All articles tagged with #art
The Well newsletter highlights research suggesting that engaging with art and crafts—like knitting or painting—can boost health and happiness, describing it as a potential fifth pillar of health. Insights from Daisy Fancourt, a UCL professor of psychobiology and epidemiology, are cited to illustrate how creative activities may improve well-being, whether done solo or in group settings.
A previously unknown red chalk foot sketch by Michelangelo, dating to about 1511–12 and linked to the Libyan Sibyl on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, sold at Christie’s for £16.9 million ($23 million), far above its estimate after infrared imaging helped confirm the attribution.
A Leeds exhibition, Beneath the Sheets: Anatomy, Art and Power, reveals how centuries of anatomical illustration fused science with display, often using unconsenting cadavers and shaped by class, race and gender biases—from Rembrandt and Vesalius to 19th‑century atlases and the necropolitics of bodysnatching—asking who profits, who is depicted, and how social context has steered medical knowledge.
A Los Angeles Times critic argues that LA is rich in art beyond its film image, listing five favorites: the bronze Eros undercover by the ocean at the Getty Villa; the Fowler Museum’s celebrated textiles from Indonesia and beyond; the Huntington’s serene bonsai gardens; Kent Twitchell’s Ed Ruscha mural and LA’s vibrant mural culture; and Hollywood Forever cemetery, a living pantheon that hosts screenings and star tributes, showing how memory, landscape and art converge in the city, with a Google map guiding readers to more sites.
An angel in Rome’s Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina was altered to resemble Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, prompting a culture ministry to carry out a same-day inspection of the painting; La Repubblica published before-and-after photos of the work, which the parish priest said was a restoration after water damage and involved pieces dating to 2000 that were not heritage-protected. The artist Bruno Valentinetti says he restored what was there 25 years ago. Meloni posted a joking Instagram response, while opponents warned against politicizing art.
Denmark’s culture minister unveiled an exploratory plan to reclassify gastronomy from craft to art, potentially granting top chefs state subsidies and arts funding if Parliament approves. Aiming to keep the country at the culinary cutting edge—anchored by New Nordic pioneers like Noma’s René Redzepi—the move invites debate within both the culinary and art worlds about what constitutes art and how such support would be allocated.
Researchers report a red hand stencil in Sulawesi dating to about 68,000 years ago—the oldest cave art known—suggesting early symbolic behavior in Southeast Asia and challenging Europe-centered views on the origins of modern human creativity, with implications for early human migrations toward Sahul (Australia–New Guinea).
A major solar storm lights up the sky as a reminder that the aurora borealis has inspired humans for millennia—from Inuit spirits and ancient Chinese records to Greek and Roman observers, Galileo’s naming and Halley’s magnetic-field link, to modern art, poetry, music, and Norway’s Northern Lights Cathedral.
Christie’s features the Roger & Josette Vanthournout Collection as the centerpiece of its Modern Visionaries sale in London, spanning Surrealism to Post-War avant-garde with works by Magritte, Ernst, Kusama and others; the collection is being presented in three dedicated auctions — Evening Sale on March 5, Day Sale on March 6, and an online sale running Feb 25–Mar 10, 2026 — with global previews in Brussels, Hong Kong, New York and Paris.
After more than three years of construction, the New Museum on the Lower East Side reopens March 21 with a 60,000-square-foot expansion by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, doubling gallery space, adding residencies, a restaurant, and community programs. The opening exhibition, 'New Humans: Memories of the Future,' fuses 20th‑century masters with contemporary artists and 16 new commissions to explore how technological change affects humanity, and admission will be free for opening weekend; total project cost is about $82 million as Lisa Phillips retires in April.
Paranaguá's History of Latin America in 100 Photographs assembles a connected global narrative that moves beyond nation-centric histories to illuminate Indigenous roots, colonisation, slavery and revolutions, while highlighting often overlooked images that link past and present. The book treats photography as evidence that expands history beyond politics, showcases cultural and social histories, and cautions about the persisting legacies of violence and inequality in Latin America, including archives that remain unevenly digitised and the rise of AI-generated imagery.
Renowned Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide's black-and-white dreamscapes, capturing empowered inhabitants, mythical creatures, and sacred landscapes, are showcased in three New York exhibitions, highlighting her poetic portrayal of daily life and community experiences.
The article explores the possibility that Leonardo da Vinci may have painted a nude version of the Mona Lisa, based on historical accounts, sketches, and comparisons with other Renaissance artworks, suggesting that the famous portrait could have had a more provocative origin.
The Mauritshuis will lend Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka this summer, marking a rare international travel for the painting, which is usually kept as a star exhibit in the Netherlands. The loan, organized in collaboration with Asahi Shimbun, aims to fund museum renovations and create an education center, offering a unique opportunity for Japanese audiences to experience the iconic artwork.
This article highlights five notable art exhibitions at small galleries around the world in January 2026, featuring diverse works from artists Justus de Rode, Gwen Evans, Sera Holland, Morgan Lehman Gallery, and Francesco Pantaleone, showcasing themes from nature and domestic unsettling to textured abstraction and precarious sculptures.