Marisa Adesman, a rising artist based in Chicago, is presenting her solo exhibition “Under the Rose” at Anat Ebgi in New York, featuring six new paintings that blend trompe l’oeil and surrealism to create nocturnal interior scenes of magic, eroticism, and domestic disobedience. The show follows her Los Angeles debut “Forklore” in 2021 and her first museum exhibition at KMAC Contemporary Art Museum in 2023, where her painting sold for $90,000 at Art Basel Miami.
Marlow Moss's painting *White, Black, Blue and Red* (1944) sold for £609,600 ($819,912) at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction in London, far exceeding its presale high estimate of £480,000. The work, backed by a guarantee, sparked a bidding war among seven bidders and set a new auction record for the British Constructivist artist. The previous record was set in 2022 at Christie’s London.
A Frank Lloyd Wright home, the Elizabeth and Rollin Furbeck House (1898), has been listed for sale at $2 million in Oak Park, Illinois. The 5,000-square-foot, five-bedroom property features a 9-foot-wide picture window thought to be the first such residential feature by Wright, along with Roman brickwork, diamond-paned windows, and a heated pool. The current owners, Tom and Deb Abrahamson, have lived there for 27 years and are seeking a buyer who will appreciate its historic and architectural significance.
A rediscovered oil painting by J.M.W. Turner, titled *The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol*, sold for £1.9 million ($2.6 million) at Sotheby’s Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings evening auction in London—more than six times its high estimate. The work, painted in 1792 when Turner was 17, had been misattributed and sold for just $506 at a Dreweatts auction the previous year. After cleaning revealed Turner’s signature, scholars confirmed its authenticity, and it was identified as Turner’s first publicly exhibited oil painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793. The winning bidder was a private collector in the U.K., outbidding Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which had raised over £100,000 from donors in a failed attempt to acquire the work.
At Kering's historic Laennec headquarters in Paris, the exhibition "Balenciaga by Demna" presents a self-curated retrospective of the designer's decade-long tenure at the house, from 2015 through 2025. Open by appointment through July 9, the show features 101 objects including complete looks, accessories, and provocations drawn from 30 collections, alongside audio narration using an AI rendering of Demna's voice. The exhibition serves as a capstone before Demna transitions to his new role as creative director of Gucci, while Pierpaolo Piccioli prepares to take over at Balenciaga. Highlights include a metallic gold ballgown shaped like a Ferrero Rocher candy, a hyperrealistic mannequin of muse Eliza Douglas, and the Spicy Chili Chips Bag clutch.
The Goodwood Art Foundation, a new contemporary art destination set within the 11,000-acre Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, England, opens to the public on May 31. The inaugural season features works by Susan Philipsz, Rachel Whiteread (including a monumental staircase sculpture *Down and Up*), Veronica Ryan, Rose Wylie, Isamu Noguchi, and Hélio Oiticica (whose *Magic Square #3* will be the first outdoor sculpture by the late Brazilian artist in Europe). The estate, owned by Charles Gordon-Lennox, the 11th Duke of Richmond, is historically known for sporting events like the Festival of Speed and the Qatar Goodwood Festival, and houses a historic art collection including Canalettos and works by George Stubbs.
Shana Moulton, an artist and chair of the art department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses her exhibition "Meta/Physical Therapy" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and her retrospective at the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art. The article centers on Moulton's semi-autobiographical alter ego, Cynthia, a hypochondriac navigating New Age wellness culture through video installations, performances, and a collection of eccentric objects. Moulton explores themes of hypochondria, hospital art, and the absurdity of wellness consumerism, drawing from her upbringing in a California mobile home park and her long-running video series "Whispering Pines" (2002–18).
The fourth season of the FX series *The Bear* features two photographs by Tyler Mitchell in an episode centered on the character Syd. The works shown are *Untitled (Kiki and Stephan Dancing)*, a grid of shots commissioned by *Vogue* featuring actors KiKi Layne and Stephan James, and *Untitled (Group Hula Hoop)*, a 2019 image of children hula hooping in Brooklyn. Mitchell, who rose to fame for photographing Beyoncé, is now represented by Gagosian and has seen his market prices climb above $24,000 at auction.
