A Work Gifted to David Drake’s Descendants Is the Star of Theaster Gates’s Powerful Gagosian Show

Artist Theaster Gates has gifted a 19th-century vessel by enslaved potter David Drake to Drake's descendants and made this act of restitution the centerpiece of his solo exhibition at Gagosian in New York. The show, titled "Dave: All My Relations," features Gates's own artworks responding to Drake's legacy and the recently transferred pot, highlighting Gates's decades-long engagement with Drake as a foundational figure for his own practice.

Theaster Gates gifts David Drake pot from his collection to enslaved ceramicist’s descendants

Artist Theaster Gates has gifted a 19th-century ceramic vessel by the enslaved potter David Drake, known as Dave the Potter, to Drake's descendants. The gesture is part of Gates's exhibition "Dave: All My Relations" at Gagosian in New York, which also features a second Drake pot recently restituted by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gates pulverized 45 of his own ceramic works to create a plinth for the vessel, framing the act as a "poetic justice" that elevates Drake's legacy above his own.

biggest museums moments 2025

The past year saw major museum events dominated by high-stakes thefts and political interference. The Louvre in Paris suffered a shocking $102 million jewel heist in broad daylight, leading to arrests and an €80 million security overhaul. Other European museums, including the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, were also targeted, raising fears of an organized criminal network.

robert longo pace gallery review

Artist Robert Longo presents a new exhibition at Pace Gallery, featuring his signature large-scale, hyperrealistic drawings that address themes of brutality, conflict, and protest. The show is a revised version of a 2023 exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum, with works based on media images of events such as the war in Ukraine, Black Lives Matter protests, and migrant crises. The article critically examines several pieces, including "Untitled (Ferguson Police, August 13, 2014)" and "Untitled (Refugees at Mediterranean Sea, Sub-Saharan Migrants, July 25, 2017)," arguing that Longo's manipulations of source photographs result in melodramatic and dishonest representations.

Hirshhorn Museum Director Melissa Chiu Leaves for Guggenheim, Another Smithsonian Departure

Melissa Chiu has been appointed as the new director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, departing her long-standing role at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Starting September 1, Chiu will report to Mariët Westermann, CEO of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, effectively splitting the leadership responsibilities previously held by Richard Armstrong. During her decade-long tenure at the Hirshhorn, Chiu was known for staging massive blockbuster exhibitions, including the record-breaking Yayoi Kusama "Infinity Mirror Rooms" show, though she also faced criticism for commercial ventures like a reality TV competition.

open art museum directorships in the united states list

A significant number of American art museums are currently without a permanent director, or will soon be. Recent departures include Sally Tallant from the Queens Museum to lead London's Hayward Gallery, and David Brenneman from Telfair Museums due to a medical condition. Other high-profile vacancies include the National Portrait Gallery, MOCA Los Angeles, the New Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Clark Art Institute, the Newark Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among many others across various budget sizes and regions.

Exhibition | Tristan Unrau, 'Hopes and Fears' at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, United States

David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles presents 'Hopes and Fears,' a solo exhibition of new paintings by Tristan Unrau from March 19 to April 25, 2026. This is the artist's first show with the gallery and his most ambitious presentation to date, occupying three spaces at the venue.

how shaker design crafts visions of heaven on earth

A new exhibition at Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art, titled “The Shakers: A World in the Making,” brings historic Shaker objects into dialogue with contemporary art, including newly commissioned works. The show, a collaboration with the Vitra Design Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Shaker Museum, coincides with the release of the film *The Testament of Ann Lee* and focuses on Shaker values such as craft, patience, and care rather than their more controversial principles like celibacy and gender segregation. Featured artists include Amie Cunat, who created a contemplative cardboard meetinghouse, and Christien Meindertsma, who uses Shaker basket-making techniques for willow burial vessels.

kim sajet milwaukee art museum

Kim Sajet, former director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG), has been appointed as the new director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, starting September 22. She left the NPG in June after a high-profile clash with President Donald Trump over diversity initiatives and funding. Sajet brings extensive experience from museums in the Netherlands and Australia, and during her 12-year tenure at the NPG, she doubled attendance and raised $85 million. She replaces Marcelle Polednik, who departed in May after nine years.

