The Peninsula London taps Brooklyn artist Kozo to redesign its fleet.
Ahead of Frieze London, the Peninsula London has wrapped six of its signature Peninsula Green vehicles in original artwork by Brooklyn-based artist Eden Kozokaro, who works under the moniker Kozo, turning its chauffeur fleet into a roving installation throughout October. Kozokaro, known for micro-realism in both fine art and tattooing, imagined the cars as illustrated Peninsula pages tearing away to reveal hidden British pastoral scenes: parkland, rivers, wooded hills, animals and stately homes. The fleet includes two Rolls-Royce Phantom IIs, a Bentley Bentayga, a BMW i7, an electrified Austin taxi and a LEVC. The hotel’s detailing team at Topaz adapted each design to its vehicle as a bespoke vinyl wrap. The project took three months, beginning with digital sketches layered over photographs of each car so that doors, hoods, curves, and even side reflectors could shape the compositions. Kozokaro said the series brings the past and present into conversation, inviting viewers to become part of the story.
John Galliano reworks Zara’s archive for his first collection.
John Galliano’s first collection for Zara has arrived. Galliano worked from Zara’s existing archive, cutting, resizing, splicing, and distorting garments into new ones. A shirt becomes a coat, trousers become sculpted breeches, and a lace dress becomes a jabot. The collection revisits Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses, the post-Revolutionary French dandies behind Galliano’s 1984 Central Saint Martins graduate collection. They are joined by references to gardening clothes and film noir, reflected in a palette that moves from black, navy, and burgundy to khaki and mint, then orchid pink, turquoise, and acid green. Accessories include Tri-Chic, a reversible bag modeled on a bin liner, elongated winklepickers made from archival Zara shoes, and hats created with milliner Stephen Jones.
Diego Rivera’s unfinished stadium relief to be restored ahead of its 60th Olympic anniversary in 2028.
Diego Rivera’s stone relief on the façade of Mexico City’s Estadio Olímpico Universitario will be restored, launching a multiyear World Monuments Fund partnership to preserve the major murals on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). The work, The University, the Family and Sport in Mexico (1952–54), traces the country’s sporting history from pre-Hispanic times to the modern Olympics. Rivera described it as a “sculpture-painting,” embedding volcanic stone, marble and river stone into the stadium’s sloping walls using a technique developed with Juan O’Gorman. It was never completed, as Rivera’s health declined and he clashed with the university’s architects. The restoration, supported by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City through the State Department’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, will be carried out by Mexican conservators. It is timed ahead of 2028, the 60th anniversary of the Mexico City Olympics.
Stephanie Rosenthal departs Guggenheim Abu Dhabi for Rotterdam’s Boijmans.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam has appointed Stephanie Rosenthal as its new artistic director, effective early 2027. Rosenthal currently serves as director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which has yet to open. The German-born curator brings a résumé spanning Abu Dhabi, London, Berlin, Sydney, and Munich. From 2018 to 2022 she was the first woman to direct Berlin’s Gropius Bau, where she staged solo shows by Yayoi Kusama, Lee Bul, and Wu Tsang. Before that, she spent a decade as chief curator of London’s Hayward Gallery, and in 2016 she served as artistic director of the Biennale of Sydney. She also sits on the board of CIMAM and is a visiting professor at NYU Abu Dhabi. Jurgen Stegmann, chair of the museum’s supervisory board, pointed to her international experience, particularly her work preparing the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi for launch, as key to shaping the future of both the museum and its Depot. Rosenthal said she hopes to spark new dialogue across eras and disciplines through the museum’s art and design collection, and to deepen its ties with Rotterdam, which she described as a port city defined by cultural exchange and diversity.
Van Gogh estimated at $180 million could set an auction record at Sotheby’s.
A rarely seen private collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Fauvist paintings, valued at about $450 million, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s New York on November 18. The 12 works come from the estate of Nelly Blaquier de Arrieta and Carlos Pedro Blaquier. The sale is led by Van Gogh’s Chataignier en fleurs (1890), painted weeks before his death and one of only eight Auvers paintings still in private hands. It carries an estimate of $180 million, and Sotheby’s Helena Newman has suggested it could reach $200 million. A sale near that level would far surpass Van Gogh’s current auction record of $117 million, set at Christie’s in 2022. Cézanne’s Arlequin (1888–90), estimated at $120 million, is the only one of his four harlequin paintings not held by a museum. The collection also includes works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Pissarro, Sisley, Toulouse-Lautrec, Derain, and Vlaminck.
Attractive Distractions:
Chiharu Shiota fills the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts with thread, boats and memory.
Porsche Design’s Concours turns collector car storage into a private club.
Inside the clubhouse-style set Charlap Hyman & Herrero built for Stephen Dubner.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts opens its first comprehensive Rael San Fratello retrospective.
