Maurizio Cattelan Opens Up About Sin, Silence, and Stealing: ‘I’m Guilty Too’

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan directed the Renaissance Society’s annual benefit gala, titled "The Silent Party!", held at the Chicago Athletic Club during the week of Expo Chicago. The event subverted traditional gala expectations by requiring guests to remain silent for two hours, communicating only via handwritten notes while navigating a labyrinth of performances. The evening featured contributions from artists including Jacob Ryan Renolds, Davide Balula, and Isabelle Frances McGuire, culminating in a dinner that raised approximately $600,000 for the non-profit institution.

7 New Art Books to Step Into Spring

Artnet News has curated a selection of seven significant new art book releases for the spring season, highlighting diverse subjects from historical archives to contemporary memoirs. Featured titles include a deep dive into Frida Kahlo’s private sanctuary, 'Casa Roja,' authored by her descendants; a curatorial history of Hong Kong’s avant-garde art scene by Oscar Ho Hing-kay; and a vibrant exploration of color in contemporary art featuring works by Yayoi Kusama and Tomás Saraceno.

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The print market is experiencing a significant resurgence, defying the broader contraction seen in the global art market. Recent events like the IFPDA Print Fair in New York reported record-breaking attendance of 21,000 visitors, while auction data shows that over 54,000 print lots were sold in 2024—the highest volume in a decade. While total sales value dipped slightly, the decline was far less severe than the 27 percent drop seen in the general fine art sector.

The $53 M. Wingate Collection Comes to Sotheby’s, Led by a $25 M. Giacometti

The collection of modern and contemporary art assembled by David and Shoshanna Wingate over seven decades will be sold at Sotheby's in New York and London on May 19 and 20. The sale, comprising over 50 works by artists like Alberto Giacometti, Mark Rothko, and Wassily Kandinsky, is estimated to fetch between $37 million and $53 million, led by Giacometti's sculpture "La Clairière (Composition avec neuf figures)" with an estimate of $18 million to $25 million.

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The 15th edition of Expo Chicago, scheduled for April 9–12, marks a significant transition as the fair's first outing under new director Kate Sierzputowski and its third since being acquired by Frieze. The upcoming edition features a streamlined roster of approximately 130 galleries, a 25 percent decrease from previous years. While blue-chip giants like Gagosian and Zwirner are absent, the fair maintains a strong lineup including Karma, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, and local mainstays like Monique Meloche, complemented by satellite events and a high-profile benefit directed by Maurizio Cattelan.

14 Must-See Museum Shows in New York This Spring

New York museums are launching a significant slate of spring exhibitions, featuring major retrospectives and thematic surveys. Highlights include "Noguchi's New York" at the Noguchi Museum, exploring the sculptor's unrealized urban projects; "Raphael: Sublime Poetry" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a comprehensive look at the Renaissance master; and "Gothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship," also at the Met, focusing on medieval architectural drawings.

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The 30th edition of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair concluded at New York’s Javits Center, featuring 77 international exhibitors. The fair showcased a vast chronological range of works, from $2 million Edvard Munch prints to contemporary editions priced at $200, attracting a diverse crowd of collectors and institutional buyers.

The Business of KAWS: What Data and a Museum Show Reveal About His Market

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is currently hosting a major survey of KAWS, marking the final stop of a three-city tour that highlights the artist's unique blend of commercial savvy and institutional ambition. The exhibition features a range of works from diamond-encrusted sculptures for Kid Cudi to a 'genius' membership drive that sold 1,000 KAWS-branded museum memberships at $300 each. Despite a significant cooling in his auction results—dropping from a 2019 peak of $112.9 million to just $7.72 million last year—the artist continues to draw massive crowds, particularly among younger demographics.

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Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan has launched a global hotline inviting the public to confess their sins to mark the 21st anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. The project, which may coincide with April Fools' Day, culminates in a livestreamed event on April 23 where Cattelan intends to perform a secular act of absolution. Other major developments include a federal judge halting construction on a controversial White House ballroom and the death of British illustrator Glen Baxter at age 82.

The IFPDA Print Fair Returns to the Park Avenue Armory, Illuminating the Relationship Between Prints and Drawings

The IFPDA Print Fair is returning to the Park Avenue Armory from April 9–12, featuring 80 international exhibitors presenting 500 years of prints and drawings. The fair highlights the historical and conceptual relationship between the two mediums, with notable works including an Edward Hopper charcoal study and unique or hybrid pieces by artists like Françoise Gilot and Edgar Degas.

Comment | Catherine Opie shows us that in dark times, looking for joy can be radical

The artist Catherine Opie is currently the subject of a major three-decade portrait survey, 'To Be Seen', at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition highlights Opie’s career-long commitment to representing the LGBTQ+ community, specifically the leather dyke scene in Los Angeles, through a lens that balances defiance with playfulness. Even her most provocative works, such as the 1993 self-portrait featuring a domestic scene carved into her back, are revealed to contain elements of humor and historical allusion that counter the despair of the AIDS crisis and personal heartbreak.

