Art News. Vasari Codex

article policy schedule Aug 21, 2025 visibility 20 link 9 artists

trump slavery museums smithsonian comments meaning

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the Smithsonian and museums nationwide, claiming they focus excessively on negative aspects of U.S. history such as slavery. He described these institutions as the last remaining segment of 'WOKE' culture. The article counters his remarks by highlighting the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which presents both the horrors of slavery and themes of survival, liberation, and perseverance through objects like Harriet Tubman's handkerchief and artworks by Jacob Lawrence and Alison Saar. It also references the 2022 exhibition 'Afro-Atlantic Histories' at the National Gallery of Art, which balanced depictions of violence with messages of freedom and resilience.

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article news schedule Aug 20, 2025 visibility 11 link 2 artists

mickalene thomas racquel chevremont harassment allegations

Artist Mickalene Thomas has been accused in a legal filing of fostering an abusive work environment and mismanaging funds involving her former romantic partner Racquel Chevremont. Chevremont, a model, curator, and reality TV star, filed a summons in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on August 8, alleging she was not properly compensated for work done for Thomas, that Thomas diverted significant funds and business opportunities, and that she subjected Chevremont to quid pro quo harassment and a hostile work environment. The summons states their romantic relationship ended in 2020 but their professional ties remained strained, and Chevremont is seeking $10 million in damages.

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person people schedule Aug 20, 2025 visibility 20 link 2 artists

brian ferriso named director dallas museum of art

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has appointed Brian Ferriso, the longtime director of the Portland Art Museum (PAM), as its next director, effective December 1. Ferriso succeeds Agustín Arteaga, who left last year to lead the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. During his 18-year tenure at PAM, Ferriso grew the endowment by $40 million, eliminated $7 million in debt, doubled curatorial staff, and made the museum free for visitors 17 and under. He also oversaw major collection diversification, co-commissioned Jeffrey Gibson’s U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, and will open a 100,000-square-foot expansion funded by a $140 million capital campaign.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 15, 2025 visibility 21 link 6 artists

sothebys to open its new breuer building hq on november 8 with blockbuster exhibition

Sotheby's has announced November 8 as the opening date for its new headquarters in the iconic Breuer Building at 945 Madison Avenue, New York. The auction house purchased the building from the Whitney Museum in 2023 and commissioned Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, along with PBDW Architects, to renovate the landmarked structure. The opening will feature a blockbuster exhibition of modern and contemporary art, followed by major sales the week of November 17. The building, designed by Marcel Breuer and completed in 1966, previously housed the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Frick Collection.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 14, 2025 visibility 14 link 6 artists

rosa barba moma times square moynihan

Rosa Barba's exhibition "The Ocean of One's Pause" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York surveys 15 years of her work, featuring over a dozen cinematic sculptures arranged as a single installation. Central to the show is her latest 25-minute film *Charge* (2025), co-commissioned by MoMA and the Vega Foundation, shot at CERN in Geneva. The film will also screen at Moynihan Train Hall and in Times Square as part of the "Midnight Moment" program throughout July. Barba transforms a black box gallery into a cello-like space, with long wires and film projectors creating a celluloid symphony through mechanical clicks and analog apparatuses.

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candle obituary schedule Aug 11, 2025 visibility 33 link 46 artists, 1 gallery

legendary art collector sylvio perlstein has died

Sylvio Perlstein, the legendary art collector, patron, and impresario, died on August 6. Hauser & Wirth confirmed the news, calling him a visionary who shaped one of the most important art collections of the past century. In 2018, the gallery exhibited 380 pieces from his collection across its Chelsea and Hong Kong locations in the show 'The Sylvio Perlstein Collection – A Luta Continua'. Perlstein was born in Belgium in the 1930s, fled to Brazil with his family during World War II, and later joined the diamond business in Antwerp. His collection spanned Dada, Surrealism, American minimalism, and Land art, featuring works by Man Ray, René Magritte, Donald Judd, and many others. He maintained close friendships with artists and displayed works throughout his Paris home, which cultural critic Arthur Lubow described as 'a contemporary version of Ali Baba's cave'.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 11, 2025 visibility 25 link 18 artists

aspen air festival 2025

The inaugural AIR festival took place in Aspen as part of Aspen Art Week, featuring a mix of talks, performances, and a closed-door retreat for artists, writers, scientists, and theorists. Highlights included a pack of panting huskies, a psychoanalysis talk in a psychedelic chapel, an artist conversing with his AI doppelganger, and a whispery musical performance on a museum rooftop. The festival kicked off with a film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul accompanied by composer Rafiq Bhatia, followed by discussions on dreaming and catastrophe, and site-responsive works by Jota Mombaça and Paul Chan.

