Arts news

• ‘Peanuts’ Music Owner Sues Interior Department and 3 Companies for Copyright Infringement

  21-05-2026 22:22 via NYT > Arts
  The owner of the “Peanuts” catalog would really like it if companies and the U.S. government stopped using its music without permission.
  
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• Michael Pennington, Commanding Shakespeare Actor, Dies at 82

  21-05-2026 21:52 via NYT > Arts
  A mainstay of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he later started a rival theater group. He also appeared in “Return of the Jedi.”
  
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• Britney Spears Spoke ‘Nonsensically’ During D.U.I. Arrest, Records Say

  21-05-2026 21:29 via NYT > Arts
  In highway patrol videos of her arrest, Ms. Spears talks to officers in a childlike voice and offers to make them lasagna.
  
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• Submit Your Summer Reading Bucket List

  21-05-2026 21:08 via NYT > Arts
  Tell us what you read this summer, and enter the drawing for this year’s prize.
  
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• Chanel Renews Financial Support of Centre Pompidou During Long-Term Renovation

  21-05-2026 20:53 via ARTnews.com
  Paris’s Centre Pompidou has announced another five-year partnership, this time with the iconic fashion house Chanel. (Last week, the Pompidou and M+ in Hong Kong announced their plan to lend artworks and collaborate on research projects and exhibitions.) Despite being closed until 2030 while undergoing an over $500 million renovation, the Pompidou has kept busy with new collaborations and satellite museums, including those in Seoul, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Brussels.The Pompidou a
  
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• Eternal Flame, Burning for 1,200 Years, Survives Blaze at Buddhist Hall in Japan

  21-05-2026 20:51 via ARTnews.com
  A sacred Buddhist hall on the top of Mount Misen in Japan was destroyed by fire—but an “eternal flame” said to have been burning for more than a millennium was rescued and moved to another site, where it continues to glow.As reported in the New York Times, Reikado Hall, in the south of Japan, “was reduced to a charred skeleton after a fire tore through the building, engulfing its wooden prayer rooms.” No one was injured, fortunately, and the flame that had been burn
  
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• Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Whose Paintings Were Saturated in Black, Dies at 84

  21-05-2026 20:43 via NYT > Arts > Art & Design
  An artist and activist, she gained prominence with monumental canvases that she soaked in the darkest substance she could find.
  
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• Spain Threatens to Oust Reina Sofía Director Over Missing Artworks and Finances

  21-05-2026 20:25 via ARTnews.com
  Spain’s government is turning up the pressure on the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía over longstanding problems tied to its collection inventory, with lawmakers threatening consequences that could ultimately cost museum director Manuel Segade his job.A parliamentary oversight committee in Spain recently passed a resolution demanding that the museum complete a full and updated inventory of its holdings by December 31, 2026, according to Le Journal d
  
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• Finding Our Shared Geography in Monologues

  21-05-2026 19:57 via NYT > Arts
  Kathryn Grody’s “The Unexpected 3rd,” Leslie Ayvazian’s “Mention My Beauty” and Liza Jessie Peterson’s “The Peculiar Patriot” are among the solo shows at the In the Bricks Festival.
  
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• ‘Indian Princesses’ Review: A Search for a True Identity

  21-05-2026 19:47 via NYT > Arts
  The five girls in Eliana Theologides Rodriguez’s new play, about a “Native-inspired” program that trafficked in stereotypes, find ways to create their own experiences.
  
