The art of resurrecting forgotten artists

The article examines the phenomenon of artistic fame and obscurity, tracing how once-celebrated artists like William Dyce, Carlo Maratti, Anton Rafael Mengs, and Pompeo Batoni fell into neglect after their deaths, only to be rediscovered centuries later through targeted exhibitions. It recounts specific examples, such as Dyce's painting bought cheaply for a Butlin's chapel and later sold for a high sum, and the recent major exhibition of Mengs at the Prado in Madrid, which revived interest in his work.

What Are an Artist’s Rights in the Age of A.I.? We Asked an Expert.

The article is an expert Q&A with Katarina Feder, vice president of the Artists Rights Society (ARS), addressing artists' legal rights in the age of artificial intelligence. It uses the case of artist David Salle, who trained an AI on his own earlier "Pastorals" series to create new works, as a central example. Feder explains that training AI on one's own copyrighted works is legal, and that the resulting AI-assisted output can be copyrighted if the human contributes sufficient creative expression, such as overpainting. The piece also warns against deception in presenting AI-generated work.

Curating in the shadows of spectacle: strategies for protecting artistic freedom

The article recounts the 2012 censorship of Betsy Schneider's artwork "Januaries" at the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, after a local clergyman claimed the photographs of her naked daughter constituted child abuse. Despite a public letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship signed by artists and critics, the museum refused to reinstate the work. The article notes that the same exhibition traveled without issue to Greensboro, North Carolina, and Andover, Massachusetts, and draws a parallel to the 2025 seizure of Sally Mann's photographs in Texas on similar grounds.

Anish Kapoor: ‘Especially in the art world, any sense of the radical has gone’

Anish Kapoor, the renowned British-Indian sculptor, discusses capitalism, identity politics, and his upcoming major exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London. In the interview, he critiques the contemporary art world for losing its radical edge, describing his own practice as acts of 'archaic alchemy' that challenge conventional boundaries.

Can art history become a language suitable for social media? The Instagram profile that makes documentaries with AI

La storia dell’arte può diventare un linguaggio adatto ai social? Il profilo Instagram che fa documentari con l’AI

The article profiles "pastelantiques," an Instagram account that creates short, AI-assisted documentary-style reels about art history. These videos use animated paintings, melancholic music, slow pacing, and a warm voiceover to turn the lives and works of artists like Rembrandt, Cézanne, Gauguin, Botticelli, and Antonello da Messina into emotionally engaging micro-documentaries. The account also covers historical figures and vintage collectors, blending art education with social media aesthetics.

Required Reading

This week's Required Reading roundup from Hyperallergic covers a diverse range of cultural topics. It highlights artist Christopher Myers's new mosaic series at the Church Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, commissioned by MTA Arts & Design, which reflects Afro-Caribbean culture. The article also discusses Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's mournful new paintings on view in Manhattan, as reviewed by Lovia Gyarkye in the New York Review of Books. Additional pieces explore the history of Esperanto, the firing of CBS journalist Scott Pelley, and other cultural commentary.

5 new art books released in bookstores in May 2026

5 nuovi libri d’arte usciti in libreria a maggio 2026

Five new art books released in May 2026 are reviewed, each tackling a distinct theme: Luigi Bonfante's "Arte senza artista" examines AI-generated art and authorship; Marco Guenzi's "Prezzi pazzi, arte a pezzi" analyzes the financialization of the contemporary art market; Vittorio Sgarbi's "Il cielo più vicino" traces the iconography of mountains in European painting; Domitilla Dardi's "Cucire universi" explores design as a connective practice between disciplines; and a fifth book (unfinished in the text) addresses lessons from 17th-century Rome.

Precht und der Tod der avancierten Kunst

In a recent episode of the German podcast "Lanz + Precht," philosopher Richard David Precht discussed whether AI kills art. Precht argued that AI is merely the final nail in the coffin for an art form that has long lost its social relevance. The conversation, which included AI expert and entrepreneur Andreas O. Loff, explored the democratizing potential of AI in creative fields, but Precht doubled down on a reactionary stance: modern art, from Expressionism to Fluxus, once claimed a vital social role, but by the end of the 20th century, it had become meaningless—and AI only completes that decline.