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article culture schedule Aug 6, 2025 visibility 17 link 11 artists

the right influential art historian victoria coates project esther

The article profiles Victoria Coates, an art historian and former Trump administration official, who is leading 'Project Esther,' a conservative initiative aimed at taking over US higher education and targeting progressive organizations. Named after the biblical queen, the project accuses critics of Israel of anti-Semitism and seeks to dismantle what it describes as a 'terrorist support network.' Coates, who previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor and worked on Rumsfeld's memoirs, has a long history of attacking academia from within, including as an anonymous blogger behind 'Elephants in Academia.'

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person people schedule Aug 5, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

rosa barba wins the zurich art prize 2026

Sicily-born, Berlin-based installation artist Rosa Barba has been named the 19th winner of the Zurich Art Prize, awarded by Museum Haus Konstruktiv and Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. The prize includes 100,000 CHF ($124,000) toward a show at the museum and an additional 30,000 CHF ($37,000). Barba’s conceptual installations combine film, sculpture, and sound to explore time, space, and human impact on the natural world. She recently presented the cinematic installation “The Ocean of One’s Pause” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 5, 2025 visibility 15 link 10 artists

studio museum in harlem opening date new building november

The Studio Museum in Harlem will open its new building on Saturday, November 15, with a Community Day celebration, after being closed since 2018. Designed by Adjaye Associates, the 82,000-square-foot, seven-story structure features 14,000 square feet of exhibition space, expanded studios for its Artist-in-Residence program, and dedicated education areas. The reopening includes four exhibitions, two site-specific commissions, and reinstallations of iconic works, including a survey of Tom Lloyd, the subject of the museum's first exhibition in 1968. The museum has also updated its hours and admission policies, offering free entry on Sundays.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 4, 2025 visibility 20 link 12 artists

sothebys london to sell greatest collection of surrealism to emerge in recent history in september

Sotheby's London will auction the collection of British socialite, collector, and arts patron Pauline Karpidas on September 17 and 18. Described as the 'greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history,' it includes masterpieces by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Leonora Carrington, and Max Ernst, along with works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and others. The sale is expected to fetch £60 million ($81 million), the highest estimate ever placed on a single collection at Sotheby's in Europe. Karpidas, who began collecting 50 years ago after meeting gallerist Alexander Iolas, views herself as a 'temporary custodian' for the artworks.

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candle obituary schedule Aug 3, 2025 visibility 23 link 14 artists, 2 galleries

robert wilson theatre director artist dead

Robert Wilson, the influential playwright and artist known for his spare, slow-moving productions that blurred the line between performance art and theater, died Thursday at age 83 in Water Mill, New York. His death was announced by the Watermill Center, the arts center he founded, which stated he died of a brief but acute illness. Wilson's career spanned stage works like the landmark 1976 opera *Einstein on the Beach* (with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs), video portraits of figures such as Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt, and sculptures, all characterized by stillness and a radical use of time.

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article policy schedule Aug 3, 2025 visibility 18 link 3 artists

smithsonian trump impeachment display update history museum

The Smithsonian Institution has addressed the removal of a display at the National Museum of American History that mentioned President Donald Trump's two prior impeachments. The display, which had been on view since 2021 alongside references to Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon, was altered to a 2008 version that predated Trump's presidency. The Smithsonian stated the display will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in U.S. history, denying any external pressure from the Trump administration. The controversy follows earlier tensions, including Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet and artist Amy Sherald's cancellation of her traveling survey due to staff fears of political pushback.

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rate_review review schedule Aug 1, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists, 2 galleries

stan douglas bard museum survey review

Stan Douglas's survey at Bard College's Hessel Museum of Art features a new video installation titled "Birth of a Nation" (2025), which reworks a racist sequence from D.W. Griffith's 1915 film of the same name. The installation presents the original footage alongside four new videos from different character perspectives, shot in black and white without sound, and ends with a blue screen left bare to suggest the mutability of historical images. The survey also includes earlier works like "Hors-Champs" (1992), which critiques televisual representation through a staged free jazz performance.

