Lost ‘cloud’ of artist who wrapped the Reichstag to be created in UK gallery

Six years after Christo's death, Gagosian London will realize a monumental installation he designed in 1968 titled "Air Package on a Ceiling," originally conceived for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia but never built due to technical constraints. The plans and a detailed scale model were discovered by studio manager Lorenza Giovanelli in 2018, hidden inside a hollow plinth in Christo's studio. The work, a vast internally illuminated suspended form resembling a cloud, will fill a 16-meter-long, 10-meter-wide space at Gagosian London, descending just above head height, in collaboration with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.

Jumper Maybach Turns Abstraction Into Emotional Space

American artist Jumper Maybach, known for his abstract expressionist paintings, debuted a new suite of works titled "Radiant Spaces" at the inaugural Salt Lake Art Show in 2026. The series explores themes of emotional energy, human resilience, and healing, using layered textures and color fields to create immersive experiences. Maybach has also created site-specific installations in architecturally significant buildings, including the 1900K building in Washington, D.C., and continues to blur the lines between fine art, installation, and luxury design.

Hirshhorn Museum Collection Tops 13,000 as Major 50th-Anniversary Acquisitions Announced

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, acquired 314 works in 2025, bringing its collection to over 13,000 pieces. The acquisitions, announced in conjunction with the museum's 50th anniversary, include major works by Lorna Simpson, Sarah Sze, Mickalene Thomas, and Adam Pendleton, as well as photographs by Graciela Iturbide, Danny Lyon, Ezra Stoller, and Joel-Peter Witkin. The museum also received 176 works by Adam Pendleton as part of a multiyear gift from collectors Doug and Toni Gordon.

New York institutions offer nuanced and inclusive views of US’s 250th birthday

New York institutions are presenting nuanced exhibitions for the US's 250th birthday, offering both patriotic and critical perspectives on the American Revolution. The Grey Art Museum at NYU displays one of the 26 surviving Dunlap broadsides of the Declaration of Independence alongside over 100 contextual documents in "The Declaration of Independence: Long Trail to Liberty," while the Museum of the City of New York's "The Occupied City" immerses visitors in the British occupation of New York, featuring interactive elements like toppling a digital effigy of King George III.

Art Events May You Cannot Miss in London

An Artlyst guide highlights several major art exhibitions opening in London in May 2026. Key shows include 'Zurbarán' at the National Gallery (the UK's first major monographic exhibition of the Spanish master in over 30 years), 'Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific' at the V&A (a collaboration with QAGOMA featuring 40 artists), a James McNeill Whistler retrospective at Tate Britain (the first major European show in 30 years), and 'Winston Churchill: The Painter' at the Wallace Collection. Photo London is also moving to Olympia this year.

Barry X Ball’s Wild Sculptures Are Perfectly at Home at Venice’s Grand Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore

New York-based artist Barry X Ball's exhibition "The Shape of Time" has opened at the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, featuring 23 sculptures centered on the elaborate silver and gold piece *Pope Saint John Paul II* (2012–24). The show, organized by curator Bob Nickas, includes many works shown publicly for the first time, such as *Pietà* (2011–22) inspired by Michelangelo and *Saint Bartholomew Flayed* (2011–20). The sculpture of John Paul II, cast in collaboration with Italian jewelry house Damiani, contains hidden references to the pope's life, including his nemeses Hitler, Stalin, and Lenin, as well as a bullet from the 1981 assassination attempt.

Beverly Buchanan’s Anti-Monuments

Beverly Buchanan's outdoor sculptures, such as 'Marsh Ruins' (1981) and 'Unity Stones' (1983), are quietly eroding in landscapes across Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. These anti-monuments, made from tabby concrete and stone, blend into their surroundings while subtly referencing the region's layered histories, including Indigenous shell middens, plantation ruins, and the 1803 slave revolt on St. Simons Island. Buchanan, who died in 2015, is now receiving renewed attention: her work will be featured at the Venice Biennale this spring, and a touring retrospective is currently at Frac Lorraine in Metz, following a posthumous show at the Brooklyn Museum in 2016–17.

‘The content, material and form support each other’: Sandy Rodriguez on her Hispanic Society Museum show

Sandy Rodriguez presents her new exhibition, *Tierra Insurgente*, at the Hispanic Society Museum and Library in Washington Heights, featuring her hand-painted maps on amate paper alongside historic codices and globes from the institution's collection. Her works blend Mesoamerican and colonial-era imagery with contemporary symbols of state violence and resistance, such as riot police, calavera-style surveillance helicopters, and references to the 2020 racial-justice protests in New Orleans. Rodriguez uses natural pigments like cochineal and hand-processed minerals on bark paper, a material once outlawed by Spanish colonizers, to create a dialogue between past and present.

