Our weekly news roundup is an extension of Paint Drippings, which drops first in The Back Room, a lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know art industry intel into a nimble read you’ll actually enjoy. Artnet News Pro members get exclusive access—subscribe now to receive this in your inbox every Friday.
Art Fairs
– In an effort to curb PDF pre-sales, Art Basel has launched a new “Basel Exclusive” initiative encouraging galleries to withhold works from previews to drive in-person discovery at the fair. Around 170 of the 232 exhibitors showing at the flagship Swiss event, running June 16 to 21, have opted in.
– Volta returns to Basel’s Congress Center from June 17 to 21 with around 70 exhibitors this year. Outfits such as South Africa’s 99 Loop Gallery, Marseille’s Galerie Escobar, and Studio Arrows of Tokyo are among those participating in the fair’s new “5,000 Edit,” a curated selection of works under CHF 5,000 ($6,360) aimed at attracting younger collectors.
– The buzzy alternative fair Esther will take up residence in New York’s Estonia House for a third edition, running May 12 to 16, coinciding with Frieze Week. Kerry Schuss Gallery (New York), Kogo Gallery (Tartu), and Longtermhandstand (Budapest) are among the roughly two dozen exhibitors.
Installation view of Esther II at the New York Estonian House, May 6-10, 2025. Photo by Mathew Sherman.
Auction Houses
– Private auctions are all the rage! The app Fair Warning is launching a new sale format called “No Warning,” which essentially functions as a sealed-bidding system. Works will appear on the platform with, aptly, no warning. Buyers can then either purchase at a fixed price or submit a single binding bid, with no visibility into competing offers. The result of the sale will not be posted.
– A Sotheby’s New York sale of the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection set a U.S. record for design auctions, totaling $96 million. Works by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne dominated, bringing in $64.7 million overall. A set of 15 mirrors designed by Claude Lalanne for Yves St. Laurent fetched $33.5 million alone, shattering records for a single design work at auction. (Artnet News)
Yves Saint Laurent’s Paris apartment with the Lalannes mirrors. Photo: Jerome Galland.
Galleries
– Victoria Miro now represents the Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander in collaboration Sean Kelly (New York); Alma Berrow, known for her playful food-inspired ceramics, has joined Megan Mulrooney (Los Angeles); and Fine Arts, Sydney now reps the estate of the late Australian avant garde artist John Nixon.
– Gladstone will move to a new space in Seoul’s Hannam-dong in late summer 2026. Designed by Minsuk Cho and Mass Studies, the two-floor space in the 739-28 Hannam Building at Yongsan will effectively double its footprint in the city.
– The Box in Los Angeles announced this weekend that it would close after 19 years. Its final show was a two-venue collaboration with Parker Gallery for the late California artist Wally Hedrick, which ran through April 4. (ARTnews)
Museums and Institutions
– Billionaire collector Mitchell P. Rales, co-founder of the Glenstone Museum, has pledged $116 million to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to fund loans from its collection to smaller museums across the U.S. (New York Times)
– After a 17-month search, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has tapped Lynda Roscoe Hartigan as its new director, with a start date of September 8. She has been CEO of Massachusetts’s Peabody Essex Museum since 2022. (Artnet News)
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan. Photo by Alex Paul, courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum
– After delays earlier this year due to staff strikes and leadership scrutiny, the jury for the Louvre’s $778 million renovation is set to meet in mid-May to review five shortlisted architectural proposals, officially advancing the “New Renaissance” project backed by President Emmanuel Macron. (Le Figaro)
– A student artwork referencing Leon Black’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein was removed from a Dartmouth exhibition just a week after opening, sparking controversy on campus. The piece, titled Something Rotten and made of moldy beef sticks arranged over the visual arts center’s dedication wall, alluded to Black’s business dealings with Epstein. Black, a Dartmouth alum, gifted the college $48 million in 2012 for its art center; students have renewed calls to have the Black Family Visual Arts Center renamed. (The Dartmouth)
– The Judd Foundation has named Alexandra Cunningham Cameron as director of design, a newly created role.
Legal
– A Manhattan federal jury awarded $102 million to the Morgan Art Foundation in a case alleging exploitation of artist Robert Indiana in his final years, finding that a publisher and its founder forged and sold works for profit. The ruling centers on claims that Indiana was manipulated after granting power of attorney, enabling the sale of thousands of alleged fakes. (Reuters)
Robert Indiana in his NYC studio with his LOVE sculpture, 1969. Photo: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images.
Biennials
– The Venice Biennale jury said it will not consider countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges, effectively excluding Israel and Russia from top awards. The announcement comes after calls to ban both countries from participating in the illustrious art event. It has prompted objections from Israel’s artist representative, Belu-Simion Fainaru, who says the new policy amounts to discriminatory treatment. (Artnet News)
Awards
– Simeon Barclay, Kira Frieje, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku have been shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, the U.K.’s top art award. The artists’ work will be presented in an exhibition at Teesside University’s Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) later this year. Each will receive £10,000 ($13,400), but the winner, to be announced December 10, will receive an additional £15,000 ($20,200). (Artnet News)
