The Latest in the Art World: Five Stories Making Headlines This Week
The art world rarely stands still. From major exhibitions and museum decisions to gallery openings, record-breaking sales, and unexpected collaborations, the past week brought plenty to talk about. As September gets underway, here are five stories that caught our attention, from Nan Goldin stepping behind the camera for Acne Studios’ anniversary to a major shift at the Met and strong opening sales at Frieze Seoul.
Nan Goldin Turns Her Lens on Acne Studios’ 30th Anniversary
For its 30th anniversary, Swedish fashion house Acne Studios has turned to an artist whose photographs have long been associated with intimacy, friendship, and personal relationships: Nan Goldin.
Goldin photographed a series of portraits for the brand’s anniversary campaign, featuring nine artists, musicians, actors, models, and photographers connected to Acne Studios. The group includes Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Sandra Poulson, Peter Schlesinger, Rila Fukushima, Juliette Lewis, Raya Martigny, Guinevere Van Seenus, Ellie Rowsell, and Jordan Hemingway. A tenth portrait is expected to be released later.
The choice of Goldin is particularly fitting to the campaign’s concept. Rather than casting conventional fashion models, Acne Studios creative director and co-founder Jonny Johansson asked Goldin to photograph people who have been part of the brand’s wider creative community. The portraits feature current, archival, and reissued denim, returning to the material that helped establish the label when it began in Stockholm in 1996 with 100 pairs of raw denim jeans.
The collaboration also brings Goldin’s distinctly personal photographic language into a commercial fashion setting. Known for decades of diaristic photography and for The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, Goldin has previously worked with fashion brands, including Gucci. Here, her portraits connect Acne Studios’ anniversary not simply to its archive, but to the people and creative relationships that have shaped its identity.
Acne Studios has also released a 30th-anniversary re-edition denim collection referencing its original jeans, including the red stitching associated with those early pairs.
Why it matters: Goldin’s involvement reflects a broader crossover between contemporary art and fashion, where artists are increasingly being invited not merely to lend their names to campaigns but to bring their own visual languages and creative communities into commercial projects.
Sources: Acne Studios — 30 Years Anniversary · HERO Magazine — Nan Goldin just photographed Acne Studios’ 30th anniversary campaign
Frieze Seoul Opens With Strong Sales as Asian Collectors Drive the Market
The fifth edition of Frieze Seoul opened at COEX on September 2, bringing together 133 galleries from 30 countries as Seoul once again became a meeting point for collectors, galleries, museums, and artists from across Asia and beyond. (Imginn)
The opening day produced several significant sales, led by Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie, whose 2026 painting Figure with Funerary Stele sold for €1.1 million ($1.28 million) through Thaddaeus Ropac. The gallery also sold Antony Gormley’s HOLD (2024) for £750,000 ($1 million), alongside works by David Salle, Martha Jungwirth, and Alex Katz.
But the more interesting story was not simply the presence of million-dollar works. Galleries reported a broad range of transactions, with substantial activity among works priced from tens of thousands to several hundred thousand dollars. Yonhap noted that this middle section of the market appeared particularly active, even as the fair opened against concerns about a broader slowdown in the global art market.
Asian collectors were especially prominent. Thaddaeus Ropac said its early sales were made primarily to collectors in Korea, alongside buyers from Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong, as well as some European and American collectors. Other galleries similarly reported acquisitions by Asian museums and institutional collections.
Korean art also remained central to the fair. Gallery Hyundai reported sales from its presentation of Kim Tschang-yeul and Seung-taek Lee, while Kukje Gallery sold works by Ha Chong-Hyun, Park Seo-Bo, Kibong Rhee, and Suki Seokyeong Kang. White Cube also reported sales of Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture works.
The opening results suggest that while Seoul may not be seeing the same concentration of ultra-high-value transactions as in stronger market years, collector activity remains resilient, and increasingly diversified across price points. That is significant for a city that has rapidly strengthened its position within the international art calendar since Frieze Seoul launched in 2022.
Why it matters: Frieze Seoul is becoming more than an international art fair in Korea. The early sales point to Seoul’s growing role as a regional collecting hub, with Korean and wider Asian collectors playing an increasingly important role in the global contemporary art market.
Sources: Artsy — Frieze Seoul opening sales · Yonhap News Agency · Frieze — Frieze Seoul 2026
Galerie Nordenhake Opens a New Space in Berlin’s Charlottenburg
Galerie Nordenhake is expanding its Berlin presence with a new, larger gallery at Goethestraße 2–3 in Charlottenburg, opening during Berlin Art Week. The gallery will inaugurate the space with Symptoms, a group exhibition bringing together works by 16 artists across painting, sculpture, photography, and collage. The opening reception takes place on September 10, with the exhibition running from September 11 through October 24.
The move comes as Galerie Nordenhake marks its 50th anniversary. Founded by Claes Nordenhake in Malmö in 1976, the gallery has since developed an international presence with spaces in Berlin, Stockholm, and Mexico City.
The new Berlin address occupies a historic building at Goethestraße 2–3, and its opening adds another significant gallery presence to Charlottenburg, an area that has become increasingly important to Berlin’s contemporary art scene.
Titled Symptoms, the inaugural exhibition brings together artists including Mirosław Bałka, Mamma Andersson, John Coplans, Ann Edholm, Ayan Farah, George Grosz, Edvard Munch, Frida Orupabo, Sophie Reinhold, Michael Schmidt, and Not Vital, among others. The exhibition considers how internal and often invisible experiences can become perceptible through bodies, images, materials, and spaces.
At the centre of the exhibition is Benjamin Orlow’s Ritual City (2026), a monumental sculpture made from plaster, ceramic, and wood. The work combines two fragmented figures with scaffolding, reflecting the exhibition’s broader interest in states of transformation and instability.
