Arts news

• 6 Queer Figurative Painters Reimagining Intimacy

  13-07-2021 23:33 via artnews.com
  
  Whether painting figures beyond the confines of the gender binary with blurry ambiguity or memorializing formative moments of sexual exploration in exquisite detail, a growing group of painters is developing a new visual vocabulary for depicting queer intimacy. Melding ambitions at one personal, political, and painterly, this cohort celebrates queer intimacy—emphatically and at times with trepidation, delicately refuting the oppressive gazes that sometimes accompany visibility. T
  
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• Harmony Korine Talks About Creating New Worlds and Adding Emotion to AI

  11-02-2026 18:33 via artnews.com
  In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Harmony Korine—a filmmaker and multimedia artist whose boundless imagination has careened into painting, poetry, music, digital art, and pretty much every other artform that exists—talks about moving past his previous pursuits and going all-in on AI.From the Miami office of EDGLRD, the creative studio Korine started around the time of his infrared movie Aggro Dr1ft in 2023, the provocateur said he hasn’t read a book in decades and
  
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• Advocates for the Incarcerated Protest Removal of Artworks from UK Court Facilities

  11-02-2026 18:11 via artnews.com
  Cultural organizations and reformers in the UK are up in arms against government contractor Serco for removing artworks from court facilities in England and Wales. A February 10 report from Lay Observers, an independent monitor, found that Prisoner Escort and Custody Service, a government agency, provided artworks to all courts. Lay Observers found that only courts operated by prisoner transport company GEOAmey put the work on display. Some facilities operated by government contractor Serco
  
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• Iconic Baseball Painting by Norman Rockwell Acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago

  11-02-2026 17:49 via artnews.com
  On Tuesday, the Art Institute of Chicago announced its acquisition of a study for The Dugout (1948) by Norman Rockwell. Donated by former governor of Illinois Bruce Rauner and Diana Rauner, it will be the first work by that artist in the museum’s collection.A popular painter of American everyday life, Rockwell (1894–1978) is most famous for his cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post magazine, which published over 300 of his artworks between 1916 and 1963. This oil study de
  
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• ‘Old Masters Are Back!’ New York Sales Set Records for Gentileschi, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt

  11-02-2026 17:40 via artnews.com
  Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday.As an Old Masters auction started up in a packed room at Sotheby’s new Madison Avenue headquarters on Thursday morning, the auctioneer, David Pollack, made an unusual announcement. By far the top-priced work in the sale, a two-sided panel painting by Italy’s Antonello da Messina tagged at up
  
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• In the Sci-Fi World of ‘Arco’, It’s About ‘Respecting Kids’ Intelligence’

  11-02-2026 17:18 via nytimes.com
  The Oscar-nominated “Arco” aims to give viewers of all ages hope in the possibility of a brighter tomorrow.
  
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• Louis Fratino, Ascendant Painter of Queer Intimacy, Joins David Zwirner

  11-02-2026 15:30 via artnews.com
  With his fame fast rising, painter Louis Fratino has joined David Zwirner, one of the world’s biggest galleries. Rather than cutting ties with his past galleries, as many artists do when they join a mega-gallery like Zwirner, Fratino will still be represented by Berlin’s Galerie Neu and New York’s Sikkema Jenkins Malloy, which helped make the artist famous in the city he calls home.Working in vivid figuration, Fratino has memorably painted bathers, fornicating lovers, dancers,
  
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• Dallas Art Fair’s Kelly Cornell Takes the Helm at Aspen Art Fair

  11-02-2026 15:00 via artnews.com
  The Aspen Art Fair will return to the historic Hotel Jerome from July 29 through August 1, 2026, for its third edition, this time under the direction of Kelly Cornell, who will continue in her role as the head of the Dallas Art Fair.From her perspective, the pairing works because of the similarities she sees between the two fairs. She noted that both have strong communities, engaged collectors, and a commitment to quality. Both also occupy a space where there is room to grow thoug
  
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• Acquavella Plans 50-Work Matisse Exhibition This Spring

