Art News. Vasari Codex

gavel restitution schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

thirty five arrested in bulgaria criminal art trafficking network

Bulgarian authorities, with support from Europol, arrested 35 individuals and conducted 131 searches across Bulgaria, seizing over 3,000 cultural artifacts valued at more than €100 million. The operation targeted a criminal network trafficking artifacts from Thracian and Greco-Roman civilizations across Europe, with connections to illegal excavations in Bulgaria and the Balkans. The investigation, which began after a 2020 house raid that uncovered 7,000 artifacts, involved law enforcement from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the UK, and was coordinated from Sofia and Eurojust in The Hague.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 21, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

pemberton asset management buys bonhams from private equity firm epirus for undisclosed sum

Pemberton Asset Management, a European private credit manager backed by Legal & General, has acquired the auction house Bonhams from private equity firm Epiris for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition led to the departure of Bonhams's global CEO Chabi Nouri and chief commercial officer Céline Assimon, with a new senior leadership team appointed including Seth Johnson as CEO, Liese Thomas as CFO, and Jennifer Babington as COO. Bonhams chairman Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard will remain in his role, while Chris Ellerker and Mohit Agarwal from Pemberton join the board.

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candle obituary schedule Oct 5, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

milton esterow artnews editor dead

Milton Esterow, the award-winning journalist who owned and edited ARTnews for 42 years, died on Friday at age 97. His death was confirmed by his daughter Judith Esterow, a former associate publisher of the magazine. Esterow purchased ARTnews in 1972 from Newsweek and transformed it into a news-focused powerhouse, winning a National Magazine Award and two George Polk Awards. He introduced the influential ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list in 1990 and was known for his relentless investigative journalism, particularly on Holocaust art restitution. He continued writing into his 90s, using his 1950 Royal typewriter.

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person people schedule Sep 30, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

artnet ceo resigns handelblatt

Jacob Pabst, CEO of Artnet AG, resigned late Sunday night just before the company's annual general meeting in Berlin. His contract had expired at the end of August, and he cited a failure to reach an agreement on continuing. Andrew E. Wolff, who holds about 98.93% of Artnet shares and also owns rival platform Artsy, will serve as interim CEO. The meeting proceeded without Artnet management present, leading to criticism from investor-protection group DSW. Shareholders were given an overview of 2024 finances and approved the creation of authorized capital for a possible increase of up to 50% of share capital. Former major shareholder Rüdiger K. Weng announced he will pursue civil and criminal claims against members of the founding Neuendorf family and board members.

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article news schedule Sep 18, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

charlie kirk statue florida new college

New College of Florida, a public liberal arts school in Sarasota that was overhauled by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023 to become a conservative institution, announced on September 17, 2025, that it will commission a statue of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA who was assassinated in Utah the previous week. The statue, privately funded by community leaders, will depict Kirk seated at a table with two empty chairs, speaking into a microphone, and is intended to honor his legacy and commitment to free speech and civil discourse on campus.

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gavel restitution schedule Aug 26, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

france returns colonial era human remains to madagascar

France has returned three colonial-era human skulls to Madagascar, including one believed to belong to King Toera, a Malagasy king executed by French troops in 1897. The skulls were handed over to Malagasy representatives at the French Culture Ministry on Monday, after being held in Paris’s National Museum of Natural History. French Culture Minister Rachida Dati called the return “historic,” while her Malagasy counterpart Volamiranty Donna Mara described it as healing an “open wound” after 128 years.

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article news schedule Aug 21, 2025 visibility 10 link 2 artists

sothebys institute of art under federal hcm2 finances

Sotheby's Institute of Art (SIA), a for-profit graduate school in London and New York, has been under the U.S. Department of Education's 'Heightened Cash Monitoring 2' (HCM2) designation since December 2023, a status reserved for institutions with serious financial or compliance concerns. The designation bars the school from receiving federal financial aid in advance, requiring it to front its own funds and seek reimbursement. Public records and financial filings reveal that SIA has fallen below federal 'financial responsibility' baselines, and its UK auditors noted 'material uncertainty' about the school's ability to continue as a going concern, though management asserts it has adequate resources.