KAWS designs limited-edition Sacher-Torte cake box for charity.

American artist KAWS has designed a limited-edition Sacher-Torte cake box for the Sacher Artists’ Collection, an annual charity initiative. The collectible release is limited to 1,000 boxes, priced at €80 ($93), and available at Sacher hotel locations in Vienna and Salzburg, as well as online. KAWS reimagined his 2021 artwork for the wooden box packaging.

Artist Kara Walker stars in Loewe anniversary campaign.

Artist Kara Walker has appeared in Loewe's 180th anniversary campaign, photographed by Talia Chetrit. She joins a cast that includes actresses Sissy Spacek, Julia Garner, Kara Wai, and Salma Abu Deif, as well as K-pop star Giselle from aespa. The campaign celebrates the Spanish fashion house's founding in 1846.

How the Louis Vuitton Monogram Predicted Logomania

The article traces the 130-year history of the Louis Vuitton monogram, designed in 1896 by Georges Vuitton as a tribute to his father Louis. It details how the interlocking L and V, combined with floral motifs inspired by Neo-Gothic cathedrals and Japanese mon crests, became a pioneering logo that set the standard for luxury branding. The piece covers the monogram's evolution from embroidered linen to hand-painted stencils, its role in cementing Louis Vuitton as a leader in modern travel, and its transformation into a cultural canvas through collaborations with artists like Takashi Murakami, Stephen Sprouse, and Rei Kawakubo. The article concludes with the brand's 130th-anniversary tribute campaign, including the new Monogram Anniversary Collection.

Artists are making ‘anti-slop’ to rebel against AI: ‘It’s been rammed down our throats’

A group of filmmakers, commercial directors, and AI industry influencers gathered at the Runway AI Summit in New York City, where Rob Wrubel of ad firm Silverside promoted Coca-Cola's AI-generated 2025 Holiday Caravan ad, which was widely criticized for its poor quality. In response to the backlash against AI-generated content, many artists and creatives are embracing an aesthetic called 'anti-slop,' which celebrates handmade, janky, and primitive design as a rejection of AI's slick, uncanny output. Examples include Michael Schmelling's scribbly book covers for Roberto Bolaño reissues and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios' stop-motion Green Bay Packers ad.

France’s Art Museums Remain Silent on Haiti

On April 17, 2025, the bicentennial of France's 1825 decree imposing a massive indemnity on Haiti for its independence, French President Macron announced a joint commission of historians to study the debt's impact. While some institutions like Bordeaux's Musée d'Aquitaine and Paris's Palais de Tokyo engaged with the topic through exhibitions, France's major public art museums and national monuments remained largely silent. Two exhibitions devoted to King Charles X—the monarch who enforced the debt—at the Mobilier National and Château de Maisons highlighted this absence, as they failed to address his role in Haiti's history.

James Francis Gill: ‘Everyone became obsessed with Marilyn’s image. But I was the first’

James Francis Gill, an American painter known for his iconic Pop Art portraits of Marilyn Monroe, reflects on his career and the enduring fascination with Monroe's image in a new interview with The Telegraph. Gill claims he was the first artist to become obsessed with capturing Monroe's likeness, predating the widespread cultural fixation on her image. The article explores his artistic journey, his early adoption of photographic source material, and his place within the Pop Art movement alongside figures like Andy Warhol.

Confessions of a gallerist

Ashley Saville, a London gallerist, chronicles the week leading up to the opening of her eponymous gallery on Fleet Street. She shuttles supplies, oversees renovations, and prepares for the inaugural solo exhibition of artist Jason Shulman, whose work includes long-exposure photographs titled "Cum Shots." Saville meets with artist Sienna Murdoch, sends hundreds of promotional emails, and navigates the practical and emotional challenges of launching a new space.