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• Citing Epstein Ties, Wexner Union Demands Leslie Wexner’s Name be Dropped from Art Center

  21-05-2026 19:37 via ARTnews.com
  Members of the Wexner Center for the Arts union have called on university leadership to rename the institution, citing Leslie Wexner’s documented ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Wexner Workers United announced on social media yesterday that it had sent a formal letter to Ohio State University president, provost, and board of trustees demanding that they remove the Wexner name from the building’s facade and begin the process of renaming the Wexner Center for the Arts.&l
  
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• Trump Officials Cite a Century-Old Report As Congressional Approval for 250-Foot DC Arch, in a Move Called ‘Tortured’ and ‘Laughable’

  21-05-2026 19:20 via ARTnews.com
  Trump does not need Congressional approval to build a proposed 250-foot arch on Washington, DC’s Memorial Circle, on Columbia Island, officials are arguing, because a century-old report once called for a pair of 166-foot columns there, reports the Washington Post.Memorial Circle is managed by the National Parks Service and is classified as protected land, meaning Congress must authorize the construction of monuments there. The Post’s sources say that the Trump administration has no p
  
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• How Jeff Probst Spoiled Part of the ‘Survivor’ Season 50 Finale

  21-05-2026 18:56 via NYT > Arts
  Probst provided some live television magic on Wednesday by accidentally revealing the results of a segment that hadn’t aired.
  
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• How Jeff Probst Spoiled Part of the ‘Survivor’ Finale

  21-05-2026 18:56 via NYT > Arts
  Probst provided some live television magic on Wednesday by accidentally revealing the results of a segment that hadn’t aired.
  
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• Elim Chan Becomes First Female Music Director of San Francisco Symphony

  21-05-2026 18:48 via NYT > Arts
  Elim Chan has been named the symphony’s next music director. She joins a small field of female conductors at American orchestras, as San Francisco rebuilds after Esa-Pekka Salonen.
  
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• A New Residency Aims to Give Indigenous Artists the Tools to Make Art in Neon

  21-05-2026 18:22 via ARTnews.com
  Making art in a new medium can pose a challenge for any artist, especially one as technically complex as neon. Now a new residency aims to alleviate those growing pains.The Walker Youngbird Foundation, a Native-led nonprofit focused on supporting Indigenous artists, has launched a new residency program in collaboration with Lite Brite Neon Studio in Kingston, New York. For the program, a Native artist who has never created work in neon will work with Lite Brite to fabricate a new piece in the me
  
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• Zohran Mamdani Visited MoMA PS1’s Greater New York—and Loved It

  21-05-2026 18:04 via ARTnews.com
  Greater New York, MoMA PS1’s recurring survey of artists based in the city, has managed to lure one of New York’s most high-profile sensations: Mayor Zohran Mamdani.On her Instagram, PS1 director Connie Butler posted news that Mamdani had personally visited Greater New York alongside Claire Valdez, a New York State Representative who is currently running for a seat in the House of Representatives. Valdez, like Mamdani, is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America; Mamdani
  
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• ‘Passenger’ Review: On the Beaten Path

  21-05-2026 17:58 via NYT > Arts
  It’s my way on the highway: That’s the message a demon has for a van life couple in Andre Ovredal’s tense supernatural thriller.
  
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• ‘Woman Impressionist’ No More: A New Catalogue Raisonné Restores Eva Gonzalès’s Legacy

  21-05-2026 17:50 via ARTnews.com
  The French painter Eva Gonzalès, much like her mentor, Édouard Manet, did not personally identify as an Impressionist, nor did she participate in the group’s exhibitions. Her velvety brushstrokes were faithful to the human form, indulged no illusion of perspective, and stated a belief that the female mind was a landscape in its own right—wild, deep, and worthy of veneration. In her
  
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• Your Summer Guide: 20 Art World Highlights Not to Miss

  21-05-2026 17:16 via ARTnews.com
  As surveyed in the latest issue of Art in America, see a highly discerning list of things to experience in the art world in the coming months.
  
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• A Landmark Show Returns, Looking for Blackness in a Personal Way

  21-05-2026 15:29 via NYT > Arts
  The sixth edition of the Studio Museum in Harlem’s group survey is political but inwardly-focused, operating at a quieter metabolism.
  