Christo, Jeanne-Claude | The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (1976-2020) | Art & Prints

An auction listing for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's limited edition print 'The Pont-Neuf Wrapped' (1976-2020) has closed. The work is an archival digital print on wove paper, part of an edition of 450, accompanied by the exhibition book 'Christo et Jeanne-Claude Paris!'. The listing includes details on the artists' legacy, their monumental public projects like 'The Gates' and 'Wrapped Reichstag', and notes that similar works by Christo are available for purchase from various galleries.

Art Card: Helen Frankenthaler at the Milwaukee Art Museum (Hand Signed by Helen Frankenthaler) , 1985

A rare, hand-signed offset lithograph invitation card from a 1985 Helen Frankenthaler exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum has surfaced on the market. The two-sided card, which served as an invitation for the show "Frankenthaler, Works on Paper, 1949-1984," was signed by the artist in ink during her talk at the opening reception on October 3, 1985. It is currently presented in a double-sided frame to preserve the integrity of the signature and the exhibition text.

Art in Wisconsin—The Art Geography of Wisconsin

This article maps the art geography of Wisconsin, focusing on the southeastern region near Milwaukee, Chicago, and the state capital Madison. It highlights cultural venues in Kenosha and Racine, including Lemon Street Gallery, Anderson Arts Center, Carthage College, UW Parkside's Rita Tallent Picken Regional Center, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, and the Racine Art Museum (RAM), which is nationally recognized for its Contemporary Craft collection. The piece also notes a partnership between RAM and ArtRoot to install a permanent art collection at Hotel Verdant in downtown Racine, featuring works by local artists, many of whom are past RAM Artist Fellowship recipients or faculty at area schools.

With Her First Solo Museum Show in the US, Widline Cadet Conjures Scenes She Can’t Quite Remember

Photographer Widline Cadet has opened her first solo museum exhibition in the United States, titled "Currents 40: Widline Cadet," at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The show, on view through August 9, 2026, features 52 photos and videos that explore her family's migration story from Haiti to the United States. Cadet's installation includes a recreated Haitian living room with plastic flowers, ceramic angels, and a wall-size portrait of her father, blending reality and fantasy to evoke fragmented memories of home.

Gladstone now represent The Estate of Anna Zemánková

Gladstone Gallery has announced its representation of The Estate of Anna Zemánková, a self-taught Czech artist known for her influential abstract works that explore psychological and spiritual realms. The gallery will collaborate with Cavin-Morris Gallery and plans to present a solo booth of Zemánková's work at TEFAF New York from May 14–19, 2026, following a spring 2025 exhibition in New York featuring her botanical drawings and works on paper. Zemánková, a key figure in Art Brut, created untitled, biomorphic works rooted in the subconscious, often compared to artists like Kunz and Hilma af Klint.

6 Objects That Capture Everything Brilliant and Strange About the Shakers

The Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia has opened a new exhibition titled "A World in the Making: The Shakers," which places the work of seven contemporary artists alongside over 100 historical Shaker objects. The show, a collaboration with the Vitra Design Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum, draws heavily from the collection of the Shaker Museum in New York to explore the community's legacy of radical simplicity, order, and purpose.

national portrait gallery spielberg jamie dimon

The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., will debut an exhibition titled “Portrait of a Nation: 2025 Honorees” on December 12, featuring newly commissioned and acquired portraits of filmmaker Steven Spielberg, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, scientist Temple Grandin, and poet Joy Harjo. The show follows a fundraising gala and includes works by Kate Capshaw, Jason Alden, Joel Daniel Phillips, and David Lenz, with the Spielberg portrait combining oil painting and film projection.

