BEST?

New York Magazine critic Jerry Saltz nabbed the Pulitzer Prize for his convention-defying, social-media savvy, deeply felt, and inherently humanistic salvos on the state of the art, politics, and society at large.

The TIME Is Right – The annual T100 list by TIME Magazine honored Judy Chicago, JR, and Kehinde Wiley as some of this year’s most influential players on the cultural landscape.

Australopithecus Art – Ben Davis reviews the Nasher Sculpture Center’s show, and has some ideas about where the readymade art form really originated.

Behind the Walls, Secrets Await – During restoration, the home of the late outsider artist James Castle yielded 11 new artworks stashed within its walls by the famed Boise, Idaho prodigy.

A Madonna Comes to MoMA – The hedge-fund magnate Steve Cohen donated Chris Ofili’s controversial dung-covered painting of the Virgin Mary to MoMA’s collection this week.

Inside the Diaries of Louise Bourgeois – The artist’s personal diaries, filled with confessional poetry and haunting prose, will be revealed to the public for the first time at the private Maryland museum Glenstone.

The Louvre Delights in Delecroix –  The sprawling retrospective of painter Eugene Delecroix has enraptured everyone from Emmanuel Macron to veteran art critics, so here’s a sneak peek for those outside of Paris.

WORST?

Locked, Loaded, and Loving Art – artnet News’s Rachel Corbett put a microscope on the art patrons within the gun-manufacturing Beretta family, whose matriarch is a regular on the international scene. In the wake of investigations into the Sackler family’s cultural patronage, this is yet another instance where the art world might want to question who is behind large donations—and if the payoff is worth the moral bargain.

“Ponzi Meets the Producers” – Jeff Koons’s fabrication and distribution process is the subject of a new (poetically inflected) lawsuit brought by a hedge-fund art collector who purchased multiple seven-figure pieces from Koons… without ever receiving the pieces.

Jim Carrey Takes on Trump World – The artist is documenting the scandals within the businessman-turned-president’s inner circle in biting paintings that have seized quite a bit of attention.

Panic! In the Arts – A study funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research council found that members of the working class are grossly underrepresented in creative industries, including music, performing, and visual arts.

Spooky Art for a Good Cause – Never one to skimp on scandal, Richard Prince’s 18 & Stormy art prints are digital amalgamations of the faces of the women who’ve accused President Trump of sexual misconduct. The prints will be sold to benefit the organization Downtown for Democracy.

Artists Allege Fraud – A group of artists are accusing CB1 Gallery of fraud, saying that the Los Angeles gallery, whose owner has a history of financial misdeeds, are not paying its artists.

Moving Image Stalls – The fair dedicated to video-based imagery has postponed its upcoming edition, slated for May to coincide with Frieze in New York; the fair’s co-founders explained that participating galleries are feeling the mid-market squeeze.