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candle obituary schedule Aug 13, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

david chichkan ukraine artist dead battle russia

David Chichkan, a Ukrainian artist known for his explicitly political and often censored work, has died at age 39. The Ukrainian culture ministry reported that his heart stopped after he was wounded in battle against Russian troops. Chichkan founded the Libertarian Club of Underground Dialectics in 2014 and staged provocative exhibitions, including one about the 2013–14 Maidan revolution that was vandalized by masked intruders. He enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2024 as a mortar operator, after being unable to serve earlier for health reasons, and continued to create art depicting antiauthoritarian soldiers until his death.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

weill cornells future at sothebys former headquarters

Weill Cornell Medicine is proceeding with plans to develop a research facility at 1334 York Avenue, the former headquarters of Sotheby’s, despite a federal funding freeze that has disrupted hundreds of research projects. The 200,000-square-foot leased space is intended for medical research, patient care, and teaching, and the university has stated the lease is not contingent on government funding. However, S&P Global Ratings has revised the property’s valuation downward by nearly 12% since last year, citing uncertainty over Weill Cornell’s financial commitment to complete the build-out.

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article policy schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

trump to withdraw us from unesco for second time

President Donald Trump has announced the United States will withdraw from UNESCO for the second time, effective at the end of 2026. The State Department cited the organization's focus on "divisive social and cultural causes" and its alignment with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals as contrary to America First foreign policy, as well as "anti-Israel rhetoric" within UNESCO. This follows a pattern of Trump pulling the US from multilateral bodies, including the UN Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization, and continues a fraught history: the US stopped funding UNESCO under Obama over Palestine's membership, left in 2017 under Trump, and rejoined under Biden in 2023.

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person people schedule Jul 14, 2025 visibility 6 link 1 artist

volord kingdom art collection

Artist Walter Paul Bebirian discusses the Volord Kingdom Art Collection, a vast and growing trove of hundreds of thousands of digital artworks he has created over decades. In an interview with Artnet News, Bebirian recounts significant personal challenges since 2022, including a stroke in April 2023 that led to rheumatoid arthritis, limiting his mobility and forcing a hiatus from his practice. He lowered his prices to make his art more affordable and gradually resumed work despite physical difficulties. The collection, born from a need to unify his oeuvre and create a generative artistic world, blends abstraction and representation, photography and digital imagination.

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person people schedule Jul 2, 2025 visibility 8 link 1 artist

ford foundation heather gerken next president

The Ford Foundation has appointed Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, as its next president. She will succeed Darren Walker and become the 11th president of the foundation, as well as the second woman to lead the organization in its nearly 90-year history. Gerken will officially assume the role on November 1, following a national search launched after Walker announced his departure after 12 years.

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article policy schedule Jun 20, 2025 visibility 11 link 2 artists

trump administration violated law withholding institute of museum and library services funds

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a decision on Monday finding that the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 by withholding congressionally appropriated funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the elimination of the IMLS, and in April the agency was gutted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), placing its entire 75-person staff on leave. The GAO determined that the IMLS ceased performing its legal duties and withheld funds intended for museums and libraries, and that the administration could not justify the withholding.

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article policy schedule Jun 9, 2025 visibility 9 link 1 artist

institute of museum and library services restraining order overturned

A federal judge has declined to extend a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Trump administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The ruling, issued on Friday, allows the administration to proceed with mass layoffs and budget cuts that have already placed the agency's entire 75-person staff on leave. The IMLS, which distributes federal grants to museums and libraries nationwide, was targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in April. The case, ALA v. Sonderling, was brought by the American Library Association and AFSCME, and will continue in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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article news schedule May 27, 2025 visibility 12 link 3 artists

venice biennale koyo kouoh 2026 in minor keys

The Venice Biennale will proceed with its 2026 edition despite the unexpected death of its curator, Koyo Kouoh, earlier this month. The Biennale announced on Tuesday that it will realize Kouoh's exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," which she had already begun planning before her passing. Kouoh had selected artists, developed commissions, and established the central concept. The show will be carried forward by a team of five advisers she personally chose: curators Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Helene Pereira, and Rasha Salti; critic Siddartha Mitter as editor; and Rory Tsapayi as assistant. The exhibition remains scheduled to open on May 9, 2026, with the full support of Kouoh's family.

