Arts news

• Students Return For the Holidays

  08-11-2020 04:49 via nytimes.com
  
  Plan out the trip home and set ground rules for safe socializing. And remember that they’ve had a tough year, too, so give them the space to talk about it.
  
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• Jacqueline de Ribes, Tastemaker and Fashion Avatar, Dies at 96

  31-12-2025 23:18 via nytimes.com
  One of few people in the world of style who could legitimately claim the status of icon, she dressed to impress even before she became a designer.
  
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• T Magazine’s Most-Read Art and Culture Features From 2025

  31-12-2025 22:21 via nytimes.com
  A look at Japan’s microseasons, a retrospective on Gen X and more: These were readers’ 15 favorite stories.
  
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• Archeologists Uncover Frescoes of ‘Vibrant Peacocks and Masks’ at Villa di Poppea Outside Naples

  31-12-2025 22:10 via artnews.com
  Archeologists have begun to uncover frescoes in the Hall of the Mask and the Peacock at the Villa di Poppaea at Oplontis, near Torre Annunziata, just outside Naples. Their discovery is part of an ongoing excavation and renovation project that began nearly a year ago, according to a release by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.These recently recovered frescoes, done in the Second Style, reveal the Hall’s “true dimensions and decorative richness” and give the “first glimps
  
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• Bad Bunny Gets Backlash from Mexican Cultural Authorities for Touching Museum Artifact

  31-12-2025 21:14 via artnews.com
  Bad Bunny struck a nerve, rather than a chord, after touching an artifact on display at a Mexico City archaeology museum.On Saturday, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) issued a public scolding of the musician for allegedly placing his hands on a stela, a type of carved stone sculpture central to Mayan culture. According to INAH and fan accounts, the Puerto Rican singer, whose full name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, posted an image on Instagram showi
  
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• Mohammad Bakri, 72, Outspoken Palestinian Actor and Director, Dies

  31-12-2025 20:44 via nytimes.com
  His work, including the 2002 documentary “Jenin, Jenin,” exposed the often harsh realities of life experienced by his fellow Arabs in Israel.
  
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• 2025 Was the Year Luxury Truly Became Part of the Art Fair Playbook. But Where’s the Line?

  31-12-2025 20:14 via artnews.com
  Look no further than the auction houses for proof that art and luxury are becoming increasingly intertwined. In 2025, Sotheby’s and Christie’s both softened the blow of sluggish art sales by doubling down on luxury. Handbags, jewels, watches, cars, you name it: these items now account for roughly a third of Sotheby’s total revenue, with private luxury sales soaring 350 percent year on year. Christie’s isn’t far behind, with luxury accounting for a quarter of its ove
  
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• Richard Smallwood, 77, Choral Leader and Composer of Gospel Hits, Dies

  31-12-2025 19:44 via nytimes.com
  He sold millions of albums with the Richard Smallwood Singers, and his songs, many influenced by classical music, were recorded by stars like Whitney Houston.
  
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• A Sonic Sculpture Played by Charli XCX Is the Year’s Breakout Instrument

  31-12-2025 19:43 via artnews.com
  The official trailer for The Moment, the new A24 movie starring Charli XCX during a satirical version of her Brat era, dropped earlier this month, renewing interest in the musician’s cinematic breakout in 100 Nights Of Hero, a farcical fairy tale released at the latest Venice International Film Festival. In that film, the star plays a striking instrument that may have caught the eye of fans of sound art: a sculptural harp by the artist Amanda Camenisch. The London-based photographer,
  
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• Frank Lloyd Wright, Under the Sway of Solomon Guggenheim’s Curator, Applied Leeches and Had All His Teeth Pulled

  31-12-2025 19:13 via artnews.com
  Sometimes, we find out that our aesthetic heroes had dramatic moral failings—or just deeply strange quirks. In the latter category, we can place the fact that Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the twentieth century’s most revered architects, went in for outdated and downright bizarre medical treatments. Also surprising, he got some of his ideas from the artist and curator who commissioned him to build New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Hilla Rebay commissioned Wright to des
  
