Yves Saint Laurent’s Lalanne Mirrors Set for $15 Million Sale

Sotheby’s has announced the sale of a monumental set of 15 gilt-bronze mirrors by Claude Lalanne, originally commissioned by fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent for his Paris apartment. The mirrors are the centerpiece of a 123-lot auction from the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg, scheduled for April 22 at the Sotheby’s Breuer building. Estimated to fetch between $10 million and $15 million, the mirrors represent a significant appreciation in value since the de Gunzburgs acquired them for approximately $2.4 million at the historic 2009 Saint Laurent estate sale.

Performance Artist Crackhead Barney Moves From the Streets to the Stage: ‘Art Should Be Going Insane’

Performance artist Crackhead Barney, known for her viral street interventions and ambush interviews at protests and public events, is transitioning her work to the formal stage. Her new play, GOD IS RAPING ME, is having sold-out dates at the Pageant performance space in Brooklyn, marking a significant shift from her guerrilla-style, social media-driven practice to theatrical production.

Veteran Advisor Patti Wong on How the Auction Market Is Recalibrating

Veteran art advisor Patti Wong, who left Sotheby's after three decades to start her own firm, analyzes a significant recalibration in the auction market. She notes a new discipline among auction houses and buyers following the frothy post-pandemic years, with houses becoming more selective, relying heavily on third-party guarantees, and facing greater buyer scrutiny on provenance and estimates. She also highlights the industry's expansion into new geographies like Saudi Arabia and new categories like luxury goods.

How Pharrell’s Joopiter Is Redefining What an Auction House Can Be

Pharrell Williams launched his own auction platform, Joopiter, after finding traditional auction houses ill-suited to sell his collection of fashion, jewelry, and timepieces. The platform has rapidly expanded from single-owner sales into a multi-category auction house, handling luxury goods, sports memorabilia, pop culture artifacts, and contemporary art, with a recent headline lot being a $5 million Triceratops skeleton named Trey.

Restored Victorian greenhouse links Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery to its living neighbours

Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery has unveiled the 'Green-House,' a $34m welcome and education center centered around a meticulously restored 1895 Victorian cast-iron greenhouse. Designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), the facility includes classrooms, research archives, and dedicated gallery spaces. The project transforms a formerly dilapidated commercial florist shop into a modern gateway that connects the 478-acre National Historic Landmark to its surrounding urban neighborhood.

Staff at Goldsmiths art college plan industrial action ahead of redundancies

Staff at Goldsmiths, University of London, have voted to take industrial action in response to a massive restructuring plan aimed at saving £22 million by 2027. The University and College Union (UCU) reports that the 'Future Goldsmiths' initiative will lead to significant redundancies for both professional services and academic staff. Tensions have escalated following revelations that the institution spent over £14 million on private consultants and legal fees related to previous restructuring efforts while simultaneously cutting jobs.

Melissa Chiu leaving Hirshhorn to take over New York’s Guggenheim Museum

Melissa Chiu has been appointed as the new director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, transitioning directly from her decade-long tenure at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. During her time at the Hirshhorn, Chiu was credited with doubling attendance, significantly increasing fundraising, and overseeing a major $68m garden renovation by Hiroshi Sugimoto. She will begin her new role on September 1, while Aaron Seeto steps in as interim director at the Hirshhorn.

The story of London's Great Exhibition, as seen through the eyes of artists

Julius Bryant’s new book, the fourth volume in his history of the Victoria and Albert Museum, re-examines the 1851 Great Exhibition through its visual legacy. By analyzing paintings, prints, and ephemera—including the vast archive of Charles Wentworth Dilke—Bryant reconstructs the 'Crystal Palace' experience, highlighting the youth of its organizers and the staggering speed of its construction. The narrative shifts focus away from traditional social theory toward the actual visual evidence of the event, from David Roberts’s massive panoramic paintings to the 235 sculptures that defined the era's artistic output.

A Brush With... Lorna Simpson—podcast

Artist Lorna Simpson joins the 'A Brush With...' podcast to discuss the vast array of cultural influences that have shaped her conceptual practice. From her early photo-text works to her recent large-scale paintings, Simpson details how she subverts conventional framing of identity and navigates the boundaries between reality, fiction, and historical archives. She highlights the specific impact of figures such as David Hammons, Francisco de Zurbarán, and filmmaker Chantal Akerman on her evolving visual language.

A Brush With... Lorna Simpson—podcast

Artist Lorna Simpson joins the 'A Brush With...' podcast to discuss the vast array of cultural influences that inform her conceptual practice. From her early photo-text works to her recent large-scale paintings, Simpson details how she subverts conventional framing of identity and navigates the boundaries between reality, fiction, and historical archives. She highlights the impact of figures such as David Hammons, Francisco de Zurbarán, and filmmaker Chantal Akerman on her evolving visual language.

