Tuesday, December 02, 2025

Master Frame Maker Eli Wilner Collaborates with Crozier

"Washington Crossing the Delaware," with a recreation of the lost original frame by Eli Wilner & Company, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. by Louise Cary, Crozier Fine Arts
NEW YORK, NY.— Eli Wilner & Company has been recognized as the leading authority on historic American and European picture frames. We sat down with founder Eli Wilner to understand how framing has evolved and why Crozier and Eli Wilner make perfect partners. LC: Eli Wilner was founded in 1978, just two years after Crozier, how have you seen the world of framing evolve in that time? EW: When we started out, attitudes towards framing were very different. It wasn’t something that was covered at art school and there was limited knowledge about how 19th and 20th century paintings were originally framed and so the default was to use French reproduction frames. A great example of this included masterpieces hung in the White House. Paintings by Sargent, Church and Whittredge were all in French reproduction frames until we were instructed to reframe them in styles in keeping with their origin. Pablo Picasso's “Dora Maar au Chat” (1941), 51 x 38 inches, in a replica frame by Eli Wilner & Company for Sotheby’s. Sale price $95,000,000. LC: How do you know what the appropriate frame is for a particular painting? EW: We visited museums all around the world to research what 16th-20th century original frames looked like and took lots of polaroids of works from artists such as David, Picasso, Homer, etc. Museum curators and directors were fascinated by this research and began to reframe their collections with exactly the style of frame that would have been used at the time the painting was created. This in turn influenced the style of frame that collectors wanted and decade by decade the thinking evolved. Today, if someone has an artwork painted in 1855, they want a frame from that period. LC: Tell us about one of your most meaningful projects? EW: The firm’s most celebrated pro...
Read More

Urs Fischer unveils new paintings and sculptures at Gagosian London

LONDON.— Gagosian announces a presentation of new works by Urs Fischer at its space in London’s Burlington Arcade. The display includes paintings and small sculptures installed in the upstairs gallery, while the Gagosian Shop houses a new video, an accompanying artist’s book, and a selection of objects and apparel. Four new paintings are based on drawings made by Fischer on a digital tablet. They depict a succession of imagined, markedly ornate, interior and exterior domestic scenes, rendered in a casual, almost cartoonlike graphic style distinguished by simple flat colors and black outlines. The paintings are accompanied by three small sculptures that model elements from or related to the images in a similar style, and three additional sculptures in bronze. Shown for the first time are three sculptural lamps based on floral motifs. Fischer is also taking over the Gagosian
Read More

Hake's Nov. 18-19 pop culture auction adds $2.3M to a stellar year of sales that so far total $12.5M

YORK, PA.— Hake’s $2.3 million auction held online November 18-19 fired the final salvo for their 2025 Premier Series in a year of spectacular sales that, to date, have earned $12.5 million for the pop-culture powerhouse. A September 1963 issue of Marvel’s X-Men #1 comic book, CGC-graded 9.2 NM-, shot to the top of prices realized at the series’ season closer, attracting 13 bids before ending its uphill run at $131,334. Within the Marvel pantheon, X-Men #1 is considered especially significant because it contains the origin story and first appearance of the X-Men – Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel Beast and Marvel Girl – as well as the villainous Magneto. The now-classic debut issue of X-Men was the product of a dynamic collaboration that paired Stan Lee’s brilliant storyline with Jack Kirby’s inimitable cover and interior art. Hake’s Auctions’ president, Alex Winter, observed that condition played a big role in attracting such
Read More

Hauser & Wirth unveils rare survey of Piero Manzoni's formative early works

BASEL.— Hauser & Wirth is presenting ‘Piero Manzoni. ‘L’invincibile Jean’ and Early Works 1956 – 1957’ at the Basel gallery, an exhibition curated by Rosalia Pasqualino di Marineo and conceived in close collaboration with the Fondazione Piero Manzoni in Milan. A leading figure of the 1950s Italian avant-garde, Piero Manzoni (1933 – 1963) had a profound impact on the course of twentieth-century art during his brief yet prolific career, directly influencing the development of Arte Povera while paving the way for conceptual, body and performance art. Featuring a selection of the artist’s early works on view together for the first time, the exhibition is a rare opportunity to explore this formative phase of Manzoni’s practice, revealing the unexpected foundations on which his later artistic production—including his widely celebrated series of white Achromes— was built. The exhibition is accompanied
Read More