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article news schedule Jul 29, 2025 visibility 20 link 4 artists

john roberts smithsonian kim sajet firing

Kim Sajet, the former director of the Smithsonian-run National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., resigned after President Donald Trump claimed he fired her via social media. Despite Trump's demand, Sajet continued reporting to work until formally quitting. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, intervened to block internal board suggestions to follow Trump's orders, leading the board to issue a resolution affirming its sole authority to fire museum directors. The controversy followed Trump's executive order accusing the Smithsonian of promoting a "divisive, race-centered ideology" and his post calling Sajet a "highly partisan person" and "strong supporter of DEI." Separately, artist Amy Sherald withdrew her mid-career survey from the National Portrait Gallery after being asked to remove a portrait of a trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 28, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

sam barsky sweaters kohler r u still painting

Sam Barsky, a self-taught knitter who learned from a library book in 1999 after dropping out of nursing school due to chronic illness, creates intricate pictorial sweaters entirely freehand without patterns. His sweaters depict landscapes and landmarks—such as Central Park, the London Bridge, and the Twin Towers—and he often photographs himself wearing them at the actual sites. His first museum solo exhibition, “It’s Not the Same Without You,” recently closed at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, and his work also appeared in the group show “R U Still Painting???” in Manhattan alongside artists like assume vivid astro focus and Uri Aran.

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article news schedule Jul 28, 2025 visibility 8 link 3 artists

picasso les demoiselles davignon african catalan art

New research by French collector and self-proclaimed 'art detective' Alain Moreau challenges the long-held belief that Pablo Picasso's groundbreaking painting *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon* (1907) was primarily inspired by African art. Moreau's paper, published in the *Bulletin of the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts Sant Jordi*, argues that the painting instead drew from Medieval church frescoes in the Spanish and French Pyrenees, such as those in the church of La Vella de Sant Cristòfol in Campdevànol and the Romanesque murals of Sant Martí de Fenollar. He retraced Picasso's travels and notes that the African mask exhibited alongside the painting in a 1939 MoMA retrospective did not arrive in Europe until 1935, decades after the work was completed.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 25, 2025 visibility 22 link 9 artists

renoir drawings exhibition morgan

A woman in Pennsylvania purchased a nude charcoal sketch for $12 at a local auction, later discovering it was a Pierre-Auguste Renoir drawing now potentially worth six figures. This fall, the Morgan Museum and Library will present "Renoir Drawings," the first exhibition dedicated to the artist's works on paper since 1921, bringing together over 100 drawings, pastels, watercolors, and prints. The show is organized thematically, covering Renoir's academic studies, sketches of modern life, and portraits, and will reunite finished works with preparatory drawings, including major loans from the Musée d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other institutions.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 25, 2025 visibility 20 link 7 artists

consuelo kanaga brooklyn museum

The Brooklyn Museum has opened "Consuelo Kanaga: Catch the Spirit," a major solo exhibition dedicated to the pioneering American photographer Consuelo Kanaga (1894–1978). The show features nearly 200 works drawn from the museum's extensive collection of 2,000 negatives and 340 prints, gifted by Kanaga's third husband, artist Wallace Putnam. Kanaga, one of the nation's first women photojournalists, is celebrated for her socially conscious images capturing labor activists, the poor, and African Americans under Jim Crow laws, as well as cityscapes, portraits, and still lifes. The exhibition is organized with Madrid's Fundación MAPFRE and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and curated by Drew Sawyer, formerly of the Brooklyn Museum and now at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

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article culture schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 10 link 4 artists

artful tom a memoir damn the originals

Thomas Hoving recounts his decision to pursue art history graduate school after military service, rejecting his father's demand that he join the family business and attend business school instead. He describes a cross-country road trip with his wife Nancy and their dog Whiskey, including a failed gambling attempt in Las Vegas and mechanical troubles in Missouri.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 23 link 18 artists, 4 galleries

societe hauser wirth berlin

Hauser & Wirth and Société are collaborating on a large-scale group exhibition titled "States of Being" during Berlin Art Week 2025. The show, running from September 11 to November 1, will feature over 30 artists across two floors of Hauser & Wirth's Berlin space, including Alina Szapocznikow, Rashid Johnson, Lee Lozano, Louise Bourgeois, Lu Yang, Mika Rottenberg, Tina Braegger, Darren Bader, Phyllida Barlow, and Petra Cortright. The initiative stems from a friendship between Hauser & Wirth president Marc Payot and Société CEO Daniel Wichelhaus, and marks Hauser & Wirth's first project in Berlin, though the gallery has no plans to open a permanent outpost there.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 13 link 13 artists

berlin biennale evasive palestine paul klee angel histor

The 13th Berlin Biennale opened amid controversy over its handling of the Gaza conflict. In a tense press conference, curator Zasha Colah faced questions about whether any invited artists had withdrawn in solidarity with the Strike Germany campaign, and whether she had experienced state repression for addressing the genocide in Gaza. Colah acknowledged one artist’s withdrawal but denied experiencing state repression, while the biennial’s title, “passing the fugitive on,” and its theme of “the fox” were criticized as evasive. The article describes the event as a case study in how German cultural institutions navigate political pressure and censorship.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 21 link 17 artists

albright college collection sale reading museum

Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, has sold its Freedman Gallery collection for $995,000 to address budget deficits, despite immediate pushback from faculty, community members, and the Freedman family. The Reading Public Museum acquired more than 250 works through a pre-sale agreement, selecting pieces that enhance its holdings, include renowned masters, or have local resonance. The remaining works were auctioned online by Pook and Pook on July 16, surpassing presale estimates, with top lots by Salvador Dalí and Leonid Sokov.

