Willem de Kooning’s Rarely Seen Drawings Come Into Focus in Chicago Show

A forthcoming exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), titled "Willem de Kooning Drawing," will showcase over 200 rarely seen drawings by the Abstract Expressionist master, opening in June. The show, organized in partnership with the Rijksmuseum, includes works from across de Kooning's career—from early charcoal studies like *Dish with Jugs* (1919–1921) to experimental pieces from the 1960s where he drew with his eyes closed or with both hands. Curated by Kevin Salatino, the exhibition positions drawing as central to de Kooning's practice, challenging the perception that his paintings were purely spontaneous.

Roni Horn Returns to London with Seizure of Hope at Hauser & Wirth

Roni Horn returns to London for her first solo exhibition in a decade, titled *Seizure of Hope*, at Hauser & Wirth. The show features over 45 works on paper centered on the repeated phrase "I am paralyzed with hope," drawn from a performance by comedian Maria Bamford, alongside a cast-glass sculpture *Untitled ("What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?")* (2022). The drawings explore language, repetition, and the instability of meaning, with words shifting between clarity and abstraction through wax crayon layering. A limited-edition artist book of the same title will be released by Hauser & Wirth Publishers.

Nalini Malani’s Venice Biennale 2026 exhibition confronts violence, myth, and motherhood

Artist Nalini Malani will present a solo exhibition titled "Of Woman Born" at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. The show features a site-specific installation commissioned by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, comprising 67 animations with over 30,000 iPad drawings and a haunting soundscape. The work centers on the Greek myth of Orestes, who kills his mother Clytemnestra, and explores themes of violence against women, motherhood, and justice. Malani, now 80, has been a key figure in bringing Indian contemporary art to global prominence, with her work held by major institutions including Tate, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera at MoMA in New York in a Passionate Theatrical Dialogue

Frida Kahlo et Diego Rivera au MoMA de New York dans un dialogue théâtral plein d’ardeur

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has opened a theatrical exhibition titled "Frida and Diego: The Last Dream," curated by Beverly Adams, the museum's curator of Latin American art. The show features around twenty paintings and drawings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera from MoMA's collection, alongside photographic portraits. The exhibition's dramatic staging, designed by British set designer Jon Bausor—who also worked on the Metropolitan Opera's concurrent production of "El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego"—creates a tense dialogue between the artists' contrasting styles: Rivera's political murals and Kahlo's intimate, colorful self-portraits. Highlights include Kahlo's "Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair" (1940) and Rivera's "Zapata, Agricultural Leader" (1931).

There Is No Separation. In Conversation with Alice Maher   by Frank Wasser

Alice Maher, one of several Irish artists at the 61st Venice Biennale, presents three works in the Arsenale as part of the group exhibition “In Minor Keys,” curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. Her presentation includes a reconstructed 1996 installation *Les Filles d’Ouranos*, a new series of drawings and sculptures titled “The Sibyls” (2025), and a collaborative textile piece *The Map* (2021) made with Rachel Fallon. In a conversation with Frank Wasser, Maher discusses the political conditions surrounding this year’s Biennale, including institutional resignations, debates over national representation, and the inclusion of the Israeli and Russian pavilions.

Rediscovering the Eternal City of the 1500s in the drawings of Maarten van Heemskerck. The exhibition in Rome

Riscoprire la Città Eterna del ‘500 nei disegni di Maarten van Heemskerck. La mostra a Roma

A major exhibition at Palazzo Poli in Rome, hosted by the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, showcases a selection of drawings by Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck (1498–1574) from his so-called 'little sketchbook,' now held at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin. The show, titled 'Maarten van Heemskerck e il fascino di Roma' and running until June 7, presents the artist's meticulous studies of Roman antiquities made during his four-year stay in the city from 1532, offering a rare visual record of Renaissance Rome's ancient collections before and after the 1527 Sack of Rome.

Letting Her Art (and Birds) Do the Talking

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, a British-Ghanaian painter known for her enigmatic portraits of imaginary Black figures, has a new body of work that includes canvases, drawings, and writings. The article highlights her preference for staying out of the public eye, letting her art—and her fascination with birds—convey her ideas and emotions.

Joe Brainard at Chris Sharp Gallery

Joe Brainard's work is currently on view at Chris Sharp Gallery in an exhibition documented with 68 images and no videos. The show presents the artist's pieces, though no text descriptions accompany the images on the page.

Giorgio Vasari beyond the Lives: what the exhibition at the Capitoline Museums in Rome looks like

An exhibition titled "Vasari and Rome" has opened at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, running until July 19, 2026. Curated by Alessandra Baroni and promoted by Roma Capitale, the show features over seventy works—including drawings, prints, engravings, letters, medals, sculptures, and paintings—that trace Giorgio Vasari's relationship with 16th-century Rome. Sixteen autograph works and seven drawings are among the highlights, arranged in four sections that follow the chronology of Vasari's Roman sojourns, from his arrival in 1532 under Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici to his later engagements with patrons like Bindo Altoviti and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. The exhibition is staged in an intimate, chamber-like setting on the top floor of Palazzo Caffarelli, contrasting the small space with the vast theme of Vasari's role in papal Rome's political and cultural life.

Clark Art Institute to Exhibit Priceless Art Donated by Tavitian Foundation

The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, announced an upcoming exhibition titled “An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection,” on view from June 13, 2025, through February 21, 2027. The show features approximately 150 works from the Tavitian Collection, a major private collection of European art assembled by the late collector and philanthropist Aso O. Tavitian. Spanning c. 1450–1850, the exhibition includes paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Elizabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun. The collection, comprising 331 objects, was donated to the Clark and will eventually be housed in a new wing designed by Selldorf Architects, set to open in 2028.