Sotheby's London unveils full content of its Old Masters & 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction

LONDON.— Sotheby’s London lifts the veil on the full contents of its Old Master & 19th Century Paintings offerings which, at its heart lies some 30 works to star in an evening auction on 3 December - defined, this season, by rare rediscoveries and works of exceptional historical and scholarly significance. Together, these masterworks represent one of the greatest assemblages of Old Masters presented at Sotheby’s London in the last 6 years. Of the offerings, twelve paintings have not been seen on the secondary market in over four decades - and remarkably, half of those have been seen in public for a century, and in some cases, many more. Sotheby’s preview exhibition will open to the public on 28 November through to 3 December, bringing to light many treasures long hidden from view, with a third of the works having never before been publicly exhibited, while four will return to the spotlight for the first time after more than 50 years. Ahead of the evening sale, Sotheby’s will
Read More

New Pace exhibition elevates mundane objects into art of monumental impact

LONDON.— Pace is presenting Monument to the Unimportant, a group exhibition bringing together sculptures, paintings, works on paper, and an installation that each take the everyday object as a point of departure, revealing art’s enduring ability to transform the overlooked into sites of inquiry and visions of delight. The exhibition is on view in London from November 26, 2025, through February 14, 2026. Monument to the Unimportant includes works by Henni Alftan, Genesis Belanger, Keith Coventry, Elmgreen & Dragset, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Urs Fischer, Sylvie Fleury, Robert Gober, David Hockney, Konrad Klapheck, Jac Leirner, Tony Matelli, Claes Oldenburg, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Wayne Thiebaud, Rachel Whiteread, Erwin Wurm, and B. Wurtz. Often directly mimetic, these works upturn visual hierarchies in fine art and propose that the mundane can be harnessed to monumental effect. Spanning over 60 years of making, they share common subjects: cakes abound in the
Read More

Basel Historical Museum reveals spectacular treasure hoards spanning 3,500 years

BASEL.— One of the largest Roman silver treasure hoards in Europe. Gold Celtic jewellery that once adorned giant statues of gods. Church bells buried in the forest or the loot of a master thief sunk in the Rhine. In the exhibition "Treasure Hoards – Hidden, Lost, Found", the Basel Historical Museum traces the most spectacular finds from the Basel region. Treasures from the Bronze Age to the present day are on display, found in north-west Switzerland, Alsace and southern Baden. The exhibition runs from 16 October 2025 to 28 June 2026 in the Barfüsserkirche. Why were the valuable objects once buried, hidden, or sunk in the Rhine? As witnesses of times gone by, they tell of wealth and religious practices – but also of war, persecution and personal fates that are closely interwoven with the history of the tri-national region. The oldest treasure was hidden over 3500 years ago, the newest in 1995. The focus is not only on the treasures themselves, but also on the amazing stories of their
Read More

Christie's appoints Bastienne Leuthe as International Director, Post-War and Contemporary Art

LONDON.— Christie's announced the appointment of Bastienne Leuthe as International Director, Post-War & Contemporary Art, based in Germany and reporting to Katharine Arnold, Vice Chairman 20/21. Bastienne will work closely with Dirk Boll, Managing Director, Germany, Nina Kretzschmar, International Specialist, and regional representatives. She will lead and develop business getting for a portfolio of clients, bringing top objects and collections to market across global auctions and private sales. Bastienne began her career at Sotheby's in Paris in 2005. She subsequently worked with the Contemporary Art Evening Sale team in London and was responsible for major single-owner auctions such as the Dürckheim, Lauffs, and Lenz collections. Most recently, she was Head of Contemporary Art for Sotheby's in Germany. Katharine Arnold,
Read More

