Arts news

• How A Dancer Can Transform Into A Choreographer

  07-11-2016 16:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Do the usual: Apprentice, try to job-shadow and assist the best people, fly with your own wings – and be prepared for a few problems. “One of the toughest challenges will be getting people to see you in a new light.”
  
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• Jeffrey Epstein’s Art World Connections: A Guide

  02-02-2026 23:11 via artnews.com
  Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in 2019 while in jail facing additional charges related to alleged sex trafficking in New York and Florida, cultivated an expansive network of powerful and influential contacts in a wide array of fields—art very much among them. In addition to his dealings in the worlds of finance, science, and technology, the reputed billionaire engaged with art institutions, collectors, and cultural enterprises now reckoning with their
  
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• Portrait of Anne Boleyn Was Meant to Rebut Rumors That She Was a Witch, Historians Say

  02-02-2026 23:05 via artnews.com
  A portrait of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s ill-fated second wife, is now thought to be an attempt to rehabilitate her image after her death. Using infrared reflectography, historians and curators have uncovered evidence that the work was at least partially created to dispel rumors that Boleyn was a witch with six fingers.In the painting, which hangs in Hever Castle in England, both of Boleyn’s hands, each with the usual number of digits, are visible. But the new infrared scans reveal th
  
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• Two Paris Museums Get More Than a Dozen Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude

  02-02-2026 22:51 via artnews.com
  The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, the organization that stewards the legacy of the iconic artist duo who wrapped large structures in fabric, has donated 14 artworks to two museums in Paris.The artists’ ties to the city are well documented. In 2021, a year after Christo’s death at 84, the artists’ 1962 plan to wrap the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 square meters of metallic blue polypropylene fabric and red rope was finally realized after almost 60 years. Christo and Je
  
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• Sotheby’s Second Sale in Saudi Arabia Tops $19.6 M., Sets Record for Saudi Artist

  02-02-2026 21:51 via artnews.com
  Just under a year ago, Sotheby’s made its biggest foray in the Gulf yet with its first-ever auction in Saudi Arabia. That sale, titled “Origins” and featuring 117 lots spanning art and luxury objects, brought in $17.3 million with fees—squarely within its $14 million–$20 million presale estimate. It wasn’t a spectacular result, but also wasn’t a disaster.Over the weekend, the house staged its second such sale, titled “Origins II,” to far stro
  
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• A Rare Greek Funerary Sculpture, Priced North of $600,000, Heads to TEFAF

  02-02-2026 21:41 via artnews.com
  Most young women in ancient Greece were married early in their teenage years, and they were expected to produce children as a matter of public interest. So the death of a young woman of marriagable age was seen as a loss not only to her loved ones, but also to society. A rare ancient Greek artwork headed to the TEFAF art fair memorializes the loss of one such young woman. On offer from London gallery David Aaron, Stele of Medeia, from the Attic region, dates to 375-350 BCE. The piece is tagged a
  
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• Palestinians Decry Israel’s Plan to Seize West Bank Archaeological Site: ‘A Violation of Our History’

  02-02-2026 21:36 via artnews.com
  Israeli authorities have announced plans to seize a sprawling archaeological site overlooking the Palestinian town of Sebastia in the West Bank, sparking outrage among the roughly 3,500 Palestinians who depend on tourism to the site and nearby olive groves for their livelihoods.Residents of Sebastia have denounced the planned seizure as a pretext for expanding illegal Jewish settlements and as a means of erasing Palestinian identity through the appropriation of heritage sites, the Guardian repor
  
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• Surprise! “Melania” Did Great Box Office Its Opening Weekend

  02-02-2026 20:55 via bbc.com
  It was expected to generate in the region of $5m (£3.7m) in its first weekend, but its actual takings are “a huge start for a documentary”, Variety said, and “no one saw that coming”, according to the Hollywood Reporter. – BBC
  
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• So You Can Make An Audience Cry. Not Necessarily Good.

