Rare early photographs reveal lost sites featured in Van Gogh’s paintings

Two rare photographic albums taken by art critic Gustave Coquiot in 1922 have been acquired by the newly established Van Gogh Academy in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, and are now on display. The images capture many of the sites in Arles that Vincent van Gogh painted in the late 1880s, including the Yellow House, the Langlois Bridge, and the Rhône riverbank. Several of these locations were later destroyed during World War II or by modernization, making Coquiot's photographs valuable historical records of Van Gogh's original subjects.

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Claes Oldenburg's 1969 sculpture *Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks* was vandalized in October when the letters "ATB" were etched into its metal base. Yale University is relocating the 24-foot-tall work from the Morse College courtyard to the Yale University Art Gallery for conservation and care, following the discovery of the defacement. The sculpture, a beloved campus landmark originally installed in Beinecke Plaza, has a history of being removed and restored due to weather damage and graffiti.

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The article reports on a record-breaking auction sale of a 4-foot-4-inch Labubu doll, which sold for RMB 1.08 million ($150,300) at Yongle International Auction in Beijing, with premium reaching RMB 1.24 million ($174,000). The character was created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, who also collaborated with Art Basel on a limited edition. Other key developments include the closure of the Art Basel Hong Kong satellite fair Supper Club after two editions, Frieze announcing a new year-round space called Frieze House Seoul in Yaksu, and Blum gallery taking on global representation of Japanese ceramic artist Kimiyo Mishima's estate. The article also covers upcoming exhibitions by Christine Ay Tjoe at White Cube New York, Seulgi Lee at Ikon Gallery Birmingham, Kenny Scharf at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, and Trevor Yeung's adaptation of his Venice Biennale show at M+ Hong Kong.

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Artnet News highlights the enduring public fascination with Vincent van Gogh, 135 years after his death, by compiling 10 recent stories that demonstrate "Van Gogh Mania." Examples include the National Gallery in London's major exhibition "Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers," the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston's "Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits," and a legal dispute over the garden that inspired his final painting, Tree Roots (1890). Other stories cover a van Gogh portrait kept in a chicken coop for over a decade and Lego's release of a Sunflowers-themed building set in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum.

Peterson Rich Office Designed The Met’s New Condé M. Nast Galleries and its Inaugural Costume Institute Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened its new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The galleries, which debuted with the Costume Institute's exhibition "Costume Art," transform a former interior courtyard and gift shop into five sequential rooms, including named spaces for Thom Browne, Michael Kors, and Lance LePere. PRO also designed the exhibition itself, which pairs 200 garments and accessories with 200 artworks from the Met's collection, creating a dialogue between fashion and fine art.

HOPE Outdoor Gallery Makes Its Long-Awaited Return

The HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a beloved open-air graffiti art space in Austin, is preparing to reopen after six years of closure. Founder Andi Scull announced that the new site, located on an 8-acre plot near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, is purpose-built with four distinct sectors including a courtyard, a roofless circular structure, a garden, and a village of shipping containers. The layout is designed to spell out "HOPE" when viewed from planes landing or departing. The original location on Baylor Street closed in 2018, and the team has been working since then to secure a new home, with the goal of opening before the end of the year, pending permits.

In the Heart of the Marais in Paris, the Swiss Cultural Center (Finally) Reopens its Doors

Au cœur du Marais à Paris, le Centre culturel suisse rouvre (enfin) ses portes

The Centre Culturel Suisse (CCS) in Paris is set to reopen on March 26, 2026, following a four-year renovation of its Marais district headquarters. The architectural overhaul, led by firms ASBR and Truwant+Rodet+, features modernized modular galleries, a redesigned bookstore, and a new courtyard café. The relaunch will be celebrated with a three-day festival featuring performances by choreographer Edouard Hue and music from the Bongo Joe Records label.

A first glimpse (and listen) inside Lacma’s $720m new building

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) opened its new $720 million David Geffen Galleries building to 2,000 members and guests for previews on June 27, 2025, before its official opening in April 2026. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the elevated concrete structure spans Wilshire Boulevard with 110,000 square feet of gallery space, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a 300-seat theater. Musician Kamasi Washington organized a "sonic preview" with 100 jazz musicians performing his six-part suite *Harmony of Difference* throughout the empty space. The building sits adjacent to the preserved Japanese Pavilion (designed by Bruce Goff, 1988) and features Tony Smith's sculpture *Smoke* (1967) in a courtyard.