Culture is sum, not fragmentation. Biochemist Carlos Briones recounts the link between science and art

La cultura è somma, non frammentazione. Il biochimico Carlos Briones racconta il legame tra scienza e arte

Carlos Briones, a biochemist at the Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, discusses the deep connections between science and art in an interview with Artribune. He argues that both disciplines share a foundation in observing nature, experimentation, and iterative trial and error, and that artists and scientists mutually enrich each other through passion. Briones, who is also a musician and poet, explores how life itself can be understood as a relational, temporal phenomenon—akin to an artwork that carries echoes of the past and seeds of the future.

The cemeteries of Florence tell an alternative story of the city between art and memory

I cimiteri di Firenze raccontano una storia alternativa della città tra arte e memoria

The article explores three historic cemeteries in Florence, Italy—Cimitero Porte Sante, Cimitero degli Inglesi, and Campo Santo dei Pinti—presenting them as open-air museums where art, architecture, and local history converge. Porte Sante, inaugurated in 1848, overlooks the city from San Miniato al Monte and contains tombs of cultural figures such as Carlo Collodi, Vasco Pratolini, Pellegrino Artusi, Ottone Rosai, and Franco Zeffirelli. The Cimitero degli Inglesi, built in 1828, served as a multi-denominational burial ground for non-Catholics and inspired Arnold Böcklin's painting "Isola dei Morti." The Campo Santo dei Pinti, constructed in 1747, is noted as the only all-male cemetery in the world, originally serving the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova and managed by the Venerabile Arciconfraternita della Misericordia.

What Nicolas Winding Refn Learned When He Died and Came Back to Life

Nicolas Winding Refn, the film director known for *Drive* and *The Neon Demon*, premiered his first solo feature film in nine years, *Her Private Hell*, at Cannes and unveiled a new installation, *Satellites II*, alongside video game creator Hideo Kojima at the Hotel Chelsea for Prada Mode New York. The installation, a sequel to their 2025 piece *Satellites*, uses midcentury modern tube televisions to stage a conversation between the two artists, who have never spoken directly due to language barriers. Refn also reveals that he recently underwent heart surgery, dying on the operating table for 30 minutes, an experience that imbued him with a renewed urgency to create.

In an Ozempic-Suffused Scene, Brontez Purnell Embraces Being a ‘Fake Skinny Bitch’

Brontez Purnell, in a personal essay for Cultured's "Indulgence" issue, reflects on gluttony and his experience with weight-loss drugs. After a diabetes diagnosis, he began taking Mounjaro in 2024, losing 64 pounds in a month, then switched to Ozempic after losing insurance. He grapples with body dysmorphia, shifting gay beauty standards, and the moral implications of using GLP-1s, ultimately questioning whether Ozempic is a form of "elevated anti-gluttony."

The Laziness Canon: Helen Molesworth on Artists Who Made Great Work by Doing Nothing

In this essay for Cultured's "Indulgence" issue, curator and critic Helen Molesworth reflects on the sin of sloth, exploring how laziness has inspired significant works of art. She cites artists like Lee Lozano (General Strike Piece, 1969), Robert Barry (Closed Gallery, 1969), Tom Marioni (The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art, 1970), and Marcel Duchamp (Étant Donnés, 1946–66), who embraced idleness or redefined labor as art. Molesworth also discusses Mierle Laderman Ukeles's "maintenance art" (1970–73), which elevated domestic work to art, and references Paul Lafargue's 1883 tract The Right to Be Lazy.

A New Photo Book Sketches a New History of Queer Nightlife—and Where It Might Go Next

Amelia Abraham's new photo book, *Sex, Clubs, Dissent: Visualising Queer Nightlife* (MACK, 2026), compiles decades of queer nightlife photography by image-makers including Lola Flash, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lyle Ashton Harris, Susan Kravitz, and Mohamad Abdouni. The volume pairs these images with essays and conversations by Legacy Russell, McKenzie Wark, and Brontez Purnell, exploring themes of visibility, risk, and community in spaces from saunas to drag shows to campgrounds. Abraham discusses the book with Cultured, drawing parallels between the camera's lens and the club as vehicles for self-expression and documentation.

