Arts news

• 5 Books to Keep Your Brain From Melting in July

  30-06-2026 21:45 via artnews.com
  
  Don’t let the summer heat waves melt your brain entirely! We hope you can retreat to an air-conditioned library or a cool body of water somewhere. If you do, check out one of July’s latest and greatest art books below.
  
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• Christie’s Old Masters Sale in London Totals $48.7 M. as Collectors Chase Standout Pictures

  01-07-2026 01:15 via artnews.com
  
  Since Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for $236.4 million last November, clinching the title of second most expensive artwork to sell at auction, the secondary market’s mantra can best be summed up as “collectors will open their hearts and their wallets for exceptional work.”On Tuesday, Christie’s put that dictum to the test with its Old Masters Evening Sale in London, a 40-lot offering that landed comfortably within its pre-sale estimate
  
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• World Monuments Fund Adds Black Mountain College Building to U.S. Preservation Watch List

  30-06-2026 23:11 via artnews.com
  
  Just in time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, World Monuments Fund (WMF) has unveiled a list of 10 historic sites across the United States whose preservation is “essential to the richness and complexity” of the nation’s story. The sites range from colonial-era architecture and public health landmarks to early mission churches, all of which face deterioration without sustained preservation efforts, according to the organization.One designated site wi
  
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• Rune Mields, Self-Taught German Conceptual Artist, Dies at 91

  30-06-2026 21:38 via artnews.com
  
  Self-taught German conceptual artist Rune Mields died on June 27 in Cologne, Germany, at the age of 91. Her death was first reported by the German Press Agency.Born in Münster in 1935, Mields came to art-making in her 30s after completing an apprenticeship as a bookseller. She first gained attention for her “Röhrenbilder” (Pipe Paintings) of the late 1960s and early ’70s, large-format monochrome canvases featuring hyperreal renderings of three-dimensional geometric fo
  
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• Researchers Utilize AI to Translate 2,000-Year-Old Carbonized Scrolls from Herculaneum

  30-06-2026 20:55 via artnews.com
  
  When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, among the objects and remains preserved for the next two millennia were a collection of carbonized scrolls from a residence in Herculaneum known as the Villa of the Papyri. This ancient Greco-Roman library was situated near Pompeii, just 11 miles from the base of Mount Vesuvius. These ancient scrolls are too fragile to unfurl, stymieing scholars’ attempts over the past few centuries to complete translations of the texts within.That’s where the Ve
  
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• IM Youngzoo’s ‘The Late’ Blends a 1,254-Page Research Book and a 7-Channel Video Into a Meditation on Belief and Technology

  30-06-2026 20:39 via artnews.com
  
  It’s hot out and the sun must be at its zenith because you can spot a woman’s shadow against the parched asphalt as she walks down the street. The woman, however, isn’t quite visible. Sometimes you see a bit of her hat, her jacket, or her hands, but mostly she is obscured by a spray of scattered light that warps the world around it. At “The Late,” artist IM Youngzoo’s solo show at Brooklyn’s Space ZeroOne—on view until July 25—the shadow and
  
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• Artistic Director for 2028 Gwangju Biennale Will Be Selected Via Open-Call in Break from Tradition

  30-06-2026 20:25 via artnews.com
  
  The 17th edition of the Gwangju Biennale, a closely watched exhibition in South Korea with a broadly international legacy, will be led by an artistic director selected through an open call—“marking a significant shift in the Biennale’s curatorial selection process,” according to an announcement.As published via e-flux, the announcement states: “Until now, the Artistic Director has been selected through a recommendation-based system, in which a small group of advisor
  
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• Bae Young-hwan, Artist Who Represented Korea at Venice Biennale, Dies at 57

