The New York art scene was bustling with events this week. The New York Botanical Garden held its annual Orchid Dinner at the Plaza Hotel, featuring elaborate floral designs and guests like Martha Stewart and Sigourney Weaver. Meanwhile, Sotheby's hosted the Art for Water benefit auction for the Waterkeeper Alliance, with works by Jeff Koons and Ed Ruscha, and the New Museum celebrated the opening of a major Raymond Pettibon exhibition.
Gagosian will host a survey of Jasper Johns's "Crosshatch" paintings at its Madison Avenue gallery in New York from January 22 to March 14, 2026. Titled "Between The Clock and The Bed," the exhibition is organized in partnership with Castelli Gallery and marks the 50th anniversary of the series, focusing on works from 1973 to 1983. It includes loans from major museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Broad, and the National Gallery of Art, as well as works from Johns's own collection. Highlights include pieces from his "Corpse and Mirror" series, "Weeping Women," and all six "Between the Clock and the Bed" paintings.
Yukako Yamashita will step down as director of Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) after leading the fair since 2022. The four-day event, which concluded at the Kyoto International Conference Center, featured 72 galleries from 19 countries and regions, with 29 Japan-based galleries hosting 30 international galleries in shared booths—its largest edition yet. Highlights included Annely Juda Fine Art's sale of three David Hockney works and Kurimanzutto selling 75 percent of its solo booth with artist WangShui. The fair also launched the Bangkok Collaborate Kyoto Fellowship, awarding WangShui and Takuro Tamayama a residency in Bangkok. ACK will return November 6–9, 2025.
This article from Artnet News recaps a series of holiday parties and galas in the New York art world during December 2016. Highlights include the New York Botanical Garden's 18th Annual Winter Wonderland Ball, attended by Anne Hathaway, Tinsley Mortimer, and Andrew Warren; artnet's own holiday party featuring the Bumbys and a magician; ACRIA's 21st Annual Holiday Dinner honoring the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and actress Judith Light; and Project for Empty Space's Winter Bacchanal Benefit, which presented the first Badass Art Woman Awards to curators Rujeko Hockley, Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, and Deana Haggag.
This week's art industry roundup covers major personnel shifts, fair announcements, and institutional news. Phillips named Robert Manley chairman for Modern and contemporary art and Miety Heiden chairman for private sales after the departures of Cheyenne Westphal and Jean-Paul Engelen. Art Basel Paris announced 203 galleries for its October fair at the Grand Palais, while Kiaf Seoul will host 176 exhibitors in September. Tony Karman is stepping down as director of Expo Chicago after 14 years. Pace Gallery added Friedrich Kunath, Galerie Nordenhake signed Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, and Sylvia Kouvali now represents Luigi Zuccheri. Ariel Pittman is launching a new Los Angeles gallery, Official Welcome. The Louvre will return 258 works from Adèle de Rothschild's bequest to the Fondation des Artistes. President Trump dismissed Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet over DEI support, though his authority is questioned. The Centre Pompidou announced a new $240 million outpost in Brazil. The Art Institute of Chicago confirmed director James Rondeau will return after a flight incident. The Pérez Art Museum Miami appointed Karen H. Bechtel as board president. Frieze and Deutsche Bank detailed their 2025 Emerging Curators Fellowship. A rare Gustav Klimt portrait of an African prince was offered for €15 million.
Hauser & Wirth has sold its Upper East Side townhouse at 32 East 69th Street for $10.5 million to a developer, ending a decades-long presence in the neighborhood. The property, purchased in the 1990s as a family residence, was renovated by architect Annabelle Selldorf and later used as gallery space from 2009, hosting exhibitions by artists like Pope.L, Anna Maria Maiolino, Luchita Hurtado, and Arshile Gorky. Gallery co-founder Iwan Wirth cited a shift in the family's center of gravity to Chelsea and the business's expansion downtown with new locations on West 18th Street and Wooster Street in SoHo.
