Arts news

• How ‘Rocks’ Made Stars of Its Schoolgirl Cast

  23-04-2021 17:11 via nytimes.com
  
  By casting first-time actors, the film tells a story rarely seen onscreen: what growing up is like for British women of color.
  
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• Zendaya Gets an Earful of ‘Orientalist’ Complaints for Wearing Ancient Iranian Earrings to ‘Odyssey’ Promo Amid US-Iran War

  14-07-2026 22:11 via artnews.com
  
  Actress Zendaya has been on the receiving end of some, ahem, piercing criticism after wearing ancient Iranian earrings to a London event promoting the new Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey, in which she plays the Greek goddess Athena. The film hits US and UK theaters July 17 and has already been the subject of intense debate.Zendaya got the earrings, believed to date from the first millennium BCE, from London dealer Charlie Barron, and then had them remounted with diamonds and 18-karat yellow g
  
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• Frieze Seoul’s Public Programs Include a Hunt for Hidden Coins and a Place to Talk About Climate Change

  14-07-2026 21:47 via artnews.com
  
  Art fairs may have started out as trade shows for dealers to sell each other their inventory, but they have long since become major events in the art world’s attention economy, zhuzhed up with public art commissions and intellectual dressings, including elaborate programs of public talks and film screenings, as well as plain old fun events like concerts. (As I wrote in 2020, the Armory Show even once offered a museum-style audio guide.) The public programming for the upcoming edition
  
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• ‘The Whoopi Monologues’ Review: Expanding a One-Woman Show

  14-07-2026 19:54 via nytimes.com
  Instead of one Whoopi Goldberg, audiences now experience five actresses: Kerry Washington, Kara Young, Dominique Fishback, Danielle Pinnock and Kecia Lewis.
  
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• At Young World Festival, Rap’s Avant-Garde Takes Shape

  14-07-2026 19:45 via nytimes.com
  The Brooklyn festival Young World spotlights emergent indie rappers and veteran artists. It was the brainchild of Mike, an artist and label head who has become a fulcrum of the alt-rap scene.
  
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• T. Rex Fossil Sells for $50.1 Million, Putting the King Back On Top

  14-07-2026 18:42 via nytimes.com
  In a booming fossil market, the T. rex had been dethroned by a stegosaurus. No longer.
  
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• Dealer Dominique Lévy Says She Received Death Threats After Denouncing Post–October 7 Letter in Artforum

  14-07-2026 18:21 via artnews.com
  
  Dominique Lévy, one of the dealers behind the blue-chip New York gallery Lévy Gorvy Dayan, spoke at length in a new profile about her response to October 7, claiming that she received death threats after publicly denouncing a 2023 open letter in Artforum that called for a ceasefire in Gaza.Published on October 19, 2023, the letter that ran in Artforum described Israel’s war in Gaza as an “escalating genocide” and demanded “an immediate ceasefire and the open
  
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• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Announces Citywide Mural Project to Commemorate Historic FIFA World Cup 

  14-07-2026 18:11 via artnews.com
  
  The fever for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, the largest, most expansive in the competition’s 96-year history, has swept North America. Star players like Norway’s Erling Haaland, England’s Harry Kane, France’s Kylian Mbappe, and Argentina’s Lionel Messi have turned in dramatic performances. Americans have fallen in love with visiting teams and foreign visitors have become enamored, of all things, with American-size food portions and ranch dressing. No
  
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• Hieroglyphs Inscribed on Wall of Ancient Building Reveal Name of Mayan Astronomer for the First Time

  14-07-2026 18:10 via artnews.com
  
  Archaeologists excavating Xultun, a large Mayan site in northeast Guatemala, have identified the name of an 8th-century Mayan astronomer-mathematician who wrote a calendrical formula on an interior wall of a small masonry building.The individual’s name, Sak Tahn Waax, translates to “White-chested Fox,” and the formula (either written by him, or by someone else and attributed to him) calculates the orbital cycles of Mars and Venus. According to a paper published by Antiquity, th
  
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• Man Charged in Theft of More Than 600 Artifacts from UK’s Bristol Museum