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article culture schedule May 4, 2025 visibility 8 link 3 artists

huge olmec heads mesoamerica

A farmer in southern Mexico discovered the first Olmec head in the late 1850s while clearing land for corn cultivation. Since then, 17 colossal stone heads have been unearthed, primarily at the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan archaeological site in Veracruz. Carved by the Olmec civilization between 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these basalt monuments range from 3.5 to 11.5 feet tall and weigh up to 45 tons. Each head features unique facial expressions and is thought to depict individual Olmec rulers, possibly serving as funerary monuments. The heads are now held by institutions such as the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology.

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article culture schedule May 2, 2025 visibility 8 link 4 artists

great sphinx origin

The article examines the enduring mystery of who the Great Sphinx of Giza was modeled after. While the 66-foot-tall statue is universally recognized, its origins remain debated among Egyptologists. Some believe Pharaoh Khafre commissioned it in his own image, citing a 1853 discovery of a Khafre statue nearby and a connecting road to his pyramid. Others argue it was built by Khafre's brother Redjedef to honor their father Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. Damage to the Sphinx's nose from erosion and human conflict complicates identification.

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article policy schedule May 2, 2025 visibility 9 link 1 artist

institute of museum and library services shutdown stopped in federal court

A federal court issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump Administration's dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The order came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), who sought to prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from laying off nearly all of IMLS's 75-person staff. The layoffs were scheduled to take effect on May 4, 2025, following an executive order by President Trump that deemed IMLS "unnecessary."

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trending_up market schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 15 link 1 artist

frieze sale ari emanuel

Endeavor Group Holdings has sold Frieze, the company behind the influential art magazine and several international art fairs, to a new company formed by former Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. The deal, valued at nearly $200 million, is expected to close by the third quarter of this year. Frieze's current leadership, including CEO Simon Fox, will remain in place. The sale follows Endeavor's full privatization by Silver Lake and marks the end of a long-rumored ownership transition. Notably, two tennis tournaments initially bundled in the negotiations—Miami Open and Madrid Open—are not included in this deal.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 20 link 5 artists

Can a Venice Biennale Pavilion Be Rock ‘n’ Roll? At the Belgium Pavilion, Miet Warlop Makes the Case.

Miet Warlop, a Belgian artist known for her avant-garde theater work, is representing Belgium at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a performance-installation titled "IT NEVER SSST." The project transforms the Belgian Pavilion into a chaotic, sensory-filled space where performers climb wooden structures, bang drums, and break plaster boards inscribed with multilingual text, reflecting the noise and misunderstandings of contemporary life. Curated by Caroline Dumalin, the pavilion blurs the line between theater and visual art, with live performances occurring only part of the time while sculptors continuously remake plaster reliefs throughout the Biennale's run.

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trending_up market schedule Apr 20, 2026 visibility 20 link 5 artists

fashion chanel coco game chess jewelry

Chanel has unveiled the Coco Game chess set, a one-of-a-kind luxury object that doubles as a high-jewelry timepiece, presented at the brand's watch and jewelry boutique on Place Vendôme. The set features 32 pieces crafted from ceramic and gold, adorned with over 9,000 diamonds totaling approximately 110 carats, with each queen concealing a detachable watch. The collection also includes 13 watch designs and is part of Chanel's Haute Horlogerie line for 2026, designed by Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the Chanel Watch Creation Studio.

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person people schedule Apr 14, 2026 visibility 16 link 4 artists

fashion mary katrantzou bvlgari jewelry

Mary Katrantzou has been appointed as the first-ever creative director of leather goods and accessories at Bvlgari, a role created for her after multiple successful collaborations. She designed the new Icons Minaudière Collection, a series of 10 bags reimagining Bvlgari's iconic symbols such as Serpenti, Divas' Dream, and Monete, using jewelry-making techniques like hand-enameled scales and semiprecious stones.

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article culture schedule Feb 25, 2026 visibility 16 link 17 artists

parties aritzia los angeles fashion frieze week

CULTURED and Aritzia co-hosted a dinner party at the former Fred Segal store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles during Frieze Week. The event celebrated Aritzia's Artistic License series, featuring photographer Gregory Crewdson, whose work appears on shopping bags and in stores. Guests included Aritzia CEO Jennifer Wong, CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson, artists Chloe Wise and Maya Man, curator Essence Harden, and others from the art and fashion worlds. The evening featured a multi-course meal, Krug champagne, and copies of CULTURED's Entertainers Issue.

