The 20 Most Expensive Artworks Hitting the Auction Block This Season

The May 2026 New York auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips will feature 20 high-value lots priced at $30 million or more, including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly, Gerhard Richter, and others. The sales are staggered around the Venice Biennale and Frieze New York, with Sotheby’s holding its contemporary evening auction on May 14 and Christie’s its 20th-century sale on May 18. Notable consignments come from the estates of S.I. Newhouse, former MoMA board president Agnes Gund, and dealer Marian Goodman.

5 Under-Recognized Artists Getting Their Due in New York This Season

The article highlights five under-recognized artists whose exhibitions are on view in New York this season, focusing on Domenico Gnoli at Lévy Gorvy Dayan and Raquel Rabinovich at Hutchinson Modern and Contemporary. Gnoli, an Italian painter who died in 1970, is known for his pallid, claustrophobic depictions of everyday subjects, while Rabinovich, who died at 102 in January 2026, created somber minimalist paintings exploring silence and withholding. The piece notes that New York galleries often use the pre-fair period to showcase less prominent artists of great promise.

Legal Dispute Threatens Auction of Titanic Artifacts, Vaillancourt Fountain Catches Fire During Demolition, and More: Morning Links for May 7, 2026

A legal dispute has erupted over the planned auction of nearly 100 artifacts recovered from the Titanic shipwreck in 1987. The R.M.S. Titanic, the private company that owns salvage rights, seeks to sell the items, but the French government—which co-sponsored the expedition—granted title under the condition they not be sold. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also opposes the sale, arguing it violates a prior legal ruling. A judge has rejected the company’s attempt to keep the auction confidential. Separately, San Francisco’s Vaillancourt Fountain caught fire during demolition on May 6, 2026, when a torch ignited rubber tubing inside the Brutalist sculpture by Armand Vaillancourt; the fire was quickly contained with no injuries. Other news includes the death of Beat Generation artist George Herms at 90, a French bill to facilitate colonial-era art restitution, and a rare opportunity to view Gustav Klimt’s ceiling paintings at Vienna’s Burgtheater during renovation.

Ceramics Are Everywhere, in Museums, Galleries, and Fairs—Has the Market Caught Up?

Ceramics are experiencing a surge in visibility across museums, galleries, and art fairs in major US cities. The article catalogs numerous recent and upcoming exhibitions, including Kathy Butterly's sold-out show at James Cohan with pieces at $45,000 each, Nicole Cherubini's nearly sold-out show at Friedman Benda with prices up to $65,000, and Ruby Neri's work at Salon 94 peaking at $75,000. Other highlights include Ron Nagle at Matthew Marks, Theaster Gates' Gagosian show celebrating David Drake, NADA Ceramics in Tribeca, and ceramic presentations at Frieze Los Angeles, Post-Fair, Expo Chicago, and David Zwirner. Institutional shows include Toshiko Takaezu at Princeton University Art Museum and a ceramic collection at RISD Museum.

Remembering Pat Steir, one of the 20th century’s late-blooming great artists

Pat Steir, the acclaimed American painter known for her Waterfall series, died in Manhattan on 25 March at age 87. The article traces her career from early struggles as a freelance illustrator and art director, through her transformative encounter with Sol LeWitt in the early 1970s, to her eventual emergence as a major figure in contemporary painting. It highlights her teaching at CalArts and Parsons, her involvement with feminist and artist-run institutions like Heresies and Printed Matter, and the pivotal moment in the early 1980s when she cut up a reproduction of a Jan Brueghel the Elder flower painting into 64 panels, repainting each in a different historical style.

Paul McCarthy: ‘The world is now an extreme absurdity. The work is a reaction to that’

Paul McCarthy, the 80-year-old American artist known for his transgressive critiques of consumer culture, has opened a new exhibition titled "SS EE Saint Santa Eva Elf" at Hauser & Wirth in Paris. The show features large-scale drawings and a six-channel video installation created during filmed performances with his long-term collaborator, German actress Lilith Stangenberg, who plays the Elf. McCarthy revisits his iconic Santa Claus motif, portraying him as a dark, psychotic figure—the "god of capitalism and consumption." The exhibition also includes earlier drawings made with Stangenberg at Bowman Hal gallery in Madrid. The interview reveals that McCarthy's home and studios in Los Angeles were destroyed by wildfires, resulting in the loss of art, drawings, notebooks, and books, and the cancellation of a planned London show.

