Seventeen rare books, valued at over $2 million and stolen nearly 40 years ago from the Long Island estate of former Museum of Modern Art president John Hay Whitney, have been recovered and will be returned to his descendants. The trove includes a $2 million portfolio of handwritten letters from poet John Keats and first editions of works by James Joyce and Aleister Crowley.
Two former U.S. ambassadors to the UK, John Hay Whitney (1957-61) and Walter Annenberg (1969-74), displayed Van Gogh masterpieces from their personal collections in Winfield House, the official residence in London's Regent's Park. Whitney hung Van Gogh's *Self-portrait* (September 1889) above the mantelpiece in the family dining room, while the Annenbergs placed *La Berceuse* (February 1889) and *Olive Trees* (November 1889) in the green room, alongside works by Gauguin, Degas, Cézanne, Monet, and Renoir. Both ambassadors later donated their Van Goghs to major U.S. museums—Whitney's to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Annenbergs' to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Drawing Center in New York is presenting 'In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney,' a major survey of the artist's works on paper spanning four decades, from 1929 to 1971. Featuring approximately 90 drawings in charcoal, ink, pastel, watercolor, and gouache, alongside a few paintings and archival materials, the exhibition highlights Delaney's evolution from Harlem Renaissance portraiture to Parisian abstraction. It includes early works like 'Harlem Athlete' (1929) and portraits of figures such as James Baldwin, as well as self-portraits and untitled abstractions.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., has returned 17 rare books, collectively valued at nearly $3 million, to the heirs of John Hay and Betsey Cushing Whitney. The books were stolen from the couple's Long Island estate in the 1980s and include a bound collection of John Keats's love letters, a signed James Joyce volume, and an illustrated Brothers Grimm book. The recovery followed a tip from Manhattan book dealers in 2015, leading to search warrants executed in 2025 and 2026.
The Countway Library at Harvard Medical School is hosting a closing ceremony for the art exhibition "Call and Response: A Narrative of Reverence to our Foremothers in Gynecology" on January 21. Developed by the Resilient Sisterhood Project, the multimedia exhibition highlights the exploitation of enslaved Black women—Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy—in the origins of modern gynecology, focusing on experiments by Dr. J. Marion Sims in the 1840s. The event will feature speakers including artists Jules Arthur, Dr. Michele David, Michelle Hartney, and others, along with community organizers.
The Film-Makers’ Cooperative celebrated its 65th anniversary with a gala at Judson Memorial Church in New York City on a recent Friday. The event featured performances by Isaiah Barr, a recreation of Yvonne Rainer's Trio A by Brittany Bailey, and a closing set by musician Kinlaw. Notable attendees included photographer Nan Goldin, video artist Joan Jonas, and filmmaker John Waters, who was honored in absentia. The evening included speeches, a shoppable collection of film ephemera, and a crowd of artists, actors, and filmmakers.