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Zachary Small

@zacharyhsmall.bsky.social
183 followers 45 following 34 posts

Culture Reporter, New York Times || TOKEN SUPREMACY now available in the link below || Tips: zachary.small@nytimes.com ||

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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The strangest story you'll read this weekend: Jeanine Pirro seized the world's largest Martian meteorite from Sotheby's. Then I reported on a tale of potential smugglers, meteorite hunters, and a potential endpoint for the meteorite: the Smithsonian. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/a...
nytimes.com
Who Owns This Chunk of Mars? Jeanine Pirro Says America Does Now. (Gift Article)
Sotheby’s sold the rock at auction last year for $5.3 million. The government has now seized the 54-pound hunk of space debris — the largest meteorite from Mars ever auctioned.
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Reposted by Zachary Small
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 11/09/2026
This article about the 9/11 Museum’s challenges and financial future is excellent. @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social is one of the very few people really writing about museums exceptionally well right now. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/a...
nytimes.com
Can the 9/11 Museum Tell Its Story for Another 25 Years? (Gift Article)
As the anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches, the museum is gradually adding new displays and confronting its financial future.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Why did the Trump administration remove a Kehinde Wiley painting from an embassy? The ambassador thought the painting featured a lesbian picnic … www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/a...
nytimes.com
Ambassador Who Removed Kehinde Wiley Work Described It as a Lesbian Picnic (Gift Article)
Trump officials recently removed a painting from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic without explaining why. An interview by Ambassador Leah Campos shed some light.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I started reporting on Yayoi Kusama's final years during a 2024 trip to Japan. We filled in some gaps about how the artist was working until her death at 97, but some mysteries remain. For example, this promo picture for LV, which seems to be one of her last.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
The commissioner, who recently owned a pet food store, has no museum experience. The curator left the art world after an exhibit that was criticized for being racially insensitive. The artist? He’s actually based in Mexico. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/a...
nytimes.com
With Trump Novices, Can the U.S. Win the ‘Art Olympics’?
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Why should only deep-pocketed millionaires enjoy the sorts of profits that can come from investing in high-end art? Inside the company that sells artworks like stocks. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/a...
nytimes.com
A Company Sold Investors $1 Billion in Art. Did it Paint Too Rosy a Picture?
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
SCOOP: Sasha Suda filed a lawsuit against the Philadelphia Art Museum, arguing breach of contract for her surprise dismissal. The lawsuit gets into details we rarely hear about from inside the board room. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/a...
nytimes.com
Recently Ousted Director of Philadelphia Art Museum Sues Over Her Dismissal
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
BREAKING: Trump signs order "MAKING FEDERAL ARCHITECTURE BEAUTIFUL AGAIN" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/a...
nytimes.com
Trump Signs Executive Order to Make ‘Federal Architecture Beautiful Again’
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
For the last five months, I've been reporting on curators and artists who feel their exhibitions have been censored in some way, because museums fear backlash from Trump. Here are those stories. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/a...
nytimes.com
As Trump Targets the Smithsonian, Museums Across the U.S. Feel a Chill
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Trump continues to scrutinize the Smithsonian, now with a list — www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/a...
nytimes.com
White House Lists Smithsonian Exhibits It Finds Objectionable
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
ICYMI — We profiled five leading players in Trump's effort to change American cultural institutions. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/a...
nytimes.com
Who’s in Charge of Trump’s Cultural Realignment? Here Are Key Players.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
The Carnegie Museums had guidelines against political events; one happened anyway, igniting a firestorm in Pittsburgh. Our article breaks down what happened, and the question of who knew what when. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/a...
nytimes.com
$5,000-Per-Plate Dinner Tests Museum Ban on Political Fund-Raisers
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
When his wife died, the paleontologist Barry James poured his grief into the reconstruction of a $25M triceratops skeleton that they had started together. Surrounded by the bones, an unconventional way for him to honor April started to form ... www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/a...
nytimes.com
Their Last Love Token: A Dinosaur Rebuilt From Its Excavated Bones
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
An effort to extend a 2016 law helping Holocaust victims and their heirs retrieve artworks stolen by the Nazis is pitting Jewish organizations that want to strengthen the law against major museums that have been quietly lobbying to keep it as it is. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/a...
nytimes.com
Museums Lobby Against Strengthening a Holocaust Art Recovery Law
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Reposted by Zachary Small
Art Spell @artspell.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Politics Looms Over the World’s Biggest Contemporary Art Fair' by @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social for @nytimes.com. With all eyes on Art Basel, art world leaders provide insight as global conflict and economic uncertainty cast a shadow over the fair.
nytimes.com
Politics Looms Over the World’s Biggest Contemporary Art Fair
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Four days after the president said he was dismissing the head of the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian has yet to accept or challenge his authority. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/a...
nytimes.com
Smithsonian’s Reaction to Trump’s Firing of Its Museum Director: Silence
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
The auction houses performed lower than their low estimates this season, but still cleared the $1B sales mark. Fear is growing that the industry might be shrinking. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/a...
nytimes.com
New York’s Spring Auctions Aimed for Trophies. They Got Troubles.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
A painting by Lucio Fontana that had sold for nearly $14 million at Christie’s in 2017 (or $17.4 million with inflation) returned to the auction house on Monday evening. It sold for just $7.5 million, including fees. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/a...
nytimes.com
With Guarantees Galore, Christie’s Has a Rocky Start to Auction Week
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
NEW: Trump nominates Mary Anne Carter as head of NEA. She had previously served as the agency's chair during the first admin. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/a...