Independent curator Brice Arsène Yonkeu has organized "Ever So Present II: Between Home and Elsewhere," the second installment of a two-part exhibition at Gagosian's Park & 75 space in New York. The show features four emerging artists of African descent—including Emma Prempeh and Josèfa Ntjam—whose works in painting, photomontage, and assemblage explore themes of diaspora, memory, migration, and belonging. Yonkeu is the first curator invited to participate in dot.ateliers' new residency program, a foundation and exhibition space launched by Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo in Accra in 2023. The exhibition expands on questions raised in the first iteration held in Accra, asking what remains "ever so present" in diasporic art across borders and cultures.
Greece is building a cultural coalition with Italy to strengthen its campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum. Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli pledged support during a visit to Athens and announced the repatriation of 145 ancient coins. Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni is leading efforts to build international backing, and the two countries have devised joint cultural initiatives, including an exhibition of modern Greco-Italian metaphysical painters. Meanwhile, the U.K.'s Labour government has taken a neutral stance on the issue, departing from the previous Conservative government's opposition, and negotiations between Greece and the U.K. are described as "ongoing and constructive."
Liz Collins created two monumental 16-foot-long tapestries for the 2024 Venice Biennale, titled *Rainbow Mountains: Moon* and *Rainbow Mountains: Weather* (both 2023). Initially conceived as a single 40-foot weaving, the project proved too ambitious and was split in two. Collins worked at the TextielLab in Tilburg, Netherlands, switching to a lighter yarn after a failed trial, and ultimately brought the finished works to New York in duffel bags before curator Adriano Pedrosa selected them for the Biennale. The textiles depict mountain ranges emitting rainbows through dark skies, exploring themes of duality—danger and joy, precarity and euphoria.
London's V&A Museum will open "Marie Antoinette Style" in September, the first U.K. exhibition focused on the French queen's influence on fashion and design. Featuring 250 objects including historical artifacts from Versailles, court dresses, jewels, and contemporary pieces, the show explores how Marie Antoinette's lavish personal style—from pastel gowns and towering wigs to rococo interiors—reshaped 18th-century aesthetics and continues to inspire artists and designers like Alexander McQueen and Sofia Coppola. The exhibition is sponsored by shoemaker Manolo Blahnik and includes immersive scent recreations of the queen's favorite perfume.
The Van Gogh Museum will host an exhibition titled "Captivated by Vincent. The Intimate Friendship of Jo van Gogh-Bonger and Isaac Israëls" from September 12, 2025 to January 25, 2026, marking the centenary of Jo van Gogh-Bonger's death. The show features works by Dutch painter Isaac Israëls, who was a close friend of Van Gogh-Bonger and frequently incorporated copies of Vincent van Gogh's paintings into his own compositions. It includes 10 Israëls works inspired by Van Gogh, his portrait of Van Gogh-Bonger (recently restored), and excerpts from her diary, alongside over 100 letters between the two being published in a digital edition.
Justin Vivian Bond, a multidisciplinary artist and performer, is profiled in ARTnews as part of their Newsmakers series. Bond, who received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2024, discusses their upcoming performances at Joe’s Pub in New York, including a show titled “Well, Well, Well” inspired by lesbian singer-songwriters and the novel *The Well of Loneliness*. They also mention resurrecting their duo Kiki & Herb in London, and reflect on their 2017 exhibition at the New Museum, “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon,” whose wallpaper is now installed at the V&A East Storehouse.