A brush with… Karen Archey, head of curatorial at Düsseldorf's K20 and K21 museums

Karen Archey, the head of curatorial at Düsseldorf's K20 and K21 museums, shares personal insights in an interview format. She reveals her obsession with painter Alice Neel, discusses a formative 2007 summer touring major European art events, and lists the poetry and audio currently occupying her attention.

German artist Anne Imhof to be subject of ‘ambitious’ Hong Kong solo exhibition

German artist Anne Imhof will present her first solo exhibition in Asia at the Tai Kwun culture complex in Hong Kong from September 26, 2025, to January 3, 2027. The ambitious show will feature a survey of key works and a new commission, converging performance, image, sound, and architecture to create immersive encounters.

One of Donatello’s most important bronze statues is being restored: should it ever be shown outdoors again?

Donatello's monumental 1453 bronze equestrian statue, Gattamelata, has been moved from its outdoor plinth in Padua to a nearby indoor hall for a major €1 million restoration. This marks only the third time the statue has been moved indoors in nearly 600 years, prompted by severe corrosion known as "bronze cancer" and structural concerns about its stone pedestal. The restoration is funded by two American non-profit organizations, Friends of Florence and Save Venice.

Artists, clowns, runaways: a stay at the Chelsea Hotel – in pictures

Photographer Albert Scopin has released a new book through Kerber Verlag documenting his residency at New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel between 1969 and 1971. The collection features rare, intimate portraits of the hotel's legendary inhabitants, including a young Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe before their rise to global fame, alongside long-time manager Stanley Bard and avant-garde figures like Vali Myers and Holly Woodlawn. Scopin’s lens captures the 'creative chaos' of the era, from the art-filled lobby to the eccentric private quarters of residents like composer George Kleinsinger.

I thought my cuckoo clock was amazing, but it’s got nothing on my statue of Bert the cheery chef | Adrian Chiles

Adrian Chiles, a writer and broadcaster, recounts his acquisition of a whimsical figurine of a cheerful chef, which he named Bert after the reclamation yard owner from whom he bought it in the Black Country. He describes the personal joy and daily lift the statue brings him, contrasting it with a cuckoo clock whose novelty eventually wore off. Chiles details the statue's charming, slightly worn appearance and its role as a conversation piece, particularly due to the West Midlands slang word "bostin'" written on its menu board.

Alex Heilbron at as-is

Artist Alex Heilbron presents a solo exhibition at the Los Angeles gallery as-is. The show is featured as a lead review in the February 2026 issue of Contemporary Art Review LA, highlighting Heilbron's continued exploration of painting and visual language within the Southern California art scene.

A Thomas J Price Bronze Opens Door to London’s V&A East

British artist Thomas J Price has unveiled a monumental bronze sculpture at the entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new outpost, V&A East, in Stratford, East London. The large-scale work depicts an anonymous Black figure, continuing Price's practice of utilizing the traditional language of monumental sculpture to celebrate everyday individuals who are often marginalized in public spaces.

What to See This Spring at Museums Across the U.S.

Major museums across the United States are preparing to launch a diverse array of exhibitions for the spring season. Highlights include a comprehensive Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, an exploration of Etruscan civilization at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and a major fashion-focused exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Protests in Mexico Challenge Move of Frida Kahlo Trove to Spain

A heated controversy has erupted in Mexico following the decision to move a massive trove of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera artworks to Spain for a long-term loan. Protesters and cultural advocates are challenging the relocation of the Dolores Olmedo Museum collection, which includes some of Kahlo’s most iconic paintings, to a new private museum in Madrid. In response to the backlash, Mexican officials have issued public assurances that the collection remains national heritage and is legally required to return to Mexico by 2028.

Why Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s Go-Go Dancer Piece Remains Subversive

The New York Times examines the enduring power of Felix Gonzalez-Torres's 1991 performance piece "Untitled" (Go-Go Dancing Platform), in which a go-go dancer performs on a pedestal for a brief, scheduled period each day. The work, currently on view at the Art Institute of Chicago, uses the dancer's absence as a central component, creating a poignant metaphor for queer presence and loss.

Taiwan’s New Typologies

Taiwan is undergoing a significant cultural transformation with the opening of several major municipal art institutions, including the New Taipei City Art Museum, the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts, and the Taichung Green Museumbrary. The latter, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects SANAA, represents a new hybrid typology that merges a public library with an art museum within a sprawling urban park. These institutions are characterized by striking contemporary architecture and a mission to balance international prestige with deep-rooted local art histories.