The Metropolitan Opera House is hosting an exhibition titled “Super Duper,” featuring 25 works by nearly as many contemporary artists, cartoonists, and provocateurs, including Roz Chast, Art Spiegelman, Maurizio Cattelan, and Rashid Johnson. The show, commissioned to coincide with the Met Opera's premiere of *The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay*, reimagines superheroes for the 21st century, moving away from capes and spandex toward more grounded, satirical, and human figures. Except for two works by Spiegelman, all pieces were created specifically for the exhibition, which spreads across the opera house's lobbies and foyers.
Art Basel Paris is undergoing a major transformation for its third edition, officially rebranding from 'Paris+ par Art Basel' and moving into the newly renovated Grand Palais. The historic venue, fresh from a $500 million restoration, allows the fair to expand its footprint by 26 percent, hosting 194 galleries compared to last year's 154. The move includes the opening of the ornate balconies for emerging galleries and a new sector called Premise, signaling the fair's transition from a successful 'preamble' to a permanent fixture in the French capital.
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.
Art Basel returns to its Swiss namesake city from June 19 to 22, with VIP previews on June 17 and 18. The article recommends stepping outside the fair to explore top-tier exhibitions across Basel, including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's rediscovered painting 'Tanz im Varieté' (1911) at Kunstmuseum Basel, a major survey of Medardo Rosso at the same museum, and a solo show by Thomas Ott at Cartoonmuseum Basel. It also highlights Clearing gallery's off-site project 'Maison Clearing' in a private house with works by over 40 artists.
This edition of State of Play, part of Artnet Pro's Asia Pivot newsletter, reports on recent developments across Asia's art world. Taipei Dangdai Art and Ideas and Art Busan both concluded with slower sales and reduced attendance, citing economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Meanwhile, Art Basel announced a new fair in Doha for February 2026, and more Asian galleries are opening spaces in New York. In institutional news, philanthropist Yan Du is launching Yan Du Projects in London, the Simose Art Museum in Japan is hosting its first contemporary exhibition, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art has repatriated looted Zidanku Silk Manuscripts to China.
Three large-scale aluminum foil sculptures by John Chamberlain have been installed at Rockefeller Center in New York City, marking their first U.S. appearance. The works—BALMYWISECRACK (2011), FIDDLERSFORTUNE (2010), and RITZFROLIC (2008)—were scaled up from Chamberlain's original palm-sized foil sculptures with the help of fabricator Ernest Mourmans, whose workshop solved the structural challenges of recreating foil's texture in monumental form. The installation is presented by Mnuchin Gallery and coincides with a mini Chamberlain festival at Rockefeller Center this spring, with Christie's also exhibiting related works.
Artist Josh Kline has sparked intense debate across the New York art world with his viral essay, "New York Real Estate and the Ruin of American Art," published in the journal October. The text serves as a scathing critique of the current state of the American art industry, diagnosing it as "sick" due to skyrocketing real estate costs, systemic power imbalances, and a market that has become an unsustainable "conveyor belt" of commercial painting. Kline argues that the economic pressures of post-pandemic New York have made the city a hostile environment for experimental and conceptual practices.
Marc Restellini’s Institut Restellini is set to release a definitive six-volume catalogue raisonné for Amedeo Modigliani after four decades of research. The publication, which includes 100 newly authenticated works, utilizes a rigorous methodology combining advanced scientific analysis—such as spectrometry and carbon-14 dating—with traditional stylistic evaluation and archival documentation. To mark the launch, Pace Gallery will host events in London and New York in April.
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Gagosian London is hosting an exhibition of all 126 photographs from Nan Goldin’s seminal work, "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency," to mark the 40th anniversary of the photobook's publication. The exhibition traces the evolution of the project from its origins as a DIY slideshow performance in New York nightclubs to its status as a cornerstone of contemporary photography, featuring intimate portraits of Goldin’s inner circle across New York, Berlin, and beyond.
Rana Begum’s solo exhibition, "Reflection," is currently on view at the Gallery at Windsor in Vero Beach, Florida, following its debut at the SCAD Museum of Art. The exhibition showcases Begum’s signature style, which utilizes industrial materials like metal bars and reflectors to create elegant abstractions influenced by American Minimalism and Islamic architecture. The show traces her journey from a young immigrant in the UK to a Royal Academician, highlighting her ability to manipulate light and color through geometric forms.
