The world’s oldest natural pearl and an 1,100-year-old Qur’an will be among the star exhibits at Zayed National Museum, in a new building, designed by Norman Foster’s firm, in the cultural district on the emirate’s Saadiyat Island. Director Peter Magee says the museum’s aim is to be a “research powerhouse.” - The Art Newspaper
Amid the geopolitical mayhem of a second Donald Trump presidency, 2025 looks likely to be the third year in a row that sales in the global art market have contracted. “The anticipated ‘Trump bump’ has ultimately given way to a ‘Trump slump’,” says Christine Bourron, the chief executive of Pi-eX. - The Art Newspaper
“Hidden high in the chapter house of San Domenico (convent) in Fiesole, the quietly majestic Crucifixion — possibly the artist’s earliest known work — has been painstakingly revived by conservators, offering visitors a rare glimpse into the spiritual and artistic beginnings of one of Italy’s most revered painters.” - Artnet
The enormous cloth, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England, has spent almost all of its existence in France. Next year it will be the centerpiece of a blockbuster exhibition at the British Museum in London. In exchange, the UK will lend to France Anglo-Saxon treasures from the Sutton Hoo ship burial. - AP
The Wall of Shame is a 50ft-long, 10ft-tall outdoor mural featuring the pardoned Trump supporters, colour-coded to distinguish their actions: violent rioters appear in red, those who damaged property are shown in blue, and the remaining individuals are depicted in white. The combined effect resembles a Star and Stripes that has imploded. - The Guardian
The museum featured more than 200 works that had been censored for political, social or religious reasons. Some pieces depicted controversial figures, including dictator Francisco Franco inside a fridge, Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I in a sexual scene with a Bolivian activist, and Saddam Hussein tied up and floating in a glass tank. - Artdependence
Across the world and throughout time, structures have been deliberately erased and later resurrected as replicas – often as a nod to new (or resurgent) political and ideological undercurrents. - Aeon
“James Gaddy, the vice president of administration at Albright (College in Reading, PA, said) ‘we needed to stop bleeding.’ He confirmed that over the last two years, the college has racked up a $20 million deficit, … adding that the college’s 2,300-strong art collection was ‘not core to our mission.’” - ARTnews
What these paintings represent about the CIA’s relationship to the art world, though, is more complicated. On these walls, the intersection between US art and politics is especially busy. - Hyperallergic
The gallery’s reserves have dropped sharply – from £22.6m in 2022–23 to £10.9m at the end of 2024. Government support is also in decline: the grant-in-aid the Tate received in 2023–24 was £50.8m, down from £54.2m the previous year. - Apollo
“Chaco Culture, which includes Chaco Canyon National Historical Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The network of archaeological sites once operated as a major center of the Chacoan culture ... between the years 850 and 1250.” - Hyperallergic
An external review “recommended a review into Creative Australia’s governance processes, better training for future board members, and the urgent appointment of a board member with deep visual arts expertise.” Many in the visual arts community want to go a whole lot farther. - The Guardian (UK)
Founded as Blum and Poe in 1994 in Santa Monica, Calif., by Tim Blum and Jeff Poe, the gallery represents some of the most high profile, and expensive, artists working today, including Yoshitomo Nara and Mark Grotjahn, whose artworks have traded for more than $10 million. - Artnet
