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Rachel Harrison's recent exhibition "The Friedmann Equations" at Greene Naftali in New York was a highlight of 2025, featuring her signature brainy, oblique, and funny sculptures and drawings. The show included works alluding to Marcel Duchamp and his alter-ego Rrose Sélavy, as well as drawings riffing on Hans Holbein's portraits of Henry VIII and his court. During a visit to the gallery, Harrison's dealer Carol Greene handed the author a copy of Harrison's new children's book, "Hold Still, Henry!", which reproduces those Holbein-inspired drawings in a board-book format for young readers. The book is published by Rookie Books, a small press founded in 2022 by artist Camillo Paravicini of Basel, Switzerland, who has previously worked with artists like Monster Chetwynd, Martin Parr, and Nathalie Du Pasquier.

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Sotheby's London modern and contemporary evening sale brought in $85.7 million, down from $105 million last year, with highlights including a $10 million Tamara de Lempicka and a record $9.6 million auction result for Jenny Saville's drawing 'Mirror'. In other market news, a crowdfunding campaign raised over £100,000 to help Bristol Museum acquire a rediscovered J.M.W. Turner painting, and a Tiffany Studio window sold for $4.2 million at Christie's. Galleries announced new representation deals: James Cohan now represents Ranti Bam, Maruani Mercier represents Kate Gottgens, and Yancey Richardson represents Karen Gunderson; Ronchini gallery is moving to a new Mayfair location. Tate launched a £150 million endowment fund, the Louvre announced an international architectural competition to address overcrowding, the Uffizi imposed selfie restrictions after a tourist damaged a painting, the Cleveland Museum of Art acquired a rare Giambologna marble, and Italy's culture minister pledged support for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

Manitoba Anishinaabe Artist Designs Moon Patch; Uffizi Targeted by Cyberattack

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Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond has designed a mission patch for Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen to wear during the Artemis II lunar mission. The artwork features seven symbolic animals representing the Seven Sacred Laws of Anishinaabe custom, intended as a universal message for humanity that will literally travel beyond Earth's orbit.

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A 17th-century portrait of Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici was damaged at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence when a tourist attempted to take a photo mimicking the prince's pose. The young Italian man tripped over a barrier, fell onto the painting, and tore the canvas. Security cameras captured the incident, and the tourist has been identified and reported to police, potentially facing criminal charges and repair costs.

Artemisia Gentileschi Masterpiece Goes to Auction—Without Its Face

The Dorotheum auction house in Vienna is set to auction a rare, autograph replica of Artemisia Gentileschi’s 'St. Mary Magdalen' (c. 1620) that is missing its central focus: the saint's face. Discovered in a private German cellar in 2011 and likely mutilated during the looting of postwar Berlin, the fragment has been authenticated by experts Roberto Contini and Riccardo Lattuada. Despite the missing section, infrared analysis confirms Gentileschi’s hand, and the work is estimated to fetch between $120,000 and $170,000.

Tintoretto Genesis Cycle Restored

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Four paintings from Tintoretto’s 16th-century “Stories from Genesis” cycle have been reunited in Venice for the first time in two centuries following an extensive restoration. The exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia features three works from the museum’s permanent collection alongside a crucial loan from the Uffizi Galleries, all of which underwent a year-long conservation process to remove centuries of darkened varnish and grime.

Italian Renaissance masterpieces debut in Beijing exhibition

An exhibition titled 'Homage to the Virtuosos: From Leonardo da Vinci to Caravaggio - Masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance' has opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, featuring 36 Renaissance masterpieces from Italy's Uffizi Galleries. The show includes works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio, with many pieces traveling to China for the first time. The exhibition is jointly curated by the National Art Museum of China and the Uffizi Galleries, and is divided into three thematic sections tracing the evolution of Renaissance painting, from early Florentine masters through Mannerism to Venetian and Caravaggio's revolutionary works.