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• JR Talks His Homage to Christo, Christie’s Sells $162.7 M. In Tepid Postwar and Contemporary Auction, and More: Morning Links for May 21, 2026

  21-05-2026 15:11 via ARTnews.com
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.Christie’s sold $162.7 million in postwar and contemporary art across three auctions yesterday, barely meeting expectations.Spain’s parliament has threatened to fire the director of the Reina Sofia museum if the institution doesn’t straighten out its fragmented inventory and the question of missing artworks.A Buddhist temple in Japan that ho
  
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• A Landmark Show Returns, Looking for Blackness in a PersonalWay

  21-05-2026 13:56 via NYT > Arts > Art & Design
  The sixth edition of the Studio Museum in Harlem’s group survey is political but inwardly-focused, operating at a quieter metabolism.
  
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• The Brothers Who Made Virginia Woolf the Talk of Cannes

  21-05-2026 11:05 via NYT > Arts
  Arie and Chuko Esiri take a team approach to their filmmaking, and the results with their Nigerian-set adaptation “Clarissa” have wowed the festival.
  
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• Looking for Blackness in a Personal, Private Way

  21-05-2026 11:04 via NYT > Arts > Art & Design
  The sixth edition of the Studio Museum’s landmark show is political but inwardly-focused on home and ancestral anchors.
  
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• James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain: The Fleeting Nature of Light, and of Life

  21-05-2026 11:04 via NYT > Arts
  A retrospective at Tate Britain brings together the American-born painter’s gauzy paintings and some of the provocative ideas that drove him.
  
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• ‘The Boroughs’ review: ‘Stranger Things,’ the Senior Edition

  21-05-2026 11:02 via NYT > Arts
  In a new Netflix series from the Duffer brothers’ production company, the people battling the monsters don’t move as fast as they used to.
  
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• A New Film Makes My Hearing Condition a Superpower. It’s Not.

  21-05-2026 11:02 via NYT > Arts
  In “Tuner,” a former musician turned safecracker has painful hyperacusis. For him, it’s a hidden talent. Here’s what it’s really like.
  
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• ‘Tuner’ Review: Harmonies, Heists and Hurt

  21-05-2026 11:01 via NYT > Arts
  Leo Woodall shines in this somewhat odd but vibrant movie about a piano tuner with a rare and excruciating condition who begins to break bad.
  
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• ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Review: Baby Yoda Takes the Silver Screen

  21-05-2026 11:01 via NYT > Arts
  This franchise offshoot follows a hero whose face is obscured for most of the movie. Is “Star Wars” fighting with one arm tied behind its back?
  
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• ‘Saccharine’ Review: How Far Would You Go to Lose Weight?

  21-05-2026 11:01 via NYT > Arts
  In this supernatural horror movie, a miracle drug made of human ashes upends a medical student’s life.
  
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• ‘Manas’ Review: A Bleak Coming of Age

  21-05-2026 11:01 via NYT > Arts
  A 13-year-old girl living on the Brazilian island of Marajó finds herself trapped in cycles of abuse in this upsetting film.
  
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• ‘I Love Boosters’ Review: A Fashion-Forward Sense of Justice

  21-05-2026 11:01 via NYT > Arts
  Keke Palmer plays a shoplifter who sells high-end clothing at a deep discount in Boots Riley’s polychromatic new film.
  
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• At DanceAfrica, When the Rules Disappear, the Party Begins

  21-05-2026 11:01 via NYT > Arts
  Brooklyn students are learning a traditional Ugandan dance for BAM’s festival this weekend. “You cannot shake your hips if you are stressed,” the Ugandan troupe leader told them.
  
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• Stephen Colbert’s Final ‘Late Show’ Marks the End of an Era

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts
  Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report” satirized politics. Then his “Late Show” confronted a moment when politics became self-satirizing.
  
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• Publishing’s Latest Piracy Problem: Audiobooks on YouTube

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts
  Illegal, synthetically narrated copies of “The Hunger Games,” hit self-help books and everything in between are increasingly common on the platform.
  
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• Is Museum Wall Text the Next Political Battleground?