Thai pharma dynasty opens doors to 1,000-piece contemporary collection

The Dib Bangkok museum, housing a 1,000-piece contemporary art collection amassed by the late Thai businessman and musician Petch Osathanugrah, opened this month in a converted 1980s warehouse in Bangkok. The project was completed by his son Purat 'Chang' Osathanugrah, president of Bangkok University and CEO of Zipcode, with inaugural director Miwako Tezuka (formerly of Asia Society Museum) leading the institution. The 7,000 sq. m space, designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture, features 11 galleries, a courtyard, sculpture garden, and a satellite project space called Dib26.

Sargent and Paris

The article announces an exhibition titled "Sargent and Paris" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, focusing on John Singer Sargent's formative decade in Paris from his arrival in 1874 through the mid-1880s. It traces his rapid rise as a young American art student who studied under Carolus-Duran at the École des Beaux-Arts, immersed himself in Parisian cultural life, and produced daring portraits of cosmopolitan subjects. The exhibition highlights key works including his scandalous success "Madame X" and other canvases that captured Parisian society, culminating in his reputation as the era's greatest portrait painter.

Peterson Rich Office designs Condé M Nast Galleries at The Met in time for yearly gala exhibition

Brooklyn-based architecture studio Peterson Rich Office has completed the redesign of five gallery spaces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, known as the Condé M Nast Galleries. The project transformed 12,000 square feet of a former courtyard into gallery and auxiliary rooms, revealing historic brickwork and facades from the 19th-century buildings by architects Richard Morris Hunt, Arthur Lyman Tuckerman, and Calvert Vaux. The spaces include the Orientation Gallery, High Gallery, Low Gallery, and Finale Gallery, each blending contemporary design with exposed historic materials. The first exhibition in the High Gallery is the Costume Art show, timed to coincide with the annual Met Gala.

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Monument Lab and Bryn Mawr College have unveiled a permanent public artwork by Nekisha Durrett titled "Don't Forget to Remember (Me)" in the school's Cloisters courtyard. The installation features 9,000 custom pavers arranged in an intertwined knot pattern, with 250 of them engraved with the names of Black staff whose labor was essential to the college's early operations but went unrecognized. The project emerged from a multiyear initiative called Art Remediating Campus Histories, which included symposia, lectures, and community consultations to address the institution's histories of systemic exclusion.

The Best Art Exhibitions To Visit In Hong Kong This July

This article highlights three must-see art exhibitions in Hong Kong for July 2025. At Alisan Fine Arts, local artist Cherie Cheuk presents her first solo show, 'A Wrinkle In Time,' blending traditional Chinese ink painting with pop culture motifs like Super Mario and Pac-Man. At Villepin, 'Worlds Within' unites works by four migrant-influenced artists, including a debut Hong Kong showcase for Spanish-Filipino modernist Fernando Zóbel and a record-breaking painting by Lê Phổ. Ben Brown Fine Arts hosts 'Wish You Were Here,' a group show curated by Jie Xia featuring artists such as Gerhard Richter and Hilary Pecis, exploring themes of travel, paradise, and nostalgia.

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Casa Batlló, Antoni Gaudí’s iconic Barcelona landmark, has completed a €3.5 million ($4 million) restoration of its long-neglected back façade and courtyard. The project involved stratigraphic paint analysis to uncover original colors—revealing that the now-cream stucco was once deep gray and the windows originally green—along with restoration of trencadís mosaics, ironwork, wooden elements, and an 85,000-piece Nolla mosaic. The courtyard’s custom planters and parabola-shaped pergola were also rebuilt, returning the rear of the house to Gaudí’s original vision for the first time in over a century.

THE MET GETS A NEW GREAT HALL BY PETERSON RICH OFFICE

Peterson Rich Office (PRO) has designed a new Great Hall Gallery for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, occupying 12,000 square feet across five sequential rooms in a former exterior courtyard adjacent to the landmark Great Hall. The renovation exposes and celebrates historic exterior façades from the 1880s and 1890s, creating a layered architectural experience. The space is intended to host rotating exhibitions, particularly the Costume Institute's annual spring show, and is currently under construction.

