Makeda Best has been appointed as the new chief curator of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), starting in September. She comes from the Oakland Museum of California, where she served as deputy director of curatorial affairs, and previously held the role of photography curator at the Harvard Art Museums. The Asian Cultural Council awarded over $1.6 million in grants to 70 grantees across four fellowship categories. Additionally, Pace Gallery cut 50 artists and laid off 50 workers in what CEO Marc Glimcher called a "model correction," and a painting attributed to a follower of Hieronymus Bosch sold for $537,600 at Sotheby's, more than ten times its high estimate.
This article matters because it captures several key currents in the art world: major institutional leadership changes at a flagship museum, significant philanthropic support for cross-cultural artistic exchange, and a volatile art market where galleries are restructuring while auction prices for historical works soar. The appointment of Best, a scholar with deep roots in photography and a PhD from Harvard, signals MoMA's continued commitment to scholarly rigor in its photography department after a leadership gap since 2022. The record-breaking sale of the Bosch-follower painting also reflects the enduring appeal of Old Masters and the influence of digital image culture on auction dynamics.