A Dutch museum has just put its fake Van Gogh on show

The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo has broken traditional museum protocol by placing a known forgery, "Seascape at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer," on public display. Acquired in 1928 by museum founder Helene Kröller-Müller from the notorious Berlin dealer Otto Wacker, the painting was eventually exposed as a fake created by Wacker’s brother, Leonhard. The exhibition, which runs until June 21, coincides with a new podcast detailing the history of the acquisition and the subsequent fraud trial that rocked the art world in the 1930s.

Paying tribute to storied printmaker Kenneth Tyler at the IFPDA Print Fair

The International Fine Prints and Drawings Association (IFPDA) Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory is honoring the legacy of master printer Kenneth E. Tyler. A central highlight of the event is the presentation by the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) of a new three-volume catalogue raisonné documenting Tyler Graphics from 1986 to 2001. The 94-year-old Tyler, a foundational figure in American printmaking, is being celebrated for his technical innovations and his historic collaborations with titans of Modern art.

Paying tribute to storied printmaker Kenneth Tyler at the IFPDA Print Fair

The International Fine Prints and Drawings Association (IFPDA) Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory is honoring the legacy of master printer Kenneth E. Tyler. A central highlight of the event is the presentation by the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) of a new three-volume catalogue raisonné documenting Tyler Graphics from 1986 to 2001. The 94-year-old Tyler, a foundational figure in American printmaking, collaborated with titans of Modern art including Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, and Roy Lichtenstein across his storied career at Gemini GEL and Tyler Graphics.

Process Is the Point at IFPDA Print Fair

The International Fine Prints and Drawings Association (IFPDA) Print Fair returned to New York’s Park Avenue Armory, featuring 80 global galleries, publishers, and print studios. The event showcased a diverse range of works, from 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e masterworks by Hokusai to contemporary pieces by artists such as Kiki Smith, Julie Mehretu, and David Hockney. Notable highlights included Kiki Smith’s massive 12-foot watercolor "Wooden Moon" and Paula Rego’s influential abortion etchings, which were recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

California’s High Desert Is Rich With Natural and Artistic Beauty—All Amplified by a Budding Art Fair

The fifth annual High Desert Art Fair (HDAF) took place at the Pioneertown Motel in California's High Desert, featuring 20 galleries, nonprofits, studios, and publishers. Founded by Nicholas Fahey of Fahey/Klein Gallery and artist manager Candice Lawler, the fair leverages the area's existing artistic community and natural beauty to attract visitors from Los Angeles and beyond.

The Incredible Story of Edmonia Lewis, America’s First Black and Indigenous International Art Star

The Peabody Essex Museum has launched "Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone," the first-ever retrospective dedicated to the 19th-century sculptor who was the first Black and Indigenous American artist to achieve international fame. Curated by Shawnya L. Harris and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, the exhibition is the culmination of seven years of research and detective work to locate surviving marble sculptures and archival fragments. The show tracks her journey from her early life as "Wildfire" to her education at Oberlin College and her eventual professional success in Boston and Rome.

A Smaller Art Brussels Represents a Shift in the Fair Ecosystem Toward a ‘Quality-First’ Approach

Art Brussels, now in its 42nd edition (April 23–26), has downsized from 164 to 138 participating galleries, a 15% reduction that allows the fair to fit entirely within one hall of Brussels Expo. Director Nele Verhaeren openly acknowledged the shift, framing it as a deliberate move toward a 'quality-first' approach that prioritizes visitor experience over sheer scale. The fair introduces a new section called Horizons, curated by Devrim Bayar of the upcoming Kanal-Pompidou museum, featuring seven large-scale works in the freed-up space. Dealers like Xavier Hufkens and Nadja Vilenne support the strategy, noting that galleries must now carefully choose which fairs to attend amid rising costs and geopolitical tensions.

Christie’s to Offer $35 M. Renoir Painting Owned by Whitney Family For Nearly a Century

Christie's will auction Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 1876-77 painting 'La femme aux lilas (Portrait de Nini Lopez)' in its 20th Century Evening Sale on May 18, with an estimate of $25 million to $35 million. The work has been owned by the Whitney Payson family since 1929 and is being sold from the collection of the late Lorinda Payson de Roulet, daughter of the original buyers, Joan Whitney Payson and Charles Payson.

Thomas J. Price’s Monumental Sculpture Anchors V&A East’s Opening in London

The V&A East Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum's second site in East London, opened to the public on April 18. The inaugural presentation features new site-specific commissions by artists Rene Matić, Carrie Mae Weems, and Tania Bruguera, with Thomas J. Price's monumental sculpture serving as a key anchor piece for the new institution.

What Is a "Post-Duchamp" Art World?