  02-02-2026 20:15 via theconversation.com
  Is the direct representation of emotion to provoke emotion in fact a turn-off? – The Conversation
  
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• People Fear That Reading Is Dying. Don’t Believe It

  02-02-2026 19:44 via persuasion.community
  All serious intellectual work happens on the page, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. If you want to contribute to the world of ideas, if you want to entertain and manipulate complex thoughts, you have to read and write. – Persuasion
  
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• Opera As “A State Of Emergency”

  02-02-2026 19:21 via msn.com
  Created to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary, Complications in Sue opens Wednesday with 10 composers commissioned to write eight-minute scenes. These collectively encompass the century-long life of a mythical everywoman named Sue. – Philadelphia Inquirer
  
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• South African Artist Sues Her Government For Blocking Her Venice Biennale Artwork

  02-02-2026 19:02 via theguardian.com
  A South African artist is suing the arts minister after he blocked her from representing the country at the Venice Biennale, having called her work addressing Israel’s killing of Palestinians in Gaza “highly divisive”. – The Guardian
  
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• Jeffrey Epstein Masterminded Leon Black’s Purchase of $115 M. Picasso from Gagosian, Files Show

  02-02-2026 19:01 via artnews.com
  A newly released tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files from the Department of Justice show that Epstein was personally involved in high-profile transactions between Gagosian gallery and Leon Black, suggesting that Epstein’s role in liaising between the mega-gallery and the mega-collector ran even deeper than was previously known.The new files include many documents related to the sale of Pablo Picasso’s 1931 sculpture Buste de Femme (Marie-Thérèse). While it was previously r
  
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• Jeffrey Epstein Advised on Leon Black’s Purchase of $115 M. Picasso from Gagosian, Files Show

  02-02-2026 19:01 via artnews.com
  A newly released tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files from the Department of Justice show that Epstein was personally involved in high-profile transactions between Gagosian gallery and Leon Black, suggesting that Epstein’s role in liaising between the mega-gallery and the mega-collector ran even deeper than was previously known.The new files include many documents related to the sale of Pablo Picasso’s 1931 sculpture Buste de Femme (Marie-Thérèse). While it was previously r
  
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• Struggling San Antonio Philharmonic Cancels February Concerts

  02-02-2026 18:40 via tpr.org
  The news comes as the Philharmonic is embroiled in a legal dispute with the Scottish Rite over payments related to renovations of the historic building. – Texas Public Radio
  
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• Trump Wants To Build A 250-Foot Triumphal Arch In Washington

  02-02-2026 18:22 via washingtonpost.com
  Trump has grown attached to the idea of a 250-foot-tall structure overlooking the Potomac River, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his comments, a scale that has alarmed some architectural experts who initially supported the idea of an arch but expected a far smaller one. – Washington Post
  
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• Art Basel Qatar Marks an Important Moment for Arts and Culture in Doha

  02-02-2026 18:09 via artnews.com
  This is a special edition of Breakfast with ARTnews, to coincide with Art Basel Qatar. To receive the newsletter in your inbox every weekday, sign up here.Here in Doha, it is nearly impossible not to know that Art Basel is in town. Red banners announcing the fair line the streets of the Msheireb district, where it will open on Tuesday across the M7 building, the Design District, and other nearby venues.This is an important moment for arts and culture in Qatar&m
  
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• What Shows to See in Doha During Art Basel Qatar

  02-02-2026 18:03 via artnews.com
  Art Basel’s first edition in Doha arrives with expectations: new collectors, cautious galleries hoping to land institutional interest, and a city briefly reorganized around a fair schedule. What distinguishes the week is not just the fair, but how clearly Doha’s museums are using the moment to make a case for depth.Rather than flooding the calendar with kitsch or pandering to Western taste, the strongest exhibitions focus on history, structure, and sustained attention. If you see onl
  
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• I Write For A Living. I Tested My Students. They Preferred The AI Writing To My Own (That Hurt!)

