Duct-Taped Banana Sells for $6.2 Million
Video, Today
The conceptual artwork, “Comedian,” by the noted prankster Maurizio Cattelan was auctioned at Sotheby’s on Wednesday.
Who’s Laughing Now? Banana-as-Art Sells for $6.2 Million at Sotheby’s
Culture, Today
A conceptual artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, “Comedian,” is just a fruit-stand banana taped on the wall. But 7 bidders were biting. It went to a crypto entrepreneur.
How Two High-Profile New York Industries Might Fare Under Trump
Metro, Yesterday
The city’s art and fashion worlds are keeping an eye on President-elect Donald Trump’s economic agenda, especially tariffs and tax cuts.
Getting to Know ‘Black London’
Travel, Yesterday
Nigerian cuisine with a twist, live reggae and a bustling market: Here’s where — and how — to experience the British capital’s vibrant and multifaceted Black communities.
Magritte, Master of Surrealism, Joins the $100 Million Dollar Club
Culture, Yesterday
Move over, Picasso, van Gogh and Warhol. With an inscrutable painting, the Belgian painter breaks a nine-figure threshold at Christie’s fall auction.
They Taught A.I. to Sing, and It Was Beautiful
Culture, November 19
Holly Herndon and Matt Dryhurst are presenting their first large-scale solo museum show. It sounds gorgeous, even if its visual elements are lacking.
Robert Frank, a Filmmaker Who Never Stopped Changing
Weekend, November 19
The photographer renounced his first career to focus on filmmaking. Starting Wednesday, the Museum of Modern Art will stage a cinema retrospective of his uncompromising search for the real.
The Artist, the Gallerist and Their Liver
Culture, November 19
Far from the dizzying auctions, splashy galas and angling dealers, a precious gift sheds light on a gentler way the art world works.
Trump’s ‘Game of Chicken’ With Appointments
Letters, November 18
Readers discuss the president-elect’s staff selections. Also: A bill to fight obesity; teaching core skills; Social Security math; alcohol and fine art.
Park Avenue Armory Will Host Yoko Ono’s ‘Wish Tree’ and Jamie xx
Culture, November 18
The Armory’s upcoming season also includes the world premiere of “DOOM,” a new work from the Golden Lion winner Anne Imhof.
Will a ‘Trump Bump’ Help the Art Market’s Biggest Week?
Culture, November 18
After the U.S. election, auctioneers are looking to woo reluctant bidders back. Watch these 6 bellwether artworks to see how the market performs.
The Biggest Surprise at the Met’s Egypt Show? Live Performance
Arts & Leisure, November 16
Black artists have long claimed ancient Egypt as their own. Now they’re telling their stories in person on the museum’s floor.
Something in the Air? Moonwalks and Mandalas in Ralph Lemon’s Show
Culture, November 15
The choreographer and visual artist brings performance and paintings to a meteor shower of an exhibition at MoMA PS1.
‘The Clock’ Revisits New York. Is It Still of Our Time?
Culture, November 15
Christian Marclay’s 24-hour film — and a century of cinema history — is on view at the Museum of Modern Art, returning after more than a decade.
At the Met, Black Artists Salute an Enduring Affinity With Egypt
Weekend, November 15
A shimmering dream on the Nile has inspired creativity from the Harlem Renaissance to Kara Walker to Beyoncé. But how much can you play with the past?
Sotheby’s Settles Tax Fraud Lawsuit for $6.25 Million
Weekend, November 14
New York’s attorney general said in a lawsuit that the auction house had helped collectors avoid tax payments on art purchases.
36 Hours in Atlanta
Interactive, November 14
This Southern hub of creativity, nightlife and civil rights history is showing it has an outdoorsy side too, with the Beltline, a popular biking and walking path.
How the Mideast War Has Shaken America’s Cultural Institutions
Culture, November 14
In the last year, museums, book festivals, arts journals and other organizations have experienced bitter discord over what qualifies as tolerable speech about the conflict and its combatants.