Artists create Fifa World Cup posters denouncing presence of US immigration agents

Artists from ten of the eleven US host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup have created posters for the 'No Ice in the Cup' initiative, launched on May 6 by the Horizons Project. The campaign aims to protest the potential presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at World Cup matches, using art to mobilize public opposition and protect vulnerable immigrant communities. Each poster incorporates locally relevant themes, with designs by artists including Chris Stewart (Los Angeles), Hana Natsuhara (Seattle), Johann C. Muñoz-Tapasco (Miami), and Cristy Road Carrera (New York). The posters are free to download and remix from the campaign's website.

‘Wear something that makes you feel silly!’ Can Austin Kleon’s tips put the spark back in my life?

Austin Kleon, author of *Steal Like an Artist* and other creativity guides, discusses his new book *Don't Call It Art* in an interview with The Guardian. Kleon, who felt creatively stagnant in his 40s, found renewed inspiration by apprenticing himself to his young sons, Owen and Jules. The book offers exercises and prompts to help adults recapture the playful, fearless creative energy of childhood, drawing on Kleon's own experience of watching his children make art without self-judgment or overthinking.

Art in the Political Stranglehold

Kunst im politischen Würgegriff

Kolumnist Dieter Roelstraete reflects on the Venice Biennale as a state of political exception, questioning how much pressure art faces within national pavilions. He notes he missed this year's opening but highlights the spectacular Austrian pavilion by Florentina Holzinger, and plans to visit the Belgian, German, and Spanish contributions in the fall.

Zu viel Politik, zu wenig Kunst

The article reports on the 2024 Venice Biennale, where strikes, demonstrations, and geopolitical conflicts have dominated headlines, overshadowing the art itself. On the final preview day, several pavilions—including those of Belgium, Egypt, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea—were closed, and performances by artists like Florentina Holzinger were halted, as political tensions and labor disputes took center stage.

Artist duo inserts Black protagonists into America's family album

Künstlerduo fügt Schwarzen Protagonisten in Amerikas Familienalbum ein

The article discusses the photo series "Being There" by artist duo Lee Shulman and Omar Victor Diop. The series digitally inserts a Black protagonist into vintage Kodachrome photographs of white American families from the mid-20th century, challenging the idealized, predominantly white imagery of that era.

Why animation cinema is one of the most exciting arts right now

Pourquoi le cinéma d’animation est un des arts les plus passionnants du moment

Beaux Arts Magazine reports on the growing significance of animation cinema, highlighting the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and its upcoming 2026 edition, which will inaugurate the Cité internationale du cinéma d'animation, transforming the event into a permanent institution. The festival, which has grown from 7,000 to over 18,000 accredited attendees from 118 countries in a decade, has made Annecy a global hub for animation. The article also notes recent French successes like "Flow," "Arco," and "Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes," positioning France as Europe's leading animation power with nearly 120 active studios and prestigious schools such as Gobelins, École Méliès, and La Poudrière.

Photographer David Yarrow captures Norwegian men’s soccer squad in Viking-themed shoot.

Scottish photographer David Yarrow has created a large-format photograph titled "The Vikings are Coming" (2026) featuring the Norwegian men's national soccer team, including stars Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, dressed as Viking warriors beside a fjord. The shoot was commissioned ahead of the team's appearance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, blending sports imagery with dramatic Nordic landscapes and props like longships and weapons.

Chloe Wise paints Olivia Rodrigo for a new limited-edition album release.

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo has commissioned artist Chloe Wise to create the cover art for her upcoming limited-edition vinyl album, titled "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love." The collectible vinyl features Wise's oil painting "Carve our names" (2026), a portrait of Rodrigo in a pink babydoll dress holding a knife, and is available exclusively through Rodrigo's website ahead of the album's release.

The Metro: Detroit’s cultural exports go beyond cars and techno—it’s the blueprint for free public museums

Charles Lang Freer transformed his Detroit home into a gallery of international artwork, which later became the foundation for the first national museum and Asian art museum in Washington, D.C. The article, written by Tia Graham, highlights Freer's residence designed by Wilson Eyre Jr. in 1894 as a cultural landmark that predates and influences the model of free public museums.