‘Picasso-Klee-Matisse’ exhibit brings modernist masterpieces to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is hosting "Picasso-Klee-Matisse: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen" from May 20 to September 13, 2026. The exhibition features dozens of works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and Henri Matisse from the private collection of dealer and collector Heinz Berggruen, on loan from the Museum Berggruen – Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The show is organized thematically—portraits, landscapes, still life, and the human figure—and includes paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures, and archival materials, alongside pieces from MFAH's own collection. It has already attracted over 1 million visitors on its international tour.

Yoo Young-kuk’s inner landscapes spotlighted in Seoul retrospective

The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) has opened its largest-ever retrospective of pioneering Korean abstract painter Yoo Young-kuk, titled "Yoo Youngkuk: A Mountain Within Me," marking the 110th anniversary of his birth. Running through Oct. 25 at SeMA's Seosomun branch, the exhibition brings together 178 works, including 115 oil paintings, drawings, photographs, archival materials, and previously unseen pieces, as well as BTS RM's collection "Mountain." Rather than a chronological format, the show begins in 1964—the year of Yoo's first solo exhibition—and moves backward and forward through time, highlighting his geometric compositions and bold primary colors inspired by the mountains and sea of his hometown Uljin.

Anila Quayyum Agha exhibitions in Nashville and Huntsville

The Frist Art Museum in Nashville will present "Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven," a survey exhibition spanning two decades of the Pakistani American artist's work, from May 22 to August 30, 2026. Organized by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the show features 26 works including installations, drawings, and sculptures that explore themes of identity, immigration, and environmental devastation, drawing on influences from Indo-Islamic architecture, Urdu poetry, and traditional crafts. The exhibition, which is the final stop on a four-venue tour, includes Agha's iconic lightbox installations such as "Intersections" (which won the 2014 ArtPrize) and "All the Flowers Are for Me (Red)."

The archive of the great architect Piero Portaluppi opens to the public: it happens at Villa Necchi in Milan

L’archivio del grande architetto Piero Portaluppi apre al pubblico: succede a Villa Necchi a Milano

The Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) has opened a new permanent archive space dedicated to the architect and intellectual Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967) inside Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, the architect's own masterpiece. The archive, acquired by FAI in December 2025 from the closing Fondazione Portaluppi, is housed in three attic rooms and includes thousands of original documents, drawings, photographic prints, sketchbooks, caricatures, postcards, and 16 mm film reels totaling eight hours of footage shot between the 1930s and 1960s. The collection also features Portaluppi's personal library of three thousand volumes and architecture journals, which will be made available for study in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica della Lombardia and the Politecnico di Milano.

Hubert Robert & Fragonard. Le sentiment de la nature

The Musée d'art et d'archéologie in Valence, France, is presenting an exhibition titled "Hubert Robert & Fragonard. Le sentiment de la nature" from March 7 to June 21, 2026. The show traces the artistic friendship between Hubert Robert and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who met as young French artists sketching in the ruins of Rome under the guidance of Charles-Joseph Natoire. It features works from the museum's renowned collection of sanguine drawings, notably those from the foundational bequest of Julien Victor Veyrenc (1835-1836), and includes new attributions proposed by curator Sarah Catala, a graduate conservator from the Institut National du Patrimoine.

Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal Now Open at the Nasher in Dallas

Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal, a survey of the last 25 years of the Dallas-born artist's work, has opened at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and runs through August 16. The exhibition features over 70 works across media, focusing on Nicosia's shift to sculpture in the 2010s and his move from elaborate staged photography to a solitary studio practice. It includes sculptures, drawings, and photographs that explore themes of time, memory, and surreal everyday reality, with highlights such as cast metal works and drawings tracing personal experiences of distance and duration.

At Galerie Martel, Ugo Bienvenu unveils his dreamlike drawings in a free exhibition

À la galerie Martel, Ugo Bienvenu dévoile ses dessins oniriques dans une expo gratuite

French artist Ugo Bienvenu presents his new exhibition "Futur antérieur" at Galerie Martel in Paris, featuring around twenty ink-on-paper drawings created during the marathon promotion of his debut animated feature film "Arco." The show offers an intimate glimpse into Bienvenu's creative process, where drawing serves as a necessary respite from the demands of filmmaking, blending childhood memories, mythology, and science fiction into dreamlike compositions.

Futurity & relationality at art gallery's new exhibition

The Art Gallery of Swift Current is opening a new exhibition titled *Tastatâwâyih* by two-spirit Métis artist Sheri Osden Nault, running from May 22 to August 8. The show features a range of mediums including sculpture, video, photography, and drawings, and explores themes of relationality, community, environment, and futurity. A public reception with the artist will be held on May 22.

Catharine MacTavish “High-Speed Eternity” at Shmorévaz, Paris

Mousse Magazine reports on Catharine MacTavish's exhibition "High-Speed Eternity" at Shmorévaz, Paris. The show spans six decades of the Canadian artist's work from 1974 to 2026, featuring drawings, prints, videos, holograms, three-dimensional paintings, and dollhouses brought together for the first time.

“Related Stories”—A Visual Dialogue On Memory And Experience

A new contemporary art exhibition titled “Related Stories” opens today at the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Hatzimichali” in Athens’ Plaka district, running from May 22 to July 12, 2026. Curated by Stavroula Pisimisi, the show brings together three Greek artists—Eleftheria Kousiaki, Kostas Nikakis, and Efi Tsoulouchopoulou—whose works span photography, graphite drawings, ink on fabric, polyptychs, artist books, paintings, and ceramic objects, creating a multilayered dialogue on materiality, gesture, memory, and transformation.