The exhibition also brings together very different generations and practices, from Edvard Munch’s Vampyr II (1895) to contemporary work by artists such as Orlow and Frida Orupabo. That historical breadth is characteristic of Nordenhake’s approach, placing established figures and younger practices into dialogue rather than treating contemporary art as a purely present-day conversation.
Why it matters: The opening is significant beyond Nordenhake itself. As Berlin continues to evolve as an international gallery and exhibition centre, established galleries expanding or relocating within the city are reshaping where its commercial and artistic activity is concentrated. Nordenhake’s new Charlottenburg space arrives at a particularly active moment, opening alongside the wider programme of Berlin Art Week.
Sources: Galerie Nordenhake · Berlin Art Week — Symptoms · Gallery Weekend Berlin — Galerie Nordenhake
Princess Diana Exhibition to Premiere at the Reagan Library
A major exhibition devoted to Princess Diana’s life, style, and humanitarian legacy will make its world premiere this November at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.
Titled Diana: Love Life Legacy, A Life of Giving, the exhibition opens on November 7 and will remain on view through May 31, 2027. It brings together more than 700 original artifacts spanning Diana’s childhood, royal years, public life, fashion, and humanitarian work. The collection includes clothing, jewelry, handwritten letters, historic documents, personal possessions, and childhood objects.
Among the most recognizable pieces is Diana’s famous “Travolta” dress, the Victor Edelstein gown she wore when she danced with actor John Travolta during a 1985 White House state dinner hosted by Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The dress is being loaned by Historic Royal Palaces. The exhibition will also feature Diana’s celebrated Black Sheep sweater, her “Caring” dress, wedding slippers, Lady Dior handbags, and the official program from her 1981 wedding to then-Prince Charles.
Another major highlight is Jacques Azagury’s “Final Goodbye” dress, described by the organizers as the last gown Diana tried on before her death. The piece will be publicly displayed for the first time.
What makes the exhibition particularly distinctive, however, is its connection to the Reagan archives. For its Simi Valley presentation, the library is pairing Diana’s belongings with material from Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s own collections, creating a visual account of the relationship between the British royal and the Reagan family. The exhibition will also present previously unknown artifacts and objects unique to the Reagan Library.
The connection dates back most visibly to Diana’s 1985 visit to Washington, when she and Ronald Reagan were photographed dancing at the White House dinner. That moment became one of the defining images of Diana’s early public life and remains closely associated with her evolving status as a global cultural figure.
The exhibition arrives amid continued interest in Diana’s fashion legacy. Her clothing and accessories have attracted considerable attention at auction in recent years, demonstrating that her influence extends well beyond royal history and into fashion and popular culture.
Why it matters: The exhibition demonstrates how Diana’s legacy continues to operate across several worlds at once, fashion, photography, celebrity culture, philanthropy, and modern history. By bringing her personal objects together with the Reagan archives, the exhibition also presents her not only as a style icon, but as a figure whose public image became intertwined with diplomacy and humanitarian work.
Sources: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library — Diana: Love Life Legacy · Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation — Exhibition announcement · The Princess & The Platypus Foundation
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The Met Cancels Its Planned John Galliano Exhibition Amid Backlash
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has cancelled its planned 2027 Costume Institute exhibition dedicated to John Galliano, just one month after announcing the retrospective.
John Galliano: Horizons was scheduled to open at The Met in May 2027, timed to the annual Met Gala, and was intended to be a comprehensive look at the designer’s career, from his early work at Central Saint Martins through his years at Givenchy and Dior to his later tenure at Maison Margiela. Galliano would have become just the third living designer given a solo Costume Institute show.
The decision follows weeks of criticism over Galliano’s history of antisemitic, racist, and anti-Asian remarks. In 2011, he was dismissed by Dior after a video surfaced showing him making antisemitic comments in a Paris café, and a French court later convicted him of public insults based on race, religion, ethnicity, or origin. Galliano subsequently entered treatment for addiction and has repeatedly apologized for his conduct.
Opposition intensified after the Met’s July announcement. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin was among the most vocal critics, and reports indicated that some Met donors, including Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher, privately raised concerns with museum leadership, with Glimcher reportedly signaling he might reconsider a planned bequest to the museum.
In a joint statement on August 31, Met director and CEO Max Hollein said he and Galliano had, after discussion, decided together not to proceed. Galliano said he had decided, “with great sadness,” that the show should not go forward at this time, and that he remains fully accountable for the pain his past words caused, particularly to Jewish and Asian communities. Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton said he recognized the pain and concern the exhibition had generated and supported the decision to cancel.
Anna Wintour, who chairs the Met Gala and had backed the exhibition, called Galliano’s decision to withdraw “courageous” and said she supported the outcome, a notable statement given her long association with the designer and her influence over the Gala’s programming.
The Met has said it will announce a new spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition, along with details of next year’s Met Gala, at a later date.
Why it matters: The cancellation raises a larger question about how major institutions handle artists whose creative legacies sit alongside serious ethical failures and how much public and donor pressure can reshape a show even after a museum has publicly committed to it. That the Met’s original framing tried to make Galliano’s history part of the exhibition itself, only to abandon the project a month later, underscores how unresolved that tension remains for institutions like the Costume Institute.
Sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — official cancellation statement · The Met — original exhibition announcement · Reuters · Associated Press
Conclusion
From Berlin’s expanding gallery scene to Seoul’s active collector market and the continuing influence of figures like Nan Goldin and Princess Diana, this week’s stories show just how many directions the art world is moving in at once. At the same time, the Met’s decision to cancel its John Galliano exhibition highlights the increasingly complicated questions institutions face around legacy, accountability, and recognition. As the new art season gathers pace, we’ll be watching what comes next.
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