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…

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…

London will have a new South Asian arts festival. The event will take place in South Kensington’s cultural quarter next summer, featuring artists from India and its diaspora. The festival will be organized by the Great Exhibition Road Festival, Serendipity Arts, and several leading London museums. artforum.com/news/south-asia…

A life-size metal statue of Florida governor Ron DeSantis was unveiled in the state capital of Tallahassee last week and immediately began to melt. The project was organized by activists seeking to highlight the Republican leader’s sustained efforts to end or block climate-change protections. artforum.com/news/florida-he…

Visitors attending the inaugural VIP preview day of the 2026 edition of Art Basel Paris yesterday were forced to wend their way through concrete anti-ram barriers encircling the landmark Grand Palais. Fair officials confirmed to visitors that they had additionally beefed up security. artforum.com/news/2026-art-b…

The far-right government in Colombia removed more than 30 works from the permanent displays of the Museo Nacional de Colombia, citing “political indoctrination.” The works removed included dozens of objects related to LGBTQ rights and feminism. The decision led to protests outside the museum. artforum.com/news/protest-in…

The study of seventy-nine fingerprints visible in the clay used to form some of the terracotta warriors in Xi’an, China, has revealed that the makers of the statues included not just adult men but also women and children. artforum.com/news/terracotta…

The FOG Design+Art fair has announced 76 exhibitors for its 2027 edition, which runs January 21–24 at the Fort Mason Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The fair, which received 30% more applications than last year, will see a 20% increase in exhibitors, or 13 more participants. artforum.com/news/fog-design…

Liverpool’s Bluecoat has named Emer Grant as its new creative director. Grant is the first person named to the position at the museum since its founding in 1927. She joins the contemporary art center—England’s oldest—from Arts Collective Northampton, where she is artistic director and CEO. artforum.com/news/emer-grant…

The Biennale de Lyon has announced Hélia Paukner as its new artistic director, effective February 1, 2027. Pauker will also take over the directorship of the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (macLYON), her appointment maintaining the long-standing partnership between the Biennale and the museum. artforum.com/news/helia-pauk…

Master’s students at the Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) staged protests during the school’s graduation exhibition to demand action against overcrowded facilities. Demonstrators gathered at the entrance to the design school show during its opening on Saturday. artforum.com/news/design-aca…

Anselm Kiefer’s “Schwarze Flocken”, which is over 36 ft high and 23 ft wide, considered too large to exhibit for nearly two decades, has finally found a home. Last week, it was shown to the public for the first time in a freestanding concrete pavilion built specifically to house the work in Germany. artforum.com/news/anselm-kie…