The exterior of the US Pavilion in Venice, photographed during the 2007 Biennale.
Photo: Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images

The US State Department has selected Alma Allen to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Allen, a self-taught artist best-known for large amorphous sculptures, was first reported as the potential pick for the US pavilion by Vanity Fair on 10 November, though this could not be confirmed during the shutdown of the federal shut. Born in Utah and based in Mexico, Allen has been the subject of two solo museum exhibitions: at the Museo Anahuacalli in Mexico City in 2023 and the Van Buuren Museum & Gardens in Belgium in 2021. His most recent major display in the United States was of a single work outside the Rockefeller Center in New York in 2022. ‘Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze’, organised by curator Jeffrey Uslip and the non-profit organisation known as the American Arts Conservancy, will focus on the concept of ‘elevation’, said a statement from the State department, ‘furthering the Trump Administration’s focus on showcasing American excellence’. The New York Times reports that both of the galleries which represented Allen – Olney Gleason and Mendes Wood DM – have dropped him after his acceptance of the US pavilion invitation. Allen is comparatively little known compared to previous US pavilion artists who include, most recently, Jeffrey Gibson and Simone Leigh.

French police have arrested four new suspects over the robbery of €88m worth of jewellery from the Musée du Louvre on 19 October, France24 reports. In a statement of 25 November, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that two men and two men, aged between 31–40 years old, are currently being held for questioning. So far, four individuals, arrested between 25–29 October, have been charged over the theft. They are facing a minimum of 10 years’ imprisonment. | In other Louvre-related news, the museum has announced that it will increase ticket prices for visitors outside the European Economic Area by 45 per cent from 14 January 226. Ticket prices for visitors from countries such as the UK and China will rise from €22 to €32, which the museum hopes will increase its revenue by €17.5m per year.

Ten days after former director and CEO Sasha Suda sued the Philadelphia Art Museum for unlawful termination, the museum has accused her of stealing museum funds through unauthorised pay rises, Art News reports. In her lawsuit, Suda disputed claims that she had misused museum funds for personal gain. However, the museum’s filing on 20 November claims that Suda awarded herself increases above her $720,000 salary on three occasions, despite the museum’s compensation committee denying any increase – and did so without informing the museum’s board. Suda’s lawyer Luka Nikas has denied the claims, telling Hyperallergic that ‘the motion, as well as its false narrative, fits the Philadelphia Museum’s longstanding pattern of trying to cover up its misconduct and mistreatment of staff’.

Getty Images could significantly scale back its operations in the United Kingdom if the company’s acquisition of Shutterstock is blocked, Getty CEO Craig Peters told the Financial Times this week. The merger of Getty Images and Shutterstock, which would create a company worth $3.7bn, is currently being delayed by the UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CAM), which raised concerns that it could reduce competition. Peters says that further investigation into the deal would cost the groups more than $50m, and that its prevention would likely cause parts of the business to stop investing in the UK. He also said that the CAM was overlooking the effect of AI on the image-generation market and the companies’ ‘need to compete’. ‘We fundamentally believe that this merger is not anti-competitive. We believe it is pro-growth and ultimately good for the market.’

Stephen Friedman will close his New York gallery in February 2026 after less than three years, the Art Newspaper reports. Speaking to the Financial Times, Friedman – who his opened his flagship gallery in London thirty years ago – said the Tribeca space had been a ‘drain’ on both himself and the senior management team, and that they were now in a position to focus ‘more time, investment and other resources to enhance the London operation.’