High Line Art and the Chanel Culture Fund have launched a partnership to co-commission rising artists working in digital and time-based media for High Line Originals, a film series hosted at the High Line Channel in Manhattan. The fourth cycle begins September 10 with the premiere of Frank Wang Yefeng's "Groundless Flower – ཨ" (2025), and the program shifts from a biannual to an annual commissioning cycle. Additional U.S. premieres by Cao Fei, Lu Yang, and Jakob Kudsk Steenson will screen on September 8 and 9, with a group show featuring Petra Cortright in November 2025.
ARTnews reporter Daniel Cassady recounts his experience navigating the nightlife and social events surrounding Art Basel Miami Beach 2024. The article details his week from Monday to Wednesday, including parties at Untitled Art's venue at The Moore, a dinner at Joe's Stone Crab hosted by dealer Rob Dimin, Gagosian's party at Mr. Chow, and late-night gatherings at Casa Tua and Mac's Club Deuce. He spotlights art-world figures such as dealer Lindsey Jarvis, collector Beth DeWoody, and artist Lucy de Kooning Villeneuve, while noting the chaotic, phone-thieving atmosphere of the Deuce.
Abu Dhabi Art (ADA) held its final edition at Manarat Al Saadiyat before transitioning into a Frieze franchise in November 2025. The fair featured 53 new galleries, a Focus sector highlighting art scenes from Nigeria, Turkey, and South Asia, and a new Emerge section offering discounted booth prices for works under $3,000 to attract emerging collectors. The shift comes as Abu Dhabi’s cultural landscape moves beyond its iconic Saadiyat Island museums—Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi—toward more grassroots ventures like the MiZa warehouse district, which hosts experimental spaces such as MamarLab and Iris Projects. Mega-gallery Pace returned after a 14-year absence, citing renewed energy in the Gulf market.
The International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca’ Pesaro in Venice will host a major solo exhibition of works by British painter Jenny Saville in 2026, coinciding with the Venice Biennale. The show, curated by Elisabetta Barisoni, will run from March 28 to November 22 and feature around 30 paintings spanning Saville's career from the 1990s to the present, including a new series inspired by Venice. Mega-gallery Gagosian, which represents Saville, is supporting the exhibition.
Greece's culture minister Lina Mendoni has publicly criticized the British Museum for hosting a lavish £2,000-a-ticket Pink Ball near the Elgin Marbles, attended by celebrities including Mick Jagger, Naomi Campbell, and Janet Jackson. Mendoni accused the museum of showing 'provocative indifference' by using the ancient Greek sculptures as mere 'decorative elements' for entertainment, echoing similar criticism from a fashion show held in the same gallery last year. Separately, disgraced Miami art dealer Les Roberts, previously charged with selling forged Andy Warhols, has opened a shop called Labubu Headquarters in Coconut Grove selling collectible monster figurines, despite bond conditions restricting him from working in the art industry. The article also reports that Richard Diebenkorn's estate has joined Gagosian, the J. Paul Getty Trust and the World Economic Forum will host a cultural table during Art Basel Paris, and Interpol has added stolen Louvre jewelry to its database.
Sotheby's will host a landmark exhibition in Abu Dhabi on October 1-2, 2025, at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, showcasing masterworks by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, René Magritte, and Camille Pissarro, collectively valued at $150 million. This marks the first public fine art exhibition ever staged by Sotheby's in Abu Dhabi and the most valuable presentation the auction house has held in the Middle East. Separately, Larry Gagosian discussed the art market recession at Puck's Art of Influence conference, noting that private sales are rising as collectors shy away from auction houses. Other news includes controversy over Cai Guo-Qiang's performance in Tibet, a curator fleeing Thailand over arrest fears, and declining sales at Sydney Contemporary.
ARTnews sent correspondents Daniel Cassady and George Nelson to cover the social scene at Art Basel, documenting their experiences across three nights of parties, dinners, and cocktail hours. Cassady's journey was marred by travel delays, but he eventually attended a dinner hosted by Thaddaeus Ropac at Safran Zunft, a garden party by Sean Kelly Gallery, and a late-night gathering organized by multiple galleries. Nelson arrived smoothly and joined Cassady for drinks, noting the challenges of street noise and cabbage smells near their Airbnb.
