BEST?

The Future Is in His Hands – One of the four 2019 Turner Prize winners, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, was tapped for the 2022 Future Fields Commission, for which he will create a new work of art that explores the nature of perception.

What Does 2020 Hold? – Artnet News’s Gray Market columnist, Tim Schneider, makes seven highly specific predictions for the coming year, including the return of an alleged fugitive swindler.

Forward, March! – A team of archaeologists has discovered more than 200 previously unknown terracotta warrior sculptures, adding to the 6,000-strong army of famed soldiers.

Happy Domain Day – The new year ushered in a new batch of artworks to the public domain, meaning they can now be freely reproduced for the first time since they were each made, in 1934.

Catch Up Quick – In case you missed it, our resident art critic, Ben Davis, combed through thousands of works of art to distill the 100 most influential artworks of the 2010s.

Going Green in Vogue – The glossy Vogue Italia magazine ditched elaborate photography in lieu of illustrations for its January issue in an effort to cut back on its carbon footprint.

Art for Justice – James “Yaya” Hough, who served a 27-year murder sentence, is the first artist-in-residence to be appointed by Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s office.

WORST?

Court Lets Landesman Loose – A court has decided that Ex-Artforum staffer Amanda Schmitt may proceed with part of her lawsuit against the magazine, including claims that she suffered retaliation, though former publisher and accused abuser Knight Landesman was cleared from the case.

A Picasso Attack – Pablo Picasso’s 1944 painting Bust of a Woman was the subject of a vicious attack at Tate Modern, and the alleged attacker will be kept in jail until his first hearing.

All’s Not Fair – In the wake of banana-gate at Art Basel, performance artist and activist Rod Webber graffitied a Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory onto the Perrotin booth in red lipstick, and is now facing charges for vandalism.

Scammers, Sacklers, and Sponsors, Oh My! – Looking back on the past year, Artnet News narrowed down some of the most contentious issues that dominated the 2019 art news cycle.