Scholar Thierry de Duve discusses the legacy of Marcel Duchamp in conjunction with a new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) featuring seven of the artist’s “boîtes-en-valise.” These portable miniature museums, created decades before Duchamp’s first formal retrospective, are framed as evidence of his genius in anticipating the institutional logic of the modern museum. The conversation explores how Duchamp’s provocative works, such as the readymade "Fountain," fundamentally altered the trajectory of art history and defined the "post-Duchamp" era.

From Mother Mary to Foo Fighters: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

This article is a weekly entertainment guide from The Guardian, covering cinema, gigs, art, stage, streaming, games, albums, and brain food. In the art section, it highlights two exhibitions: "Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today" at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge, featuring artists like Henri Rousseau and Lubaina Himid; and a show of South African photographer George Hallett's work at the John Lennon School of Art and Design in Liverpool, documenting black resistance in 1970s Britain. It also mentions an open house for Lonnie Holley's new works at Edel Assanti gallery in London.

‘They accomplished so much, even as they were dying’: the groundbreaking gay art of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek

Author and Frieze Magazine editor-in-chief Andrew Durbin has released a dual biography titled 'The Wonderful World That Almost Was,' chronicling the lives and creative partnership of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek. The book focuses on their relationship from the mid-1950s through the 1970s, detailing their collaborative influence and the development of their respective practices in photography and sculpture before both died of AIDS-related complications in the late 1980s.

5 Highlights of Art Düsseldorf

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The Art Düsseldorf contemporary art fair has opened its latest edition, showcasing a diverse range of works that balance humor with urgent political and global themes. Highlights from the fair include Christian Jankowski’s monumental sculptures based on children's clay models at Galerie Crone, Julian Charrière’s environmentally conscious installations at Dittrich & Schlechtriem, and Jody Korbach’s satirical paintings that reference German art history and pub culture at Petra Martinez.

The Louvre Remains the World’s Most-Visited Museum, with Competition Coming from the Middle East and Asia in 2025

The Louvre maintained its position as the world's most-visited museum in 2025, drawing approximately 9 million visitors according to the Art Newspaper's annual ranking. The Vatican Museums and the National Museum of Korea in Seoul followed closely, rounding out a top ten list that includes major institutions in London, New York, and Shanghai. Overall, about 200 million people visited the top 100 museums globally, a figure still below the pre-pandemic 2019 peak of 230 million.

Unseen George Condo Works Arrive at Auction From Anna Condo’s Collection

Anna Condo, the former wife of American painter George Condo, is bringing 27 previously unseen works from her private collection to auction at Christie’s. The collection, which includes paintings, drawings, and sculptures acquired during their 28-year marriage, will be featured in the Post-War and Contemporary Art day sale on May 21. These works have never been exhibited or sold publicly, offering a rare glimpse into the artist's private creative output between 1988 and 2017.

They Painted the American West. History Painted Them Out

The exhibition "Women Artists of the American West: Colorado and Utah: 1885–1935" at History Jackson Hole spotlights seven forgotten female artists, including the adventurous mountaineer and painter Helen Henderson Chain. Curated by the founders of the Paris-based nonprofit AWARE, the show uncovers the lives of women who documented the Rocky Mountains and local communities while navigating the restrictive social norms of the late 19th century. Through paintings and photographs, the exhibition challenges the traditional, male-dominated "heroic" narrative of Western expansion.

Is Dubai’s loss Palma's gain? Newly revived Mallorca fair offers ’sun, sand and safety’ for wealthy Germans

The Art Cologne Palma Mallorca fair has been successfully revived at the Palau de Congressos, attracting 88 exhibitors with a heavy concentration of Spanish and German galleries. The event capitalizes on Mallorca's status as a premier second-home destination for wealthy Europeans, particularly Germans, and benefits from significant local government backing of €500,000. Early sales reports indicate strong performance in the lower and mid-market price brackets, with artists like Neo Rauch and Brian Eno finding quick buyers, though seven-figure works by Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz moved more slowly.

Marcel Duchamp at MoMA, Dorothea Tanning book, Leonora Carrington at the Freud Museum, London—podcast

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is launching the first major U.S. survey of Marcel Duchamp’s entire career in over fifty years, a landmark exhibition that will later travel to Philadelphia. Accompanying this resurgence of interest in avant-garde pioneers are two significant projects focused on women of the Surrealist movement: the publication of Alyce Mahon’s comprehensive new book on Dorothea Tanning and a specialized exhibition at London’s Freud Museum featuring Leonora Carrington’s 1940 painting 'Down Below'.

A new Istanbul gallery is offering an outlet for Iran’s artists

Shiva Zahed Gallery has opened in Istanbul’s Pera district, specifically dedicated to showcasing Iranian contemporary art. The gallery's inaugural exhibition, "Echoes," features works by the influential artist Fereydoun Ave and installation artist Shaqayeq Arabi. The opening was significantly delayed and reconfigured after civil unrest in Iran and a communication blackout prevented the founder from coordinating with the 20 emerging artists originally scheduled for the debut.