nytimes.com
Trump Nominates Former N.E.A. Chair to Head Embattled Arts Agency
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
NEW: Frieze art fair has finally announced a buyer. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/a...
nytimes.com
Frieze, Premiere Art Fair Company, Sold on Eve of New York’s Art Week
The deal would bring seven art fairs under a new private company founded by the entertainment mogul Ari Emanuel, former chief executive of Frieze’s owner, Endeavor.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
A darkness that once simmered below the surface of his paintings was now starting to seep through the canvas. On Salman Toor's new paintings — his largest exhibition to date. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/a...
nytimes.com
Painting From Memory, Salman Toor Conjures Passion and Freedom
As Salman Toor’s work has become more politically conflicted and emotionally raw, he finds himself wondering, “What am I doing here in America?”
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
We analyzed the relationship between museums and mega-galleries. Of 350 exhibitions since 2019, nearly 25 percent went to artists represented by just 11 of the biggest galleries in the world. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/a...
nytimes.com
How Hauser & Wirth Took Over N.Y.C.’s Museums This Spring
Hauser & Wirth artists have major exhibitions everywhere you look, spotlighting the rising influence of powerful art galleries on the city’s top museums, a Times report found.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
NEW: Nintendo announces Switch 2 will release June 5 with a Mario Kart launch title allowing you to drive anywhere. Updates to come. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/b...
nytimes.com
Nintendo Switch 2 Will Release in June and Emphasize Streaming
The company said Mario Kart World would be part of the new console’s initial game lineup, also sharing details on its technical upgrades.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Trump's executive order faulted a Smithsonian show for promoting "the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct,” a position widely held by scientists. We looked at the history behind that position and the actual show. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/a...
nytimes.com
Taking Aim at Smithsonian, Trump Wades Into Race and Biology
His executive order faulted an exhibit which “promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct,” a widely held position in the scientific community.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
SCOOP: MoMA has announced internally that its next director is Christophe Cherix, currently chief curator of drawings and prints. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/a...
nytimes.com
MoMA’s New Director Will Be Christophe Cherix
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is promoting Christophe Cherix, who currently leads its drawings and prints department.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
NOW: The Guggenheim cut 20 employees today. The union has filed a grievance because they were not given advanced notice. Senior leaders won't be taking any pay cuts. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/a...
nytimes.com
Guggenheim Lays Off 20 Employees as Financial Challenges Persist
The museum has suffered from rising costs and lower attendance. The cuts followed those at the Brooklyn Museum, which trimmed 10 percent of its staff this month.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Love this story — “When the library was about to open, we had the opportunity to have a tour in the library for the tenants. When he saw that, I explained to him, ‘We are the first ones seeing the library because we live on top of it.’ He was like, ‘Oh, mommy. Oh my God, oh my God!’”
nytimes.com
For a Mother and Son, Life Above a Brooklyn Library
When Miguelina Minier heard that her local library was being renovated with affordable housing added on top, she applied. It was about the 40th time she had tried a housing lottery.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
The first big test of the art market this year has been announced: Christie's will offer the $250M Riggio collection, from the family that brought you Barnes & Noble. Read on for the art — and the dog named Cookie. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/a...
nytimes.com
Barnes & Noble Widow to Auction $250 Million Art Collection
Louise Riggio is downsizing her Manhattan apartment, which means selling more than 30 works by artists including Mondrian, Magritte and Picasso.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Ms. Schiff helped advance the field of advising from the vanity project of bored socialites into a respected profession, more akin to an asset management firm. Then her clients realized she stole millions. Our @nytimes.com story on her difficult path to repentance. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/a...
nytimes.com
Art Adviser. Friend. Thief.
Lisa Schiff became the country’s leading art consultant, and drew her clients close. Then she stole millions from them. Now facing up to 20 years in prison, is she ready to repent?
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
BREAKING: Daniel Sikkema is charged by US officials in murder-for-hire plot that led to husband's death. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/a...
nytimes.com
Husband of Prominent Gallerist Is Charged With Hiring His Killer
Federal officials said that Daniel Sikkema was part of a murder-for-hire conspiracy that resulted in the stabbing death of the art dealer Brent Sikkema in Brazil.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Cuts at the Brooklyn Museum are larger than first rumored — staff layoffs of +10%, reduced exhibitions and events — to help offset a $10M deficit. Our @nytimes story www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/a...
nytimes.com
Brooklyn Museum Will Lay Off Employees and Scale Back Exhibitions
The museum, which faces a projected $10 million deficit, said it planned to cut more than a tenth of its employees and mount fewer exhibitions.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
For the 25th anniversary of The Sims, I spoke to the game's creator Will Wright about gods and ants. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/a...
nytimes.com
The Sims Turned Players Into Gods. And Farmers. And Vampires. And Landlords.
As the virtual dollhouse turns 25, the game designer Will Wright explains how The Sims was a sandbox for the American dream.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Yuko Mohri thought she knew what the Japanese government wanted from its artists: something conservative and quiet. It certainly wasn’t a renegade punk rocker with a penchant for moldy fruits. And yet…! www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/a...
nytimes.com
Japan Once Dominated the Art Market. Is the Country Ready for a Comeback?
Japanese collectors spent billions on European paintings during the bubble economy of the 1980s. Officials today hope to inspire a new generation of art lovers.
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Zachary Small @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
BREAKING: National Gallery ends its diversity programming, reassigning employees from its inclusion and belonging department, following a Trump executive order calling such initiatives "illegal and immoral." Other museums are weighing their options. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/a...
nytimes.com
Trump Executive Order Prompts National Gallery to End Diversity Programs
The National Gallery of Art said it had closed its office of belonging and inclusion to comply with a presidential order.
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