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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.

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The New York Gallery History Project, a partnership between Independent and Contemporary Art Library, has launched the digital archives of Jay Gorney Modern Art, a seminal New York gallery that operated from 1985 to 1998. The archive includes documentation of landmark exhibitions such as Lari Pittman's first New York solo show, Nan Goldin's first prints of "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency" (1985), and shows by Catherine Opie, Barbara Bloom, and others. The project also collects material from other closed galleries like Foxy Production, Off Vendome, and Paradise Garage to preserve art history that might otherwise be lost.

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This week's art industry roundup covers a postponement, financial losses, legal disputes, and leadership changes. New Jersey's Art Fair 14C has been postponed to May 2027, with organizers citing capacity issues unrelated to market conditions. Bonhams reported a 90% pre-tax loss jump to £213 million in 2024 due to impairment charges. A rediscovered Watteau drawing will be auctioned at Christie's Paris, and personal items of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are featured in Christie's 'American Collector' sales. In galleries, Amy Sillman left Gladstone for David Zwirner, Trevor Paglen joined Jessica Silverman, and Maya Hewitt joined Theta. The Louvre partially closed after a staff strike demanding director Laurence des Cars' resignation and reassessment of a renovation plan. Belgium's plan to dismantle Antwerp's M HKA museum has sparked resignations and backlash. New appointments include Will Cary as COO of the Barnes Foundation and Patton Hindle as director of arts at the Knight Foundation. MATHAF museum in Doha announced a campus expansion by architect Lina Ghotmeh. Legal disputes emerged between Gian Enzo Sperone and Angela Westwater over the shuttered Sperone Westwater gallery.

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Mel Leipzig, a painter known for his intensely detailed, realistic portraits of everyday people and places, died on November 1 at age 90. Over a career spanning more than five decades, the Brooklyn-born artist taught at Mercer County Community College from 1968 to 2013, founded the Trenton Artist Workshop Association (TAWA) in 1979, and never painted from photographs, instead practicing what he called 'designing with reality.' His work is held by major institutions including the Whitney Museum, the National Academy Museum, and the New Jersey State Museum.

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This week's art industry roundup covers major auction results, gallery representation changes, museum leadership shifts, and a high-profile art theft. François-Xavier Lalanne's *Hippopotame Bar* sold for $31.4 million at Sotheby's Breuer headquarters, setting a record for both the artist and design works. A Tiffany Magnolia floor lamp also set a new auction record at Sotheby's, fetching $4.4 million. Meanwhile, a New Jersey auction house quietly sold over $100,000 of Jeffrey Epstein's belongings, including artworks, without disclosing his ownership. In the gallery world, several artists changed representation, and former Clearing director John Utterson joined Thaddaeus Ropac. Museum news includes the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art repatriating three Khmer-era sculptures to Cambodia, Maria Balshaw stepping down as Tate director, MoMA PS1 offering free admission starting January 1, and the Rijksmuseum planning a new branch in Eindhoven. Additionally, eight rare Matisse prints and five works by Candido Portinari were stolen from São Paulo's Mário de Andrade Library.

Art with Bite: Putting Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore’s Bravery on Display

An exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, 'Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: The Seeing Stone,' presents the collaborative and subversive work of the French artists and life partners. The show features over 200 objects, including photographs, photomontages, and manuscripts, focusing on their radical self-portraiture and resistance to gender and social norms.

Researchers Identify Enslaved Boy in Joshua Reynolds Painting

Researchers in the U.K. have identified the enslaved boy depicted in Joshua Reynolds's 1748 painting of Royal Navy lieutenant Paul Henry Ourry. For centuries known only as "Jersey," the boy has been identified as George Walker, also called Boston Jersey, through baptismal and admiralty records. Walker was baptized at age 15 in Westminster in 1752, served on HMS Monmouth and HMS Deptford, and was discharged in 1753, after which his fate remains unknown. The research, a collaboration between the National Trust, the National Gallery in London, and Royal Museums Greenwich, also used scientific analysis to reveal Reynolds's original compositional intentions.