  30-06-2026 20:24 via artnews.com
  
  Bae Young-hwan, a beloved artist who represented his home country of Korea at the 2005 edition of the Venice Biennale, died on June 19 at 57. His Seoul representative, Gallery BB&M, did not state a cause in its announcement of his passing on June 20, which described Bae’s death as “sudden.”He was most widely known for his artworks that appropriated lyrics from Korean pop songs. Remaking those lyrics from pain medications, disinfectant, and cotton used to soothe wounds, Bae
  
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• Adrien Brody’s Latest Art Monstrosity Is a Mural for the Raising Cane’s in Times Square

  30-06-2026 18:44 via artnews.com
  
  Raising Cane’s is a place where you can buy chicken finger combos, super-sized Cokes, and crinkle-cut fries, all for under $15—a steal in today’s economy. Now, it’s also a place where you can … see art?Such is the case, at least, at the fast food chain’s Times Square establishment, where a new mural featuring the eatery’s logo was unveiled this week. Its maker is none other than Adrien Brody.Though better known as an Oscar-winning actor, Brody has recen
  
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• Russia’s Hermitage Museum Suspends Archaeological Expeditions in Crimea, Citing Fuel Shortage

  30-06-2026 18:36 via artnews.com
  
  The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has suspended all archaeological expeditions in annexed Crimea as the Kremlin declares a state of emergency amid a severe fuel shortage and continued Ukrainian attacks, according to the Moscow Times.“The expeditions are being postponed until the situation improves,” Alexander Butyagin, head of the Hermitage archaeology department, told the Russian state-run news agency TASS on Monday. “It’s too difficult to organize normal oper
  
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• UK Lawmakers Fault Government’s Oversight of National Museums, Raise Prospect of Admission Fees for Foreign Visitors

  30-06-2026 17:43 via artnews.com
  
  The United Kingdom’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport has come under fire from a cross-party parliamentary committee, which says the government has done too little to help the country’s national museums navigate increasing financial and security challenges.The report, according to the Art Newspaper, also shows that the government is considering whether overseas visitors should pay admission to Britain’s national museums, a major change for institutions that have off
  
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• In Zabludowicz Online Sale at Christie’s, Over Half the Artworks Failed to Sell

  30-06-2026 17:04 via artnews.com
  
  In an online sale of works from the esteemed Zabludowicz collection of contemporary art that concluded on Tuesday, over half the artworks failed to sell. Estimated to bring in £292,000 to £435,400 ($385,100–$574,200), the sale brought in £95,377 ($126,285). (All prices reported are inclusive of fees; pre-sale estimates do not include fees.)Anita and Chaim “Poju” Zabludowicz, who have long been among the world’s top collectors, sold 100 wor
  
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• In Zabludowicz Day Sale at Christie’s, Over Half the Artworks Failed to Sell

  30-06-2026 17:04 via artnews.com
  
  In an online sale of works from the esteemed Zabludowicz collection of contemporary art that concluded on Tuesday, over half the artworks failed to sell. Estimated to bring in £292,000 to £435,400 ($385,100–$574,200), the sale brought in £95,377 ($126,285). (All prices reported are inclusive of fees; pre-sale estimates do not include fees.)Anita and Chaim “Poju” Zabludowicz, who have long been among the world’s top collectors, sold 100 wor
  
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• Weeks After His Death, a $3.2 M. David Hockney Leads Phillips London’s $15.8 M. Modern and Contemporary Art Sale

  30-06-2026 16:50 via artnews.com
  
  In a sweltering London on Friday amid a Europe-wide heat wave, David Hockney led the night at Phillips London’s sale of modern and contemporary art, his The Only One with Waves (1991) selling for £2.4 million ($3.2 million), just above its low estimate. The four-foot-wide canvas was painted in Malibu, California, and shows breaking waves in a flattened pictorial space; it was the first major work by the British artist to come to auction since he died at his London home on June 11, a
  
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• Parliamentary Report Accuses UK Government of Leaderless Approach to Caring for Museums and More: Morning Links for June 30, 2026