  11-02-2026 15:00 via artnews.com
  This spring, Acquavella Galleries will stage one of the most ambitious gallery exhibitions of Henri Matisse in recent memory. “Matisse: The Pursuit of Harmony,” on view from April 9 through May 22, will bring together 50 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that span roughly half a century of the artist’s career.For the gallery, the show is saturated with history. It is the first exhibition devoted entirely to Matisse at Acquavella since 1973, and comes at a time when
  
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• Trump Administration Removes Pride Flag from Stonewall Monument, MFA Boston to Create ‘People in Culture’ Position and Denies Targeting Minorities in Layoffs: Morning Links for February 11, 2026

  11-02-2026 14:55 via artnews.com
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.The HeadlinesPRIDE FLAG. Over the weekend, the Trump administration removed the rainbow Pride flag that flew from New York City’s Stonewall National Monument to gay rights, reports the Washington Post. The divisive move was traced to a January 21 federal order by the Interior Department, which states that National Park Service (NPS) property should
  
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• Ahead of a “Mammoth” Smithsonian Show, Nick Cave and Bob Faust Open Up About Collaborating as a Couple

  11-02-2026 14:00 via artnews.com
  Nick Cave and his longtime partner, artist and designer Bob Faust, moved into an abandoned textile factory on the northwest side of Chicago in 2018. The 18,000-square-foot building was dilapidated, so they spent three years renovating it into a mixed live-work-gallery space they named Facility. Upstairs is the couple’s chic but minimalist apartment; downstairs are studios where they and their 10 assistants labor amid tropical and desert succulents, a tidy profusion of fabrics and buttons a
  
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• Quartet of Works by Monet, Signac, Degas, and Léger to Headline Sotheby’s Spring Modern & Contemporary Sale in London

  11-02-2026 11:42 via artnews.com
  A quartet of masterpieces by Claude Monet, Paul Signac, Edgar Degas, and Fernand Léger will hit the auction block at Sotheby’s London this spring. The paintings are part of the house’s Modern and Contemporary evening sale on March 4 and have a combined high estimate of £24 million.Monet’s Maison de Jardinier (1884) spearheads the group. It was painted during the artist’s ten-week sojourn on the Italian riviera and conveys the famous garden of Francesco Moreno
  
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• In ‘Soul Power,’ a Fresh Look at the League That Helped Launch Dr. J

  11-02-2026 11:04 via nytimes.com
  Executive produced by Julius Erving, a new docuseries tells the story of the A.B.A., birthplace of the 3-pointer, slam-dunk contest and a lot of style.
  
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• The Book Jackets Were Ready. Then Charlie Kirk Was Shot.

  11-02-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  What’s a publisher to do when a novel hews close to the news cycle?
  
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• Decades of Palestinian History, Told by 3 Films With Awards Hopes

  11-02-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” “All That’s Left of You” and “Palestine 36” each tries to unpack the complex lives of Palestinians.
  
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• Mike Tirico Went From the Super Bowl to the Olympics on Two Cups of Coffee

  11-02-2026 11:00 via nytimes.com
  As the veteran NBC sportscaster worked the Super Bowl on Sunday, he had his bags ready to go. Soon after the final whistle, a private jet whisked him to Italy.
  
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• Can Artists Help Shape American Cities Again?

  11-02-2026 11:00 via nytimes.com
  Artists have played a vital role in defining the American city only to be forced out when rents rise. A novel approach in San Francisco seeks to break the cycle.
  
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• Late Night Mines Trump’s Million Mentions in the Epstein Files

  11-02-2026 07:31 via nytimes.com
  “A million times? There’s not even that many references to Hamlet in the play ‘Hamlet,’” Jordan Klepper said on “The Daily Show.”
  
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• Timothée Chalamet, Teyana Taylor and Jacob Elordi at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon

  11-02-2026 06:39 via nytimes.com
  At the Oscar nominees’ luncheon, Timothée Chalamet, Teyana Taylor and Jacob Elordi mingled with documentarians and behind-the-scenes professionals.
  
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• Britney Spears Sells Her Song Catalog

  10-02-2026 23:51 via nytimes.com
  The pop hitmaker, who hasn’t released a new album in 10 years, sold the rights to her music to Primary Wave.
  