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person people schedule Feb 20, 2026 visibility 15 link 21 artists

art collector amelie du chalard gallery interview

Amélie du Chalard, a bi-continental art collector and gallery owner, discusses her lifelong journey with art in an interview with CULTURED. Starting her collection at age 16 through family tradition, she founded her eponymous gallery in Paris in 2015 and later expanded to New York. Her collection and gallery blend design objects with fine art, embracing what she calls 'haptic minimalism'—a tactile, gentle aesthetic. She shares her sourcing process, including using the Drouot auction app and Artsy, and recounts tracking down a piece first seen in a 14th-century palace.

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museum exhibitions schedule Feb 11, 2026 visibility 16 link 6 artists

fashion hermes boutique artist lisha bai

Korean-American painter and sculptor Lisha Bai unveiled a new window installation at Hermès Maison Madison in New York, created to coincide with New York Fashion Week. The installation features polychrome fabrics molded into geometric forms, drawing inspiration from the Korean patchwork tradition of bojagi and the quilts of Gee’s Bend, reflecting Bai’s experience growing up as a Korean-American in Alabama. A conversation between Bai and Cooper Hewitt curator Alexandra Cunningham Cameron explored how Bai translates textile techniques and light into immersive art. The event was attended by Hermès Americas President and CEO Diane Mahady and VP Diane Kruger, among other guests.

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person people schedule Dec 29, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

art terry jo harvey allen artists santa fe home

Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, a multidisciplinary artist couple now in their 80s, have donated their entire archive to Texas Tech University. The collection includes countless paintings, scripts, hundreds of audio tapes recorded with collaborators like David Byrne and Steve Earle, and personal letters exchanged over decades. The couple, who met at a dance in Lubbock, Texas, over 70 years ago, continue to live and work in a rambling adobe home in Santa Fe, surrounded by their art and memories.

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person people schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 16 link 9 artists

art the contemporary austin sharon maidenberg

Sharon Maidenberg, who became the Ernest and Sarah Butler Executive Director & CEO of the Contemporary Austin in summer 2020, reflects on her five-year tenure in an interview with CULTURED. Under her leadership, the museum has navigated the pandemic, deepened programming, expanded accessibility with an ADA ramp and offerings for visually impaired and neurodivergent visitors, launched sustainability initiatives with the Teiger Foundation and Rute Collaborative, and hosted its annual Art Dinner featuring a Benefit Art Auction with works by Lubaina Himid, Ed Ruscha, RF. Alvarez, and others. Current exhibitions include “The Canvas Can Do Miracles,” “HOST: Raul De Lara,” and “Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art.”

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 14, 2025 visibility 15 link 9 artists

parties national academy of design morgan library

The National Academy of Design celebrated its 200th anniversary with a gala at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. The event honored the 2025 class of Academicians, including artists Tacita Dean, Nanette Carter, Sheila Hicks, and Nina Yankowitz, as well as architects Trey Trahan, Julie Snow, and Kim Yao. The evening featured an induction ceremony where new members were invited to contribute works to the Academy’s ongoing collection.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 11, 2025 visibility 19 link 10 artists

parties art corita art center gala melissa mccarthy kathryn hahn

The Corita Art Center held its first benefit gala at the Marciano Art Foundation in downtown Los Angeles, celebrating the legacy of artist and nun Corita Kent. The event drew a high-profile crowd including actors Melissa McCarthy and Kathryn Hahn, artists Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie, and Laura Owens, along with patrons, chefs, and designers. Guests enjoyed a new exhibition of Kent's work, a family-style dinner, and a performance by musician Natalie Bergman, with a 'GIVE A DAMN' tote bag as a parting gift.

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museum exhibitions schedule Oct 22, 2025 visibility 13 link 5 artists

art diane severin nguyen protest music

Artist-filmmaker Diane Severin Nguyen is preparing for her live-performance directorial debut, "WAR SONGS," premiering at the Performa Biennial in November 2025 at BRIC in Brooklyn. The piece features a cast of musicians performing a wide-ranging program of protest music, from Woody Guthrie to Black Sabbath, led by musical director Laszlo Horvath. Nguyen, known for her films exploring performance and identity, is working with a group that practices being a band rather than an actual band, creating a raw, protean work that blends music, theater, and filmic sensibilities.

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