Anti-Money Laundering Fines Hit 50 U.K. Galleries—and More Art Industry News (2025)

Our weekly news roundup is an extension ofPaint Drippings, which drops first inThe Back Room, our lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know art industry intel into a nimble read you’ll actually enjoy. Artnet News Pro members get exclusive access—subscribenow to receive this in your inbox every Friday.

Art Fairs

–Ahead of Art Basel Hong Kong, which opens to VIPs on March 26, Artnet’s Vivienne Chow asks whether the Chinese city is losing its market edge amid rising geopolitical tensions and regional economic decline. (Art Market Minute)

–Tokyo Gendai will hold its third edition from September 11–14, featuring new programming including a $10,000 emerging artist prize, a curators’ symposium, and a spotlight on Japanese women artists. (Press release)

Auction Houses

– Maqbool Fida Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra) (1954) fetched $13.8 million against a presale high estimate of just $3.5 million at Christie’s New York the week. It marks the first time an Indian Modern artwork achieved “trophy” status for selling over $10 million. (Artnet News)

– On April 10, Sotheby’s Paris will present La Liberté pour Dogme, a sale of works from the groundbreaking collection of Niomar Moniz Sodré Bittencourt, a Brazilian journalist, political activist, and founder of Rio’s Museu de Arte Moderna. The 70-lot auction features works by Picasso, Giacometti, Nicolas de Staël, Maria Martins, and Jesús Rafael Soto. (Press release)

Galleries

– Nearly 50 U.K. art businesses—including White Cube, Opera, and Carl Kostyál—were fined by the British government’s HM Revenue and Customs administration for failing to register as Art Market Participants (AMP) under its latest anti-money laundering rules. Fines averaged over £3,000 ($3,860), with some exceeding £13,000 ($16,840). Some dealers say they were penalized despite voluntarily disclosing their late registration. (The Art Newspaper)

– David Zwirner is set to open a new, two-story space in Chelsea in May, with a solo show by Michael Armitage. This is Zwirner’s eighth space worldwide, and fourth space in New York. (ARTnews)

– Lee Bul has joined Hauser and Wirth, Timothy Taylor is now representing Marina Adams in New York and London, and Hirschl and Adler Modern has announced representation of George Widener. (Press releases)

Museums and Institutions

– A new report from museum think tank Remuseum suggests U.S. museums could operate more efficiently by offering free general admission, proposing strategies to expand public access and optimize resources. (Artnet News)

– The still under-construction London Museum has received a donation of £20 million (about $25.9 million) from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Additionally, Bloomberg has gifted a singular collection of roughly 14,000 Roman antiquities to the museum, which were found underneath its London headquarters. (Artnet News)

– The National Public Housing Museum has announced plans for its opening in Chicago on April 4. Founded by public housing residents, the museum is dedicated to “interpreting the histories and policies that have shaped the experience of public housing across the United States.” (Press release)

– The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas has appointed Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell as curator of prints and drawings; the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, has tapped Charles Wylie as its new curator of photography; the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., has appointed Shawn Yuan as its senior curator of Asian art; and Sharon X. Liu has been appointed the inaugural recipient of the Asymmetry Curatorial Fellowship at Sculpture Center in New York. (Press releases)

Tech and Legal

– Art advisor Lisa Schiff was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, with two years supervised release, by a federal court in Manhattan this week. Last October, Schiff pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and agreed to forfeit roughly $6.4 million. (Artnet News)

– A Leeds court found British art collector James Stunt not guilty of taking part in a £266 million (about $345 million) money-laundering operation with four other men, three of whom have fled the country. (The Art Newspaper)

– A new artificial intelligence analysis has reignited debate over the authenticity of The Bath of Diana (ca. 1635), a painting long believed to be a copy of a lost Rubens work. A Swiss authentication firm, Art Recognition, claims that some areas of the painting bear the Flemish master’s hand—though a leading Rubens scholar strongly disputes the attribution. (Artnet News)

People

– The New Yorker‘sart criticJackson Arn lost his job following claims of misbehavior at a company party. In last week’s Wet Paint, Artnet’s Annie Armstrong surveys the increasingly small pool of U.S. art critics and wonders what the future holds for the genre. (Wet Paint)

– The British artist Isaac Julien has been appointed as a trustee of Tate. (Press release)

RIP

– Photographer Nona Faustine, known for honoring the resilience of Black women through her work, has died at age 48. The Brooklyn Museum, which exhibited her art last year, confirmed her passing on social media. (Instagram)

– Sculptor Fred Eversley, whose work was associated with the Light and Space Movement, has died at age 83. (Artnews)