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article culture schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 16 link 12 artists

how ancient egypt influenced modern art

The article explores how ancient Egyptian art and design have influenced modern Western aesthetics, from Empire furniture to Art Deco. It traces the phenomenon of 'Egyptomania' back to the 19th century, when European artists and archaeologists like Dominique Vivant Denon, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Howard Carter brought Egyptian motifs and artifacts to public attention. The piece highlights three key examples: the adoption of Egyptian-inspired Empire furniture under Napoleon, the use of Nubian tribute scenes in decorative arts, and the impact of King Tutankhamun's tomb discovery on early 20th-century design.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 22, 2025 visibility 20 link 21 artists, 11 galleries

the summer group shows new york city

New York galleries are rethinking the traditional summer group show, moving away from ambitious, canon-redefining exhibitions toward more pragmatic, relationship-driven presentations. Dealers and advisers note that these shows now serve primarily to maintain gallery visibility during the slow August season, test emerging artists, and foster networking. The article highlights examples like "Open Eyes" at A Hug from the Art World, curated by 14-year-old Luke Newsom, which balances playfulness with serious curation, featuring works by KAWS, Urs Fischer, and Raymond Pettibon.

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rate_review review schedule Jul 17, 2025 visibility 13 link 9 artists

william holman hunt the awakening of conscience

The article analyzes William Holman Hunt's 1853 painting *The Awakening Conscience*, which depicts a woman in a Victorian parlor rising from the lap of a man, her gaze fixed on a sunlit garden glimpsed in a mirror. Hunt, a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood alongside John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, filled the work with dense symbolism—such as the woman's ringless left hand, a discarded glove, and sheet music by Edward Lear and Thomas Moore—to reveal that the scene is not a married couple but a mistress and her lover, trapped in a gilded cage.

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article culture schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 6 artists

diego velasquezs las meninas why so important

Diego Velázquez's 1656 painting *Las Meninas* is examined as one of the most conceptually complex works in Western art history. The article explores how the painting subverts Renaissance artistic conventions by playing with perspective, illusion, and the relationship between viewer and subject, depicting Infanta Margaret Theresa surrounded by her entourage in the Royal Alcázar of Madrid.

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article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 17 link 5 artists

barbara guggenheim abigail asher lawsuit

Barbara Guggenheim Associates, Inc., a New York art advisory firm, is embroiled in legal conflict after founder Barbara Guggenheim and her longtime associate Abigail Asher filed dueling lawsuits in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Guggenheim’s suit, filed in August but only recently reported by Artnet News, accuses Asher of diverting some $20.5 million in firm revenue for personal expenses, including rent, dinner bills, and home repairs, and alleges Asher wrongfully kept commissions from a Jean-Michel Basquiat artwork. Asher countersued, accusing Guggenheim of bullying, gaslighting, and using firm funds for personal costs like funeral expenses and luxury vehicles, while denying the financial misconduct claims. The lawsuits also involve the firm’s CPA, Robert Mandeltort, and Asher’s assistant, Jessica Lewis.

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article news schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 19 link 19 artists

prominent art advisory implodes after 37 years as ex partners fire off lawsuits

Art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher, who ran the blue-chip advisory Guggenheim Asher Associates for 37 years, are now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court allege fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation. Guggenheim claims Asher misappropriated over $20.5 million in revenue, while Asher counters with accusations of unethical behavior, including using sex and kickbacks to secure artworks and lying to collectors. The firm’s clients included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and corporations such as Sony and Coca-Cola.

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trending_up market schedule Jul 16, 2025 visibility 16 link 7 artists

rei kawakubo comme des garcons piasa auction

A Japanese collector, Hiroaki Narita, is auctioning his extensive collection of Rei Kawakubo's designs for Comme des Garçons at the French auction house Piasa on October 1, during Paris Fashion Week. The sale includes over 500 lots of garments and accessories dating from 1969 to 1999, with estimates ranging from €150 to €2,000. The collection spans Kawakubo's most iconic collections, including Pirates (1981), Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body (1997), and Kaleidoscope (1996), showcasing her avant-garde, deconstructed aesthetic.

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