Serpentine and FLAG launch contemporary art prize

LONDON.— Serpentine and The FLAG Art Foundation announced the creation of a new prize dedicated to supporting artists worldwide. Over the next decade, a total of £1 million will be awarded biennially - £200,000 to each recipient - to five artists, providing unmatched support at a pivotal moment in their careers. This will be the UK’s largest contemporary art prize given to a single artist. Each recipient will stage a solo exhibition that debuts at either Serpentine or The FLAG Art Foundation and is then reimagined for the partner institution, creating an ongoing artistic dialogue between the two. This partnership will establish a decade-long collaboration, awarding five prizes to five outstanding artists. The first artist to be awarded funds will be selected in 2026, with the inaugural exhibition set to open at Serpentine in London in Autumn 2027, before travelling to FLAG in New York in Spring 2028. Each presentation will be accompanied by a dedicated catalogue and a
Read More

Rare Yemeni treasures and Louvre loans illuminate centuries of exchange between two port cities

MARSEILLE.— Long-standing partners, the City of Marseille and the Louvre Museum Public Institution are taking a new step in their collaboration by co-organizing a unique exhibition dedicated to the relationship between Marseille and Aden—two port cities with intertwined destinies. Presented at the Centre de la Vieille Charité from November 21, 2025 to March 29, 2026, the exhibition is built on an ambitious scientific partnership and showcases exceptional archaeological collections held in Marseille and at the Louvre. This rich and well-documented exhibition features around twenty Yemeni works donated to the City of Marseille at the turn of the 20th century by the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes and the Riès family, merchants specializing in the coffee trade in Aden. These pieces are being presented in dialogue with artifacts and archival
Read More

Mauritshuis expands into historic building, paving the way for new education centre and more exhibition space

THE HAGUE.— The Mauritshuis in The Hague is taking a significant step toward its future. Beginning December 1, the museum will officially expand into a historic building at Korte Vijverberg 4, located just 75 steps from its iconic home by the Hofvijver. The acquisition marks a rare opportunity in the tightly preserved city center — and one that promises to reshape how the museum serves its growing audience. The early-20th-century building, designed in 1917 by architect Eduard Cuypers, adds 800 square meters of usable space to the institution. For the Mauritshuis, this means room to dream bigger. A central part of the plan is the creation of a new Mauritshuis Education Centre, an initiative the museum has hoped to realize for years. Unlike the current single classroom-style studio — which has become too small and outdated — the new Centre will offer multiple spaces designed for children, teens, adults, and community programs. The
Read More

Special single-owner Mercedes-Benz collection spearheads RM Sotheby's upcoming 2026 Paris auction

LONDON.— RM Sotheby’s will return to its traditional home at the Louvre Palace’s spectacular Salles du Carrousel on 28 January 2026 for the 13th running of Europe’s premier collector car auction in Paris. Following this year’s incredible auction that saw the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning 1964 Ferrari 250 LM sell for €34,880,000 in the City of Lights, next year’s sale is already shaping up to be one to remember with the early consignment of The Silver Star Collection, a six-strong group of some of the German marque’s most iconic machines. Leading the Collection is a pair of Mercedes-Benz 300 SLs that represent both the very earliest and dying days of production. Only 167 examples of Mercedes-Benz’s groundbreaking super coupé were built in the first year of production, among them this 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing
Read More

Tony Lewis joins Olney Gleason

NEW YORK, NY.— Olney Gleason announced the representation of Tony Lewis (b. 1986, Los Angeles, CA). The artist’s first solo exhibition in New York will go on view in the gallery’s flagship location in Chelsea from May to June, 2026, debuting new bodies of work. A large-scale work on paper from the artist’s Shorthand series, previously featured as part of the exhibition What drawing can be: four responses at the Menil Drawing Institute, Houston, will be included in the gallery’s Art Basel Miami Beach presentation from December 3–7, 2025. Tony Lewis expands the conceptual and material possibilities of drawing in a practice that spans large-scale works on paper, sculpture, collages, digital projections, and site-specific installations. Language, and its formal and material qualities, are central subjects in Lewis’ work. Examining semiotics and drawing as parallel forms of abstraction, he appropriates and adapts forms including the Roman alphabet and the phonetic symbols use
Read More
I think perhaps there would be more anxiety in my work if I lived in New York.
Edward Ruscha