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President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and arts organizations across the U.S. are already feeling the impact. After a White House budget request in May that excluded the NEA, dozens of institutions received abrupt termination notices for their grant applications, with the NEA citing a shift in policy priorities to focus on projects reflecting the nation's artistic heritage as prioritized by the President. In protest, many senior NEA staff resigned or were asked to retire, leaving the agency in disarray. The cuts are part of broader federal efforts to defund cultural agencies, including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which has seen a 70-80 percent staff reduction and canceled over a thousand grants. Private foundations like the Mellon Foundation and the Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol Foundations have launched emergency funding programs, but the consequences for artists, educators, and community organizations are immediate and destabilizing.

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Millea Bros. auction house in New Jersey has sold artworks and furnishings from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, generating approximately $100,000 in sales so far. The items, which include a sculpture by Arnaud Kasper and a plaster work by Tom Otterness, were photographed in Epstein's Upper East Side mansion by federal authorities. Sales began in June 2024, with a second round starting last week, though auction descriptions omit any mention of Epstein's identity, meaning buyers may unknowingly acquire pieces linked to the notorious figure. Proceeds go toward administering the estate, which must pay $121 million to the Epstein Victims' Compensation Program and has already disbursed over $50 million in direct settlements.

Montclair Art Museum Hires Esteemed Curator Kate Kraczon After Layoffs at Brown University

The Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey has appointed Kate Kraczon as its new chief curator, effective June 15. Kraczon previously served as director of exhibitions and chief curator at the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, where she was laid off in late 2024 amid a wave of cuts. She succeeds Gail Stavitsky, who held the post since 1994. The museum also recently hired Todd Caissie, an enrolled member of the Osage Nation and former director of Canada’s New Brunswick Internment Camp Museum, as its director.

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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with JFK Millennium Partners, is investing $4.2 billion to bring art from four major New York cultural institutions—the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art—into the new Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The terminal will feature loaned works from these institutions in the international arrivals corridor, plus 19 permanent site-specific installations curated by Public Art Fund and rotating local artwork curated by Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. Highlights include a 140-foot mural from Lincoln Center, an installation by Yoko Ono inspired by her 2019 work *Peace is Power* for MoMA, and installations from the other two museums. The terminal is designed by architect Stanis Smith and will include 10 gates, with the first six opening this year and completion by 2028.

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Artist Amalia Ulman shares a personal inventory of 44 objects from her home, ranging from a pigeon-shaped oven mitt and a 1920s Austrian bronze cat figurine to a telephone-shaped lamp bought from a subway vendor and a graphite portrait of her late dog Holga. The list includes quirky functional items like a cane that turns into a stool, a wooden chair that transforms into a ladder, and sentimental keepsakes such as a red pompom from Holga's casket and a bag of gravel from the dog park. The objects reflect her daily life, travels, and memories, blending humor with melancholy.

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Art advisor Ralph DeLuca, in his column "Street Smarts" for Cultured, analyzes the struggling photography market. He notes that photography auction sales have plummeted from a peak of $230.5 million in 2014 to just $116.9 million in 2024, attributing the decline partly to smartphones making photography seem effortless. DeLuca, who owns over 20,000 photographs, argues this downturn presents a rare buying opportunity for collectors to build museum-quality collections at lower prices.

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Project for Empty Space celebrated its 15th anniversary with the annual Badass Art Woman Awards at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in Manhattan. The event honored Dr. Deborah Willis, Ebony L. Haynes, and Helen Toomer, and featured performances by Mia X, Marcy De Pina, and Armana Khan, with a crowd of artists, curators, and scholars including Mickalene Thomas, Derrick Adams, and Legacy Russell.

Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: Surrealist Lovers Who Defied the German Occupation

Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: Surrealist Lovers Who Defied the German Occupation

Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, two Surrealist artists and life partners, are the focus of a new exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis. The show, titled "And I Saw New Heavens and a New Earth," presents their collaborative work, including intimate portraits and photomontages, and highlights their daring resistance activities, such as creating anti-Nazi propaganda during the German occupation of Jersey.

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Architect and designer Michael Graves has died at age 80 of natural causes at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. Known for iconic projects such as the Portland Municipal Services Building, the Denver Public Library, and the Alessi tea kettle for Target, Graves was a leading figure in postmodern architecture. His death prompted tributes from fellow architects Tod Williams and Richard Meier, who recalled his teaching at Princeton University and his influence on the field. Graves also designed the Humana Building, Team Disney building, and Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, and in later years focused on accessibility projects after becoming paralyzed from a spinal cord infection.

