SGFARA

Black Dandyism, the 2025 Met Gala’s Theme, Has Its Roots in 18th-Century Painting

Installation view of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” 2025, at Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Photo Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images A young Black boy, wearing deep red livery with gold trimming, a gold earring, and red-and-white turban secured with a jeweled brooch, stares out at the viewer. Standing before a ship …

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M+ Throws Everything at the Wall for ‘Picasso in Asia’ Exhibition, And Only Some of It Sticks

In the final section of “Picasso in Asia—A Conversation,” museumgoers can watch the short documentary “Visite à Picasso” and follow along with his painting process on accompanying screens. Lok Cheng/Courtesy M+ Museum, Hong Kong Just two years ago, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, dozens of museums across the globe put on shows …

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Names 2025–26 Artists-in-Residence

ACLU of Texas executive director Oni K. Blair at the opening of Vincent Valdez’s first museum survey. Courtesy ACLU of Texas The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU of Texas) named Houston-based painter Vincent Valdez and Austin-based author KB Brookins recipients of its artists-in-residence program for 2025–26. As part of the residency, both artists …

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Three Humanities Organizations Sue NEH Over Its ‘Dismantling’

The NEH building in Washington, D.C. Photo Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images Three humanities-focused organizations have filed a lawsuit against both the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the “dismantling” of the former organization. Filed on May 1 in United States District Court for the Southern District of New …

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Amid Fraud Case, Collector Justin Sun Reportedly Spent $75 M. on Trump-Backed Crypto Firm

Chinese-born crypto founder Justin Sun seems to be enjoying the publicity that comes with buying a $6.2 million banana. AFP via Getty Images Justin Sun, the crypto billionaire who shot to art world notoriety after buying, and promptly eating, Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped banana, and has remained in the spotlight amid a legal dispute with collector David …

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US Participation in 2026 Venice Biennale Appears in Jeopardy Amidst Trump Arts Overhaul

The 2024 Venice Biennale. Simone Padovani/Getty Images As President Donald Trump systematically guts the United States’ art programs and funding to roll out an aesthetic program of his own making, questions around the country’s participation in the forthcoming 2026 Venice Biennale loom large. In a new piece for Vanity Fair, culture correspondent Nate Freeman tried …

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Fast-Rising Painter Sun Yitian Looks at Everyday Objects Manufactured by China’s Factories

Sun Yitian. ©Yu Lu/Courtesy ELLE Artist Sun Yitian’s trajectory over the past decade has been fast and vertical. Her photorealist paintings of mass-produced consumer objects—an inflatable penguin, a Ken doll head, a pair of stiletto heels—sell for up to six figures. She’s unfazed by her market success, saying simply that she leaves those considerations to …

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