More News

Japan House London showcases 120 contemporary makers in new exhibition

Japan House London announces its forthcoming exhibition, Hyakkō: 100+ Makers from Japan opening on Wednesday 3 December 2025. Japan has long been associated with a rich culture of craft, with many practices such as urushi (lacquerware) and metalwork being passed down through generations, often as the result of strict apprenticeships. Historically, the expensive products of many of these more formal crafts were out of reach for most and were often created more as objects to be admired rather than to actually be used. In the 1920s, the mingei (folk craft) movement turned people’s attention to the crafts of the people, focussing on the beauty of hand-crafted, utilitarian objects. Integral to this philosophy was the perceived anonymity of the craftspeople – the emphasis being on the item rather than its maker. Hyakkō: 100+ Makers from Japan

Nina Jayasuriya explores the instability of memory at Mennour

“All the images will disappear” The opening lines of Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux's novel, Les Années [The Years], appear like an acknowledgement but act like a warning. It reminds us that nothing is ensured, that images disintegrate, that memories become hazy and places undergo changes. What remains is not faithful to the past, it cannot be for the passage of time has made it cease to exist and transformed it into memory. The past is the persistence of an unstable matter that escapes our hold and which, however, we constantly try to take hold of. It is from that primordial instability that Nina Jayasuriya built her exhibition “L’Odyssée de Yaka Villa”: an exploration of what happens when images are removed, of what is forgotten or remains, disappears or is transmitted. Yaka Villa existed once: it was the first name of the hotel set up in Sri Lanka by the artist’s

In 2026, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum exhibitions will evoke the atmosphere of nighttime

Next year, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum will host three temporary exhibitions. Night – the first to open – examines this mysterious time of day, attuning us to its atmospheres with the aid of poetry. The Anna Sinebrychoff - Ahead of Her Time exhibition opens in March, spotlighting an exceptional woman closely tied to the Museum’s own history, and who ran the Sinebrychoff Brewery at the end of the 19th century. In September, the year’s international exhibition takes us on a journey to 17th-century Rome, led by the artist Mathias Withoos, and introduces us to the Bentvueghels artists’ group, who bubble over with joie de vivre. Night is more mysterious than day. Most of us sleep through these mystical hours; by day, people work and the cogs of society whirr. Besides rest, the night means dreams, where things are peculiar and a bit askew. This exhibition explores the night

Royal Ontario Museum announces Interim Co-Director & CEO appointments

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Canada’s most visited museum, announced that Yoke Chung and Jennifer Wild, currently members of ROM’s Executive Leadership Team, will step up to jointly assume the roles of Interim Co-Directors & CEOs as of January 1, 2026. The interim appointments will provide leadership and operational continuity while ROM’s Board of Trustees continues the search for a permanent Director & CEO to succeed the departing Josh Basseches. After a successful and transformative decade as Director & CEO, Basseches announced in June 2025 his decision to step down from the role while continuing with the Museum until December 31, 2025. “I am pleased to share that Yoke and Jennifer have agreed to together take on the Interim Co-Director & CEO role,” said Andrew MacLeod, ROM Board of Trustees Chair. “With

Manuel Cicchetti captures the silent strength of the Dolomites in new photography exhibition

With the exhibition Dolomites. Caring for the Environment, Stanze della Fotografia hosts an intense visual and narrative journey dedicated to one of the world’s most extraordinary mountain landscapes, on view on the first floor from December 2, 2025, to January 6, 2026. The project originates from the book of the same name, published by Marsilio Arte, featuring mountain photography by Manuel Cicchetti and texts by Antonio G. Bortoluzzi. Together, they offer a profound and contemporary look at the Dolomites, mountains recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Manuel Cicchetti’s photographs form the visual heart of this narrative. His attentive and respectful gaze captures not only the grandeur of the Dolomite landscapes but also the subtle signs of human presence: a path carved into the rock, a dwelling nestled in the valley, a winding high-mountain