The Met Costume Institute Unveils Its New Condé M. Nast Galleries

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has unveiled its new 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, named for the founder of Architectural Digest's parent company. Designed by the architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO), the five-room exhibition space was carved from a former interior courtyard and gift shop, revealing historic brick and masonry facades that highlight the museum's architectural evolution. The galleries debuted alongside the exhibition "Costume Art," which explores the significance of dressed human form in fashion and fine art, curated by Andrew Bolton and celebrated at the Met Gala on May 4, 2026.

Lake Flato Shapes a Stunning New Art Space in Texas Hill Country

A new art space called Arthouse is opening on April 25, 2026, in Marble Falls, Texas. Designed by the architecture firm Lake Flato, the 2,000-square-foot white building will display works from the personal collection of philanthropists Mickey and Jeanne Klein, including pieces by Mary C. Sloane, Kenturah Davis, Faith Ringgold, Ed Ruscha, James Turrell, and Teresita Fernández. The debut exhibition, "Words Matter," curated by Mickey Klein, explores text and narrative and coincides with the town's Paint the Town Art Festival. The building also features a courtyard designed by landscape designer Sada Uchiyama.

herzog & de meuron-designed memphis art museum takes shape ahead of 2026 opening

The Memphis Art Museum, designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with archimania and OLIN, is taking shape ahead of its December 2026 opening. The 11,475-square-meter building along the Mississippi River features a glass facade, a public plaza shared with the historic Cossitt Library, a shaded courtyard, flexible gallery spaces, and a rooftop sculpture garden. The museum is among the first major US museums to use laminated timber construction. Updated renderings and construction images by Houston Cofield have been released, along with details of a curatorial shift that will organize the collection into 18 exhibitions focused on lived experience rather than traditional art historical chronologies.

‘I don’t want to compare myself with these masters’: Giorgio Armani placed side by side with Raphael and Caravaggio in Milan exhibition

Milan's Pinacoteca di Brera has opened a major exhibition titled *Giorgio Armani: Milano, per amore*, juxtaposing over 120 garments designed by the legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani—who died this month—with Renaissance masterpieces by Caravaggio, Bellini, Raphael, and Mantegna. Unveiled on September 24 during Milan Fashion Week, the show was planned by Armani until shortly before his death, making it his final project. The exhibition also includes a catwalk event in the museum's courtyard on September 28, originally conceived to celebrate 50 years since the Armani fashion house launched in the Brera district.

Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum opens at SFU Burnaby campus

The Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum, a new 12,100-square-foot facility on the Simon Fraser University Burnaby campus in British Columbia, has officially opened to the public. Designed by Siamak Hariri of Hariri Pontarini Architects, the museum features B.C.-sourced mass timber beams, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a layout that integrates with the surrounding forest. Its inaugural exhibition, "Edge Effects," includes works by artists such as Debra Sparrow, Cindy Mochizuki, Patrick Cruz, Lorna Brown, and Jin-me Yoon, and the museum also houses approximately 5,900 works from the Simon Fraser University Art Collection.

Van Gogh’s two pictures of the hospital in Arles—painted while he was recovering after cutting his ear—head to the Courtauld

Van Gogh's two paintings of the hospital in Arles, created after he mutilated his ear, are being lent from the Oskar Reinhart Collection in Winterthur, Switzerland, to the Courtauld Gallery in London for the exhibition "Goya to Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection" (14 February–26 May). The works—"The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles" and "The Ward in the Hospital at Arles"—were both acquired in the 1920s by Swiss collector Oskar Reinhart and have rarely been lent due to restrictions that have now been modified. The museum in Winterthur is temporarily closed for renovations, enabling this loan.

"Trevor Yeung: Courtyard of Detachments", a new configuration of the artist's solo exhibition representing Hong Kong in the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, opens at M+ on Saturday, 14 June 2025

A new configuration of Trevor Yeung's solo exhibition "Courtyard of Detachments," originally representing Hong Kong at the 60th Venice Biennale, will open at M+ museum in Hong Kong on June 14, 2025. The presentation reimagines the artist's acclaimed Biennale project for the museum context.