Meet the ‘Bop Artist’ Who Was Inspired by Dreams and Hosted Some Surreal Salons in Her Chicago Brownstone

Gertrude Abercrombie, a self-taught Chicago painter dubbed the "bop artist" by jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie for translating the spirit of bebop into visual art, is receiving her largest-ever traveling retrospective. The exhibition, "Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery," organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum, highlights her dream-inspired, surrealist paintings and celebrates her role as a bohemian salon hostess who brought together iconic jazz musicians and writers in her home.

150 photos depict 185 years of the US mining industry in world-first historical exhibition

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present "Beneath the Surface," a world-first photographic exhibition dedicated to 185 years of the U.S. mining and natural resource extraction industries. Featuring 150 images from 100 photographers, the show spans from California Gold Rush daguerreotypes to 20th-century industrial documentation, including works by Dorothea Lange and Lewis Wickes Hine. The exhibition will be on view at the National Gallery from May 23 to August 23, 2026, before traveling to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Free-speech groups celebrate return of Sally Mann photos seized from Fort Worth museum

Free-speech groups announced that four photographs by Sally Mann, seized by Fort Worth Police from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in January 2025, have been returned. The police removed the images following allegations that they constituted child pornography, but a Tarrant County Grand Jury found no grounds for further action. The photos were part of the exhibition *Diaries of Home*, which featured work by women and nonbinary artists. The seizure drew widespread criticism from organizations including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship, who called it an abuse of government power and a violation of the First Amendment.

art shaker museum ica philadelphia hauser wirth

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia will present the exhibition “A World in the Making: The Shakers” starting January 31, co-organized with the Vitra Design Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Wüstenrot Foundation, and the Shaker Museum. The show explores the design legacy of the Shakers, a religious sect founded by Ann Lee that built egalitarian communes across the American Northeast and Midwest, through furniture, clothing, tools, architectural pieces, gift drawings, and a dance performance choreographed by Reggie Wilson. The Shaker Museum is also planning a new campus in Chatham, New York, designed by Selldorf Architects, set to open in 2028, and artist Suzanne Bocanegra and actor Frances McDormand will open a related show at Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles on November 20.

kim sajet milwaukee art museum director

Kim Sajet has been appointed as the new director of the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM), starting September 22. The announcement comes shortly after Sajet was ousted as director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. During her 12-year tenure there, she doubled attendance, raised over $85 million, and oversaw major capital improvements. Sajet previously held leadership roles at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Spring Gallery Night MKE: 7 Art Exhibits to See

Milwaukee’s art scene is celebrating its seasonal renewal with Spring Gallery Night MKE, a city-wide event featuring over 60 participating galleries across neighborhoods like the Third Ward and Walker’s Point. The weekend-long program highlights diverse local talent through curated exhibitions, including Var Gallery’s "30x30x30" creative marathon, a Surrealist-inspired group show at Portrait Society Gallery, and the expansive MIAD Senior Exhibition featuring over 200 graduating students.

American Miners Photo Exhibition 'Beneath the Surface' Tour: National Gallery (DC)-Milwaukee Art Museum-Amon Carter Museum (Fort Worth, TX)

미국의 광부들 사진전 'Beneath the Surface' 순회: 내셔널 갤러리(DC)-밀워키미술관-에이먼카터미술관(포트워스, TX)

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present 'Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography' from May 23 to August 23, 2026, the first exhibition to focus exclusively on the relationship between resource extraction and American photography. Featuring 150 photographs by over 100 artists—including Richard Avedon, Walker Evans, Lewis Hine, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks—the show spans nearly 200 years, from early daguerreotypes of the California Gold Rush to contemporary large-scale works. After its Washington run, the exhibition will travel to the Milwaukee Art Museum (October 23, 2026–January 18, 2027) and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas (February 14–May 9, 2027).