The British Museum Gets a Giant Gift: $1.27 Billion of Chinese Ceramics
Culture, November 13
Sir Percival David’s collection, amassed in the early 1900s, includes prized vases and wine cups. “You simply couldn’t build up a collection like this today,” one expert said.
Their Pissarro Is Staying in Germany, but Their Story Is Getting Out
Culture, November 13
A woman whose family had to sell a painting in the Holocaust and a museum have struck a deal. The museum will keep the work but will help to publish a book telling the family’s story.
2,100 Fakes Rounded Up in Art Forgeries Bust
Foreign, November 13
Italian officials said they had dismantled a Europe-wide network of forgers and dealers selling works purported to be by A-list artists, mostly through auction houses.
One City, Three Great Artists: Reuniting Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael
Culture, November 13
A London exhibition shows how the three painters circled one another as rivals and role models in 16th-century Florence.
Sophie Thatcher’s Sculpture Turned Necklace
Styles, November 13
The star of “Heretic” doesn’t always wear the piece made by her twin sister, but keeps it close.
With 10,000 Pebbles and Poker Cards, This Artist Takes on the Prison System
Weekend, November 13
Jesse Krimes solos in two New York shows, at the Metropolitan Museum and the Jack Shainman Gallery.
Stand-Up, Drama and Spambots: The Creative World Takes On A.I.
Business, November 13
Artificial intelligence has become a subject for people in the art and theater worlds who are worried about being replaced by it.
In Search of Ways to Cope in the Trump Era
Letters, November 12
Readers offer various strategies, including retreat, engagement, art and grief. Also: The ways to pray; regrowing New York City.
Frank Auerbach, a Celebrated and Tireless Painter, Dies at 93
Obits, November 12
Known for his unyielding seven-day-a-week work schedule, he returned again and again to the same models and London street scenes.
7 Shows That Make This Art Festival Worth the Trip to California
Culture, November 11
The sprawling PST festival of more than 70 exhibitions doesn’t quite live up to its theme of art and science colliding. But there is a handful of impressive entries.
Alcohol Brands Tap the Art World to Woo Younger Drinkers
Styles, November 11
Will labels and bottles designed by artists gin up enthusiasm among an increasingly abstinent generation?
Bruce Degen, Who Drew ‘The Magic School Bus,’ Dies at 79
Obits, November 11
He memorably portrayed a frizzy-haired science teacher roping her elementary school class into adventures aboard a shape-shifting yellow bus.
This Taiwanese Calligrapher Brings a Message of Freedom to the Met
Arts & Leisure, November 9
Tong Yang-Tze is reviving an ancient but disappearing practice and making it contemporary — writ large.
Painting by A.I.-Powered Robot Sells for $1.1 Million
Culture, November 8
The portrait depicts the British mathematician Alan Turing as the god of artificial intelligence. Its creator is a robot named Ai-Da that resembles a woman with a bob haircut.
A Mainstay of the Bloomsbury Group, With a Show of Her Own
Culture, November 8
Vanessa Bell is often best remembered for the creative milieu she cultivated, but a new exhibition of her work makes a case for her as a groundbreaking artist.
What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in November
Weekend, November 7
This week in Newly Reviewed, Martha Schwendener covers Jes Fan’s unsettling biomorphic sculptures, Les Levine’s van Gogh and Sara Cwynar’s Mercedes-Benz immersion.
At Salon Art + Design, Nature and Beauty Come Center Stage
Weekend, November 7
More than 50 galleries tease the lines between function and decoration, in a year when the fair has a far-reaching mission: to give more artists a chance to be seen.
A New Farm-to-Table Restaurant in Upstate New York
T Style, November 7
Plus: an Australian surf hotel, rubber sculptures and more recommendations from T Magazine.
What Trenton Doyle Hancock Learned From Philip Guston
Weekend, November 7
The Jewish Museum pairs the Texas artist with a 20th-century master. Together they confront racism with horror — and humor.
Art Deco’s Bad Girl, Still Ahead of Her Time
Weekend, November 7
Tamara de Lempicka’s first major U.S. survey invokes her as a trailblazing techno-feminist who borrowed freely from art history. But it also buries her erratic second act.