A Faceless Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi Goes to Auction

Va in asta una Maria Maddalena di Artemisia Gentileschi senza volto

The Viennese auction house Dorotheum has announced the sale of a rare, fragmented painting of Mary Magdalene by the Baroque master Artemisia Gentileschi. Dating from the artist's influential Florentine period (1615–1618), this autograph version of a work held in Palazzo Pitti is notably missing its central element: the head and shoulders of the saint have been physically cut from the canvas. Despite this dramatic mutilation, which experts speculate may have occurred in post-war Berlin, the work is estimated to fetch between €100,000 and €150,000 at the Old Masters auction on April 28, 2026.

suffering life models in florence are threatening legal action over working conditions 1234740099

Life models at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Florence Academy of Fine Arts) are threatening legal action and a potential nude protest over poor working conditions. They complain of exhausting work, insufficient breaks, and renewable annual contracts offering 500 hours over 11 months with no insurance, holidays, sick leave, or timecards. The models argue that a 2024 Italian ministry law requiring permanent contracts for those with three years of service does not apply to them because the academy claims they were hired under simplified procedures. Union president Giancarlo Iacomini met with academy director Gaia Bindi on April 9 to seek a resolution, calling the situation "deeply contradictory."

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A research team from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities has unearthed a significant cache of artifacts at the Qubbet Al-Hawa necropolis near Aswan. The discovery includes two chambers containing 160 well-preserved pottery vessels, many inscribed with text, alongside a courtyard filled with Middle Kingdom jewelry, bronze mirrors, and kohl containers. These finds were located within rock-cut burial shafts that served as resting places for ancient Egyptian elite.

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The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow, Scotland, closed for the rest of the week after a pro-Palestine protest organized by Art Workers for Palestine Scotland escalated into a confrontation. The group staged a sit-in at the CCA courtyard, demanding the institution support the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Police were called to clear the protest, leading to arrests and allegations of excessive force. The CCA board cited security concerns and a forced entry as reasons for the closure.

New Canadian art museum seeks to connect disparate disciplines and a university campus

Simon Fraser University (SFU) near Vancouver will open the Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum on September 20, its first purpose-built art museum. The inaugural exhibition, "Edge Effects," features 15 artists including Sameer Farooq, Liz Magor, Cindy Mochizuki, and Debra Sparrow, and reflects the interdisciplinary ethos of the original SFU campus designed by Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey. The 12,000-square-foot building by Hariri Pontarini Architects and Iredale Architecture includes a research laboratory, art studio, courtyard, and salon, and will be admission-free.

At Alserkal Avenue’s Deja Vu, UAE galleries find strength in collaboration

Alserkal Avenue in Dubai has launched "Deja Vu," a multi-gallery exhibition bringing together 20 UAE-based galleries at the Concrete venue, running until May 8. Curated by Zaina Zaarour with co-curators Kevin Jones and Nada Raza, the show features works including German artist Michael Sailstorfer's installation of a car fuel tank, reflecting anxieties around fuel prices and geopolitical uncertainty. The exhibition emerged from urgent community meetings after the Iran war disrupted the spring art season, which typically includes Art Dubai and collector visits. Participating galleries include 16 from Alserkal Avenue, plus Nika Project Space, Total Arts at The Courtyard, Tabari Artspace, and Iris Projects, with many works priced under $10,000 to facilitate sales.

The Long-Awaited Reopening of the Musée Bonnat

La réouverture attendue du Musée Bonnat

After fifteen years of closure, the Musée Bonnat (now renamed Bonnat-Helleu) in Bayonne, France, has finally reopened. The closure was initially due to structural problems, including collapsing skylights and leaks, and even before that, much of the collection had been inaccessible. The renovated museum now features a new extension built from a former school, housing the public reception area, an exhibition space, a courtyard with a café terrace, and storage. The galleries display the museum's full holdings, including Rubens sketches, terracottas from the Paul Cailleux collection, and works by Léon Bonnat himself.

An exhibition centered on Bartholdi's Champollion, deposited in Nogent-sur-Seine

Une exposition autour du Champollion de Bartholdi, déposé à Nogent-sur-Seine

The Musée Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine is hosting a new exhibition centered around Auguste Bartholdi’s monument to Jean-François Champollion. The statue, recently transferred from the courtyard of the Collège de France by the Fonds national d’art contemporain, serves as the focal point for a display that explores the history and significance of the work. The exhibition provides a scholarly counter-narrative to recent ideological criticisms surrounding the monument's iconography.