  02-02-2026 18:01 via independent.co.uk
  I gave the students time to read both pieces, and then asked for their comments. To my surprise, the majority told me the AI version was better. They said it was better argued, more clearly structured, more ambitious in scope, and, this was the real kick in the guts, a few even told me it was more personal than my own. – The Independent
  
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• Chicago’s Volume Gallery Triples in Size with a Move to West Town

  02-02-2026 17:58 via artnews.com
  The last couple of years have seen many art galleries close in art hubs around the world amid a struggling market. But one in Chicago is tripling in size with a move to a new neighborhood. Volume Gallery will open on February 13 in a 3,500-square-foot space designed by co-founders Claire Warners and Sam Vinz at 1700 West Hubbard Street, across from mainstays Mariane Ibrahim and Monique Meloche. It’s the gallery’s third space since it opened in 2010. If expanding a gallery in a m
  
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• Trump Plans to Close Kennedy Center for Two Years, Beginning July 4

  02-02-2026 17:50 via artnews.com
  President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he would close the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has been facing an existential crisis for the past year, for up to two years as part of a renovation project.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that the closure, which is still “totally subject to Board approval,” would happen on July 4, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the US. He said that the planned closur
  
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• Judge Sends Ousted Philadelphia Museum Director Sasha Suda’s Lawsuit To Arbitration

  02-02-2026 17:48 via artnews.com
  A judge has ruled that the messy conflict between the Philadelphia Art Museum and its former director and CEO, Sasha Suda, who was dismissed in November, will go to arbitration, not to a jury trial, as Suda had requested in a civil suit. Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael E. Erdos referred to Suda’s contract, which dictates that disputes be solved in arbitration, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.“We are not surprised that the museum wants to hide its illegal conduct in
  
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• How The Metropolitan Opera Got To Be In Such Dire Straits

  02-02-2026 17:41 via nypost.com
  How did America’s greatest operatic institution get to the point of needing Saudi money to cover its $330 million annual operating budget? Ticket sales account for less than a third of that. – New York Post
  
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• The Latest Art Basel Opens — In Qatar

  02-02-2026 17:16 via nytimes.com
  It was the unlikely, but ultimately successful, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup. Its Grand Prix has become a Formula One fixture. And this week it will premiere a new event from Art Basel, the world’s biggest, most prestigious art fair franchise. – The New York Times
  
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• Art Basel Qatar Gets Ready to Open, Featuring Solo Presentations by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marlene Dumas, and Philip Guston

  02-02-2026 16:51 via artnews.com
  When Art Basel opens its first edition in Doha on Tuesday, the difference—from other editions—will be immediately apparent. This is the smallest Basel fair by far: just 85 galleries, all of them mounting solo presentations, in a layout that feels closer to a curated exhibition than a commercial free-for-all. For comparison there were 206 galleries in Paris and 283 in Miami. While sources have told me that following editions in Qatar will grow to Paris- and Miami-size, the s
  
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• Are Tribeca Galleries Planning To Report Immigrant Street Vendors?

  02-02-2026 16:30 via hyperallergic.com
  The “report,” encouraged in an email after a meeting among many galleries, would be to New York’s 311 system. Then the mostly immigrant vendors would be entered into a system that shares info with many different law enforcement operations. – Hyperallergic
  
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• Three Men From Oscar-Nominated Documentary Moved To Solitary In Alabama Prison

  02-02-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  “Family members of the three men said they fear for their loved ones’ safety and are concerned the moves to solitary confinement are a form of retaliation for outspokenness about problems within the prison system.” – The Guardian (UK)
  
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• Icelandic artist Björn Roth Dead at 64, Trump to Close Kennedy Center For 2 Years, and More: Morning LInks for February 2, 2026

  02-02-2026 15:51 via artnews.com
  Good Morning!Trump announced plans to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations following more canceled performances.The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow is permanently closing amid financial woes. Icelandic artist Björn Roth dead at 64.The Headlines CURTAINS CLOSE. After several performers canceled shows and public patronage continued to fall, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he is closing the Kennedy Center for a t
  
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• Why Some Theatre Critics Hate Contemporary Musicals

  02-02-2026 15:45 via theparisreview.org
  “Since the gargantuan success of Hamilton, … Broadway productions have leaned in to liberal identity politics as their state ideology, favoring ‘message musicals’ (like the women’s suffrage show Suffs) and casting stunts (an all-female 1776) that marry liberal identity politics with the genre’s emotional sincerity.” – The Paris Review
  
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• The 8-Year-Old Who’s The Breakout Star Of Sundance

  02-02-2026 15:30 via msn.com
  “Despite the presence of stars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, it’s [Mason] Reeves, who de Araújo discovered at a Richmond District farmer’s market on Clement Street, who captured the hearts of festival viewers.” – San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
  
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