  14-07-2026 18:08 via artnews.com
  
  A suspect has been charged in the wake of what British authorities described as a “high-value burglary” at the Bristol Museum in the UK last September.As reported by the BBC, “Dean Hall, 41, from Redcliffe, Bristol, has been charged with handling stolen goods. He was given unconditional bail and he is next due at Bristol Crown Court on 17 August.”The police said the investigation into the burglary—which involved more than 600 objects from the Bristol Museum’s
  
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• Sotheby’s Reports Record $4.4 B. First Half as Private Sales and Luxury Fuel Growth

  14-07-2026 17:57 via artnews.com
  
  Sotheby’s reported record first-half consolidated sales of $4.4 billion on Tuesday, up 58 percent from the same period last year, fueled by gains across auctions, private sales, and its growing luxury businesses. Auction sales rose 59 percent to $3.4 billion, while private sales climbed 52 percent to a record $826 million. The company also posted its highest sell-through rate since at least 2010 and a record 4.9 bidders per lot sold.The numbers are undeniably strong. But the more interesti
  
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• Sotheby’s $50.1 M. T. Rex Sale Sets New Record as Scientists Scowl

  14-07-2026 17:22 via artnews.com
  
  The Tyrannosaurus rex known as “Gus” has become the most expensive dinosaur ever sold at auction after fetching $50.1 million at Sotheby’s on Tuesday, extending a remarkable run that has transformed prehistoric fossils from natural history curiosities into one of the hottest corners of the luxury collectibles market. The 67-million-year-old skeleton sold after 19 bids, hammering at $43 million before premiums, comfortably stomping on the previous auction record of&nbs
  
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• Dinosaur Dealer Sal Aaron Discusses the Fossil Market as Sotheby’s Sells T. Rex for Record $50 M.

  14-07-2026 17:17 via artnews.com
  
  When Sotheby’s sold “Sue,” a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, for $8.4 million in 1997, the house changed the way the art world looked at dinosaur fossils. Nearly three decades later, the market has grown dramatically. In 2020, Christie’s sold another T. rex, named “Stan,” for $31.8 million. And then, in 2024, Sotheby’s set a new record with “Apex,” a nearly complete stegosaurus that sold for $44.6 million.On Tuesday, Sotheby&r
  
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• Trump Slashes Size of National Monument Rich with Ancient Rock Art

  14-07-2026 17:12 via artnews.com
  
  Grand Staircase–Escalante, a national monument in Utah that is host to rock art dating back multiple millennia, will be significantly decreased in scale by Donald Trump as his administration attempts to capitalize on resources on the site’s land.Established in 1996 at a scale of 1.7 million acres, Grand Staircase–Escalante has contracted and expanded in size depending on which president is in power. In 2017, Trump cut it in half; in 2021, Joe Biden expanded it once more.Though
  
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• With Lizzo and Calm Flair, a Storied Venue Reopens for Summer

  14-07-2026 17:10 via nytimes.com
  The gorgeously renovated Hunter Pavilion at Ravinia, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s off-season home, was inaugurated with a gala last weekend.
  
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• $30 M. T. Rex Sparks Debate Over Fossils Being in Private Collections, Felix Art Fair Announces New Format for 2027, and More: Morning Links for July 14, 2026

  14-07-2026 16:30 via artnews.com
  
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.Good morning!
  A $30 million T. rex reignites a debate over whether fossils belong in private collections.Felix Art Fair will change its format for the 2027 edition. A forgotten Andy Warhol artwork made on a restaurant table has resurfaced in Austria.The Headlines DINO DRAMA. A nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton is current
  
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• $130 M. T. Rex Sparks Debate Over Fossils Being in Private Collections, Felix Art Fair Announces New Format for 2027, and More: Morning Links for July 14, 2026

  14-07-2026 16:30 via artnews.com
  
  To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.Good morning!
  A $30 million T. rex reignites a debate over whether fossils belong in private collections.Felix Art Fair will change its format for the 2027 edition. A forgotten Andy Warhol artwork made on a restaurant table has resurfaced in Austria.The Headlines DINO DRAMA. A nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton is current
  
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• Rauschenberg Foundation Gives Works to Tate, National Galleries of Scotland

  14-07-2026 14:00 via artnews.com
  
  The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation has given three works by the artist to Artist Rooms, a collection that is jointly managed by the London-based Tate museum network and the National Galleries of Scotland.Though Rauschenberg remains best known for his Combines from the postwar era, all three of the works given to Artist Rooms are part of a 1980s series called “Gluts.” Like his Combines, these sculptures harvest ready-made materials borrowed from everyday life—found pieces of met
  
