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Contemporary Art

Interior: Zebra with Two Chairs and Funky Fur, Mickalene Thomas, 2012

These Colorful Contemporary Artworks Join the Hirshhorn Museum’s Collection as the D.C. Landmark Continues to Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary

The museum is also preparing to reopen its redesigned sculpture garden, featuring new works from eight artists, this fall

A Symphony of Disappearing Sounds for the Great Salt Lake, Olafur Eliasson, 2026

A Glowing Sphere Towering Over Utah Sent an Urgent Artistic Message: The Great Salt Lake Is Drying Up

Olafur Eliasson’s latest installation married visuals with a soundscape to draw the public’s attention to the plight of the important ecosystem

The frieze takes inspiration from the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century artwork depicting of the Norman conquest of England.

David Hockney Used an iPad to Create This Sprawling 295-Foot-Long Frieze Inspired by the 11th-Century Bayeux Tapestry

The artwork, which depicts the changing seasons in Normandy, is the centerpiece of “A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting,” a new exhibition in London

The mural was unveiled in a suburb of San Salvador last month.

This Massive Mural Made From 100,000 Bottle Caps Is One Artist’s Reinterpretation of ‘The Mona Lisa’

Óscar Olivares, who is known for working with recycled materials, completed the 43-foot-tall artwork in Zacamil, El Salvador, in February

“The Scharf Collection: Goya—Monet—Cézanne—Bonnard—Grosse” is on view at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

See Masterpieces by Monet, Matisse, Degas and Picasso in the First-Ever Exhibition of This German Family’s Private Art Collection

The Scharf Collection features French artworks from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as contemporary pieces from around the world

Yoko Ono with Half-a-Room, 1967

A Sweeping Yoko Ono Retrospective Aims to Make Music in Museumgoers’ Minds

The exhibition spotlights more than 200 works by the 92-year-old artist, from provocative early works to more recent creations

The bidding will start at a number determined by the price of gold on November 18.

This Fully Functioning Toilet Made From Solid Gold Could Sell for More Than $10 Million at Auction

Made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the 18-karat gold toilet weighs 220 pounds. Another version of the artwork was famously stolen in a 2019 burglary

On October 21, the New York City Council and the Basquiat Estate oversaw the co-naming of a portion of Great Jones Street in honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

You Can Now Take a Stroll Down Jean-Michel Basquiat Way in New York City

A stretch of lower Manhattan has been named in honor of the iconic artist, who rented a studio there from Andy Warhol between 1983 and 1988

One of David Hockney's drawings from The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, created on an iPad

David Hockney’s iPad Drawings of Winter’s Transformation Into Spring Blow Past Estimates at Auction

Seventeen works from the artist’s 2011 series went for more than $8 million at a Sotheby’s sale on October 17

London's National Gallery recieved several groundbreaking donations to build a new wing and expand its collection.

London’s National Gallery Will Officially Begin Collecting Artworks Created After 1900

The decision ends a longstanding agreement between the National Gallery and the Tate concerning what kinds of art each museum will target

Digital artist FEWOCiOUS auctions five new unique NFT works of art at Christie's in 2021, during the auction house's most successful year for digital art.

Christie’s Helped Drive the Art World’s NFT Craze. Now, the Auction House Is Shutting Down Its Digital Art Division

Once a booming sector, the nonfungible token art market has been contracting for years

Banksy's Piranhas will move into storage ahead of its 2026 debut at the London Museum's new location.

Banksy Transformed This Police Box Into a Piranha Tank. Soon, the Artwork Will Go on Permanent Display in London

The piece was part of the anonymous artist’s animal series that appeared around the city last summer. In 2026, it will make its debut at the London Museum

Comedian, Maurizio Cattelan, 2019

These Bananas Duct-Taped to the Wall Are Worth Millions. Hungry Museumgoers Keep Eating Them

A visitor recently ate the banana from Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian,” which was on view at the Center Pompidou-Metz. The artwork, which sold for $6.2 million last year, has met this fate before

Walter De Maria's The New York Earth Room, which opened in 1977

New York City Loft Filled With 280,000 Pounds of Dirt Lives on After Death of Beloved Caretaker

Bill Dilworth, who died at age 70, had carefully maintained the curious art installation—known as “The New York City Earth Room”—and charmed visitors since 1989

The exhibition features paintings, sculptures, audio recordings and more.

The Louvre Invited 100 Contemporary Artists to Copy—and Reinterpret—Its Masterpieces. Here’s What They Made

The results range from faithful reproductions to complete reinventions of renowned works by artists such as Delacroix, Goya and Vermeer

Box in a Valise (From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy), Marcel Duchamp, 1935-41

See How Marcel Duchamp Broke the Rules and Shocked the Art World Again and Again

The subversive French artist is receiving his first retrospective in the United States in more than 50 years. Decades after his death, his work is still influencing contemporary art

Visitors posing for photos accidentally broke Van Gogh's Chair by Nicola Bolla.

Museumgoers Accidentally Break Fragile Crystal-Covered Chair Inspired by Vincent van Gogh Painting

Security footage shows the two museumgoers pretending to sit on the artwork as they pose for photos at the Palazzo Maffei in Italy. After the piece’s front legs bucked, the pair left the museum

Artist Curtis Ingvoldstad poses next to the pencil sculpture he created from a damaged oak tree in John and Amy Higgins' yard in Minneapolis.

Thousands of Cheering Spectators Gather to Watch This 20-Foot-Tall No. 2 Pencil Get Sharpened

After a 2017 windstorm toppled the crown of their oak tree in Minneapolis, John and Amy Higgins hired artist Curtis Ingvoldstad to transform their beloved tree into a giant pencil sculpture

D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson; Charles Thomas Lewis, Alma Thomas' grandnephew; D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto; and Susan Talley, founder of Friends of Alma Thomas

Women Who Shaped History

The D.C. Street Where Pioneering Abstract Artist Alma Thomas Lived for 70 Years Has Been Renamed in Her Honor

Thomas worked as an art teacher at the city’s public schools for 35 years before dedicating herself to painting full-time when she was in her 60s

The new Banksy mural is on a wall beside a covered street in Marseille, France.

Banksy Unveils New Lighthouse Mural With the Words ‘I Want to Be What You Saw in Me’ in France

The anonymous street artist announced the uncharacteristically personal artwork on May 29. It’s located on a wall in the French city of Marseille

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