artists

professor terminated art history paintings muhammad 2238922

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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gavel restitution schedule Mar 18, 2026 visibility 9 link 2 artists

Open Letter on the Imminent Departure of the Gelman Collection from Mexico

An open letter signed by hundreds of Mexican artists and cultural figures warns that the core of the renowned Gelman Collection, including eleven Frida Kahlo paintings declared national monuments, is at risk of permanent export from Mexico. The letter alleges that Banco Santander's new Faro Santander museum, through an agreement with collector Marcelo Zambrano, is misinterpreting Mexico's strict heritage laws to justify a "dynamic" but effectively permanent display abroad, which would violate the legal prohibition on the permanent export of Kahlo's work.

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article news schedule May 5, 2025 link 2 artists

amid fraud case collector justin sun reportedly spent 75 m on trump backed crypto firm 1234740625

Justin Sun, the crypto billionaire known for buying and eating Maurizio Cattelan's banana sculpture, is under scrutiny after reportedly spending $75 million on World Liberty Financial (WL), a cryptocurrency firm promoted by President Donald Trump. The investment, revealed by a New York Times investigation on April 28, comes while Sun faces a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud lawsuit and a separate legal battle with collector David Geffen over an Alberto Giacometti sculpture allegedly stolen from Sun's collection.

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article policy schedule Jul 7, 2025 visibility 5 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

mps to debate whether sponsorship and advertizing by fossil fuel companies should be banned in uk 1234746884

On Monday, the UK Parliament will debate whether to ban sponsorship and advertising by fossil fuel companies, following a petition with over 100,000 signatures. The petition specifically cites the £50 million partnership between BP and the British Museum, arguing that such deals allow fossil fuel giants to greenwash their reputations. While the government has no current plans to restrict fossil fuel advertising, cultural institutions like the National Portrait Gallery, Tate galleries, and Royal Opera House have already ended sponsorship deals with BP. The British Museum has defended its BP deal, with director Nicolas Cullinan stating the funding helps keep the museum free to the public.

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article news schedule Jan 13, 2026 visibility 3 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

hauser and wirth russia sanctions case court date 1234769715

A UK judge has scheduled a 10-day trial for January 2028 in the case against mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth and liquidated shipping firm Artay Rauchwerger Solomons over alleged violations of UK sanctions against Russia. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) charged the gallery with making George Condo's 2021 work on paper, *Escape from Humanity*, available in 2022 to a person connected to Russia. The next hearing is set for May 5, 2026, for arraignment. Hauser & Wirth has stated it strongly contests the charge and intends to plead not guilty, while the shipping company went into voluntary liquidation in April 2024.

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article news schedule Jan 8, 2026 visibility 3 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

mschf our cow agnus project 1234769289

MSCHF, the art collective known for viral stunts like Big Red Boots and a branded ATM, has launched a project called "Our Cow Angus" in which they purchased a cow named Angus in August 2024 and presold tokens tied to its eventual slaughter. Token holders can cancel their pre-orders via a "Remorse Portal," and if 50% opt out, Angus will be sent to a sanctuary instead of being turned into hamburger patties and leather handbags. As of January 8, only 31.8% of holders had canceled.

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article news schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 8 link 11 artists, 1 gallery

school of art institute of chicagos video data bank 2714672

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) laid off three of five staff members of its Video Data Bank (VDB), including director Tom Colley, as part of 20 total layoffs across the institution. The cuts, announced on November 12, eliminated leadership and key distribution and digital management roles, sparking outcry from the new-media art community. VDB, founded in 1976, is a leading archive of video art with over 6,000 works by artists including Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, and Pipilotti Rist, distributed worldwide via subscription streaming.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 5 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

'Art is just about making trouble': Inside Auckland Art Gallery's bold new show

Auckland Art Gallery is preparing to open "Forever Tomorrow: Chinese Art Now," a major exhibition of contemporary Chinese art curated by Hutch Wilco. The show features works from the White Rabbit Collection in Sydney, including a massive 7-meter-high stone sculpture by Xu Zhen, paintings by Shang Liang, and photography by Pixy Liao, who recently won a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship. Wilco spent three years organizing the exhibition, which includes playful sculptures, paintings, and multimedia works, with significant logistical challenges in transporting large pieces from China.

newspaper NZ Herald open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 4 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

Bruegel to Rembrandt at Compton Verney: From Brussels to the English Countryside

Compton Verney in Warwickshire is hosting the exhibition 'Bruegel to Rembrandt: Drawing Life, Sketching Wonder,' featuring 50 old master drawings from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. This marks the first time these works, including pieces by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt, and Rubens, have been shown in the UK, offering a rare glimpse into 16th and 17th-century artistic practice through intimate sketches of everyday life.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 31, 2026 visibility 7 link 10 artists, 5 galleries

Art Rotterdam focuses on photography

The 27th edition of Art Rotterdam took place at the Rotterdam Ahoy, featuring over 150 galleries with a heavy emphasis on the Dutch art scene. This year’s fair was marked by a strategic integration with the photography fair Unseen and coincided with major local developments, including the relocation of the Nederlands Fotomuseum to its new 'Santos' home and the opening of the Fenix Museum of Migration. Notable presentations included Sakir Khader’s poignant photography of Palestinian resistance at No Man's Art Gallery and Shimon Kamada’s atmospheric oil paintings at Diez Gallery.