Notes from New York: Rotting Meat

Artist Jen Liu’s solo exhibition 'Pound of Flesh' at Silverlens New York explores the dehumanizing nature of digital labor through visceral imagery of raw meat. The show features paintings where human consciousness is replaced by butcher-shop cuts and an animated video based on Liu’s research into microworkers—individuals who perform repetitive, low-paid tasks to train AI models. By juxtaposing the biological reality of the body with the clinical extraction of data, Liu highlights the physical and psychological toll of the 'Agentic Age.'

Rirkrit Tiravanija to Assemble “A Gathering of Remarkable People” for Qatar Pavilion at Venice Biennale

Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will headline the Qatar Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale with a collaborative project titled “Untitled (a gathering of remarkable people).” Curated by Tom Eccles and Ruba Katrib, the exhibition will be housed in a temporary tent in the Giardini on the site of Qatar’s future permanent pavilion. The presentation features a multidisciplinary roster including filmmaker Sophia Al-Maria, sound artist Tarek Atoui, sculptor Alia Farid, and chef Fadi Kattan, blending live performance, cinema, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions.

American Artist and Sonya Clark among Guggenheim Fellows 2026.

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has announced its 101st class of Guggenheim Fellows, awarding grants to 223 individuals across 55 disciplines. Among the 30 fine artists selected for the 2026 cohort are Brooklyn-based conceptual artist American Artist, textile artist and educator Sonya Clark, and interdisciplinary artist Allison Janae Hamilton. Each fellow receives a financial stipend designed to provide the creative and intellectual freedom necessary to pursue their work without restrictive conditions.

Centre Pompidou Hanwha to open its Seoul space in June 2026.

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha is scheduled to open its doors in Seoul in June 2026, following a three-year construction period. Located within the iconic 63 Building in the Yeouido district, the 10,000-square-meter facility replaces a former aquarium with a four-story "box of light" designed to maximize natural illumination.

Already 100,000 Visitors at Cologne's Kusama Exhibition

Schon 100.000 Besucher in Kölner Kusama-Ausstellung

The Museum Ludwig in Cologne has reached a significant milestone, welcoming 100,000 visitors to its Yayoi Kusama retrospective within just four weeks of opening. The exhibition, which features 300 works ranging from early childhood drawings to contemporary installations, has proven to be an unprecedented draw for the institution, surpassing the director's initial expectations for attendance speed.

Phallus, Vagina, Universe

Phallus, Vagina, Universum

Marina Abramović is presenting a major retrospective at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, shifting focus from her well-known explorations of physical pain to the erotic energy of the human body. The exhibition draws heavily on Slavic folklore and pagan traditions from her Balkan heritage, exploring how ancient rituals used sexuality and the body as tools for spiritual and cosmic connection.

One of the Greatest Photographic Documents of the 20th Century

"Eines der größten fotografischen Dokumente des 20. Jahrhunderts"

A New York court has concluded an eleven-year legal battle by awarding Amedeo Modigliani’s 'Seated Man with a Cane' to the heirs of Jewish art dealer Oscar Stettiner. The ruling rejected the claims of the powerful Nahmad family, with the judge determining that Stettiner never voluntarily relinquished the work during the Nazi era. Additionally, a significant photographic archive belonging to darkroom technician Roland Haupt has surfaced, containing previously unseen World War II images by Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton.

The True Story of César's Forger Currently Featured in a Canal+ Documentary Series

L’histoire vraie du faussaire de César actuellement dans une série documentaire sur Canal+

The French documentary series on Canal+ explores the life of Éric Piedoie Le Tiec, a prolific art forger who flooded the market with thousands of fake works. Based in the French Riviera, Le Tiec specialized in creating pieces "in the style of" modern masters like Raoul Dufy and César Baldaccini. Following César's death in 1998, Le Tiec partnered with Jean-Charles Villa to mass-produce fake "compressions" using industrial car crushers, exploiting the artist's rising market value and lack of a definitive catalogue raisonné.

Alexander Calder, Brilliant Sculptor of Air and Color Celebrated at the Fondation Vuitton

Alexander Calder, génial sculpteur de l’air et de la couleur célébré à la fondation Vuitton

The Fondation Louis Vuitton is hosting a major celebration of Alexander Calder, the American sculptor who revolutionized 20th-century art by introducing movement and play into the medium. The article traces Calder's formative years in Paris starting in 1926, where the young engineer-turned-artist gained avant-garde fame with his 'Cirque Calder'—a miniature circus of wire and fabric figurines. This period marked his transition from traditional painting to his signature 'drawings in space,' featuring wire sculptures of figures like Josephine Baker that projected dancing shadows and captured the kinetic energy of the era.