Japan’s Favorite Snowy Mountain Finally Has Some Snow
Express, November 6
Mount Fuji, the country’s tallest summit, is revered for its snowy peak. A snowfall reported on Wednesday ended its longest snowless period in 130 years.
10-Minute Challenge: Edward Hopper’s ‘Manhattan Bridge Loop’
Interactive, November 5
We’d like you to look at one piece of art for 10 minutes, uninterrupted.
From Museum Guard to Memoirist, and Now the Play’s His Thing
Culture, November 4
With Patrick Bringley’s “All the Beauty in the World” now in its 10th printing, he’s debuting in two new roles: playwright and actor.
The Art of Not Belonging: Ralph Lemon Takes Over MoMA PS1
Arts & Leisure, November 4
In certain circles, the name Ralph — like Merce or Madonna — lights up a room. The choreographer and visual artist is the subject of a major exhibition of his art and performances.
Charli XCX, Leonardo DiCaprio and Colman Domingo Turn Out for the LACMA Gala
Styles, November 4
Hollywood stars mingled with artists for a benefit honoring the artist Simone Leigh and the filmmaker Baz Luhrmann.
Patricia Johanson, Who Turned Grim Outdoor Spaces Into Art, Dies at 84
Obits, November 2
A groundbreaking environmental artist, she transformed water treatment plants and fetid ponds into enticing natural artworks.
It Started With a Family Tree. It Became ‘a Memorial to Everything.’
Arts & Leisure, November 2
A search for his origins led Archie Moore to the farthest corners of Australia’s history and the Golden Lion prize at the Venice Biennale.
KAWS, the Collector, Says, ‘I Don’t Feel Like Anything Is Mine.’
Culture, November 1
Some collectors treat artworks like poker chips and flip work by young artists. That’s not Brian Donnelly. Now his finds star in a show.
Tarot Cards for Lovers of Broadway, Art and Pasta
T Style, October 31
Plus: landscape paintings at a Kyoto temple, cast-iron furniture and more recommendations from T Magazine.
An Artist Who Chronicles the ‘Doom Generation’
T Style, October 31
The artist Paul P. is a painter whose power comes from representing a scarcely documented, in-between generation of queer life.
36 Hours in Lyon, France
Interactive, October 31
Dine in rustic restaurants, ride a funicular for panoramic views and hunt for treasures at a sprawling flea market in France’s third-largest city.
Zombies Are Real? A Museum Tries to Bury a Hollywood Myth.
Culture, October 30
The undead monsters we know from movies and TV are distortions of a figure with roots in the religious practices of Haiti.
An Artist, Her Benefactor and a Murder at a Hamptons Resort
Metro, October 30
The owner of a tile company funded Sabina Khorramdel’s life of travel and creation. After she was found slain, his body was discovered at his Pennsylvania home.
Renovated Frick to Reopen in April 2025
Culture, October 30
After being closed since 2020 at its Gilded Age mansion on Fifth Avenue, the museum will welcome visitors with a new Vermeer show.
Something for Everyone at The Art Show
Weekend, October 30
The fair at the Park Avenue Armory, with paintings, watercolors and drawings, includes crowd pleasers as well as exciting debuts from midcentury artists flying beneath the radar.
Brooklyn’s Strivers and Those a Museum Spurned
Culture, October 30
Two surveys of hometown artists — one at the Brooklyn Museum, another of those it snubbed — serve as a meditation on recognition and rejection.
Public Art Leader to Step Down
Culture, October 30
After steering the art program in Madison Square Park for 11 years, Brooke Kamin Rapaport is turning her focus to research on democracy and civic space.
David Salle’s Ghost in the A.I. Machine
Culture, October 30
At Gladstone Gallery, the painter’s experiments with artificial intelligence yield compelling results and big questions.
Why a Wealthy University Is Selling 2 of Its Paintings
Metro, October 30
Rockefeller University will auction off two works by Joan Mitchell, an Abstract Expressionist painter. They could sell for $32 million.
