Arts news

• Yasha Grobman Appointed Director of the Israel Museum

  20-01-2026 22:52 via artnews.com
  Yasha Grobman has been appointed director general of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, according to Haaretz, ending a prolonged leadership crisis at one of Israel’s most prominent cultural institutions.Grobman will succeed Suzanne Landau, who stepped down in early January after serving as interim director since September 2023. The appointment follows what the museum described as a lengthy and discreet search process conducted by a board-appointed committee.Grobman ha
  
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• Philadelphia Art Museum Executive Behind Controversial Rebrand Resigns

  20-01-2026 22:35 via artnews.com
  The marketing executive behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s divisive rebranding campaign has resigned the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.Paul Dien, who joined the museum in 2023 as chief marketing under former museum director and CEO Sasha Suda, will leave effective February 1, the museum confirmed. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dien has accepted a consultancy position; the museum did not provide further details.Dien, who previously served vice president of advancement and par
  
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• Archeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Basilica Designed by Vitruvius: ‘The Tutankhamun of the 21st Century’

  20-01-2026 22:05 via artnews.com
  Italian officials unveiled the discovery of a 2,000-year-old basilica that archeologists have attributed to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect, at a press conference on Monday, according to a report in Reuters.The ancient basilica, which would have been used as a public building in ancient Rome, was built at Fanum Fortunae and completed in 19 BCE. It is the only known building by Vitruvius and is referenced in De architectura, the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity. Vitr
  
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• Governor Gavin Newsom Says He ‘Had No Clue’ California College of the Arts Would Close

  20-01-2026 22:00 via artnews.com
  When news broke last week that California College of the Arts would close in 2027, the announcement came as a shock to students and the broader art world. It also appears to have caught one key figure off guard: Governor Gavin Newsom.The San Francisco Standard reported that text messages sent by Newsom after the announcement suggested he “had no clue” and received “no heads up” about CCA’s impending closure, now slated for the end of the 2026–27 academic year.
  
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• 2024 Was a Record Year for Archeological Finds Made by the British Public

  20-01-2026 21:52 via artnews.com
  The British Museum announced today that 2024 was a record year for archeological discoveries made in the UK by members of the public, with 79,616 finds recorded. Of those, 1540 were “treasure” as defined by the UK’s 1996 Treasure Act, the highest number ever recorded for a single year. The announcement was first reported by the Independent. According to the British Museum, 2024 was the third consecutive record-breaking year, with numbers steadily increasing each year.Ninety-fou
  
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• Serpentine Pavilion Commission Goes to Mexican Architects LANZA atelier

  20-01-2026 21:33 via artnews.com
  The commission for the design of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion—a prestigious project for artists and architects connected to the Serpentine Galleries in London’s Kensington Gardens—has gone to LANZA atelier, a Mexico City–based architecture studio founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. The unveiling on June 6 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Serpentine Pavilion, which plays home to live events and programs from the summer into the fall—and wh
  
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• Michael Jackson’s Rarely Seen Art to Go on View in Traveling Museum Debuting in Monaco

  20-01-2026 20:30 via artnews.com
  While Michael Jackson’s music will come into focus through a blockbuster biopic set for the big screen this year, a lesser-seen part of his oeuvre, his visual art, could soon be headed to a gallery near you.Jermaine Jackson, the singer’s older brother, revealed plans this past December to launch a touring museum that will debut in Monaco toward the end of 2026 as part of a biennial being staged there. First up for the traveling institution’s programming will be a 120-work show
  
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• Iconic Fashion Designer and Art Collector Valentino Garavani Dies at 93

  20-01-2026 20:25 via artnews.com
  Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani died in Rome, the birthplace of his eponymous brand, on Jan. 19 at age 93. Garavani was born in Voghera, a town south of Milan in northern Italy. He moved to Paris as a young man, where he continued his fashion studies and worked for French designers Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche.Garavani moved back to Italy and launched his own brand in Rome in 1959, when he was just 26 years old; he soon became known for his elegant, romantic gowns worn by style
  
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• NEH Awards $75.1 M. In Grants to Projects Promoting Classical Arts, Conservative Values

  20-01-2026 20:20 via artnews.com
  The National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) has awarded $75.1 million to 84 projects, marking its first round of grants since President Donald Trump dismissed nearly all members of the National Council on the Humanities, the advisory body that helps set NEH funding priorities, last fall. The funded projects span a wide range of subject matter but largely reflect the Trump administration’s emphasis on American exceptionalism. Grants exceeding $1 million were awarded primarily to uni
  