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• TEFAF New York Names 88 Exhibitors for 2026 Edition at Park Avenue Armory

  10-02-2026 23:10 via artnews.com
  TEFAF New York will return to the Park Avenue Armory from May 15 to 19, 2026, with 88 exhibitors presenting modern and contemporary art, design, jewelry, and antiquities. An invitation-only preview will take place on May 14.The 2026 edition will bring together dealers from 14 countries across four continents. The roster includes nine new exhibitors and 78 returning participants, with four galleries rejoining after an absence.“The heart of TEFAF New York lies with its exhibitors,” Lea
  
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• With New Bill, Israel Moves to Expand Control Over Ancient West Bank Sites

  10-02-2026 22:40 via artnews.com
  Israel has unveiled a bill to oversee West Bank antiquities, drawing condemnation as a violation of international law and a further escalation of its annexation of Palestinian territory.The bill was approved for a first reading by the Israeli Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation on February 8. It would give Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu “sweeping authority” to appoint the governing council, designate antiquity sites, and expropriate land and artifacts across the We
  
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• Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show and the Everyday People Who Made It Authentic

  10-02-2026 22:09 via nytimes.com
  A priest from Sacramento. A bar owner from New York. A taquero from Los Angeles. Puerto Rico came alive at the Super Bowl because of hundreds of non-famous performers.
  
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• Hudson Talbott Dies at 76; Wrote and Illustrated Wide-Ranging Children’s Books

  10-02-2026 20:49 via nytimes.com
  His book about time-traveling dinosaurs became a movie. He also adapted the Broadway show “Into the Woods” for young readers and wrote about his struggles with dyslexia.
  
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• Lauren Haynes Appointed Executive Director of Atlanta Contemporary

  10-02-2026 20:34 via artnews.com
  Atlanta Contemporary has named Lauren Haynes’s as its new executive director, effective March 16. She replaces interim ED Everett Long, who had been in the position since last summer.Haynes brings a wealth of curatorial experience to her new role, from institutions throughout the United States. She was most recently vice president of arts & culture and head curator at the Trust for Governors Island. Governors Island, in New York Harbor, has robust arts programming, including exhibition
  
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• 13 Transcendent Beatles Covers by Black Musicians

  10-02-2026 20:19 via nytimes.com
  Listen to how Tina Turner, Al Green, Beyoncé and others reinterpreted, revised and reimagined the Fab Four.
  
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• Gabor Boritt, Refugee Who Became Expert on Lincoln, Dies at 86

  10-02-2026 20:05 via nytimes.com
  He survived the Holocaust and Communist rule in Hungary, arrived penniless in New York and made himself into a pre-eminent Civil War scholar.
  
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• Investigators Find Decades-Long Mismanagement, Corruption at China’s Nanjing Museum

  10-02-2026 19:31 via artnews.com
  An investigation into the Nanjing Museum, one of China’s premier state-run cultural institutions, found that decades of systemic mismanagement and corruption enabled the secret sale of national treasures into the private art market. According to the South China Morning Post, the scandal erupted last September after the museum was accused of selling donated paintings, prompting an investigation by Chinese authorities that has since focused on a former director. The publication reported
  
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• Prominent Collector and Navy Secretary John Phelan Rode On Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Plane

  10-02-2026 19:15 via artnews.com
  John Phelan, a prominent art collector and the current Secretary of the Navy, is revealed to have flown on the private plane of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2006, according to a report by CNN. Flight logs note that he flew from London to New York on March 3 of that year. The flight came four months before Epstein was first indicted in Florida for felony solicitation of prostitution.CNN reports that a close friend of the secretary confirmed that Phelan was on the flight, “but e
  
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• Bard College President Leon Botstein Scrutinized for Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

  10-02-2026 19:05 via artnews.com
  Longtime Bard College president Leon Botstein, who has helmed the influential liberal-arts school since 1975, is under fire after the release of email communications with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, suggest a relationship more personal than had been previously disclosed.On Monday, the New York Times reported that Botstein had sent Epstein a grateful note regarding a 2012 trip to the Caribbean that he recently claimed not to remember in detail—includ
  
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