The Art World This Week: 20 June 2025
Save to My OculaVigilant dealers reported a ‘strong and busy start’ to Art Basel with many six-figure sales, Museum of Modern Art to stage a major Duchamp survey in 2026, and more. Here’s Ocula’s briefing on the art world developments and news you might have missed.
Institutions
MoMA Announces Monumental Duchamp Survey for 2026
New York’s Museum of Modern Art will host the first Marcel Duchamp survey in the United States in half a century next April. The travelling exhibition will include over 330 works and head to Philadelphia Museum of Art in autumn followed by Grand Palais in 2027.
Centre Pompidou Temporarily Moves Into Refurbished 1897 Grand Palais
Reopened this week after a £395 million rebuild by Chatillon Architectes to include galleries adapted for contemporary art exhibitions, the historic building will serve as a temporary venue for Centre Pompidou, while the museum undergoes renovations until 2030.
National Gallery of Canada Receives $16m USD Worth of Art
Gifted by Vancouver real estate magnate Bob Rennie, the significant contribution includes works by celebrated artists like Yinka Shonibare, Mona Hatoum, and Ai Weiwei, enabling the museum to acquire contemporary works it may otherwise struggle to obtain.
Inaugural Shows Revealed for Harlem’s Studio Museum
Led by director and curator Thelma Golden, the institution backing artists of African descent will reopen post-expansion this autumn with a survey of American sculptor Tom Lloyd, who inaugurated the museum in 1968, and an overview of its 9,000-item collection.
Art Fairs and Market
Dealers Report ‘Strong and Busy Start’ to Art Basel
Preview day sales at Messeplatz were led by a David Hockney painting at Annely Juda Fine Art at $13–17 million (USD), and a $9.5 million Ruth Asawa sculpture and $6.8 million Gerhard Richter painting at David Zwirner, who reported close to 70 deals. Read more.
New York’s Independent Doubles Square Footage with New Lower East Side Venue
Next spring, Independent art fair will move into a new, 70,000-square-foot space at Pier 36 on the Lower East Side, expanding its capacity at what founder Elizabeth Dee called a ‘pivotal time for galleries worldwide looking to the New York market’.
Gallery Representations
Asuka Anastasia Ogawa Is Now Represented by Nara Roesler
Japanese painter Asuka Anastasia Ogawa has joined Brazilian Galeria Nara Roesler, who will represent the Tokyo-born, Brazil-raised artist alongside BLUM. The gallery will bring her work to ArtRio in September.
Trey Abdella Joins Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler
American artist Trey Abdella has joined Berlin gallery Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, who brought to Art Basel the Brooklyn-based artist’s hyper-realistic painting, which the gallery describes as ‘[reckoning] with the horror and melancholy of the American dream’.
Truong Cong Tung Joins Kiang Malingue
Vietnamese artist Truong Cong Tung has joined Hong Kong gallery Kiang Malingue, who presented the artist’s signature lacquer painting at Art Basel. Truong’s work is informed by his upbringing among ethnic minority communities in Vietnam’s highlands.
Awards
Antony Gormley Receives Royal Companion of Honour Award
British sculptor Antony Gormley has been appointed companion of honour on King Charles’ birthday on Saturday for his services to art. His entry into the King’s Birthday Honours List, reserved for a select 65, follows the artist’s knighting in 2014 and OBE in 1997.
Rhea Dillon and Joyce Joumaa Win Art Basel’s Baloise Art Prize
The emerging artists were recognised as talent to watch among exhibitors at Art Basel’s Statements sector. They were awarded CHF 30,000 and joined the collections at Frankfurt‘s Museum für Moderne Kunst and Mudam Luxembourg. Read more.
Carrie Yamaoka Wins German Maria Lassnig Prize
Japanese-American artist Carrie Yamaoka has won the €50,000 Maria Lassnig Prize. The biennial award, coming into its fifth year, will see her work shown at Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany in 2026. Previous winners include Lubaina Himid (2023) and Atta Kwami (2021).
Wendi Yan Receives VH Award Grand Prix by Hyundai Motors
Artist Wendi Yan took home $25,000 for her computer-generated film Dream of Walnut Palaces, reimagining knowledge exchanges between Europe and Asia. Her work will be presented as part of a travelling exhibition opening in Beijing and Yongin, South Korea, on 18 June.
Obituaries
Joel Shapiro, Pioneering Sculptor of Dynamic Abstractions, Dies at 83
American sculptor Joel Shapiro passed on Saturday after a six-decade career during which he redefined the possibilities of sculpture through interplays between abstraction and figuration. Pace founder Arne Glimcher remembers him as an innovator and close friend.
Leonard Lauder, Billionaire Art Patron and Cosmetics Heir, Dies at 92
Businessman and art patron Leonard Lauder died in his Manhattan home over the weekend. Besides commercial ventures, Lauder was known for his contributions to the arts, including headline-making gifts to New York City museums. —[O]
Main image: Danh Vo, In God We Trust (2020). Installation view: White Cube, Unlimited, Art Basel (16–22 June 2025). Courtesy Art Basel.
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