Influencer, politician, museum director: what Eike Schmidt did next

Eike Schmidt, the German-born museum director who led Florence's Uffizi Galleries from 2015, has taken on a series of high-profile and controversial roles. After restructuring the Uffizi and nearly leaving for Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum in 2019, he stayed on, then moved to Naples' Museo di Capodimonte in 2024. Months later, he ran for mayor of Florence as a centre-right independent backed by far-right parties, losing in a run-off. Now settled at Capodimonte, he reflects on his unpredictable career with no regrets.

Uffizi director to ‘limit’ selfies after posing visitor damages 18th-century painting

The director of the Uffizi Galleries in Florence announced plans to restrict selfies after a tourist damaged an 18th-century portrait while posing for a photograph. The visitor was mimicking the pose of Ferdinando de' Medici in a 1712 painting by Anton Domenico Gabbiani when he stumbled backward, tore the canvas, and left a hole near the prince's boot. The painting has been removed for repair, and the tourist will be prosecuted. The incident follows a similar event at Palazzo Maffei in Verona, where a visitor damaged a crystal-studded sculpture by Nicola Bolla.

Meloni takes control of Italian museums

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Italy’s culture ministry under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has appointed 14 new directors for so-called “second-tier” museums, reinforcing a shift away from the international “super-director” model introduced by the 2014 Franceschini reform. All appointees are Italian except for French director Axel Hémery, who was reappointed at the Pinacoteca di Siena due to his strong performance. The move follows the earlier ousting of foreign directors at top-tier museums, with only two foreign-born directors—Eike Schmidt and Gabriel Zuchtriegel—remaining, both of whom hold Italian citizenship.

Italy’s Uffizi Hit by Cyberattack, Says Security Wasn’t Compromised

The Uffizi Galleries in Florence suffered a significant cyberattack in February, with hackers reportedly stealing access codes, internal maps, CCTV camera information, and the institution's entire photographic archive. The attackers issued a ransom demand to director Simone Verde. In response, the museum moved valuable jewels to the Bank of Italy, sealed emergency exits at the Palazzo Pitti with bricks, and closed a section of the palace, though it attributes some actions to planned renovations and fire-safety compliance.

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Workers at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence staged a protest in the Piazzale degli Uffizi, waving flags and holding flares behind a banner reading “Basta Vite Precarie” (No More Precarious Lives). The demonstration, organized by the trade union Sudd Cobas, followed the loss of jobs by temporary workers in security, reception, ticketing, the bookshop, and the coatroom after the museum switched service providers from Opera Laboratori Fiorentini to CoopCulture. Permanent employees retained their positions, but temporary workers were not rehired, sparking outrage over working conditions and contract practices.

Martin Schongauer, at the Louvre the exhibition on the master of the late Middle Ages

The Louvre Museum is hosting a major retrospective dedicated to Martin Schongauer, a pivotal German artist of the late 15th century, running from April 8 to July 20, 2026. Titled "Martin Schongauer: Le bel immortel," the exhibition features approximately one hundred works, including his world-renowned engravings, rare paintings like the "Virgin in the Rose Garden," and intricate drawings. Curated by Pantxika Béguerie de Paepe and Hélène Grollemund, the show traces Schongauer’s evolution from a goldsmith’s son in Colmar to a master who bridged the gap between Gothic tradition and Renaissance innovation.

Acquisitions round-up: a rare early Italian portrait of a Black man, a record-breaking Kiddush cup, and a limewood sculpture of the Madonna

The Uffizi Galleries in Florence have acquired Giacomo Ceruti's "Il mendicante moro" (1725–30), one of the earliest known portraits of a Black man in Italian painting. The Toledo Museum of Art has purchased a rare 11th-12th century Kiddush cup that set an auction record for Judaica at Sotheby's for $4m. The Bode-Museum in Berlin has acquired a limewood sculpture of the nursing Madonna from the Circle of the Biberach Master, which was restituted to the heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt in 2023 and sold at Christie's in 2024.