On Wednesday in Paris, Sotheby's auctioned a collection of Napoleonic artifacts from the private collection of prominent French antiques dealer Pierre-Jean Chalençon, generating €8.7 million ($9.6 million) against a €6 million estimate. The 112-lot sale included imperial furniture, Old Master paintings, and personal relics such as Napoleon's worn stockings and a copy of his marriage certificate. Highlights included a portrait by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse that sold for €863,600 (20 times its estimate) and the only surviving remnant of Napoleon's first will, which fetched €482,600. However, Napoleon's bicorne hat underperformed, selling for €355,600 against a €600,000 low estimate, amid provenance questions raised by French newspaper Le Figaro.
The Digital Art Mile, Basel's first-ever digital art fair, opened its second edition on Monday at the city's Kult Kino Camera cinema, running through Sunday. Founded by digital art adviser Georg Bak and ArtMeta founder Roger Haas, the fair features panels, conferences on the digital art market, and the headline exhibition “Paintboxed,” which explores the history of the Quantel Paintbox. In a calmer, more academic atmosphere than Art Basel, ARTnews asked 10 prominent digital art figures to select their favorite artwork from the fair, with responses highlighting works such as Kim Asendorf's "Monogrid 90," XCOPY's "Last Selfie," and Matt Kane's "Gazers 200."
John Singer Sargent's iconic portrait *Madame X* (1883–84), depicting American-born socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, caused a scandal when it debuted at the 1884 Paris Salon. Critics were outraged by the fallen shoulder strap on Gautreau's gown, which implied an illicit rendezvous, and by the public exposure of a recognizable high-society woman in such a provocative pose. Sargent repainted the strap after the Salon, but the damage was done: Gautreau's reputation suffered, and Sargent fled Paris for London to restart his career. The painting now belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and will be featured in its upcoming exhibition "Sargent and Paris."
Sotheby's London contemporary evening sale on Tuesday brought in nearly £62.5 million ($84 million), within its pre-sale estimate of £55 million to £74 million. The 48-lot sale achieved an 83% sell-through rate, with five works selling for over £5 million each, led by Tamara de Lempicka's 'La Belle Rafaëla' (1927) at £7.4 million and Pablo Picasso's 'Nu assis dans un fauteuil' (1964–65). The auction saw strong bidding for a Basquiat work on paper, 'Untitled (Indian Head)', which sold for £5.4 million, and a standout result for Yu Nishimura's 'through the snow' (2023), which tripled its high estimate at £230,000.
Art collector and real estate financier Aby Rosen paid $55 million for the Gilded Age landmark building at 190 Bowery in New York, which had been owned for decades by photographer Jay Maisel. Maisel bought the property—the former Germania Bank building—around 1966 for a reported $102,000, making the sale a dramatic example of New York real estate appreciation. The building, located near the New Museum, was listed on Rosen's company RFR Holdings before he entered a contract to purchase it in August, and was subsequently re-listed for sale through Cushman & Wakefield.
Elizabeth Peyton's double portrait of Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher sold for £1,992,000 ($2.7 million) at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction in London, just above its low estimate of £1.5 million. The work, depicting the band in 1996, was backed by a house guarantee and irrevocable bid. The consignor had purchased it in 2011 for $511,640, yielding a positive return. The sale coincided with Oasis's upcoming reunion tour starting July 4.
A tourist at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence damaged an 18th-century portrait of Ferdinando de’ Medici by Anton Domenico Gabbiani while taking a selfie on June 21. The man tripped backward onto the canvas, causing a small tear near the subject's right foot. Museum staff quickly removed the painting for assessment, and the work is expected to return to display soon in the exhibition “Florence and Europe: Arts of the Eighteenth Century.” The perpetrator was apprehended and reported to authorities; director Simone Verde vowed to prosecute and implement “anti-selfie measures.”
Randall Suffolk, director of the High Museum of Art, argues that art museums should let artists lead the integration of artificial intelligence into programming, rather than institutions racing to adopt the technology themselves. He advocates for using AI primarily behind the scenes for organizational efficiency and decision-making, while cautioning against letting AI distract from the direct experience of artworks in galleries.