In ‘Empty Beds,’ a Stark Reminder of War’s Youngest Victims
Culture, October 29
A mural spanning an entire city block in Manhattan symbolizes the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken by Russian forces.
A Dying Artist Left His Legacy to MoMA. Today He’s Almost Forgotten.
Culture, October 29
Scott Burton, one of America’s leading sculptors, entrusted his estate to the museum in 1989, when he was sick with AIDS, to ensure his place in art history. It turned out to be a bad idea.
Ford Foundation Gives $10 Million to Studio Museum in Harlem
Culture, October 29
The grant will support the museum’s director and chief curator, a position held for the last 20 years by Thelma Golden.
Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol’s Cinematic Collaborator, Dies at 86
Obits, October 28
In films like “Trash” and “Women in Revolt,” he brought movement, character and something resembling a story line to the Warhol film aesthetic.
Clark Art Institute Receives ‘Princely’ Collection of European Treasures
Culture, October 28
The Berkshires museum is getting a transformative gift: 331 artworks from the Renaissance on, worth several hundred million dollars, and money to build a new wing.
Did van Gogh Have a Goth Phase?
Arts & Leisure, October 26
A major exhibition touring Europe argues that modern artists who turned to the dark side were inspired by Gothic art from the Middle Ages.
Museums Around the Country Explore Democracy
Special Sections, October 26
Inspired by the presidential election, there are exhibitions, forums and voter registrations.
Painting Is Dead? Long Live Painting.
Special Sections, October 26
A show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago challenges the timeworn critics’ contention that painting is dead, expanding the idea of what painting can be.
Art Museums Reach Out to Visitors From Behind Closed Doors
Special Sections, October 26
Museums have adopted creative engagement strategies when renovation work keeps visitors away.
Connecting Sports and Art in an Eclectic Mix
Special Sections, October 26
In an exhibit this fall, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art explores social trends using sports-related art and design objects.
Catrinas, esqueletos y mucha política: las artes gráficas mexicanas llegan al Met
En español, October 26
El papel central del grabado en cinco siglos de arte mexicano llega a una exposición del Met que muestra la influencia de muchos talentos artísticos.
Gary Indiana, Acerbic Cultural Critic and Novelist, Dies at 74
Obits, October 25
He made films, video art and photographs, but was best known as a pioneering art critic and mordant novelist.
Safeya Binzagr, 84, a Saudi Artist Celebrated but Long Unseen, Dies
Obits, October 25
Despite the gender restrictions of Saudi society, she claimed a place for herself, and other women, in the country’s art scene.
Philip Glass’s Musical Impression of an Artist Cut Down by AIDS
Culture, October 25
Glass’s Fourth String Quartet, written after the death of the artist Brian Buczak, will be performed at the New York City AIDS Memorial.
The Many Faces of Rammellzee
Book Review, October 25
How the multi-hyphenate, biracial artist from Far Rockaway influenced 1980s graffiti culture and the downtown New York art scene.
The Art World Explores Concrete Ways to Fight Climate Change
Special Sections, October 25
Museums, galleries and other art institutions are looking for measures to reduce their environmental footprints.
A Detroit Museum Focuses on the Islamic Dining Experience
Special Sections, October 25
An exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts tries to connect with the area’s large, vibrant Arab American community through a show about food.
As A.I. Becomes Harder to Detect, Photography Is Having a Renaissance
Special Sections, October 25
Despite — or, perhaps, because of — the rise in artificially made images, photography is suddenly in the spotlight, in galleries in New York and beyond.
Conceptual Artist Plays True Detective
Special Sections, October 25
Sophie Calle’s first major North American career survey, opening at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, frames the acclaimed French artist as the original oversharer.
Two Photographers with an Eye for the Spiritual Meet in an Ohio Museum
Special Sections, October 25
Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Ming Smith grew up a world apart, but their images speak much the same language. This fall, their works collide in Columbus.
As Georgia Decides Its Future, Artists Are Worried About Theirs
Culture, October 25
Two new laws, and a looming election, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have artists reconsidering their livelihoods and even whether they can stay in the country.