Story of enslaved boy featured in 1748 Joshua Reynolds portrait emerges in new study

A research project by the National Trust, the National Gallery in London, and Royal Museums Greenwich has uncovered new details about the identity of an enslaved boy known only as “Jersey,” who appears in a 1748 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The painting, which hangs at Saltram in Devon, depicts Jersey with his enslaver, naval officer and MP Paul Henry Ourry. Through admiralty records, muster books, and baptismal certificates, researchers identified the boy as “Boston Jersey,” later baptised as George Walker, and found evidence of his naval service and possible path to freedom.

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Paul Pfeiffer's studio visit reveals his ongoing exploration of media spectacles, particularly through his "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" series (2001–), which digitally isolates NBA basketball players by erasing teammates, opponents, and jersey details from archival images. The artist discusses his counterintuitive relationship to sports, his intense Christian upbringing in Hawaii and the Philippines, and the influence of horror films like "The Exorcist" on his work, which examines the religious undertones of secular activities and the mechanics of voyeurism.

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Anne Imhof, the German artist known for her sprawling performances and winner of the 2017 Venice Biennale Golden Lion, has created her first brand collaboration with Nike. She designed two rival jerseys for Nike's revived Total 90 line, inspired by the warring 'houses' from her Park Avenue Armory project *Doom: House of Hope*: a black-and-blue short-sleeve jersey for the Tigers and a red long-sleeve jersey with a wolf's head for the Wolves. The designs, realized with Zak Group, feature the Doom crest and 'Imhof 25' on the back, and were launched with a live performance by Berlin musicians Lia Lia and ATK44 during Berlin Art Week. The jerseys will be available from September 16 at Voo Berlin and Dover Street Market in London.

5 Artists on Our Radar in September 2025

Artsy's September 2025 edition of 'Artists on Our Radar' highlights five emerging artists making waves in the art world. The featured artists are Alexandre Diop (b. 1995, Senegal), a Vienna-based mixed-media artist newly represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery with a solo exhibition opening September 19; Ahrong Kim (b. 1985, South Korea), a New Jersey-based ceramic sculptor with a solo show at LaiSun Keane in Boston through September 28; and Marlon Portales (b. 1991, Cuba), a Miami-based painter represented by Spinello Projects. The article profiles each artist's background, recent exhibitions, and notable works, drawing on Artsy's data and curatorial expertise.

On View: 'Danielle McKinney: Tell Me More' at Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University is Painter's First U.S. Solo Museum Exhibition

Danielle McKinney's first solo museum exhibition in the United States, 'Danielle McKinney: Tell Me More,' has opened at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. The show features 13 intimately scaled paintings created between 2021 and 2025, depicting Black women in dimly lit domestic interiors—lounging, reading, or smoking—often nude or in robes, with saturated colors and cinematic compositions. McKinney, born in Montgomery, Alabama, and based in Jersey City, began her career as a photographer and earned an MFA from Parsons School of Design before turning to painting in 2020 during the pandemic. The exhibition is curated by Gannit Ankori, the museum's director and chief curator, and runs from August 20, 2025, to January 4, 2026.

12 things not to miss at Art Basel's bigger and better 2025 event

Art Basel's 2025 edition in Basel features a packed program across the city, including a new Shop with exclusive drops like a limited-edition porcelain Labubu by Kasing Lung, an FC Basel jersey designed by an artist, and rare prints by Daniel Arsham and Amoako Boafo. Highlights include Jordan Wolfson at Fondation Beyeler, Dala Nasser at Kunsthalle Basel, a ghost train by Rebecca Moss and Augustin Rebetez at Museum Tinguely, and the group show Maison Clearing organized by C L E A R I N G. Joyce Joumaa presents a light-based installation at Art Basel Statements, Thomas Bayrle's 1960s installation Coats appears in Parcours, and Alia Farid shows at Unlimited.

The Centre Pompidou will inaugurate its South Korean branch in a former Seoul aquarium in early June

Le Centre Pompidou inaugurera début juin son antenne sud-coréenne dans un ancien aquarium de Séoul

The Centre Pompidou has announced the official opening date for its new South Korean satellite, the Centre Pompidou Hanwha, scheduled for June 4, 2026. Located in a former aquarium within Seoul’s financial district, the 11,000-square-meter space was redesigned by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and will launch with a major cubism exhibition featuring 90 works by masters such as Picasso and Braque. The inauguration was recently marked by a site visit from French President Emmanuel Macron and key cultural officials.