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gavel restitution schedule Feb 2, 2026 visibility 9 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

Dürer ‘copy’ at London’s National Gallery is the real thing, expert claims

A German scholar, Christof Metzger, has published a new catalogue raisonné claiming that a portrait of Albrecht Dürer's father held by London's National Gallery is an authentic work by the master, painted in 1497. This directly challenges the gallery's long-standing position that the painting is a later copy made after a lost original.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 24, 2025 visibility 3 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

Right to Rest

The Denver Art Museum (DAM) created a visitor experience for the exhibition "Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum" that centered on rest and well-being, inspired by Thomas's belief that art should offer beauty and restoration. The exhibition team, including an interpretive specialist, layered inclusive design practices such as specific interventions for rest, aiming to make Black audiences, disabled audiences, and older audiences feel comfortable and welcome. The DAM's Lifelong Learning and Accessibility division applied universal design principles and well-being outcomes to support the exhibition's goal of honoring Thomas's vision of art as a restorative space.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 1, 2025 visibility 6 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

Women in the Arts museum brings golden age artists into focus

The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., has opened a new exhibition titled "Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750," which showcases works by largely forgotten female masters of the Dutch Golden Age, including Judith Leyster, Maria van Oosterwijck, Clara Peeters, and Rachel Ruysch. The show features over a dozen artists and highlights paintings rich in symbolism, such as van Oosterwijck's "Vanitas Still Life" and Leyster's "The Concert," while also addressing how many of these women were celebrated in their own time but later misattributed or omitted from art history.

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article news schedule Oct 29, 2025 visibility 3 link 1 artist, 2 galleries

In Prague, the long-term future of Alphonse Mucha’s ‘Slav Epic’ hangs in the balance

Alphonse Mucha’s monumental 20-painting series *Slav Epic*, completed in 1928, has never received the permanent exhibition space in Prague that the artist demanded when he donated the work to the city. For decades the series has been displayed in Moravský Krumlov, and its current loan there was recently extended to 2031. Plans to install the Epic in a vaulted underground space designed by Thomas Heatherwick as part of Crestyl’s Savarin development have stalled due to permitting delays, though Crestyl now expects construction to begin in 2025 and open in 2029. Meanwhile, legal disputes persist: John Mucha (the artist’s grandson) had threatened to revoke the city’s ownership, and another granddaughter, Jarmila Mucha Plocková, has challenged the proposed location as unworthy.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 1, 2025 visibility 6 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

Georges de La Tour, once a victim of the academy’s collective amnesia, can be seen in a new light in Paris

The Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris opens a new exhibition, "Georges de La Tour: From Shadow to Light," running from 11 September 2025 to 25 January 2026. This is the first Paris show dedicated to the 17th-century French painter in nearly 30 years, featuring about 20 original works and a dozen studio pieces. The exhibition explores La Tour's working practice and his influence from Caravaggio, highlighting how his oeuvre—now counted at only 48 known works—was rediscovered after centuries of misattribution, thanks largely to German art historian Hermann Voss in 1915.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 1, 2025 visibility 2 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

Catch These Glamourous Summer Exhibitions at SCAD Lacoste

SCAD Lacoste, the Savannah College of Art and Design's campus in Provence, France, is hosting three summer exhibitions: 'Christian Dior: Jardins Rêvés', the first Dior exhibition in southern France, featuring over 30 haute couture silhouettes and 60 accessories by Dior and his successors; 'DRIFT: Unfold', a permanent interactive installation by the Dutch artist duo DRIFT that transforms visitors' heartbeats into audiovisual displays; and 'Studio Bee: 100% Made by SCAD', showcasing work by recent SCAD fashion graduates. The Dior show runs until September 28, while the Studio Bee exhibition continues until November 2.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 18, 2025 visibility 3 link 12 artists, 1 gallery

Landmark Exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts Reframes an Iconic Historical Era

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., will present "Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600–1750" from September 26, 2025, to January 11, 2026. This landmark exhibition features nearly 150 artworks by 40 Dutch and Flemish women artists, including Judith Leyster, Rachel Ruysch, and Clara Peeters, alongside works by unnamed textile makers. Co-curated by Virginia Treanor and Frederica van Dam, the show includes loans from over 50 institutions such as the Rijksmuseum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Prado Museum. It will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, from March to May 2026.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2025 visibility 1 link 17 artists, 2 galleries

The best museum shows to see during Tefaf New York 2025

The article highlights several major museum exhibitions opening during Tefaf New York 2025. At the Brooklyn Museum, "Solid Gold" (through July 6) traces the material's historical and cultural significance across fine art, fashion, jewelry, and design, featuring works from ancient Coclé gold plaques to pieces by Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson, and Alexander Calder. The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents "Sargent and Paris" (through August 3) for the centenary of John Singer Sargent's death, reuniting his scandalous "Portrait of Madame X" with preparatory sketches and exploring his formative decade in Paris. The Jewish Museum offers "The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt" (through August 10), examining the biblical story's influence on 17th-century Dutch art through works by Rembrandt and his contemporaries.

