Weekly Newsletter

If I Had a Picasso

The best art and books of 2025, cuts at the New School, and the return of a beloved Hyperallergic column.

Hyperallergic

December 13, 2025 — 5 min read

I just bought a $117 raffle ticket in the hope of winning a $1 million Picasso painting. It's for a good cause, okay? I've never won a single prize in my life, but I can't stop thinking about how good that little Picasso would look on my living room wall, and how humble I'd be when guests asked about it. I guess I paid for the fantasy, more than anything.

Sonya Yu, a Bay Area art collector and entrepreneur, is someone who probably can afford a Picasso without a raffle. She has written off three years of admission fees for MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York, making entry to the museum free for everyone. How kind.

Less fortunate are faculty members at the New School in Manhattan. A staggering 40% of them have received buyouts or early retirement offers. No wonder they went out in the cold this week to protest against the decision. The school says it has no other choice, as it faces a $48 million deficit.

In better news, Jennifer Samet's popular column Beer With a Painter is back. It's a series of in-depth interviews with painters about their practice. This month, Jennifer speaks with artist Melissa Joseph, whose intimate felt paintings truly expand the medium.

And as the year draws to an end, we look back on the art, books, and memes that defined 2025. We hope you enjoy these lists, or even find yourself in them.

We rely on readers like you to sustain our independent journalism. In this season of giving, the best way to support Hyperallergic is to sign up as a paid member. Please consider joining today.

Happy Hanukkah to our readers who celebrate it. May 2026 be a year of light for everyone. Have a great weekend!

—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief

Best of 2025

Amy Sherald's *American Sublime* at the Whitney Museum of American Art (photo Hakim Bishara/*Hyperallergic*)

Expect more of our "Best of 2025" picks next week.

The National Museum of the American Indian Presents Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe

The first major retrospective of acclaimed artist Truman Lowe (Hoocąk [Ho-Chunk]), features nearly 50 evocative sculptures and drawings.

Learn more

News

Hundreds rallied against sweeping cuts at New School as the university faces a $48M deficit.
A Miami artist group called for a boycott of Art Basel 2026, citing fair supporter UBS’s investments in Israeli weapon manufacturing and the event’s impact on the local ecosystem.
The Lucas Museum Chief Curator ’s sudden departure is the latest shakeup at the $1 billion LA institution.
13 artworks, including seven Matisse prints, were stolen in broad daylight from the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo.
MoMA PS1 will offer free admission for three years thanks to a donation from San Francisco Bay Area art collector and entrepreneur Sonya Yu.
Following a court ruling late last month, The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will reinstate federal grants previously cancelled under the Trump administration.
Architect Frank Gehry, who made iconic postmodernist designs for museums, died at 96.
Artist Nnena Kalu was named the winner of the 2025 Turner Prize.
This $1M Picasso could be yours for just $117! The auction series 1 Picasso for 100 Euros will be raffling off an original Picasso to support research on Alzheimer's.

Opinions & Features

Still from Jessica Bardsley, *Life Without Dreams* (2022) (courtesy the artist)

The School of the Art Institute Turned Its Back on Media Arts

Instead of engaging in dialogue with its dedicated Video Data Bank staff, SAIC chose to callously cross out a budgetary line item. | Helena Shaskevich

The Soundscape of Genocide in Gaza

The broadcast of Netanyahu’s speech was not the first time Israel intentionally used sound and speaker systems to intimidate and terrorize the people of Palestine. | Ellie Armon Azoulay

Anti-ICE Nativities Take a Stand Against Trump’s Cruelty

Despite pushback from right-wing leaders, nativity scenes with a humanitarian message are spreading across the country. | Emma Cieslik

Reviews

Wifredo Lam, “Grande composition” (1949)

Wifredo Lam No Longer Waits by the Coatroom

An overdue MoMA show reminds us that Lam pursued his own dialogue with African and Afro-diasporic visual cultures, even as the Parisian avant-garde exoticized his heritage. | Clara Maria Apostolatos

The Rembrandt Thief Who Came Out On Top

Myles Connor is one of the very few people alive to have come out ahead after lifting an artwork from the wall of a museum, as Anthony M. Amore explores in his new book. | Erin L. Thompson

Coreen Simpson’s Timeless Ode to Black Beauty

Her photography captures both celebrities and everyday people with such intimacy that they might call to mind your neighbors and friends. | Jasmine Weber

What’s a UFO Show With No Flying Saucers?

The Drawing Center’s Voice of Space has vast potential, but a lack of strong focus and commanding imagery makes it more earthbound than cosmic. | Natalie Haddad

Community

Melissa Joseph in her studio (photo by Ryan Lowry)

Beer With a Painter: Melissa Joseph

Our series on painters and their practices is back, this time for an interview with the New York-based artist who creates “paintings in felt” to explore her Irish and Indian family history. | Jennifer Samet

Art Movements: Big Museum News

MacKenzie Scott's significant gift to the Japanese American National Museum, the little design hippo that could, and a new Rijksmuseum where? | Valentina Di Liscia

Required Reading

Women ceramicists challenge conventions in clay, India’s drag scene, olive trees in Gaza, dystopian airport lounges, Jenny Holzer’s roommate, and the real story of “Jingle Bells.” | Lakshmi Rivera Amin

A View From the Easel

Welcome to the 315th installment of A View From the Easel, a series in which artists reflect on their workspace. This week, artists mark an incredible 51 years in their woodworking school-turned-studio and fall in love with the magic of indigo. | Lakshmi Rivera Amin