  30-06-2026 16:20 via artnews.com
  
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.Good morning!A new parliamentary report says the UK government lacks leadership and has a “hands-off” approach to how it funds and cares for national museums.The German conceptual artist and painter Rune Mields, who designed her own grave, has died at age 91.Skulptur Projekte Münster nhas revealed some of the first details for its 2027 editio
  
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• Guggenheim Museum Workers Vote to Strike as Contract Negotiations Continue

  30-06-2026 16:05 via artnews.com
  
  Unionized staff at the Guggenheim Museum have voted to authorize a strike, its union UAW Local 2110 announced today. The union is currently in contract negotiations with the museum, seeking better pay, health benefits, and job security.UAW Local 2110 announced that 93 percent of its membership voted last week in favor of the strike, saying, per a release, that the workers would do so “if necessary to win a fair contract.” The union has not yet set a date for when the strike would tak
  
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• The Venice Biennale’s Record African Participation Comes With Caveats

  30-06-2026 12:52 via artnews.com
  
  There was a heaviness around the opening celebrations marking the 2026 Biennale, titled “In Minor Keys.” Compounding the psychological weight of so much global angst was the first anniversary of the sudden passing of Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian-Swiss curator who was the second African and sixth woman to spearhead the event.There was no shortage of acknowledgments and tributes. Some appeared in the show itself, like Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons’ four-panel Anatomy of the Magnolia
  
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• 2027 Skulptur Projekte Münster Will Include ‘Communal Cooking,’ Examinations of Power

  30-06-2026 12:30 via artnews.com
  
  Skulptur Projekte Münster, the storied exhibition that takes place once every decade in the titular German town, has revealed some of the first details of its 2027 edition—the first staged without the leadership of its founder, the lauded curator Kasper König, who died in 2024.Celebrated artists such as Oscar Murillo, Selma Selman, and Hew Locke will be among the participants innext year’s edition of the show, which situates commissions around Münster. Also taking part
  
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• Three Swiss Museums Return Trove of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

  29-06-2026 22:36 via artnews.com
  
  Three Swiss museums have returned 18 royal and religious artifacts from the Kingdom of Benin to Nigeria, marking another significant repatriation of the so-called Benin Bronzes.A handover ceremony took place today at the University of Zurich between Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider and Nigeria’s Minister of Culture, Hannatu Musa Musawa. The university returned 14 objects from its Ethnographic Museum, while two additional Benin Bronzes came from Museum Rietberg Zurich and
  
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• Refik Anadol to Stage Monumental AI Installation on Smithsonian Castle in DC

  29-06-2026 22:27 via artnews.com
  
  Fresh off the opening of Dataland, Refik Anadol’s new AI art museum in Los Angeles, the media artist has partnered with the Smithsonian Institution for a new monumental installation.Dubbed Smithsonian Dreams, the new project will see Anadol transform the Smithsonian Castle, the headquarters of the Institution on the National Mall, with an immersive performance of light, sound, and visuals on July 17 and July 18 at 9 p.m..For the work, Anadol built a custom AI system that reinterprets 200 y
  
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• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Announces Replacement for Long-Toppled Lenin Monument in Kyiv

  29-06-2026 22:23 via artnews.com
  
  A pedestal that once supported a Lenin monument in Kyiv that has remained empty ever since 2013 may soon host a statue of a Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa, who is revered by many in Ukraine as a national hero.A 12-foot-tall red quartzite sculpture of Vladimir Lenin stood on the pedestal at the intersection of two main roads in Kyiv for almost 60 years, until it was toppled during the Euromaidan Uprising. The Euromaidan demonstrations had begun the previous month when then-president Viktor Yanukovych
  
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• Chyrum Lambert’s Paper Cutouts Open New Dimensions