Bilingual Catacombs of Neto Art Museum is much more than art on a wall

Milwaukee's Third Ward now hosts The Catacombs of Neto Art Museum, a bilingual museum-gallery hybrid founded by artist-couple Ernesto Atkinson and Jenny Urbanek. Housed in the Marshall building's basement tunnels, the one-and-a-half-year-old space serves as a permanent home for Atkinson's work, which he previously stored in his basement. The couple, inspired by visits to sites like Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona and the Milwaukee Art Museum, conceived the museum as a "sacred resting place" where art comes alive through viewer interaction. Atkinson, a licensed art therapist, integrates psychological and wellness elements into the museum, which also functions as a gallery, educational space, community hub, and introduction to art therapy.

Scholastic Art Awards – Wisconsin Exhibition Opens January 31 at the Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum is opening the 2026 Scholastic Art Awards: Wisconsin Exhibition, showcasing over 350 award-winning works by students in grades 7–12 from across the state. The exhibition, which runs from January 31 to March 15, marks the 50th anniversary of the museum hosting this prestigious student competition.

Trump administration puts renewed pressure on Smithsonian to turn over materials for review

The Trump administration has given the Smithsonian Institution a deadline of January 13 to turn over materials related to a review of programming at eight of its museums, as outlined in a December 18 letter from White House officials Vince Haley and Russell Vought. The review stems from a March 2025 executive order titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which accused the Smithsonian of promoting a "divisive, race-centered ideology." Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch noted that some requested materials are not readily available and will require significant effort to compile, while the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors have expressed confidence in the Smithsonian's commitment to professional standards.

How Gertrude Abercrombie and her Magic Realist cohorts shifted the dial on American Regionalism

A new exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 'Gertrude and Friends: The Wisconsin Magic Realists,' highlights a group of artists active in the Midwest from the early 1940s who challenged the dominant American Regionalism aesthetic. The show features 17 works by artists including John Wilde, Karl Priebe, Sylvia Fein, Marshall Glasier, and Dudley Huppler, who were friends and correspondents of the eccentric painter Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-77). The exhibition is designed as a companion to a major Abercrombie retrospective that is currently touring the United States, having originated at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art and now on view at the Colby College Museum of Art.

11 must-see works in MAM's new Bradley Collection exhibition

The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) has opened a new exhibition titled "The Bradley Collection of Modern Art: A Bold Vision for Milwaukee" in the Baker/Rowland Galleries, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Peg Bradley's donation of nearly 400 works to the museum. The show features highlights from the collection, including pieces by Wassily Kandinsky, Raoul Dufy, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, alongside works by American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Andy Warhol. The exhibition offers visitors a chance to see these works in a new setting and learn more about Bradley as a collector and philanthropist.

Smithsonian leader asserts ‘authority over our programming’ in letters to staff and Trump White House

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III sent letters to the White House and staff asserting the institution's independence after President Donald Trump ordered a comprehensive review of eight Smithsonian museums. The review, initiated by an August 12 White House letter, targets exhibitions, collections, and programming for alleged bias and divisive content. Bunch stated the Smithsonian is conducting its own internal review to ensure nonpartisan, factual programming, emphasizing that the institution retains authority over its content. The letters follow Trump's social media attack on the Smithsonian and an earlier executive order directing Vice President J.D. Vance to remove what the administration calls 'race-centred ideology.'

Vitra Design Museum celebrates the enduring influence of egalitarian religious sect, the Shakers

The Vitra Design Museum in Germany has opened "The Shakers: A World in the Making," an exhibition exploring the minimalist designs and democratic beliefs of the Shakers, an egalitarian religious sect founded in the 18th century. Organized with the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, and Germany's Wüstenrot Foundation in collaboration with the Shaker Museum in Chatham, New York, the show features historic Shaker objects like oval boxes and ladder-back chairs alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists including Amie Cunat, David Hartt, and Kameelah Janan Rasheed.