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Monumental Bronze Age Tomb Discovered Amid Dense Vegetation in Sardinia

A new megalithic funerary monument, one of the many so-called “Giants’ Tombs” scattered around Sardinia, has been uncovered in the central part of the Italian island. The Bronze Age tomb was discovered at Carrarzu Iddia, an archaeological site near the town of Macomer, as reported in Finestra Sull’Arte . The excavation was overseen by two local archaeology and fine art organizations, who were already working in the area. This tomb, and others in Sardinia, was built as a collective burial site around 1800 BCE by the Nuragic people. It was previously unknown due to thick vegetation and other debris concealing the structure, made up of a burial chamber and a semicircular exedra, or an area by the entrance, where members of the  Nuragic civilization would gather to worship their ancestors. Over time, this element would become a recognizable feature of Nuragic funerary architecture. One particular detail stood out to the archaeologists overseeing this e...
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David Zwirner Recruits Longtime Andrew Kreps Partner Liz Mulholland for LA Outpost

Dealer Elizabeth Mulholland, who for the last two decades has served as director and then partner at New York’s Andrew Kreps Gallery, is heading west to serve as a senior director at megadealer David Zwirner’s Los Angeles outpost.  “I genuinely wish Liz the best,” Kreps told ARTnews . “It’s a big life decision, and I’m supportive. She made a huge contribution to the gallery and I’m forever grateful.” Founded in 1993, Zwirner’s gallery empire expanded to Los Angeles in 2023, when he opened a 15,000-square-foot showroom in East Hollywood and a 30,000-square-foot Melrose Hill flagship, adding to its portfolio of galleries in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. He joined Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace with outposts in LA.  Asked to recall some of her proudest accomplishments at Kreps, Mulholland, in an email, said, “It’s difficult to single out just a few moments or milestones. Spending two decades with a gallery has given me ...
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Museums Team Up to Buy Artworks, a New AI Startup Tackles Art Forgery, and More: Morning Links for August 5, 2026

To receive  Morning Links  in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our  Breakfast with ARTnews  newsletter . Good Morning! As budgets tighten, museums are joining forces to buy expensive artworks they could not afford on their own. A UK tech firm is using AI and knowledge graphs to strengthen art authentication.  Collectors are increasingly using freeports to defer taxes, protect valuable artworks, and manage sales more strategically. The Headlines TEAMWORK, DREAMWORK.  Museums are increasingly joining forces to buy expensive artworks they could not afford alone, a reflection of rising prices, tighter acquisition budgets, and growing pressure to diversify collections,  Artnet News  reported . Shared ownership allows institutions to split costs, rotate works between venues, and broaden public access while reducing financial risk. These partnerships also strengthen relationships between museums and can attract additional philant...
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Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 136: Clarrie Gibbons

Clarrie Gibbons was synonymous with rugby in Wellington for many years Gibbons was a player in Wellington in the early 1930s, then a Wellington A selector and coach in the 1950s and 1960s and later an administrator and WRFU Chairman between 1964-68 and NZRU President in 1967. As well as rugby, Gibbons was a track...
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Guggenheim Veteran Valerie Hillings Tapped as Inaugural Director of Abu Dhabi Branch

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi took another significant step toward its December 11 opening, naming Valerie Hillings as the institution’s inaugural director. In choosing Hillings, the Guggenheim tapped a trusted name for the high-profile appointment. She spent five years on the Guggenheim’s staff in New York before joining the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project in 2008 as curator and associate director of curatorial affairs. She worked alongside the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi through 2018, laying the groundwork for its acquisition strategy and curatorial focus on art from West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia from 1960 onward.  “I am honored to return to Abu Dhabi to complete the once-in-a-lifetime journey of founding and opening Guggenheim Abu Dhabi,” Hillings said in a statement . “I look forward to welcoming local and global audiences to the magnificent Frank Gehry-designed building and inviting them to explore points of interconnection and uniq...
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Gagosian Gives Up London and Basel Spaces as Mega-Galleries Rethink Their Footprints

Gagosian has closed its small space in London’s Burlington Arcade and will soon close up its space in Basel, Switzerland, the Art Newspaper reports . Both spaces started as pop-ups, and as long as the rents were good, it made sense for founder Larry Gagosian to keep up those spaces, a source familiar with the gallery’s thinking told ARTnews . “Larry’s thinking is, ‘If there’s opportunity there, great. If not, that’s okay too,’” the source said. Among the gallery’s London spaces, the Burlington Arcade location, which opened in 2023, was the smallest, with the downstairs featuring a store that sold books, editions, and other Gagosian merchandise. Upstairs was a tiny exhibition space that was closer to a private viewing room. Still, Gagosian managed to put on 16 shows there before closing up shop. But Gagosian isn’t abandoning London by any stretch. The gallery will continue to maintain its two Mayfair galleries, at Grosvenor Hill and Davies Stre...
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The World’s Largest Painting Sold for $62 M. in 2021 to Benefit Children’s Charities, But They Have Yet to Receive Any Funds

In 2021, British artist Sacha Jafri auctioned what was then the world’s largest canvas painting, The Journey of Humanity , for a total of £45 million ($62 million at the time) in support of children’s charities. The proceeds from the sale made in Dubai were supposed to be split between UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Global Gift Foundation. But the London Times reports that over five years later, the money has still yet to be disbursed to the selected charities. In 2022, the UAE-based organization, Dubai Cares, which was supposed to receive and distribute the funds to the different NGOs, filed an ongoing legal case against the winning buyer, French-Algerian crypto-businessman André Abdoune, for failing to deliver on his promised payment, as first reported by the Fence Magazine . Initially, Dubai Cares also accused Jafri of unlawfully seizing the painting and exploiting the charity, but a judge dismissed those claims. Abdoune, however, was reportedly ordered to pay t...
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