Contemporary Front page
Italy Buys Caravaggio Portrait
A Baroque-period portrait of a young priest in a green cassock.

Italy Buys Caravaggio Portrait

The Italian government has purchased an early Caravaggio portrait that previously attracted blockbuster crowds in Rome. From March to July 2025, Portrait of Maffeo Barberini by Michelangelo da Caravaggio was on display for the first time since it was positively … More…

Restoration Complete on London’s Rubens Ceiling
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Restoration Complete on London’s Rubens Ceiling

After two years of restoration work, one of the largest works ever made by Peter Paul Rubens will be unveiled and made available for public viewing. Located in Central London, Banqueting House is the only surviving complete section of the … More…

Madrid Cultural Center Loses Its Name
A photo of a man using a hand-held camera

Madrid Cultural Center Loses Its Name

A Madrid house immortalized by a famous photograph by Robert Capa was set to be turned into a museum. However, after some changes were made, Capa’s estate now refuses to allow the project to use the photographer’s name, face, or … More…

Artist Spotlight: James Edward Buttersworth
A painting of several sailing boats in wavy waters.

Artist Spotlight: James Edward Buttersworth

Few artists captured the drama and elegance of 19th-century sailing quite like James Edward Buttersworth, one of the most celebrated marine painters working in America during the second half of the century. Born in England in 1817, Buttersworth was the … More…

Supreme Court Ends AI Art Legal Battle
An painting-style AI-generated image showing a trail leading into the woods surrounded by purple flowers.

Supreme Court Ends AI Art Legal Battle

The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear a computer scientist’s legal case, meaning that an artificial intelligence program he created cannot be credited as the author of a copyrighted artwork. Several years ago, I wrote about Stephen Thaler … More…

Artist Spotlight: Leo Mancini-Hresko
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Artist Spotlight: Leo Mancini-Hresko

For many painters, the path to becoming an artist unfolds gradually. For Leo Mancini-Hresko, it began with a curiosity about how the world could be translated into paint, an interest that eventually carried him across the Atlantic and into the … More…

Sotheby’s London Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale
An abstract self-portrait with a warped face accented with blue and pink.

Sotheby’s London Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale

On Wednesday, March 4th, Sotheby’s kicked off a series of modern art sales at their location in London with their Modern & Contemporary Art evening auction. The evening featured fifty-three lots, mainly showcasing late nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and North … More…

Lost Rembrandt Receives Attribution
A 17th century religious painting showing an Israelite priest in a temple.

Lost Rembrandt Receives Attribution

A painting initially dismissed as a copy has officially been confirmed as an original by the Dutch Golden Age master Rembrandt van Rijn. Vision of Zechariah in the Temple shows a story from the New Testament, specifically the first chapter … More…

Capitol Calder to Be Restored
A large black metal sculpture in the atrium of an office building.

Capitol Calder to Be Restored

After over a decade, a monumental Alexander Calder sculpture on Capitol Hill will be restored. The Hart Senate Office Building first opened in 1982. During construction in the 1970s, Alexander Calder was selected as part of a competition to create … More…

35 Long-Hidden Rembrandt Prints Rediscovered in the Netherlands
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35 Long-Hidden Rembrandt Prints Rediscovered in the Netherlands

Earlier this month, a remarkable trove of Rembrandt van Rijn’s prints resurfaced in the Netherlands after nearly a century out of sight. A set of 35 rare etchings by the Dutch master, long forgotten in a family safe, has been … More…

Angel or Devil?: Fresco Restorer Inserts Face of Italian PM Meloni
A photo of Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy

Angel or Devil?: Fresco Restorer Inserts Face of Italian PM Meloni

An art conservator in Italy is coming under fire after an angel in a restored fresco now bears an uncanny resemblance to the country’s current far-right prime minister, Georgia Meloni. San Lorenzo in Lucina is a Catholic basilica in the … More…

Louvre Director Resigns
A photo of Laurence des Cars

Louvre Director Resigns

After five years on the job, Laurence des Cars has resigned as director of the Louvre. Des Cars tendered her resignation to President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week. She had previously offered her resignation to the president in the immediate … More…

Artist Spotlight: Hugues Claude Pissarro
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Artist Spotlight: Hugues Claude Pissarro

Born on November 9, 1935, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hugues Claude Pissarro occupies a unique position in French art history—as both an heir to one of the most influential artistic dynasties of the 19th century and an independent painter who has forged … More…

Artist Spotlight: Carrie Goller
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Artist Spotlight: Carrie Goller

Carrie Goller creates paintings that inhabit the quiet space between material and imagination. Known for her distinctive use of encaustic wax and oil paint, Goller builds compositions that feel suspended in time – intimate, atmospheric, and emotionally resonant. Her subjects, … More…

Best Foot Forward: Michelangelo Sketch Sells for Record Price
A red chalk drawing of an arched right foot.

Best Foot Forward: Michelangelo Sketch Sells for Record Price

This week saw a series of Old Master sales in New York at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. While several great pieces crossed the block at both auction houses, it is without doubt that the highlight of the week turned out to … More…

Met Opera Considers Selling Chagalls
The facade of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Met Opera Considers Selling Chagalls

New York’s Metropolitan Opera House may be forced to sell two of its most iconic possessions: a pair of murals by Marc Chagall. The Metropolitan Opera has existed since 1883, but the current opera house first opened in September 1966. … More…