  29-06-2026 21:47 via artnews.com
  
  Chyrum Lambert moved to Los Angeles in 2012 and was immediately struck by the community of artists and poets he found there. “I didn’t go to art school, and I don’t have any formal education other than high school, so I’ve never had friends who are artists,” he said. “There’s just so much here that I never had in my life. This whole practice came out of LA.” For around a decade, Lambert has ventured beyond typical painterly techniques to creat
  
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• National Museum Cardiff in Wales May Close for Repairs to Address ‘Deteriorating Condition’               

  29-06-2026 21:39 via artnews.com
  
  The National Museum Cardiff in Wales may close for much-needed repair work, according to a workers’ union claim that it is in early discussions about a temporary closure in the wake of work last year to address what the institution’s director general described as the building’s “deteriorating condition.”As reported by the BBC, “The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said it understands that Amgueddfa Cymru, which runs the site, is ‘consideri
  
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• 70-Ton Statue of Lionel Messi Appears in Argentina Amid World Cup Fervor

  29-06-2026 21:01 via artnews.com
  
  Lionel Messi, the Argentine superhero of soccer who is the highest-scoring player in World Cup history as of last week, has been monumentalized in a remote town in Patagonia. The stats: 85 feet tall, 70 tons in weight, and $130,000 to fabricate.As reported by the New York Times, the statue by artist Aldo Beroisa follows from other creations of his including statues of dinosaurs and Jesus, and has been in the works for more than a year. “This is going to be our Sistine Chapel,” said t
  
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• As the California African American Museum Celebrates 50 Years, Its Leader Looks Ahead

  29-06-2026 20:56 via artnews.com
  
  This week, the United States marks its 250th birthday, arguably no closer to agreeing on how the story of its journey should be told—or who gets to tell it. Under the second Trump administration, museums have become one of the clearest arenas for that struggle. These are places where America’s myth of exceptionalism collides with its lived reality: a contested memory of race, class, and political ambition. As the unfolding case of the Smithsonian at
  
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• Heir of German Jewish Collector Seeks Return of Van Gogh Painting from Musée d’Orsay

  29-06-2026 20:20 via artnews.com
  
  Klaus Kallmann is 98 years old, but he still remembers being a little boy and looking at a painting by Vincent van Gogh that hung in his grandfather’s Berlin villa until the early 1930s. The work depicts the artist’s doctor, Théophile Peyron, standing by a gnarled tree, his hands on his hips, in front of the mental hospital he ran, where Van Gogh was also a patient. That painting, titled Hôpital Saint-Paul à Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (1889), is now in the
  
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• Why You Need To Be A Better Reader

  29-06-2026 19:40 via theconversation.com
  
  Navigating today’s digital information landscape requires strong critical evaluation skills. Reading plays a central role in this process by serving not only as a means of acquiring information but also of distinguishing credible claims from misinformation. But only a specific kind of reading builds that capacity. The difference is between passive and active reading. – The Conversation
  
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• When Being A Critic Was Glamorous

  29-06-2026 19:22 via theideasletter.org
  
  If you look at these people—literally look at photos or watch footage—you discover that they were either beautiful or charismatic, or both. They all appeared on television. Among fiction writers of that time, maybe Philip Roth had some of that swagger, quick wit, amused air, though he also had a professorial, sweater-wearing side.  – The Ideas Letter
  
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• Did Marcel Duchamp Wreck Modern Art?

  29-06-2026 18:59 via theatlantic.com
  
  Duchamp left behind a legacy that people either love or loathe. He is known as the father of conceptual art, but his so-called ideas were mostly idle notions, provocations, speculations. Opinion divides on whether he snuffed out or emancipated art.  – The Atlantic
  
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• Restorers Discover How A Rembrandt Painting Was Altered

  29-06-2026 18:40 via theguardian.com
  Layers of overpaint have been removed from a 17th-century painting, confirming that it was painted by Rembrandt and revealing that a turban on one of the figures had been replaced with a traditional Dutch soft cap. – The Guardian
  
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