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The Most Iconic American Artwork Is the Hardest to See
The Statue of Liberty is caught between the sublime and the souvenir, our critic Jason Farago explains. Look again: She’s much stranger than you think.
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Art and Design
Highlights
CreditThe New York Public Library Gertrude Abercrombie: Good Witch of the American Absurd
In Milwaukee, two art exhibitions relish the strangeness of this studious eccentric who saw in inanimate objects an odd force of will.
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CreditCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, and Milwaukee Art Museum - Critic’s Pick
Potent Art Lets ‘We, the People’ Reflect on America’s Past and Present
The New York Public Library has filled its top floor with a bold account of contemporary artists coming to terms with the state of our nation.
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CreditLuis Corzo for The New York Times Who Needs an Art Museum When There’s a Banana Room in Town?
As arts institutions struggle to increase attendance, entertainment centers marketed as museums are wooing those who once might have gone to view art.
By Zachary Small and
CreditHiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Doug Aitken’s sprawling, elusive video installation asks a lot of questions about contemporary L.A. and its environs, and it’s smart enough not to answer them.
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Credit Art reviewNew York Gallery Surrenders 20 Artifacts Thought Looted From Cambodia
The Madison Avenue business turned over stone statues and other items that it had purchased from an art dealer accused of trafficking in illicit objects.
By Tom Mashberg and
Creditvia U.S. District Court filing Fewer Visitors, More Threats: A New Reality for Europe’s Jewish Museums
Museum directors say they are facing a frustrating misconception: that cultural institutions funded by local taxpayers are somehow associated with Israel.
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CreditJérôme Galland With New Seizures, Value of the Met’s Looted Artifacts Tops $95 Million
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it secured the return of dozens of ancient artifacts in June, after a process that the museum described as collaborative.
By Graham Bowley and
CreditThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Warrior, Hero, Villain or Fool? 150 Years of Reassessing Custer
Few American military commanders have had as complicated a legacy as George Armstrong Custer, who died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876.
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CreditF. Otto Becker, Milwaukee Lithographic Engraving Company; via National Museum of American History
Ping-Pong’s Endless Summer at Rockaway Beach
Six artist-designed tables commissioned by Public Art Fund serve up serious fun in “Between Tides” at Beach 67. (Just take the A train.)
By Hilarie M. Sheets and
CreditJonah Rosenberg for The New York Times Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud in Sale of Art to Springsteen’s Manager
Thomas Doyle was accused of unlawfully pocketing most of the proceeds from the sale of a painting by Gustave Courbet to Bruce Springsteen’s manager.
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CreditPrivate Collection Maren Hassinger Likes Her Art With a Twist
Her lively, gnarly sculpture stars in her biggest exhibition yet, “Living Moving Growing,” at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
By Jori Finkel and
Credit A Billionaire’s Bounty of Basquiats Goes on Display
Ken Griffin, the hedge fund manager, looks for artworks with a “wow” factor, never mind the number of zeros on the price tag. Ten of his Basquiats are on loan to the Pérez Art Museum Miami.
By Brett Sokol and
Credit An Artist Creates Moments for Play, and Solidarity
From the Queens Museum to Times Square, the British artist Sonia Boyce shows art intimately connected to community.
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CreditArtists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London; Photograph by Olivia Lifungula for The New York Times
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Richard H. Glanton, Combative Head of Barnes Foundation, Dies at 79
In the 1990s, he took 80 of the art institution’s paintings on tour — going against the founder’s wishes — to raise money for a renovation.
By Richard Sandomir
A Timeline of Trump’s Pressure Campaign Against the Smithsonian
Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Trump has repeatedly denounced the Smithsonian’s museums. The latest salvo came on the nation’s 250th birthday.
By Derrick Bryson Taylor
Critic’s NotebookNatural Bedfellows: Frida Kahlo’s and Tracey Emin’s Parallel Blockbusters
In concurrent hit shows at Tate Modern, the artists’ shared preoccupations become clear.
By Emily LaBarge
White House Criticizes Smithsonian Museum for ‘Extreme Political Activism’
A scathing report released on the Fourth of July says the National Museum of American History downplays the role of the founders while emphasizing social justice.
By Graham Bowley, Robin Pogrebin and Jennifer Schuessler
On America’s 250th, Smithsonian Museums Offer Respite and Reflection
An institution under attack from the Trump administration provided relief from the weather on July 4 — and a chance to ponder what it means to be American.
By Derrick Bryson Taylor and Lawren Simmons
A One-on-One Date With a Museum’s Treasures
Visitors at the V&A East Storehouse can book appointments with artifacts that usually aren’t on show — and can even touch many of them.
By Alex Marshall and Max Miechowski
Herbert Lust, Collector Who Befriended Giacometti, Dies at 99
He gravitated toward the work of artists he knew personally, like Alexander Calder and Robert Indiana, in amassing an unusual, important collection.
By Trip Gabriel
John Loring, Longtime Design Director at Tiffany & Company, Dies at 86
One of the country’s influential tastemakers, he oversaw the rapid expansion of Tiffany in the midst of seismic shifts in luxury retail.
By Clay Risen
Philippe Stern, Heir to the Patek Philippe Watch Brand, Dies at 88
In an era of electronic timepieces, he marketed $40,000 handmade watches as status symbols, breathing new life into a struggling industry.
By Trip Gabriel
For the U.S.’s 250th Birthday, a German Declaration of Independence Goes on Show
The presentation of an original German-language translation in Berlin is an opportunity to consider the shared history of the United States and Germany.
By Thomas Rogers
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