In The Christophers, an aging artist’s unfinished masterpieces are subjects of speculation and scheming

The Christophers is a new film starring Ian McKellen as Julian Sklar, a once-celebrated 1970s painter who has become a social pariah and reality TV villain. The plot follows a 'reverse art heist' where Sklar’s estranged children hire a restorer and former forger, played by Michaela Coel, to secretly finish a series of nine incomplete portraits of his former lover. The goal is to inflate the works' market value so they can be 'discovered' as masterpieces upon the aging artist's death.

The Art of ‘The Christophers’: How the Film Created an Artist’s Fabled Oeuvre

Steven Soderbergh’s new film, The Christophers, explores the complexities of artistic legacy and authenticity through the story of Julian Sklar, a fictional washed-up artist played by Ian McKellen. The plot follows Sklar’s children as they hire an art restorer, played by Michaela Coel, to secretly finish their father’s legendary unfinished series to capitalize on his market value. To ground the film in reality, screenwriter Ed Solomon consulted with art world figures like dealer George Barker and artists Jann Haworth and Derek Boshier, while production designer Antonia Lowe and painter Barnaby Gorton created the physical artworks seen on screen.

The Art Diary May 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens

The article titled "The Art Diary May 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens" appears to be a diary or column by Revd Jonathan Evens, published on Artlyst, covering art-related events, reflections, or commentary for May 2026. The specific content is not provided in the snippet, but the format suggests a curated overview of exhibitions, cultural happenings, or personal observations from the author's perspective.

How did a 16th-century European basin end up as a sacred object in West Africa?

The Aya Kese, a massive 16th-century northern European brass basin, is currently on display at the British Museum while its complex history remains under scrutiny. Looted by British officer Robert Baden-Powell in 1896 from the Asante kingdom’s royal mausoleum in present-day Ghana, the object was long sensationalized by colonial accounts as a vessel for human sacrifice. Recent scholarship and historical records from Asante King Prempeh I contest these claims, asserting the basin’s sacred role as a spiritual repository for the souls of the Asante people.

british museum staffer stole artworks

Nigel Peverett, a former staffer in the British Museum’s prints and drawings department, stole over 350 artworks during his tenure in the 1970s and 80s. The thefts, detailed in Barnaby Phillips’s upcoming book 'The African Kingdom of Gold', involved Peverett smuggling prints out of the museum, altering them with razors to remove catalog numbers, and selling them at London’s Portobello Road market. Although he was caught in 1992 with 35 prints in his possession, nearly 100 items remain unrecovered.

Steven Soderbergh, the Colors of Money

Steven Soderbergh, les couleurs de l’argent

Steven Soderbergh's new film "The Christophers" (2025) is a sharp, chamber-piece drama about art, inheritance, and money. The story follows Julian Skar, a former art superstar from the 1970s now living in seclusion and earning a living by caricaturing himself on social media. His children, Barnaby and Sally, eager to maximize their future inheritance, hire a repentant forger named Lori Butler to secretly complete Julian's unfinished masterpiece, an eight-portrait series titled "The Christophers." The film explores the complex relationships that develop between the four characters in a labyrinthine London house, written in the style of a lively theatrical play.

Andrea Karnes, Museum Curator

Andrea Karnes, a longtime curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, provides an inside look at the evolving role of a contemporary art curator. Having spent her entire career at the institution, Karnes describes the transition from being a traditional 'caretaker of objects' to an intellectual architect who constructs arguments through exhibitions. She details the multi-year process of organizing shows, which involves extensive studio visits, international travel to biennials, and complex negotiations with collectors to secure loans for major retrospectives.

Wayne Thiebaud’s first UK show reveals the hidden depths of his deceptively simple paintings

Wayne Thiebaud's first museum exhibition in the UK has opened at the Courtauld Gallery, featuring 21 paintings on loan from US public and private collections, including the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation. The show, titled "Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life," highlights the artist's deceptively simple depictions of cakes, pies, and deli counters, and includes a concurrent exhibition of works on paper called "Delights." Co-curator Barnaby Wright emphasizes that seeing the works in person reveals their extraordinary painterly quality, which reproductions flatten.

Nigerian Modernism, Tehran’s art scene after the war, Wayne Thiebaud’s ‘Cake’—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast covers three major stories. First, Tate Modern's new exhibition 'Nigerian Modernism' explores modern art beyond Western canons, featuring co-curator Osei Bonsu and artist Jimoh Buraimoh. Second, correspondent Sarvy Geranpayeh reports on Tehran's art scene following the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025. Third, the 'Work of the Week' segment highlights Wayne Thiebaud's painting 'Cakes' (1963), now on view at the Courtauld Gallery in London for the artist's first UK museum exhibition.

MODERN MADE: Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art, Design, Craft and Studio Ceramics

Lyon & Turnbull is presenting the 14th edition of its MODERN MADE sale, featuring a curated selection of modern and contemporary art, design, craft, and studio ceramics. Highlights include a private collection of early 2000s contemporary art, Modern British Art from Sickert to the post-war period, and works by European artists such as Klimt, Picasso, and Braque, alongside a rare wartime piece by Jankel Adler. The sale also emphasizes Kinetic and Light Art, design pieces led by an early Ettore Sottsass Carlton bookcase, and concludes with part two of the Y2K! collection featuring works by John Sonsini, Barnaby Furnas, and Elizabeth Peyton.

Monarch Alumna to Lead Next Chapter for Art Museum

Alison Byrne, who began as an intern at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in 2000, has been named the museum's executive director as of late September 2024. Over 25 years, she rose through roles including curator of education and deputy director, and was named Museum Art Educator of the Year by the Virginia Art Education Association in 2020. Byrne will lead the museum's relocation in 2026 to a new 35,000-square-foot facility at Virginia Wesleyan University, featuring a 21% increase in gallery space. The inaugural exhibition will showcase works by contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney.

Go figure – when Barnaby Barford took over the Wallpaper* fashion pages

Barnaby Barford is marking 20 years of collaboration with David Gill gallery through the exhibition 'We Are Where We Are', featuring 35 ceramic sculptures and large-scale drawings. The show includes a new work titled 'Ascension'. To celebrate, Wallpaper* magazine revisits its November 2007 issue, in which Barford took over the fashion pages, dressing his found porcelain figurines in designer labels such as Missoni, Versace, Gucci, Christian Dior, and Prada, photographed by Theo Cook with fashion styling by Sophie Dean and Sébastien Clivaz.

Gamers to perform live alongside musicians about technology in Ilford

Spanish artist Robert Cervera presents 'Hiddenware,' an exhibition at SPACE Ilford on January 31 that blends gaming, sound, and visual art. Three local gamers will perform live video game sessions accompanied by musicians playing a custom instrument made from PC liquid cooling tubes, creating real-time soundtracks based on the gameplay. The event runs from 4pm to 7pm, with a live stream on Twitch, and the exhibition remains open until April.