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• Lost Spanish Colonial Mission on Texas Frontier Is Rediscovered

  31-12-2025 17:51 via artnews.com
  The long-lost mission of Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo, one of the earliest outposts of Europe’s colonial frontier in Texas, has been rediscovered.An archaeology team from Texas Tech University, in collaboration with Texas Historical Commission archaeologists, found the site in Jackson County, Texas, on a private ranch near the Presidio la Bahía and Fort St. Louis. The mission was established in the 1680s by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a French
  
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• Norman Rockwell Was ‘Antifa,’ Says the Artist’s Granddaughter

  31-12-2025 16:57 via artnews.com
  Norman Rockwell’s art, with its quaint visions of small-town America, is today widely considered to be a force of conservatism, a call for things to remain the same even as everything changes. But according to the artist’s granddaughter, everyone has his art all wrong.“Norman Rockwell was antifa,” Daisy Rockwell told the Bulwark this week, for an article called “The MAGAfication of Norman Rockwell.”That headline is a reference to the Department of Homeland Sec
  
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• Women Directed Fewer Box Office Hits in 2025, Report Finds

  31-12-2025 15:00 via nytimes.com
  The number of female filmmakers dropped to 8.1 percent this year from 13.4 percent in 2024, according to a study from the University of Southern California.
  
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• The Top Movies of 2025, According to Times Readers: ‘Marty Supreme’ and More

  31-12-2025 11:02 via nytimes.com
  We asked you to vote on the best films of the year. The results ranged from big box office hits to small art-house indies.
  
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• The Top 10 ARTnews Stories of 2025

  31-12-2025 11:00 via artnews.com
  In 2025, ARTnews published over 2,500 stories. Below is a look back at the 10 most-read stories from 2025, as selected by our audience.For end-of-year coverage, we’ve also got lists of the year’s defining art events and artworks, the best exhibitions in New York as well as roundups of under-recognized artists who got their due and assessments of the year’s major news stories, from the explosion in art heists to the rise of digital folk art.Thank yo
  
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• 6 Splendid Games You May Have Missed in 2025

  31-12-2025 11:00 via nytimes.com
  Check out a beat-’em-up roguelite, a superhero corporate comedy and a museum simulator.
  
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• Isiah Whitlock Jr., Scene-Stealing Character Actor in ‘The Wire,’ Dies at 71

  31-12-2025 04:21 via nytimes.com
  In one of his most enduring roles, he played a corrupt state senator known for his ability to fashion an expletive into an outstretched catchphrase.
  
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• Tristram Hunt, Director of V&A Museum, Gets Knighthood in King Charles’ 2026 New Year Honors List

  30-12-2025 22:26 via artnews.com
  Tristram Hunt, the director of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, has been knighted by King Charles, landing a spot on the UK’s 2026 New Year Honors list. That means Hunt can now officially go by “Sir.”The former MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central and ex–shadow education secretary was recognized for his “services to museums,” according to the UK government’s announcement. Hunt has led the V&A since 2017, where he’s overseen a run of ambiti
  
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• How to Put a Celebrity at Ease? Make a Pizza.

  30-12-2025 20:32 via nytimes.com
  Times Cooking’s Pizza Interview series introduces a note of nostalgia to encourage stars to open up.
  
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• The Musicians We Lost in 2025

  30-12-2025 20:00 via nytimes.com
  Listen to songs by pop visionaries, neo-soul luminaries, country-adjacent outlaws and more.
  
