BEST?

Seeing Red – The long awaited art center Ruby City opened in San Antonio, Texas, with a building designed by David Adjaye—fulfilling the dreams of the late Pace food heiress.

A New Perspective on Last Supper – The female renaissance painter Plautilla Nelli’s vision of The Last Supper is now on permanent display in Florence, after years of restoration and conservation.

An African Art Star Skyrockets – The market for Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu is officially red hot, with a recent portrait selling for almost eight times its estimate at auction.

Waxing Poetic – Urs Fischer’s latest melting wax sculpture is inspired by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio. The artist sculpted the actor and art collector standing alongside his parents.

Critical Eye on MoMA – Our chief art critic Ben Davis spent nearly 10 hours in the newly renovated museum to lay out the perils of re-contextualizing history, and how visitors might interact with the newly displayed works.

Reversal on ‘Vitruvian Man’ – Just days before a blockbuster Leonardo exhibit is set to open at the Louvre, an Italian court ruled that the famous Vitruvian Man drawing can travel from Italy after all, despite last-ditch efforts to block the loan.

Sanyu Soaring – In next month’s Hong Kong auctions, Christie’s is hoping to shatter the world record for a work by Chinese-French artist Sanyu.

Mapping MoMA’s Future – artnet News’s Andrew Goldstein spoke to MoMA director Glenn Lowry about the museum’s re-hang, how it will proceed, and what it can learn from its past.

WORST?

John Giorno Has Died – The colorful activist, artist, poet, and Andy Warhol star died at age 82. His avant-garde approach to poetry, and his fight for gay rights, were celebrated in a 13-venue, multi-city retrospective curated by his partner, Ugo Rondinone, in 2017.

Remembering Stefan Edlis – The art collector and mega-patron died this week at the age of 94, but his legacy lives on in the generous gifts he gave to institutions in Chicago and beyond.

Flower Fail – People in Paris are not pleased with Jeff Koons’s tulip sculpture, calling it “perverse” and “vile,” with a few equating it to a less than attractive part of human anatomy.

Havoc in Hong Kong – The Asia Contemporary Art Show has cancelled its spring 2020 edition, citing ongoing turbulence in Hong Kong that had a devastating impact on its most recent October edition.

Art Thefts Hobble Hobby Lobby – The family behind the chain store Hobby Lobby and the Museum of the Bible are facing allegations (for the second time) that artifacts on display were stolen.

A Surreal Theft – In less than one minute, a brazen thief stole a $20,000 etching by Salvador Dalí from an art gallery in San Francisco.