Benjamin Sutton

Benjamin Sutton is the Editor, Americas of The Art Newspaper.

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Aaron De Groft, Orlando Museum of Art director fired in Basquiat forgery scandal, has died, aged 59

Following successful stints at museums in Virginia and on Florida’s Gulf Coast, De Groft’s career became mired in the Basquiat fakes fiasco

Donald Trump begins second term as US president following fundraising galas at Washington museums

Trump spoke to donors at the National Building Museum one day after JD Vance hosted supporters at the National Gallery of Art

Frieze will proceed with Los Angeles fair following deadly wildfires in the city

A fair spokesperson said the decision came after “careful consideration and extensive conversations with galleries, partners and city-wide stakeholders”

Insurance companies fight $19.7m claim over Basquiat forgeries

The owners of works the FBI seized from the Orlando Museum of Art have filed an eight-figure claim, but the insurers say “coverage is unavailable because… the property was inauthentic”

David Lynch, artist and film-maker who portrayed America’s dark side with surreal humour and violence, has died, aged 78

Lynch trained as a painter before becoming a successful film-maker and ultimately returning to visual art in recent decades

New Alexander Calder institution in Philadelphia sets opening date

Calder Gardens, which will be housed in a Herzog & de Meuron-designed building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, has also appointed a senior director of programmes

Mary Miss and Des Moines Art Center settle lawsuit over Land art piece's demolition

The artist had sought to force the museum to repair her 1996 outdoor installation, while the institution claimed it could only afford to tear it down

Deadly wildfires destroy Los Angeles art spaces as museums and galleries close

Even art spaces far from the raging wildfires have closed and cancelled events amid a citywide state of emergency, dangerous smoke and high winds

Los Angeles wildfire reaches Getty Villa grounds but ‘staff and the collection remain safe’

Cultural organisations around the Los Angeles have been forced to close and some "expect the worst"

Trump claims he will replace the head of the US National Archives

The agency’s previous leader raised concerns in 2022 about Trump’s handling of documents after his first term in office

New satellite fair will bring 26 exhibitors to Santa Monica during Frieze Los Angeles

Santa Monica Post Office will take place in an Art Deco former post office building in downtown Santa Monica, a short drive from Frieze

SFMoMA fires contemporary art curator Eungie Joo amid misconduct allegations

Joo had joined the museum in 2017 as its first contemporary art curator and most recently organised an ambitious project by Kara Walker

Robert Smithson’s famed Land art piece Spiral Jetty added to US National Register of Historic Places

The 1,500ft-long, coiling earthwork in Utah’s Great Salt Lake is arguably the best known example of Land art

Lorraine O’Grady, conceptual artist who dissected language and dualities, has died, aged 90

O’Grady, who devoted herself to art in her early forties, spent the ensuing decades making incisive works that spanned photography, collage, performance and more

Polychrome 17th-century statue that was stolen from a church in 2007 is returned to Mexico

The artefact had been recovered from a US gallery in 2017, but since then its status was a mystery

President Biden establishes national monument acknowledging history of forced assimilation at Native American boarding schools

The monument, at the site of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, will ensure nobody forgets one of the “most horrific chapters in American history”, Biden said

Metropolitan Museum reveals design for new $550m wing for Modern and contemporary art

Designs for the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, conceived by the architect Frida Escobedo, show a stepped exterior of latticed limestone

MoMA PS1 receives $1m gift from trailblazing collector’s foundation

The gift to the New York contemporary art centre from the organisation named after David Teiger will help to fund an upcoming exhibition programme

‘Breathe in the air and go to the beach’: Karla Harwich shares her Miami tips and latest acquisitions

The Miami native and El Museo del Barrio board chair reflects on the works that got away and her family favourite Miami meals

‘It was Pak’s work that truly ignited our love for digital art’: Desiree Casoni and Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile on their trendsetting collection

The Miami-based designer and NFT platform founder have long championed digital artists, but they still have a love of the great painters

‘I would love to have a Louise Bourgeois spider in my garden’: Ariel and Daphna Bentata on their adventurous collection

The Miami-based couple started their collection 31 years ago with a taste for contemporary art and the local flavors of Miami

Pérez Art Museum Miami's splashy acquisition at Nada fair

The museum acquired a canvas by the Jamaican artist Simon Benjamin from the stand of New York's Swivel Gallery

At Miami Beach's Untitled Art fair, three artists win Vortic prize

The digital art platform bestowed its top prize on a decidedly analogue work

‘Each body of work is exceptional to me’: George Merck on inception pieces and the maquette that got away

The Palm Beach-based art collector is drawn to works that play with light, and plans Miami nights with rigour

Full colour: celebrating 15 years of street art in Miami’s Wynwood

A new book reveals the exuberant and varied work created by numerous artists that has been key to the rejuvenation of the district north of the city’s downtown

Twelve must-see exhibitions in South Florida during Miami Art Week

From ambitious new projects by Andrea Chung, Rachel Feinstein, Marguerite Humeau and José Parlá to shows devoted to the revered and recently deceased artists Jacqueline de Jong and Keiichi Tanaami

US artist transforms former Confederate monument into heartfelt symbol

With a gesture of love, Raúl de Nieves has altered a New Orleans space once described as ‘the most racist’ in the city

101 exhibitors revealed for Frieze Los Angeles fair's 2025 edition

Preparations for the fair come as with Frieze parent company Endeavor is exploring a potential sale of the British art brand

Phillips's contemporary art auction in New York, hampered by Basquiat flop, brings in slim $44.2m

The night’s total take took a major hit when it was revealed that its second-biggest lot, a Basquiat self-portrait, had failed to sell