Hauser & Wirth has announced global representation of Spanish sculptor Cristina Iglesias, who will depart Marian Goodman Gallery after over two decades. The gallery will feature her new work "Entwined VI" at Art Basel this month and host a solo exhibition at its London gallery in October. Separately, Rio de Janeiro's National Museum of Brazil is temporarily reopening three galleries seven years after a devastating fire destroyed 90% of its collection, showcasing surviving artifacts like the Bendegó meteorite. Meanwhile, staff at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art have been protesting daily since April over the war in Gaza, reflecting broader protests across Israel.
Lorna Simpson's paintings are the subject of a new survey exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, titled "Source Notes," on view through November 2. The show features over 20 paintings created between 2014 and 2024, marking the first exhibition to survey Simpson's output in this medium. Curated by Lauren Rosati, the exhibition aims to provide an overview of her painterly practice while connecting it to her collage work, with two vitrines displaying her collages to illustrate the fluidity between the two practices. Simpson, best known for her photography from the 1980s, debuted her paintings at the 2015 Venice Biennale organized by the late curator Okwui Enwezor.
Two major New York art fairs—NADA New York and Independent—opened this week alongside Frieze and TEFAF, marking a crowded spring fair season. Despite a recent market downturn, both fairs reported strong attendance and early sales. NADA's executive director Heather Hubbs noted high-quality visitors and positive feedback on the new venue, while Independent founder Elizabeth Dee cited a 20% increase in opening-day attendance and robust buying from collectors and institutions. Sales ranged from lower-priced works under $50,000 to six-figure transactions, with galleries like Vielmetter Los Angeles, Andréhn-Schiptjenko, and Fleisher/Ollman Gallery reporting significant sales.
The artist Michael Armitage opens a monographic exhibition titled 'The Promise of Change' at Venice's Palazzo Grassi, featuring 46 large paintings and nearly 100 sketches that survey his past decade of work. At 42, Armitage is the youngest artist to receive a solo show at the palazzo, which is owned by François Pinault and has previously hosted Albert Oehlen, Luc Tuymans, and Marlene Dumas. The exhibition highlights Armitage's fusion of East African and Western European artistic influences, drawing on his upbringing in Kenya and his training at London's Byam Shaw School of Art, the Slade, and the Royal Academy.
Jupiter Artland, a sculpture park and gallery near Edinburgh, Scotland, is hosting the exhibition "Extraction" (through July 26), which examines the impact of fossil fuel extraction on landscapes and culture. Set against a backdrop of historic shale oil bings, North Sea oil pipelines, and modern wind farms, the show features five artists who explore energy histories through nuanced, non-polemical lenses. Glasgow-born painter Siobhan McLaughlin uses earth pigments gathered from the nearby Five Sisters Bing to create works like "Date of Exhaustion" (2025) and "Pioneer Species" (2025), turning mining waste into art that reflects on memory, ecology, and regeneration.
James Cohan Gallery, a mid-sized New York gallery, is representing four artists in the 61st Venice Biennale's central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The artists are Ranti Bam, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Kennedy Yanko, and Yinka Shonibare (whose Guest Artists Space Foundation is also participating). This marks a breakthrough for the gallery, which has more artists in the central exhibition than any of the four mega-galleries—Gagosian, Pace, David Zwirner, and Hauser & Wirth—none of which have as many. The gallery is investing heavily in production, logistics, travel, and events, including a luncheon at the St. Regis Hotel co-hosted with Salon 94 and Esther Schipper, and a dinner thrown by collector Pamela Joyner for Yanko.
The 61st Venice Biennale is underway, with art world figures flocking to Venice for the opening. While the Biennale is officially a non-selling curatorial platform, commercial interests are increasingly visible: galleries are funding artists' projects to recoup investments, auction houses like Christie's are hosting private selling exhibitions (including a 'Ghost Pavilion' at the Ca' Dario Palazzo), and fashion houses such as Bottega Veneta and Chanel are sponsoring events. Sotheby's has pulled support for the U.S. Pavilion, which is now crowdfunding, while Frieze is bankrolling the British Pavilion for a second time.