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• Palestinian Artists Speak Out, Stolen Shield Returns to View, and More: Morning Links for December 30, 2025

  30-12-2025 18:46 via artnews.com
  The HeadlinesEARLY BATH. The current Istanbul Biennial, titled “The Three-Legged Cat,” won’t continue on as planned following the resignation of its curator, Christine Tohmé. The news was announced by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), which organizes the event. The first phase of the biennial, which ran from September 20 to November 23, spanned eight venues and welcomed more than 600,000 visitors. The second phas
  
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• Istanbul Biennial Ends Early After Curator Resigns Due to ‘Personal Circumstances’

  30-12-2025 18:36 via artnews.com
  The current Istanbul Biennial, an ambitious three-part show that recently completed its opening exhibnition, will not stage its remaining programming because the biennial’s curator, Christine Tohmé, resigned. The exhibition “will conclude after its first leg following Tohmé’s decision to step down due to personal circumstances,” the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), a private foundation that manages the event, said in a statement.The biennial,
  
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• Amit Berman Joins Fabienne Levy Gallery, Kevin Umaña Joins the Pit, and More: Industry Moves for December 30, 2025

  30-12-2025 18:04 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.Happy (almost) New Year! Here’s a round-up of who’s moving and shaking in the art trade this week.Industry MovesFabienne Levy Announces Representation of Amit Berman: His work is currently featured in a group exhibition at the Haifa Museum of Art, on view until January 2026. In 2024, du
  
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• Carmen de Lavallade, Dancer Whose Career Spanned the Arts, Dies at 94

  30-12-2025 17:48 via nytimes.com
  Over six decades she worked in theater, opera, film and television alongside luminaries like Alvin Ailey, Lena Horne, Agnes de Mille and Harry Belafonte.
  
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• Cecilia Giménez, Painter Behind Viral ‘Beast Jesus’ Restoration, Dies at 94

  30-12-2025 17:34 via artnews.com
  Cecilia Giménez Zueco, the amateur Spanish painter who butchered an attempt to restore a small-town fresco and became a global phenomenon because of it, has died at 94.Giménez, a lifelong resident of Borja in the province of Zaragoza, vaulted to unexpected international fame in 2012 after she tried to revive Ecce Homo, a 1930 devotional mural by Elías García Martínez. Her well-meaning but unsanctioned intervention transformed Christ’s face into what
  
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• At the Met Opera, It’s Traditional Puritans for New Year’s Eve

  30-12-2025 17:00 via nytimes.com
  The Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Bellini’s “I Puritani,” directed by Charles Edwards, is “a retro move,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager.
  
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• 9 Podcasts That Made Us Stop and Really Listen in 2025

  30-12-2025 17:00 via nytimes.com
  In an ever-growing podcast universe, our writers select the shows that stood out.
  
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• Guy Wildenstein Resigns as Wildenstein & Co. President After 35-Year Tenure Marred by Tax Fraud Conviction

  30-12-2025 16:19 via artnews.com
  Guy Wildenstein has stepped down from the office of president at the internationally known gallery Wildenstein & Co. after some 35 years in the post. Wildenstein, 80, will be replaced by his son David, 46, who has been vice president in charge of the investment division and the real estate portfolio. His daughter Vanessa, who directs the London gallery, will be vice-president and director of the New York location. Wildenstein also headed the Wildenstein Institute, which partnered w
  
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• Art World Insiders Make Their New Year’s Predictions for 2026

  30-12-2025 16:19 via artnews.com
  2025 was a disorienting and destabilizing year, both in the art market and farther afield. But amid all the doom and gloom of gallery closures, tariff announcements, and Trump proclamations, there were hints of brighter days ahead. For every gallery that shut its doors, another opened, and this fall saw the art market seemingly spring to life after a dismaying first six months.2026, then, offers much to look forward to. Art Basel and Frieze will launch new fairs in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, respectiv
  
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• Popcast’s Top 10 Music Moments of the Year

  30-12-2025 11:03 via nytimes.com
  Counting down some personal favorites, including a major rap tour, the sublime bridge in a breakup song and Timothée Chalamet’s rapping.
  
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