$1.5m bronze Buddha statue stolen from Los Angeles gallery
A single thief allegedly maneuvered the 250-pound sculpture, dating from Japan’s Edo Period, out of the Barakat Gallery’s backyard and into a rental truck
Fernando Botero, the Colombian artist beloved for his rotund figures, has died, aged 91
Botero re-imagined art historical motifs but also responded to current events, including a series of visceral paintings in response to the Abu Ghraib torture scandal
Brice Marden, painter revered for his distinctive approach to abstraction, has died, aged 84
Marden rose to prominence in the 1960s and 70s, synthesizing elements of Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Minimalism and more into his own unique idiom
Joop Sanders, early member of Abstract Expressionist movement, has died, aged 101
An influential figure in the New York scene of the early 1950s, Sanders spent the latter half of the decade in Europe and consequently was often left out of narratives of the AbEx movement
Richard M. Barancik, the last living Monuments Man, has died, aged 98
He was part of a group that saved thousands of artworks during the Second World War from destruction and seizure by the Nazis
Nine US cities receive grants totalling $25m to develop more diverse monuments
The latest round of grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project will support projects in Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and elsewhere
Pop-up museum commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre opens in New York
A similar institution in Hong Kong was forcibly shuttered in 2021 following the passage of the city’s restrictive security law
‘My work holds a mirror to one’s perspective’: Nicholas Galanin on his new public sculpture made of border wall steel
The Indigenous artist used steel destined for construction of the US’s southern border fence to make a large text art piece in Brooklyn
Twelve must-see exhibitions in New York during Frieze
From Lauren Halsey's new commission for the Met rooftop to funkily subversive sculptures at the Museum of Arts and Design, the season's essential exhibitions
‘Western Chinese restaurants are magical realist places’: Lap-See Lam on her first US solo exhibition
The artist’s video installation extrapolates a fantastical narrative from the kind of Chinese restaurant her own parents ran
Kwame Brathwaite, photographer who encapsulated ‘Black is beautiful’ movement, has died, aged 85
The New York photographer pioneered lighting and developing techniques that helped transformed how Black figures were photographed and seen
Leonardo scholar claims newly discovered document proves artist’s mother was enslaved
While researching a work of historical fiction, Carlo Vecce says he found a document signed by Leonardo da Vinci’s father implying his mother was an enslaved woman from the North Caucasus region
The arts made up more than $1 trillion of the US economy in 2021
The art and cultural sectors had a larger impact on the US GDP in 2021 than ever before, according to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Economic Analysis
New international laboratory aims to study and promote health benefits of arts activities for individuals and communities
The Jameel Arts & Health Lab is a collaboration between the World Health Organisation, New York University’s Steinhardt School, the roving art non-profit Culturerunners and Community Jameel
Estate of Ralph Iwamoto—Japanese-American painter overlooked after early-career successes—gains gallery representation
New York gallery Hollis Taggart is preparing a solo show of Iwamoto’s Surrealist works of the 1950s
Los Angeles Natural History Museum’s $75m expansion to create new, free spaces
The ambitious campus revamp will include construction of an admission-free entry pavilion and “sustainable” gardens designed in consultation with a new Indigenous advisory council
The Smithsonian and MTV are launching a reality television art competition
The winner of “The Exhibit” will receive $100,000 and a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum
Postponement of exhibition on Russian architecture school sparks accusations of ‘censorship and historical erasure’
New York’s Cooper Union postponed an exhibition on Vkhutemas, a school that operated in Moscow for ten years in the early 20th century before Stalin shut it down
Frieze Los Angeles bringing a skyscraper, a truck-based gallery and more to Santa Monica Airport
The fair’s special programmes include performances and large-scale installations around its venue, as well as contemporary art interventions at storied West Los Angeles locales
Alfred Leslie, rising star of Abstract Expressionism who embraced figuration, has died, aged 95
After rising to prominence in New York’s AbEx scene of the 1950s, Leslie devoted much of his career to honing a style of monumental figuration that was decades ahead of its time
Peter Doig awarded $2.5m in sanctions following legal saga over prison painting
The lawsuit centred on the authorship of a desert landscape painting signed “Pete Doige” and created by an inmate at a Canadian prison
Ronald Feldman, art dealer who ‘championed big ideas’, has died, aged 84
Feldman, an early supporter of artists like Joseph Beuys and Chris Burden, opened his gallery in 1971 and quickly established himself as a gallerist willing to take risks
Philip Pearlstein, whose nude portraits helped revive figurative painting, has died, aged 98
Pearlstein, a classmate of Andy Warhol’s who similarly worked against the grain of the dominant Abstract Expressionist style of the time, remained committed to representation from the late 1950s onward
MoMA trustee Leon Black accused of rape
A lawsuit claims that the billionaire sexually assaulted a woman in Jeffrey Epstein's New York mansion
Miami Beach hotels showcase local talent during Art Basel fair
A dozen hotels around the city will display works, predominantly from Florida artists, during the fair
From photographs submerged underwater to Hervé Télémaque's early paintings: must-see exhibitions in Miami
Here are the shows to visit beyond the Art Basel fair this week
Washington, DC’s National Gallery of Art acquires Leonardo da Vinci drawing that helped inspire centuries of caricature artists
The drawing, Grotesque Head of an Old Woman (1489-90), was last displayed at the museum in 2017 and is now available for study
Dagny Corcoran, an influential art book dealer in Los Angeles, has died, aged 77
Her bookstore Art Catalogues, which she founded in 1977 and is still in operation, has long been a gathering place for the Los Angeles art community
Lee Bontecou—artist known for haunting, ominous wall sculptures made from industrial materials—has died, aged 91
The artist, who rose to prominence in the New York art scene of the 1970s, remained committed to an unclassifiable and otherworldly aesthetic
Peter Schjeldahl, the revered art critic for the New Yorker, has died, aged 80
Following stints at Art News and the Village Voice, and as a poet, Schjeldahl joined the New Yorker in 1998, becoming one of the most influential art critics of his generation