Exhibitions marking 250th anniversary of the US open in New York

Several New York museums have opened exhibitions marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, which falls on 4 July 2026. The New-York Historical Society presents "Old Masters, New Amsterdam," drawn from the Leiden Collection, focusing on the lives of Dutch colonists. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library offers "Goya and the Age of Revolution," linking the American Revolution to European upheavals and Goya's depictions of war. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has installed "Revolution!" in its American Wing, reexamining the nation's founding through art. A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson will also be on view at the New York Public Library.

The US pavilion's curator on the controversial choice of Alma Allen for the Venice Biennale

The US pavilion at the Venice Biennale has selected Alma Allen, a Utah-born, Mexico-based sculptor, as its representative artist—a controversial and surprising choice given his relative obscurity compared to past pavilion artists. The selection process was unusually fraught: the first artist chosen was dropped before official announcement, and the announcement was delayed by the US government shutdown. The pavilion's curator, Jeffrey Uslip, discusses the exhibition titled "Call Me the Breeze," which will feature Allen's sculptures in stone, bronze, and wood that appear to defy their own weight, emphasizing artistic autonomy despite the State Department's framing of the choice as showcasing "American excellence."

Fairfield University Art Museum To Present James Welling: Cento

Fairfield University Art Museum will present "James Welling: Cento," a major exhibition of over 60 photographs by the renowned contemporary photographer, from September 25 to December 12, 2026. The show focuses on the classical world, featuring images of ancient Greek and Roman architecture and statuary, printed on plastic sheets and hand-altered with oil paint and pigment. It includes works from the Cento series (2019-2021) and the Personae series (2021-2022), alongside historic plaster casts from the museum's collection.

Amy Sherald Comes Home: “American Sublime” Opens at the High Museum

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta opens "Amy Sherald: American Sublime" on May 15, a mid-career retrospective featuring over 35 paintings from 2007 to 2024. The exhibition was originally scheduled to conclude at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., but Sherald canceled that stop after a Trump administration executive order directed Smithsonian institutions to remove so-called "un-American content." The High Museum secured the final slot after the Baltimore Museum of Art, following months of coordination with SFMOMA, Sherald's studio, and Hauser & Wirth. The show includes Sherald's portrait of Breonna Taylor and her iconic Michelle Obama portrait, organized into five thematic sections.

Ursula Launch: Celebrating Firelei Báez and Issue 16 with Casa Dragones

Hauser & Wirth is hosting a launch event during the opening weekend of Firelei Báez's solo exhibition 'Feet squelching on wet grass, nourished by uncertainty' at its 22nd Street gallery in Chelsea, celebrating the release of Ursula issue No. 16. The issue features a portfolio by Báez titled 'The Earth That Remains,' a cover story on collector Eileen Harris Norton, and contributions on Elsa Schiaparelli, Christopher Harris, Alice B. Toklas, and LACMA director Michael Govan. The free event includes Casa Dragones tequila and access to Báez's exhibition alongside 'Carol Rama. I See You You See Me.'

MFAH's blockbuster modern art exhibit and 7 more openings in Houston this month

The article highlights eight major art exhibitions and events opening in Houston in May 2025, including the U.S. debut of "Picasso–Klee–Matisse: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), which features works by Picasso, Klee, Matisse, and Giacometti. Other notable events include the "Freedom Plane National Tour" of founding-era documents at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the 20th Annual Empty Bowls fundraiser at Silver Street Studios, and "No Longer, Not Yet" by Marisol Valencia at Art League, which uses materials from a migrant shelter. The article also mentions shows at CAMH, Moody Art Center, and Sawyer Yards.

Sebastiaan Bremer: Super Modern Things

Edwynn Houk Gallery presents "Super Modern Things," an exhibition of new works by Sebastiaan Bremer. The artworks blend photography and painting, starting from historical source images such as 17th-century Dutch botanical catalogues and Golden Age still life paintings. Bremer photographs these reproductions and adds ink and acrylic marks—dots, lines, stains, and washes—creating rhythms that evoke language, music, emotion, and constellations. The exhibition continues his long-standing exploration of flowers and the layered histories of still life, addressing themes of beauty, mortality, value, ecology, and global exchange. An accompanying monograph of his flower series is scheduled for Fall 2026.

