Ben Luke hosts an episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covering three major stories. First, architect Frank Gehry, known for the Guggenheim Bilbao and Fondation Louis Vuitton, died at age 96; Luke discusses his legacy with architecture critic and Gehry biographer Paul Goldberger. Second, London's Serpentine and New York's FLAG Art Foundation announced a new £1 million prize for artists, awarding £200,000 each to five recipients over ten years—the largest contemporary art prize in the UK for a single artist. Third, the episode features Joan Semmel's painting 'Sunlight' (1978), which is part of a new exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York, with curator Rebecca Shaykin.
This episode matters because it captures a moment of both remembrance and forward momentum in the art world. Gehry's death marks the end of an era for museum architecture, while the Serpentine-FLAG prize signals a significant new funding model for contemporary artists. The focus on Joan Semmel's work also highlights ongoing institutional attention to feminist and figurative painting, underscoring the Jewish Museum's role in presenting historically underrepresented artists.