50 Artists, 50 Years: Marian Goodman Gallery Opens a New Chapter
Weekend, October 24
One of the biggest small galleries tips its hat to its conceptual history, while bringing new artists and their market-friendly work into view.
Monique Knowlton, ’60s-Era Model and Provocative Gallerist, Dies at 87
Obits, October 24
A Vogue cover girl in the early 1960s, she later pivoted to contemporary art, opening a gallery where being “outrageous counts as a plus,” one critic wrote.
An American in Paris, Honored Like Nobody Before
Culture, October 24
The artist Barbara Chase-Riboud hadn’t had a show in her adopted city since 1974. Now she is being celebrated in eight museums, including the Louvre.
Two Artists Capture Florida at the Met
Special Sections, October 24
This fall, the Met pairs images of Florida by Walker Evans and Anastasia Samoylova, the first living female photographer with a major show there in some three decades.
Skeletons and Madonnas Lead Mexico’s Graphic Arts Revolution
Weekend, October 24
The central role of printmaking in five centuries of Mexican art on view at the Met shows the weight of many minds.
Documenting the Stories of Migrants Detained at the Border
Special Sections, October 24
While working as a janitor at a U.S. customs station in Arizona, the artist Tom Kiefer photographed confiscated items, from rosary beads to wallets to love letters.
Buy? Share? Borrow? Art Institutions Rethink Their Acquisition Strategies
Special Sections, October 24
A combination of money and the need to attract new audiences inspires new ways of collecting art.
A U.S. Farming Giant Gets a Message 11 Stories Tall
Foreign, October 23
Using natural materials from environmental disasters around the country, a Brazilian activist sends a message to a U.S. farming giant.
Where the Wild Things — and the Other Worlds of Maurice Sendak — Are
Special Sections, October 23
A retrospective highlighting the works and the imaginative life of the artist and author will run through Feb. 17 at the Denver Art Museum.
An Old Space Opens Up to New Art
Special Sections, October 23
The American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York is being transformed into a venue for visual and performing artists and events.
A City of Murals, Decades in the Making
Special Sections, October 23
For 40 years, Mural Arts Philadelphia has been nurturing art and artists who have left their marks on walls and buildings throughout the city.
Once a Bad Boy, Now a Saint Maker, With a Major Solo Museum Show
Special Sections, October 23
A nearly fatal car crash led the New Mexican artist Nicholas Herrera to the hospital, to jail and into art. Now, his colorful, thought-provoking art is on view in Taos.
At This Illinois Museum, the Exhibits Are Larger Than Life
Special Sections, October 23
A free museum near Route 66 celebrates America’s fiberglass giants and the nostalgia that draws people to them.
Artist Sues Town for Canceling Residency Over Her Views on Gaza War
Culture, October 22
The American Civil Liberties Union has sued Vail, Colo., on behalf of a Native American artist who painted a work entitled “G Is for Genocide.”
Ducks Do More Than You Might Think to Help Save the Planet
Special Sections, October 22
At the Bruce Museum, an exhibition of duck stamp art tells a 90-year-old story about how paintings can contribute to land preservation.
A Dinky Little Computer Program Is My Secret Weapon for Creativity
Magazine, October 22
Remember Microsoft Paint? It’s more perfect than ever.
Chase Hall Wrestles With ‘Hybridity’
Special Sections, October 22
The artist, who is frank about the issues raised by his mixed race, has a solo show opening in Los Angeles.
In the Background, but at the Center of Founding MoMA
Special Sections, October 22
In a new publication, “Inventing the Modern,” and a companion exhibition, 14 women who shaped the institution come into definition themselves.
An Artist’s Work Finds a Lasting Home
Special Sections, October 22
A new permanent exhibition in a house in Pittsburgh displays the creativity and artistry of Mark Dion.
Art to See at U.S. Museums, Galleries and Auction Houses This Fall
Special Sections, October 22
Many exhibitions around the country will showcase artists’ responses to political and social movements, and to their own histories.
