leryl timeline RSS2026-10-29T07:48:03+0000 The World Monuments Fund has raised $62 million for its endowment, beating its fundraising target 18 months ahead of schedule and giving the New York-based preservation organization considerably more financial muscle to protect historic sites around the world. The campaign, announced Wednesday, has tripled the organization’s endowment net assets, which are expected to pass $100 million by 2028. The money will support everything from conservation training to emergency efforts to protect cultural heritage threatened by war, climate change, and natural disasters. The fundraising drive was launched publicly less than a year ago as part of WMF’s 60th anniversary celebrations. It was built around a $20 million matching challenge from the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust, which pledged to match 50 cents for every dollar raised, up to $40 million in donations. Other major contributors included philanthropist Suzanne Deal Booth, who gave $10 million toward a new institute for heritage preservation that bears her name, and Virginia James, whose contribution falls between $5 million and $10 million. The donor list also includes familiar art-world names such as Susan de Menil, Stephen Lash, Annabelle Selldorf, and Christian Louboutin. “Cultural heritage is being lost to conflict, climate change, neglect, and urbanization faster than the world can respond,” Bénédicte de Montlaur, WMF’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “This campaign gives WMF the long-term resources to act with greater urgency and ambition.” Founded in 1965, WMF has worked to preserve more than 700 sites across 114 countries. Its projects range from conserving historic buildings and archaeological sites to training local craftspeople and helping communities protect cultural landmarks after disasters. The new funding will bolster several of those jobs. The Suzanne Deal Booth Institute for Heritage Preservation has se... Read more

]]>2026-10-29T07:48:03+0000The White Stripes frontman posted a heartfelt tribute on social media. Read more here

]]>2026-10-26T06:10:07+0000 Across some 200 booths at Art Basel Paris this year, there is a lot to take in. As the Swiss company’s French fair matures, galleries have begun to bring more and more top-tier, high-priced works, which in turn has made it less a place to discover something new than a place for six-, seven-, and even eight-figure works to be sold. And during the Avant-Première VVIP preview on Tuesday afternoon, exhibiting galleries reported quite a few sales, which they would add to by the close of business Wednesday. While the fair can be a bit market-darling-heavy on the ground floor, be sure to visit the upstairs, where some of the best works on view can be found. And if nothing strikes your fancy, you can at least look up and take in the beauty of the Grand Palais’s green-painted, steel-and-glass ceiling. Below, a look at the best booths at Art Basel Paris, which runs through October 25 at the Grand Palais. Read more here

]]>2026-10-22T07:48:02+0000Selena Gomez is finding it "so hard" to quit nicotine. Read more here

]]>2026-10-19T06:10:10+0000 Christie’s London brought in £218.6 million ($289.4 million) across two evening sales Wednesday, more than doubling last year’s total and offering an encouraging sign for the art market ahead of the New York auctions next month. Seven auction records were set, including five during the sale of British businessman Peter Simon’s collection, while a Wassily Kandinsky painting fetched £31.6 million ($41.8 million) in the evening’s second auction. (All prices reported include buyer’s premium.) The two sales, which coincide with Frieze London and Frieze Masters, achieved a combined sell-through rate of 91 percent by lot and 96 percent by value. The Simon collection, which several market insiders described to ARTnews as the real attraction in London this week, accounted for £107.5 million ($142.3 million) of the total, making it the highest-value single-owner collection ever sold at Christie’s London. The subsequent 20th- and 21st-century sale brought in £111.1 million ($147 million). There was, however, some confusion about when the festivities were supposed to begin. Although the Simon sale started at 6 p.m., in some places Christie’s live-auction website advertised a 7 p.m. start time. At least three market professionals, including an adviser with a global clientele, had understood that the sale would begin at the later hour. Whether the hiccup caused anyone to miss bidding remains unclear. Even still, Christie’s was packed when the “Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection” sale began. Assembled by the founder British retailer Monsoon who has appeared on each edition of ARTnews’s Top 200 Collectors list since 2005, the collection sold 98 percent by lot and 99 percent by value, with only one of the 41 works failing to find a buyer. Wassily Kandinsky’s early masterpiece Das bunte Leben was the evening’s top lot, earning £31.6 million ($41... Read more

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