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Forging Canada’s Arctic Future: Polar Max Icebreaker Construction Begins at Davie

Canada’s Arctic is no longer a distant frontier—it is a rapidly evolving strategic domain. As shipping lanes expand, climate pressures intensify, and geopolitical attention sharpens, Canada is accelerating efforts to ensure a sustained, year-round presence in the North. That urgency was on full display in Lévis, Québec, on March 31, as federal leaders and industry partners gathered at Chantier Davie Canada Inc . to mark the start of Canadian production on the Polar Max Icebreaker—one of two new polar vessels set to redefine the Canadian Coast Guard’s Arctic capabilities. A Defining Moment for Arctic Presence The production start ceremony signals more than just the beginning of construction—it marks the transition to full-rate production at Davie’s shipyard and a significant step forward in renewing Canada’s Arctic-capable fleet under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Together with its sister vessel under construction at Vancouver Shipyards, the Polar Max Icebreaker will form the ...
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Strengthening Maritime Security: A Message from the DM, CDS, and CCG Commissioner on Bill C-12

On March 27, 2026 the DM, CDS and Commissioner or the CCG released the following message: Defence Team, As part of our ongoing work to protect Canada’s sovereignty and waters, the Defence Team relies on close coordination with its partners. The Royal Assent of the  Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12)  marks a significant milestone, further strengthening border and maritime security while supporting the evolving role of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) within the Defence Team. Since the CCG joined the Department of National Defence we have been working more closely together to support Canada’s safety and security at home. This legislation reinforces that collaboration. These new authorities allow the CCG to carry out security-related activities, including security patrols, and share maritime intelligence with its partners, helping the Defence Team stay present and responsive across Canada’s coasts and northern waters. This is part o...
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11-Year Restitution Dispute Over Prized Modigliani Ends With Loss for Nahmad Family

An 11-year-long legal dispute over a prized Amedeo Modigliani painting looted during World War II has concluded in a loss for billionaire art dealer David Nahmad and his family, marking an unlikely restitution victory for the heirs of its original Jewish owner. A New York judge ruled this week that Seated Man With a Cane (1918) rightfully belongs to the estate of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer who left the portrait behind under duress while fleeing Paris ahead of the Nazi occupation. The court found that the painting was illicitly seized and illegitimately transferred, rejecting the Nahmads’ longstanding argument that its provenance, or ownership history, was unclear. “Oscar Stettiner owned or at a minimum had a superior right of possession of the painting prior to its unlawful seizure,” Judge Joel M. Cohen wrote, as first quoted by the New York Times , “and he never voluntarily relinquished it.” The judge added that David Nahmad and the Nahmad holding company “failed to rai...
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Raja Ravi Varma Painting Sells for $17.9 M., New Auction Record for Indian Art

A painting by Raja Ravi Varma has set a new auction record for the work of an Indian artist, signaling continued strength at the top end of the market . Yashoda and Krishna  (ca. 1890s) sold for $17.9 million at Saffronart in Delhi on April 1, surpassing the previous benchmark for Indian painting at auction, held by M.F. Husain’s  Untitled (Gram Yatra) , which sold for $13.8 million at Christie’s New York last year and was purchased by ARTnews Top 200 Collector Kiran Nadar. The result also comfortably eclipses Varma’s prior record of $4.5 million, set in 2023 The buyer was pharmaceutical billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India, according to  Artsy .    Characterizing Varma as “indisputably remains the most influential pioneer of early modern Indian art,” Saffronart called Yashoda and Krishna “one of the artist’s most accomplished works,” in its lot description. “In this painting,” the essay continues, “he interpre...
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Max Levai Bets on Scale—and Himself—with New Chelsea Gallery

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Max Levai is expanding into Chelsea at a moment when much of the market is pulling back. The former president of Marlborough Gallery will open a 7,000-square-foot flagship at 529 West 20th Street this fall, his first permanent New York space after several years of operating between pop-ups, international projects like his presentation of works by Frank Auerbach at the 2024 Venice Biennale, and his Montauk compound, The Ranch. “Having a gallery that is permanent… has been on my mind for a while,” Levai told ARTnews this week by phone. “There’s a roster of artists I’m motivated to provide a proper stage for.”  That stage, he believes, still belongs in Chelsea. While Tribeca has drawn a younger wave of galleries, Levai is blunt about where he sees the center of the market. “In my opinion, Chelsea is simply the best place to have a gallery,” he said, pointing to the scale and flexibility of its buildings. His previous Tribeca location, roughly 900 square feet, was suited to...
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Andy Warhol’s Former Studio Building Now Home to New Uniqlo Union Square Store

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Andy Warhol’s former studio building on Broadway and East 17th Street has been home to many businesses since the Pop artist decamped from his third-floor Factory in 1984, after a decade at 860 Broadway. A nightclub (the Underground) was there in the ‘80s, followed by a Petco in the mid-90s, which relocated nearby in 2023. The commercial building’s ground floor retail space has been vacant for the intervening years, but a new tenant has moved it. The Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo will open its seventh New York store at 860 Broadway tomorrow. 860 Broadway, where the new Uniqlo Union Square store opens on Apr. 3, 2026. It is unclear if the store expands all the way to the third floor, the former location of Warhol’s Factory. Either way, Uniqlo is using the location’s connection to Wahol’s legacy to promote the opening weekend festivities. An Instagram post on from today includes a black-and-white photograph from 1983 of Warhol standing in front of a wall with a sideways America...
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Art Dealer Larry Gagosian Recalls Rare Misstep With San Francisco Gallery: ‘Nobody Showed Up’

Larry Gagosian doesn’t do a lot of interviews, but one supposes when Elle Decor asks to do a glossy profile on the rocket-ship trajectory of his eponymous gallery, you say yes. Speaking on the occasion of a new gallery opening at 980 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side this spring, Gagosian reflected on his many successes—and two notable failures. His short-lived San Francisco gallery, which opened in 2016 near SFMoMA and closed in 2021, was one such failure. At the time, a spokesperson framed the closing as an effort to “consolidate and strengthen Gagosian’s presence in California.” In the interview with Elle Decor , the mega-dealer was quite a bit blunter. “It just failed,” Gagosian said. “I mean, nobody showed up. It was so depressing. I’d fly up there for an opening, and there’s nobody there. I’d go, What the f— am I doing here?” While the Bay Area is home to many ARTnews  Top 200 collectors, including  Laurene Powell Jobs , billionaire venture capitalist  Mar...
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