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• Philip Leider, Artforum Founding Editor Who Shaped a Changing Art World, Dies at 96

  20-01-2026 19:44 via artnews.com
  Philip Leider, the founding editor of Artforum, died at his home in Berkeley, California, on January 11 at 96. Artforum announced his death over the weekend, but did not state a cause.Leider’s career arc was an unusual one. He helped turn Artforum into a go-to source for serious, no-nonsense art criticism, serving as its editor starting in 1962. (Since 2022, Artforum has been owned by Penske Media Corporation, ARTnews’s parent company.) “It’s no exaggeration to say that&n
  
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• Snøhetta Architecture Firm Accused of Retaliating Against Employees For Unionization Effort

  20-01-2026 19:11 via artnews.com
  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency that protects private employees’ rights, has accused the architecture firm Snøhetta of illegally laying off employees who supported a 2023 union drive, according to the New York Times.NLRB’s complaint, issued Friday, says the firm dismissed eight workers for engaging in collective action “to discourage employees from engaging in these activities.” It also says the firm “interrogated” employees
  
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• French TV Just Aired New Footage of Louvre Robbery—And It Shows Security Was a Mess

  20-01-2026 18:43 via artnews.com
  Earlier this week, French national broadcaster France Télévisions released previously unseen footage of the brazen October robbery at the Louvre, in which thieves made off with $102 million in crown jewels.The four-minute video, aired on the investigative program Complément d’enquête, shows the thieves rushing into the gallery and smashing several display cases—using both their fists and an angle grinder—while security guards stand just a few feet awa
  
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• Hard Choices: Can You Still Hack Being a Contemporary Art Curator?

  20-01-2026 18:14 via artnews.com
  With a world in crisis and an art market spinning out of control, ace art-world consultants Chen & Lampert deliver a quiz full of hard choices for Art in America readers from far and wide.You landed a desirable museum job as a contemporary art curator in the mid-2000s and quickly became a power broker on the scene. Back then you sashayed into openings, boogied at afterparties, waltzed through studio visits, and grooved with young artists. A couple decades later, you have
  
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• Evan Beard Has Left Masterworks to Launch His Own New York Gallery

  20-01-2026 17:50 via artnews.com
  Editor’s Note: This story is part of Newsmakers, a new ARTnews series where we interview the movers and shakers who are making change in the art world.Not every art dealer is in the mold of Leo Castelli, the aristocratic Italian who came to New York and created a market for artists like Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol. His protégé Larry Gagosian, who now oversees a global empire, famously got his start selling posters on the street. The late Robert Mnuchin wa
  
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• Timo Kappeller Joins Pace Gallery as Senior Director in New York

  20-01-2026 17:33 via artnews.com
  Timo Kappeller has joined Pace Gallery as a senior director in New York, where he will focus on sales and artist relationships, the gallery announced this week. He begins the role on January 20.Kappeller arrives at Pace after three years as artistic director of The Campus, the collaborative exhibition space in upstate New York operated by Bortolami, James Cohan, Kaufmann Repetto, Anton Kern, Andrew Kreps, and Kurimanzutto. Before that, he held senior positions at Hauser & Wirth and Andr
  
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• Top Architecture Firm Accused of Illegally Firing Union-Supporting Staff, Founding Editor of Artforum Dies: Morning Links for January 20, 2025

  20-01-2026 15:57 via artnews.com
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.The HeadlinesUNIONERS PAY PRICE. In 2023, employees at Snøhetta, the prominent New York–based architecture firm, mounted an unsuccessful effort to unionize. Now the National Labor Relations Board has accused the firm of unlawfully retaliating against workers who supported the campaign, the New York Times reports. In a complaint issued on Fri
  
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• Top Architecture Firm Accused of Illegally Firing Union-Supporting Staff, Founding Editor of Artforum Dies: Morning Link for January 20, 2025

  20-01-2026 15:57 via artnews.com
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.The HeadlinesUNIONERS PAY PRICE. In 2023, employees at Snøhetta, the prominent New York–based architecture firm, mounted an unsuccessful effort to unionize. Now the National Labor Relations Board has accused the firm of unlawfully retaliating against workers who supported the campaign, the New York Times reports. In a complaint issued on Fri
  
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