Seoul’s Centre Pompidou, Three Years in the Making, Will Open in June

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha is scheduled to open in Seoul on June 4, coinciding with the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and South Korea. Housed in the iconic Tower 63 and designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the new institution is a partnership with the Hanwha Foundation of Culture. The agreement includes a four-year brand licensing deal and a schedule of eight monographic exhibitions drawn from the Pompidou’s permanent collection.

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Chinese American artist Hudson Shaoxia Zhang has been named the inaugural recipient of the U.S. Golf Art Foundation Fellowship Award, a distinction recognizing his prolific career dedicated to the intersection of sport and landscape painting. Zhang, a former art historian who authored over 40 books before returning to a dedicated studio practice, has produced more than a thousand paintings of golf courses. His work has gained significant international traction recently, with four solo exhibitions across Europe in 2024 and a major museum retrospective at the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts in 2023.

Montclair Art Museum Hires New Chief Curator Kate Kraczon

The Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey has hired Kate Kraczon as its new chief curator, replacing Gail Stavitsky. Kraczon previously served as director of exhibitions and chief curator at the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, where she was terminated last December amid university layoffs. At the Bell, she organized the only US screening of "Prisoners of Love, 2025" by Palestinian artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, and an exhibition of Julien Creuzet's work originally shown at the French Pavilion in the 2024 Venice Biennale. Before Brown, she worked as a curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Philadelphia, where she organized the 2018 show "Ree Morton: The Plant That Heals May Also Poison."

The Holy See Pavilion asks Venice Biennale Visitors to Slow Down and Listen, and Other News.

The Holy See's pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul," a multi-sensory exhibition centered on deep listening and inspired by Hildegard von Bingen, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers with Soundwalk Collective, featuring new commissions by 24 artists including Patti Smith, Brian Eno, FKA twigs, and Dev Hynes across two Venetian sites. Separately, Chanel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation have launched the Chanel Culture Fund Fellowship, a transatlantic curatorial program for postgraduate scholars at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. In other news, a father-daughter duo from New Jersey pleaded guilty to a $2 million counterfeit art scheme involving forged works attributed to Andy Warhol, Banksy, and others; Vienna's Burgtheater is offering guided scaffolding tours of Gustav Klimt's early ceiling paintings during restoration; and the sixth edition of the Head Hi Lamp Show opens in New York.

The Sixteen Best Jersey City Art Shows of 2025

The article presents a curated list of the sixteen best art shows in Jersey City from 2025, written by a critic who made a concerted effort to attend every exhibition in town over the past year. The list includes highlights such as Sarah Mueller's solo show "Reconstructions" at Art House Productions, the 5.7 Sculptors Guild exhibition spread across MORA Museum and Firmament Gallery, and Anna Collevecchio's installation at 150 Bay Street. Each entry is accompanied by descriptive commentary on the artists' techniques and thematic concerns.

Top NJ art shows of 2025: 'Indigenous Identities,' James Prosek, Tatyana Kazakova and more

This article presents a year-end roundup of the top art shows in New Jersey during 2025, curated by a Hudson County-based arts writer. The author highlights a concentration of exceptional exhibitions in Essex County, particularly in Montclair, while also noting strong shows at institutions like the Zimmerli Art Museum, Princeton University, the Morris Museum, and the Hunterdon Art Museum. Specific shows featured include "Jake Troyli: Fine Line" at Project for Empty Space in Newark and "Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias" at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, with detailed descriptions of their themes and artistic impact.

‘Step Outside’ packs Philly’s street art scene into one unique gallery space

Philadelphia's underground street art scene is stepping into the spotlight with a two-day pop-up exhibition titled 'Step Outside' at Huddle gallery in Fishtown. Organized by street artists Doomed Future and Red Hound Heavy Hammer, the show features over 75 outdoor and graffiti artists, including works by the anonymous artist Blur. The event includes live wheat-pasting, installations, and a large submission wall, aiming to replicate the subversive energy of creating art outdoors within a gallery setting.