Monet, Taylor Swift, ‘Moana’: What Got Readers Through Their Grief
Arts & Leisure, August 10
After our series on how artists have been affected by loss, we asked readers what helped them when they experienced it. These are 15 of their answers.
The Met Museum Is Rebounding, but Not With International Visitors
Weekend, July 24
The museum said it attracted more local visitors during the past year than it did before the pandemic, but only half the international visitors.
A Steadying Force for the Africa Center Is Stepping Down
Culture, April 11
Uzodinma Iweala, chief executive of the Harlem institution, will leave at the end of 2024 after guiding it through pandemic years and securing funds.
Audience Snapshot: Four Years After Shutdown, a Mixed Recovery
Culture, March 12
Covid brought live performance to a halt. Now the audience for pop concerts and sporting events has roared back, while attendance on Broadway and at some major museums is still down.
The Global Art Business Is Better, but Not Booming
Special Sections, December 5
After struggling with the Covid pandemic, the industry is now dealing with inflation, high interest rates and international conflicts.
Looking to the Art Fair World of 2024
Special Sections, December 5
Art fairs managed to survive the downturn brought about by the Covid pandemic and are on the rise again — a trend expected to continue in the coming year.
A Kinetic Cloud of Humanity for Moynihan Train Hall
Culture, September 24
Joshua Frankel, an artist whose grandfather worked at the James Farley Post Office, has deep roots at the site of his new video project for Art at Amtrak.
The Days Were Long and the Years Were Longer
Book Review, July 3
In her new memoir, “The Light Room,” Kate Zambreno looks back on the unending togetherness of family life during the pandemic.
Radical Rethinking at Biennale: Africa and the Future Share Pride of Place
Culture, May 22
Don’t be fooled by its generic title. Lesley Lokko’s “Laboratory of the Future” is the most ambitious and pointedly political Venice Architecture Biennale in years.
Through Catastrophe, and in Community, the Art of Daniel Lind-Ramos
Weekend, May 4
A storm, a pandemic, and Black Puerto Rican history pervade his work at MoMA PS 1, with materials sourced from daily life.
Your Monday Briefing: China Reopens
Dining, January 8
Also, Brazilians storm government offices and the Times investigates a 2021 Kabul airstrike.
Looking for Elbow Room, Louvre Limits Daily Visitors to 30,000
Culture, January 6
With attendance surging back, the museum wants to offer “a moment of pleasure” — and relieve that Mona Lisa problem.
Your Thursday Briefing: China’s Snarled Covid Data
N Y T Now, December 14
Plus France just beat Morocco to advance to the World Cup finals.
After a Covid Contraction, Museums Are Expanding Again
Special Sections, October 20
Projects all over the country include renovations and new wings as institutions continue to bet on bricks and mortar.
San Francisco’s Art Market Struggles in the Shadow of Los Angeles
Culture, August 29
Though some small galleries are opening or expanding, the mega dealers have closed shop, a blow to an area with a vibrant artistic history.
Dmitri Vrubel, Who Planted a Kiss on the Berlin Wall, Dies at 62
Obits, August 19
A Russian-born painter, he created a mural of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev smooching the East German leader Erich Honecker — and with it a tourist attraction.
Covid. A Coma. A Stroke. José Parlá Returns From the Edge.
Culture, July 31
After a lengthy recovery, the artist comes back with the most vigorous work he’s made: “It took me a really long time to understand what had happened to me.”
London Modern and Contemporary Auctions: A Market Minus the Froth
Culture, July 1
The prices — $36.9 million for Monet paintings, and $52.8 million for a Francis Bacon — show that even as Britain’s share of the global art market has decreased, it’s an important player.
Covid Memorials Offer a Place to Put Our Grief
Culture, May 5
From “anti-monuments” to ephemeral sand portraits, four art exhibitions encourage viewers to slow down and take stock of our pandemic losses.
Manhattan Springs Back to Life
Travel, May 5
Broadway enthusiasts, art aficionados and food lovers will find new offerings in and around Times Square and in neighborhoods below 42nd Street, heralding the promise of a vibrant recovery.