On the cover of Artforum’s October issue, one of Diego Marcon’s animatronic talpids recites an unending mathematical calculation while its pups sleep outside the frame. Matthew McLean considers the strange predicaments of the creatures in Marcon’s films: suspended in routines they cannot escape, their helplessness by turns harrowing, comic, and graceful. artforum.com/issue/2026/octo…

A planned strike across all four Victoria and Albert Museum sites has been suspended after unionized staff received an improved offer from management. Staffers who are members of the PCS unions voted to strike on Thursday and Friday in a dispute over pay and working conditions. artforum.com/news/v-and-a-wo…

AD-WO, the New York City design studio led by Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood, has been commissioned to reimagine the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Heinz Architectural Center. The Heinz Architectural Center is the institution’s site for exploring and incubating ideas related to architecture. artforum.com/news/ad-wo-to-r…

The organizers of Art Basel Qatar have named the 82 galleries exhibiting in its sophomore edition taking place in Msheireb Downtown, Doha, January 28–30. The number of participants is down slightly, despite the fact that the fair underwrites costs for all presenting galleries. artforum.com/news/art-basel-…

ArtReview reports that the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) has appointed Irini Papadimitriou as artistic director of the 14th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, scheduled to open in August 2027. artforum.com/news/irini-papa…

In the early twentieth century, the French Symbolist artist Odilon Redon painted a series of decorative panels for the Fontfroide Abbey. When the panels were removed earlier this year for the first time, the abbey’s staff found a set of test drawings on the wall behind them. artforum.com/news/unknown-od…

Gustav Klimt’s 1915–16 "Litzlbergkeller" is set to hit the auction block in New York next month with an estimate of $60 million to $80 million. If it hammers in the expected range, the work will be one of the most expensive by the Austrian painter ever sold at auction. artforum.com/news/guaranteed…

British art historian Charles Greig has gifted 50 works from his collection to Tate Britain. The works were given without any tax incentives and include oil paintings, watercolors, and miniatures by artists who resided in South Asia during the 18th and 19th centuries. artforum.com/news/tate-brita…

A study by South Korean researchers argues Vincent Van Gogh may have been inspired by his observation of an actual sky in “The Starry Night”. The astronomers narrowed the date of the celestial event to around July 1889, which would mean he composed the work a month later than is widely believed. artforum.com/news/astronomer…

On October 8, over 100 protesters queued up outside the now-shuttered DePaul Art Museum (DPAM) in Chicago. The demonstration aimed to send a message to the university’s leadership, calling for the reopening of the museum, which ceased operations in June. artforum.com/news/hundreds-p…

The Róng Museum of Art (RMoA) in Shenzhen, China, announced the appointment of Freya Chou, Li Jia, and Susanna Zhu to its curatorial team. Set to open in the latter half of 2027, the museum named Pi Li as founding director in March. artforum.com/news/rong-museu…

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) on October 23 announced that it was the recipient of a $20 million gift earmarked for the development of a new education center. The donation, from longtime PMA supporters Julian Brodsky and Lois G. Brodsky, is one of the largest in the museum’s history. artforum.com/news/philadelph…

A Monet painting sold for $56 million at Sotheby’s in Paris on Thursday. "Iris" is a painting of flowers in Monet’s Giverny water garden. It was purchased by Jen Hua, deputy of Sotheby’s Asia, on behalf of an Asian client. The world record for a painting by Monet is $110.7 million. artforum.com/news/monet-pain…

Paris- and Luxembourg-based duo David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin, who create work together under the moniker Brognon Rollin, have won the 2026 Prix Marcel Duchamp, beating out a short list that included Joël Andrianomearisoa, Laura Henno, and Josèfa Ntjam. artforum.com/news/brognon-ro…

Chanel is now the lead sponsor of Hong Kong’s M+ museum. It will be the lead partner for the next three years and will support not only the museum’s film programming but also its exhibitions, artist programs, and other projects. artforum.com/news/chanel-lea…

The Studio Museum in Harlem named its three artists selected for its 2026–2027 Artist-in-Residence program. Turiya Adkins, Timothy Yanick Hunter, and Clifford Prince King will be the second cohort to be in residency in the museum’s new purpose-built home on 125th Street. artforum.com/news/studio-mus…

A marble sculpture fragment depicting the cuirass-clad torso of a Roman emperor hammered for $34.3 million at Sotheby’s on October 21, nearly three times its $12 million estimate and the highest amount ever fetched by a Roman antiquity at auction. artforum.com/news/34-3-milli…

Expansion plans for Miami Beach’s Bass Museum of Art have been released by Los Angeles–based architectural firm Johnston Marklee, which was selected in April to lead the project. artforum.com/news/miami-beac…

Quebec City’s Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec on October 21 unveiled its new Espace Riopelle–Michael Audain Pavilion to the public. Dedicated to Jean Paul Riopelle, one of the most significant Canadian artists of the twentieth century, the structure will display some 130 works by the artist. artforum.com/news/quebec-mus…

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation has launched the freely available digital catalogue raisonné "Robert Rauschenberg: Paintings and Sculptures 1948–1953" on its website today. The digital edition will be complemented by a print version, to be published in winter 2027. artforum.com/news/rauschenbe…

Seton Smith, the sister of artist Kiki Smith, has given more than 250 prints made by Kiki to the New York Public Library (NYPL) and has pledged to make a gift of any future prints from her sister to the library. The collection is the most comprehensive collection of Kiki Smith’s prints in America. artforum.com/news/new-york-p…