« Le jardin anglais incarne une vision de la société » : une expo à Versailles explore cette passion de l’Europe des Lumières

The article explores an exhibition at the Grand Trianon in Versailles dedicated to the English garden, a style that emerged in 18th-century Europe as a deliberate contrast to the rigid symmetry of the formal French garden. Curator Élisabeth Maisonnier and museum director Laurent Salomé explain how these gardens, with their winding paths, irregular flowerbeds, and surprise features like grottoes and pagodas, were carefully constructed to imitate and amplify nature's complexity, drawing on influences from antiquity, the Middle Ages, and China.

Insider’s Look at Curating a Show Inspired by the Declaration of Independence’s 250th Anniversary [Interview]

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FVM) in Philadelphia has opened "Some American Dreams," an exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Curated by Hilde Nelson, FVM curatorial fellow, the show features 27 works by 20 artists created during the museum's Artist-in-Residence Program over four decades. The exhibition includes pieces in furniture, sculpture, textiles, clothing, video, and photography, and is on view until June 14, 2026. In an interview with My Modern Met, Nelson discusses her curatorial approach, which poses the question, "What if 'America' is not one project, but many?" and explores how these multiple Americas are affirmed, resisted, or remade through the artworks.

7 D.C. art exhibits to catch this summer before they close

The article highlights seven art exhibitions in Washington, D.C. that are closing at the end of summer 2025, urging visitors to see them before they end. Featured shows include a retrospective of African American artist Alma Thomas at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a survey of contemporary Indigenous art at the National Museum of the American Indian, and a solo presentation of Yayoi Kusama's infinity rooms at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Other notable exhibits include a photography collection by Gordon Parks at the National Gallery of Art and a showcase of modern Latin American art at the Museum of the Americas.

In Toscana il borgo di Monte San Savino si apre all’arte contemporanea con una mostra itinerante e di genere

The Tuscan hill town of Monte San Savino launched a contemporary art exhibition titled "Art Gender Gap" on International Women's Day, featuring 40 female artists and 53 works across multiple historic venues including the GAS, Chiesa di Santa Chiara, Palazzo Ciocchi di Monte, and the Renaissance Cisternone. Curated by Giuseppe Simone Modeo, Nicoletta Castellaneta, and Domenico de Chirico, the show includes loans from the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington (via its Italian committee president Claudia Pensotti Mosca), the Christian Levett collection, and the FAMM Museum in Mougin, France—a museum dedicated exclusively to women artists. Participating artists range from historical figures like Louise Bourgeois, Carol Rama, and Sonia Delaunay to contemporary names such as Kiki Smith, Pipilotti Rist, Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, and Mona Hatoum.

In Barcelona, the Joan Miró Foundation celebrates 50 years. All the planned initiatives

A Barcellona la Fondazione Joan Mirò festeggia 50 anni. Tutte le iniziative in programma

The Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an extensive program of exhibitions, concerts, performances, and public initiatives. The festivities begin on June 11 with the exhibition "Poetry Has Just Begun: 50 Years of the Miró," a retrospective tracing the foundation's history and its role in the international art system. Other highlights include "Miró and the United States" in autumn, exploring the artist's dialogue with post-war American avant-garde figures like Louise Bourgeois, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, organized in collaboration with the Phillips Collection in Washington. In March 2026, the foundation will unveil a new permanent collection layout based on Miró's creative processes and open the Garden of the Cypresses, a previously inaccessible historic area on Montjuïc.

150 photos depict 185 years of the US mining industry in world-first historical exhibition

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present "Beneath the Surface," a world-first photographic exhibition dedicated to 185 years of the U.S. mining and natural resource extraction industries. Featuring 150 images from 100 photographers, the show spans from California Gold Rush daguerreotypes to 20th-century industrial documentation, including works by Dorothea Lange and Lewis Wickes Hine. The exhibition will be on view at the National Gallery from May 23 to August 23, 2026, before traveling to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Phillips Collection’s new ‘Miró and the United States’ exhibit focuses on transatlantic cultural exchange rather than conflict

The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., has opened a new exhibition titled 'Miró and the United States,' curated by Elsa Smithgall. The show features 75 works by Joan Miró alongside pieces by more than 30 other artists, including Alexander Calder, Rufino Tamayo, and Arshile Gorky. Rather than framing the relationship as a cultural clash between European modernism and American art, the exhibition emphasizes transatlantic artistic exchange during the mid-20th century, particularly in the shadow of World War II and the Spanish Civil War. Key works include Miró's 'Constellations' series and 'Still Life with Old Shoe' (1937), which are presented in dialogue with American contemporaries who responded to his visual language.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Spring Exhibitions in New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is unveiling renewed galleries and special exhibitions for spring 2026, including a reinstallation of its American Wing and exhibitions focused on Renaissance portraiture and contemporary responses to classical themes. The museum, which houses over 1.6 million artworks spanning five thousand years, is highlighted as a key destination for US travelers planning summer visits, with May weather ideal for exploring both the museum and nearby Central Park.

