First Major U.S. Duchamp Retrospective in 50 Years Opens as a Bowie Self-Portrait Heads to Sotheby’s

11 October 2026

David Bowie, 1996, via Sotheby’s

Philadelphia Museum of Art Opens First Major U.S. Duchamp Retrospective in Over 50 Years

The Philadelphia Museum of Art — home to the world's largest Duchamp collection — has opened a retrospective of roughly 300 works by Marcel Duchamp spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film and his readymades, arranged chronologically across the Dorrance Galleries. It's the first major U.S. Duchamp survey since the museum's own 1973-74 show co-organized with MoMA, where a version of this exhibition ran earlier in 2026; a related version travels to the Grand Palais in Paris in spring 2027. Duchamp's room-sized installation "Étant donnés" remains on permanent view at the museum. Coverage via The Philadelphia Inquirer and Heni.

David Bowie Self-Portrait Comes to Auction for the First Time at Sotheby's

A 1996 self-portrait on paper by David Bowie — featuring two handprints he pressed directly into the composition — goes under the hammer at Sotheby's Modern British & Irish Art Day Auction in London on 15 October, estimated at £35,000-55,000. Bowie gave the work to his St Ives gallerist, and it has remained in the same private collection ever since; Sotheby's notes there is no catalogue raisonné for this body of work. Coverage via Express & Star.

George Lucas's Museum of Narrative Art Draws Sold-Out Crowds in Los Angeles

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson after roughly 17 years in development, opened to a sold-out crowd in Exposition Park on 22 September. The 300,000-square-foot building holds 35 galleries and more than 40,000 works spanning comic art, illustration and film, including pieces by Norman Rockwell and Frida Kahlo alongside Star Wars props and costumes. More via The Star and BroadwayWorld.

Bilbao's Museum of Fine Arts Reopens With the Plácido Arango Collection

Following the completion of a building expansion, the Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts reopened its doors on 5 October with an exhibition centred on the collection of the late Plácido Arango, organised by his children in collaboration with the Prado Museum. Details via Orain.eus.

Sources

• The Philadelphia Inquirer: Marcel Duchamp exhibit at Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Heni: Philadelphia Museum of Art to host first U.S. Duchamp retrospective in over 50 years
• Express & Star: Striking and personal self-portrait by David Bowie up for auction
• The Star: Star Wars fans and art lovers line up for new Lucas museum
• BroadwayWorld: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Opens in Los Angeles
• Orain.eus: Bilbao’s Fine Arts Museum honors Plácido Arango

Solene Haus

The art world you deserved.

Zero commission. The Grid image protection. Collector relationships that belong to you.