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article local schedule May 5, 2025 visibility 1 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

Sharpsburg’s ZYNKA Gallery turns 5: reflecting on growth and future exhibitions

ZYNKA Gallery in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, celebrates its fifth anniversary. Founded by Jeff Jarzynka in November 2019, the gallery represents over 50 mostly regional artists. Its current exhibition, “Time Between Echoes,” features Dutch-born artist Hans Neleman and runs through June 8. The gallery faced an early challenge when it had to close just months after opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it reopened in summer 2020 with timed visits. Jarzynka has since expanded his curatorial work, including curating exhibitions for The Portal Art Gallery at Bakery Square in East Liberty since February 2024.

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gavel restitution schedule Oct 24, 2025 visibility 5 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

almeida and dale raided missing alfredo volpi works 1234758804

Brazilian police raided the São Paulo branch of Almeida & Dale, a prominent gallery, on Wednesday in connection with three missing paintings by modernist Alfredo Volpi. The São Paulo State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic) executed a search warrant regarding the works, valued at R$6.4 million (about $1.2 million), which have been the subject of a civil dispute. The artist's estate accuses gallery cofounder Carlos Dale of brokering an unauthorized sale in 2006 of the paintings, which were reported stolen in 2008. No artworks were seized, but a laptop was taken, and the gallery has denied wrongdoing, stating it acted as an intermediary in legitimate transactions before any theft report.

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article news schedule Jan 28, 2026 visibility 2 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

mcny tyger shipwreck research 2740893

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is launching a new research project to re-examine a 17th-century shipwreck discovered during a 1916 subway dig in Lower Manhattan. The wreck, long believed to be the Dutch ship *Tyger*—one of the earliest European vessels to anchor in New York Harbor—was excavated by subway foreman James A. Kelly and later donated to MCNY in the 1940s. In partnership with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), the museum will apply advanced scientific techniques, including dendrochronology and wood species analysis, to the ship's timbers to confirm their origins and better understand the vessel's history.

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article news schedule Oct 15, 2025 visibility 2 link 2 artists

creative australia khaled sabsabi grant venice controversy 1234756974

Creative Australia has awarded Khaled Sabsabi a $100,000 grant under its Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework, supporting a solo show at the Samstag Museum of Art in Adelaide in 2027. This comes after Sabsabi was controversially dropped as Australia’s Venice Biennale representative in February over past works, including one depicting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and claims that he favored boycotts of Israel. Creative Australia cited an “unacceptable risk to public support,” but widespread backlash led to the departure of senior leaders and, in July, the reinstatement of Sabsabi and his curator Michael Dagostino.

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trending_up market schedule May 13, 2025 visibility 3 link 4 artists

Why is the art market turning Gulf-wards?

The art market is shifting its focus toward the Gulf region, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, following a sharp decline in Chinese luxury goods sales (18–20% drop in 2024) and a 31% slump in Chinese art sales. Auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have established outposts in Saudi Arabia, with Sotheby’s first auction in Diriyah generating $17.3 million and attracting 35% new buyers. The UAE’s tax-haven status and lack of sanctions on Russians have drawn wealthy residents, while Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 campaign, led by Mohammed bin Salman, is pouring money into cultural projects such as AlUla, Art Week Riyadh, the Islamic Arts Biennale, and a new teamLab Borderless museum in Jeddah.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 26, 2026 visibility 6 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

Grand Van Gogh Exhibition | Ueno Royal Museum | Art in Tokyo

From May to August 2026, the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo will host a major exhibition of Vincent van Gogh's early works, drawn entirely from the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands. The show traces van Gogh's development from his early Dutch period through his time in Paris and culminates in his Arles period, featuring the celebrated painting *Night Café Terrace (Place du Forum)*. This is the first chapter of a two-part exhibition series, with the second scheduled for 2027–2028.

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article news schedule Mar 19, 2026 visibility 8 link 1 gallery

Comment | Why doesn't Tefaf Maastricht move to Brussels?

The European Fine Art Fair (Tefaf) continues to be held in the relatively remote Dutch city of Maastricht, despite logistical challenges like transport strikes and limited hotel options. The fair's organizers and the city actively resist recurring suggestions to relocate to a more accessible hub like Brussels, citing a commitment to the location and undisclosed financial support from local authorities.

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