Smithsonian opens the most comprehensive Korean art exhibition in over 40 years

The National Museum of Korea announced the opening of Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. It is the most comprehensive presentation of Korean art in the U.S. in over forty years, showcasing more than 205 works—including 172 pieces from the National Museum of Korea, featuring seven National Treasures and fifteen Treasures—alongside major modern and contemporary artworks. Collecting is a timeless passion—an enduring way to preserve memories and share cultural heritage. Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared reflects this spirit through masterpieces donated to the Korean government by the family of Lee Kun-Hee, the late Samsung chairman. Drawn from the National Museum of Korea (NMK) and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

Powerful self-portraits by women artists explore identity, politics and the body

A self-portrait by a woman is often much more than just an image of her face or body. It can be a powerful tool for addressing social issues, experimenting with photographic techniques or exploring her relationship with herself. In the exhibition I’ll Be Your Mirror – Women’s Self-Portraits from the Collection, the Fotomuseum Den Haag presents works from the collection by female artists who explore different approaches to photographic self-portraiture. The exhibition shows intuitively how these artists use the self-portrait to explore or make powerful statements about sensitive themes such as abortion rights, colonial history and body positivity. I’ll Be Your Mirror – Women’s Self-Portraits from the Collection is on display from 11 October to 22 March and features works by, among others, Karla Hiraldo Voleau, Mari Katayama, Thania Petersen, Laura Hospes

Heritage Auctions celebrates Disney art and Charlie Brown's 60th in landmark December sale

Heritage Auctions caps its 2025 Animation calendar with an extraordinary celebration of American storytelling and artistry at its December 12–15 The Art of Disney Signature® Auction. Timed perfectly for the holiday season, this year's event shines a spotlight on the 60th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas with a dedicated offering of original production art from the beloved special, alongside the largest and most diverse collection of Walt Disney-signed material ever presented by Heritage — an achievement for the world's leading auction house in Disney art. "This auction brings together the heart of American animation, from Charles Schulz's holiday classic to the visionary hand of Walt Disney himself," says Jim Lentz, Heritage's Vice President of Animation and Anime Art. "It represents everything collectors love most: history, warmth, artistry

Sotheby's to offer one of the most comprehensive private wine collections ever assembled

Beginning this December, in a series of four dedicated auctions held across the globe, Sotheby’s will present one of the most comprehensive private wine collections ever assembled, estimated to realise up to €11 million in total. Recently removed from a magnificent Renaissance château in Belgium – a family property encircled by its original moat – the wines were lovingly acquired by the late Willy Michiels. More than 29,000 bottles were stored across seven grand vaulted cellars, meticulously restored and purpose-built beneath the château to maintain perfect natural conditions, including precise temperature and humidity control. The result is a cellar of extraordinary scale, precision, and preservation – a true liquid encyclopaedia of the greatest Bordeaux and Burgundy. Spanning vintages from 1925 to 2012, the scope of this collection is breathtaking: landmark
Flashback: On a day like today, French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir died
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, commonly known as Auguste Renoir (25 February 1841 - 3 December 1919), was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. In this image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Child with an Apple or Gabrielle, Jean Renoir and a Little Girl, circa 1895-1896. Pastel on paper. 560 x 760 mm. Mrs. Léone Cettolin Dauberville.

Founded by Ignacio Villarreal - www.ignaciovillarreal.org
Contributors. Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal - Consultant: Ignacio Villarreal Jr. - Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda - Marketing: Carla Gutiérrez - Web Developer: Gabriel Sifuentes - Special Contributor: Liz Gangemi - Special Advisor: Carlos Amador - Contributing Editor: Carolina Farias.
Royalville Communications, Inc. Produces:
ignaciovillarreal.org - ArtDaily founder's Website.
theavemaria.org - The most varied versions of this beautiful prayer.
juncodelavega.org - Hommage to a Mexican poet.
facundocabral-elfinal.org - Hommage to one of the best Argentinean composers.