The UK government has finalized design plans for a national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in London’s St James’s Park. A team led by architect Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, including British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, will create a natural stone path connecting royal gardens, a translucent cast-glass balustrade on the Blue Bridge inspired by the Queen’s wedding tiara, and figurative sculptures of the Queen and Prince Philip. Landscape designer Michael Desvigne is also part of the team, working with the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee. The final design will be announced in April 2026, coinciding with what would have been the Queen’s 100th birthday, with a budget of £23 to £46 million from public funds.
A major retrospective of Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898–1980) has opened at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, featuring over 120 works including iconic portraits, lesser-known drawings, and early Cubist still lifes. Co-curated by Furio Rinaldi and Gioia Mori, the exhibition is the first comprehensive U.S. retrospective of the artist in over four decades, drawing passionate responses from audiences unfamiliar with her name as well as from connoisseurs discovering her draftsmanship.
Israeli and U.S. military strikes on Iran, occurring since June 13, 2025, have threatened significant damage to the country's cultural heritage. Israeli bombings targeted the headquarters of the Iranian state broadcaster (IRIB) in Tehran, a major work of Modern architecture designed by the firm of renowned Iranian architect Abdol Aziz Farmanfarmaian. U.S. bombings over the weekend struck a nuclear complex near Isfahan, one of Iran's most historically significant cities, though its historic landmarks appear unscathed. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA), designed by Kamran Diba and home to a major collection of modern Western art, is also a source of concern.
A 17th-century portrait of Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici was damaged at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence when a tourist attempted to take a photo mimicking the prince's pose. The young Italian man tripped over a barrier, fell onto the painting, and tore the canvas. Security cameras captured the incident, and the tourist has been identified and reported to police, potentially facing criminal charges and repair costs.
Romania has secured a "long-term hold" on El Greco's painting *Saint Sebastian* (1610–1614), which was pulled from a Christie's New York Old Masters sale in February. The work is claimed by Romania as unlawfully taken from its national collection in 1947. The painting will remain at Christie's until legal proceedings resolve the dispute. Meanwhile, Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro died in Milan at age 98, and abstract painter Thornton Willis died in New York at 89. Other news includes a letter from National Gallery director Gabriele Finali defending the Rubens attribution of *Samson and Delilah*, Japan's curatorial appointments for the 2026 Venice Biennale, and a Bristol City Council fundraiser to acquire an early JMW Turner painting.
The Elizabeth Street Garden in New York City has filed a federal lawsuit seeking protection under the Visual Artist Rights Act (VARA) to prevent its destruction for an affordable housing project called Haven Green. The lawsuit, filed by law firms Siegel Teitelbaum and Evans and McLaughlin and Stern, argues that the garden is a unique work of visual art and landscape architecture created by the late Allan Reiver and his son Joseph Reiver, and should be legally protected as a sculptural work. The garden received a temporary stay after eviction papers were served last fall, but the city plans to build 100% deeply affordable senior housing on the site, claiming the project will provide over 15,000 square feet of public space.
On Thursday, an environmental activist from the group Last Generation Canada hurled bright pink paint at Pablo Picasso's 1901 painting *L’hetaire* at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The protester, identified as 21-year-old Marcel, was arrested and later released pending a court appearance; two accomplices who filmed the act were detained and released without charge. The group cited the record-breaking heat wave in Winnipeg and Manitoba as a motivation, arguing that art is meaningless on a dead planet.
Curtis Yarvin, a computer engineer and far-right political thinker, has proposed a controversial US Pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale centered on Titian's *Rape of Europa* (1559–62), on loan from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Yarvin is collaborating with Dutch Egyptian artist Tarik Sadouma on the concept, which he describes as "rape-themed," though he notes room for feminist perspectives. The proposal, first reported by the *New Yorker* and detailed further by *Vanity Fair*, includes alternative plans such as forging and burning the painting or using AI if the loan is denied. Applications for the pavilion close July 30, with a final decision expected later in the summer.