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts > Art & Design
  The Smithsonian has changed or eliminated some interpretive language that typically accompanies exhibited artworks. Critics call this self-censorship.
  
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• How Stephen Colbert, and Late Night, Evolved

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts
  James Poniewozik, our chief television critic, traces the way Stephen Colbert presided over a heyday of political comedy on late night.
  
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• How Former Fashion Designer Emma Safir Turns Fabric into Beguiling Paintings

  21-05-2026 11:00 via ARTnews.com
  What might it take to tackle the en-slick-ification of the art object? Emma Safir’s answer to this question arises from her embrace of the sensory capacities inherent in textiles and an eagerness to place oppositional strategies and gestures into new formations and dependencies. The results are works of great mystery and manipulation, each one a reflection on the elusive and ambiguous correspondences between the handcrafted and the digitally (re)produced. A former fashion designer and
  
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• Gothic Fantasy Novels Filled With Dark Magic

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts
  The best-selling author Rachel Gillig recommends books that bring the haunted hallmarks of Gothic fiction into enchanted settings.
  
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• ‘Everybody to Kenmure Street’ Review: When the Neighborhood Won

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts
  A must-see documentary about a protest against a 2021 immigration raid in Glasgow shows the power of community.
  
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• An Artist Ponders Pond Scum, Humans and the Meaning of Life

  21-05-2026 11:00 via NYT > Arts > Art & Design
  Anicka Yi questions humans’ place in the world through work that focuses on some of the tiniest life-forms out there. At Storm King, muck-filled columns are her lab.
  
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• Jimmy Kimmel Pays His Respects to ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’

  21-05-2026 07:30 via NYT > Arts
  Kimmel said he hoped others will also tune in to CBS “for the last time” to watch Thursday’s “Late Show” finale.
  
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• Marian Goodman’s $35.1 M. Richter ‘Candle’ Leads Christie’s Tepid $162.7 M. Trio of Postwar and Contemporary Sales

  21-05-2026 04:00 via ARTnews.com
  Led by a $35.1 million Gerhard Richter canvas, Christie’s New York notched a $162.7 million across a trio of evening sales of postwar and contemporary art that just barely meet expectations at its crowded Rockefeller Center salesroom on Wednesday night. The auction was expected to bring in between $129 million and $191 million on 42 lots (after a Kerry James Marshall was withdrawn); the hammer total, before the house’s fees, came to $133.6 million, just a few million above the low es
  
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• Studio Theatre announces 2026/27 season - DC Theater Arts

  21-05-2026 03:46 via news.google.com
  Studio Theatre announces 2026/27 season  DC Theater Arts
  
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• The A.I. threat to audiobooks

  21-05-2026 03:38 via NYT > Arts
  Artificial intelligence has made pirated audiobooks faster to make and harder to detect. Our reporter Alexandra Alter tells us about the latest threat to the publishing industry.
  
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• Photos | Artists go ‘beyond the frame’ at Pajaro Valley Arts printmaking exhibit - Santa Cruz Sentinel

  21-05-2026 03:10 via news.google.com
  Photos | Artists go ‘beyond the frame’ at Pajaro Valley Arts printmaking exhibit  Santa Cruz Sentinel
  
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• Small Works Exhibition Opening at North Fork Arts Center - East End Beacon

  21-05-2026 02:57 via news.google.com
  Small Works Exhibition Opening at North Fork Arts Center  East End Beacon
  
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• Congrats Class of 2026! Dreyfoos School of the Arts graduation photos - The Palm Beach Post

  21-05-2026 02:34 via news.google.com
  Congrats Class of 2026! Dreyfoos School of the Arts graduation photos  The Palm Beach Post
  
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• Successful season: Senior Games and Silver Arts participants celebrate accomplishments - Salisbury Post

  21-05-2026 02:19 via news.google.com
  Successful season: Senior Games and Silver Arts participants celebrate accomplishments  Salisbury Post
  
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