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• Felix Art Fair Overhauls Its Format, Emphasizing Solo, Two-Artist Booths and Poolside Experience

  14-07-2026 14:00 via artnews.com
  
  Felix Art Fair is betting that less can be more.The Los Angeles fair will dramatically reshape its format beginning with its 2027 edition, abandoning its longtime split between the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s upper-floor suites and its famous poolside cabanas in favor of a unified layout centered entirely around the hotel’s two-story cabana complex. At the same time, exhibitors will be encouraged to present solo and two-artist booths instead of the larger group displays that have bec
  
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• Christie’s Turns to the World Cup After Record-Breaking Jim Irsay Sales

  14-07-2026 13:00 via artnews.com
  
  Fresh off the record-breaking sale of the late Jim Irsay’s memorabilia collection, Christie’s is planning a sale centered around another topic with broad popular appeal: the World Cup.The house announced an online charity auction tied to the tournament that will include game-used match balls, team-signed jerseys, and costumes worn by performers including Shakira and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.The sale, called “One Goal: An Auction to Benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Educ
  
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• In ‘The Westies,’ Chris Brancato Expands His ‘Scumbag Universe’ (Again)

  14-07-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  For his new series, the co-creator of “Narcos” and “Godfather of Harlem” turns his focus to a violent gang of Irish New Yorkers in the early 1980s.
  
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• ‘Difficult People’ a Decade Later: A Sarcastic Time Capsule

  14-07-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  This cult comedy about two snide show-business outsiders has a new Blu-ray edition, and a reunion this fall. The creator Julie Klausner discusses why she’d love to revive it.
  
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• As White House Leans on Smithsonian, Little Uproar Over Board Vacancies

  14-07-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  An odd silence has surrounded a delay to fill several open seats on the board of the Smithsonian, even as a fierce battle to control the institution ensues.
  
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• A Beastie Boy Returns to the Mic, With Some Help

  14-07-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  Thanks to an assist from his sons, Mike D is set to release “Thank You,” the first new music from a member of the pioneering rap trio in 15 years.
  
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• What Happens if Pernambuco Wood Becomes Illegal in Music?

  14-07-2026 11:00 via nytimes.com
  For centuries, the standard wood used to make string instruments’ bows has come from the pernambuco tree in Brazil. Its future is uncertain.
  
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• Jon Stewart Mocks Mitch McConnell’s Recovery Photo

  14-07-2026 08:31 via nytimes.com
  The “Daily Show” host called the image “totally believable evidence that Mitch McConnell is not only alive, but the happiest boy in the hospital.”
  
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• Pat Oliphant, Cartoonist Who Skewered the Powerful, Dies at 90

  14-07-2026 05:20 via nytimes.com
  The winner of countless awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, he was described in 1990 as “the most influential political cartoonist now working.”
  
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• Nazi-Looted Painting Found Decades Ago Among Amsterdam’s Street Trash Will Be Returned to Jewish Dealer’s Heirs

  13-07-2026 23:21 via artnews.com
  
  A painting that once belonged to the prominent Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker has been successfully identified and will be returned to his heirs.The discovery of the painting, depicting the interior of Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) and likely by Dutch Golden Age painter Hendrick van der Burgh, has an unusual history, according to De Telegraaf, which first reported the news. The paper’s crime reporter John van den Heuvel worked with art detective Arthur Brand to id
  
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• Sam Neill’s Best Movie Performances: Where to Stream

  13-07-2026 23:16 via nytimes.com
  From his global breakthrough in “Jurassic Park” to the more recent “Peaky Blinders,” the actor’s range was always on display.
  
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• Giant Shipping Container Sculpture at Montauk Art Space The Ranch Draws Municipal Fire

  13-07-2026 22:34 via artnews.com
  
  Standing 60 feet tall in a former horse pasture at Max Levai’s Montauk exhibition space, The Ranch, Matt Johnson’s Meditating Figure is impossible to ignore. Built from 12 retired shipping containers that collectively traveled more than 12 million miles before being stacked into the outline of a cross-legged figure, the sculpture turns one of globalization’s least glamorous inventions into something approaching a contemporary colossus.Now, it has become the center of an in
  
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