The Cape Ann Museum’s Newest Exhibition, Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea, Coincides With the Reopening of the Museum’s Main Campus

The Cape Ann Museum has opened a landmark exhibition titled "Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea," featuring 82 works by Milton Avery, Adolph Gottlieb, and Mark Rothko. The show explores the artists' formative summers on Cape Ann in the 1930s and '40s, where they escaped New York City and developed a deep artistic camaraderie. The exhibition coincides with the reopening of the museum's main campus after 20 months of renovations, and will travel to The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. in October—the first time a Cape Ann Museum-organized exhibition tours to a national museum.

The mysterious case of one of the most important British artists of the 1990s who is back with a bang after more than 25 years

Cathy de Monchaux, a prominent British artist from the 1990s known for her erotic and dystopic sculptures, has opened a major survey exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris titled 'Studio, Wounds and Battles, Desire is the Reiteration of Hope'. The show comes 26 years after her last major solo exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC, and includes a facsimile of her Hoxton studio, featuring intimate sketchbooks, maquettes, and early works. De Monchaux, who graduated from Goldsmiths in 1987 and was nominated for the Turner Prize, largely stepped away from the public exhibition circuit to raise her son, focusing instead on private commissions.

미시시피미술관 '사진과 흑인미술운동, 1955-1985'(7/25-11/8) - Lounge

The Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) presents "Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985," a landmark exhibition exploring the role of photography in fostering Black visual culture and identity during the civil rights and Black Arts Movement eras. The show features approximately 150 works by over 100 artists, including Dawoud Bey, Gordon Parks, and Carrie Mae Weems, drawn primarily from the National Gallery of Art's collection, and runs from July 25 to November 8, 2026, as the final stop on a national tour.

5 Artists to See at Converge 45

New York curator Lumi Tan has organized the 2026 Converge 45 triennial in Portland, Oregon, titled "Here, To You, Now." Running from August 27 across more than 15 venues, the triennial prioritizes performances and time-based artworks over traditional gallery exhibitions, featuring both local and visiting artists. Tan, whose background includes stints at the Kitchen, Luna Luna, and Frieze New York, selected five standout artists: Lex Brown (presenting an operatic video and installation), Trisha Baga (a 3D video installation about AI and parenting), Rose Salane (archival works involving Princess Diana’s shoes), and Linda K. Johnson (a choreographer mapping Portland’s dance network).

Telfair Museums presents Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting opening May 15

Telfair Museums will present "Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting" at the Jepson Center for the Arts from May 15 through August 16, 2026. Organized for the museum's 140th anniversary, the exhibition brings together Telfair's collection of American Impressionist works with key French Impressionist paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., featuring artists such as Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, and Vincent van Gogh. The show explores Impressionism's origins in France, its transatlantic influence, and its impact on American art and identity, with works addressing themes of modern life, leisure, the city, and nostalgia for nature.

Landmark Exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Unites U.S. Bicentennial Photography Surveys for the First Time

The Smithsonian American Art Museum will present "Much Here Is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial," a landmark exhibition opening September 18, 2026, that brings together for the first time photography surveys created through a federally funded grant program by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) around the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial. Featuring 225 photographs by more than 70 photographers, the show draws on the museum's holdings and collections nationwide, including previously unseen works, and places them in the context of federal survey photography dating back to the 19th century.

It’s not all movies: LA’s art, museums and exhibitions are world class

Los Angeles is expanding its cultural offerings with several new and renovated art institutions. The Museum of AI Arts, called Dataland, is set to open this spring at the Grand L.A. complex, created by artist Refik Anadol. It claims to be the world's first museum dedicated to AI art, featuring immersive installations like an Infinity Room with AI-generated scents. Meanwhile, the Natural History Museum completed a $75 million renovation in 2024, adding a 60,000-square-foot wing and displaying a unique green-boned dinosaur named Gnatalie, along with Barbara Carrasco's previously censored mural. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is opening the David Geffen Galleries on May 4, a 110,000-square-foot space for its permanent collection.