The Venice Biennale Is High Stakes. James Cohan Gallery Is All In

James Cohan Gallery, a mid-sized New York gallery, is representing four artists in the 61st Venice Biennale's central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The artists are Ranti Bam, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Kennedy Yanko, and Yinka Shonibare (whose Guest Artists Space Foundation is also participating). This marks a breakthrough for the gallery, which has more artists in the central exhibition than any of the four mega-galleries—Gagosian, Pace, David Zwirner, and Hauser & Wirth—none of which have as many. The gallery is investing heavily in production, logistics, travel, and events, including a luncheon at the St. Regis Hotel co-hosted with Salon 94 and Esther Schipper, and a dinner thrown by collector Pamela Joyner for Yanko.

A $15M De Kooning Leads Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s New Auction-Style Sales Experiment

Lévy Gorvy Dayan is launching LGD Hammer, a new live-bidding platform that blends private sales with auction dynamics. The inaugural sale on May 16 will feature a 1984 Willem de Kooning painting estimated at $10–15 million, led by co-founder Brett Gorvy, a former auction veteran. The article also reports on gallery closures (Stephen Friedman Gallery, Galerie Philipp Zollinger, Astor Gallery), artist moves (Zoe Leonard to Maxwell Graham, Kehinde Wiley among creditors), and Sotheby’s upcoming single-owner sale of Joe Lewis’s collection expected to exceed $200 million.

Backflips, boulders and dancing dogs: the images that shaped art photography – in pictures

A new exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum, titled "Photography as a Way of Life," celebrates the photographers who helped establish art photography as a serious movement from the 1940s to the 1970s. The show features works by Minor White, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, and others, including images by Ming Smith, Donna-Lee Phillips, and Walter Chappell. The exhibition runs until September 7 and highlights how these educators and artists transformed photography's role in both the art world and higher education.

Raghu Rai obituary

Raghu Rai, the renowned Indian photographer known for capturing his country's post-independence history through singular, enduring images, has died at age 83 from cancer. Rai's career spanned six decades, during which he documented events from the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster to the Bangladesh war of independence, and photographed figures including Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama. He joined Magnum Photos in 1977 after being invited by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and worked as a staff photographer for the Statesman and as picture editor for India Today.

Here’s How Stars at the 2026 Met Gala Nodded to Art History

The 2026 Met Gala, themed "Fashion Is Art," saw celebrities and fashion figures wearing outfits directly inspired by or referencing iconic artworks and art historical movements. Notable nods included Chloe Malle in a gown referencing Frederic Leighton's *Flaming June*, Lauren Sánchez Bezos in a Schiaparelli dress echoing John Singer Sargent's *Madame X*, and Hunter Schafer channeling Gustav Klimt's portrait *Mäda Primavesi*. Other attendees like Anne Hathaway, Hailey Bieber, and Karan Johar also drew from specific paintings, sculptures, and poems, while stylist Law Roach wore a hand-painted piece by Gabonese artist Naïla Opiangah.

Overlooked Artist Louisa Chase Returns to the Spotlight

Artnet News reports on a solo exhibition at Berry Campbell, New York, dedicated to overlooked American painter Louisa Chase (1951–2016). Titled "Louisa Chase: The Eighties," the show is the largest and most comprehensive survey of her work in 25 years and the first since the gallery began representing her estate. It features a curated selection of works on paper from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, highlighting Chase's unique synthesis of abstraction and representation that positioned her between Neo-Expressionism and the New Image movement. Chase, who studied under Philip Guston at Yale, had major early success including solo shows at Robert Miller Gallery, appearances at the Whitney Biennial (1981, 1983), and inclusion in the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1984), with works held by MoMA, the Met, the National Gallery of Art, and the Walker Art Center.

The Defining Themes of Today’s Biennial Art

The article analyzes the defining themes and styles of the past four years in the international biennial circuit, based on a survey of 130 biennials. It identifies a core group of artists who appeared most frequently, including Ali Eyal, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Carolina Caycedo, Kapwani Kiwanga, and Tuan Andrew Nguyen, among others. Many of these artists are also featured in the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The piece categorizes their work under two broad themes: "Post-Colonial Post-Conceptualism," which involves poetic engagement with colonial history and artifacts, and "Families and Networks," where artists explore personal and political family histories.

‘I paint the kind of people I’m attracted to’: Hernan Bas on hiding from the world in Venice

Cuban-American artist Hernan Bas has been living in Venice, painting tourists while reflecting on the ironies of mass tourism and his own status as a visitor. His new series, titled "The Visitors," comprises 30 paintings that will be exhibited at Ca' Pesaro, Venice's modern art museum, alongside the Venice Biennale. The works range from bleak to satirical, depicting young white men in tourist scenarios—such as a grinning youth at Holi in India or another cradling a koala—and explore themes of alienation, innocence, and the uncanny. Bas, who is gay, acknowledges that his subjects are often the kind of people he is attracted to, and he emphasizes narrative as central to his practice, aiming to be a conceptual artist who happens to paint.

10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This May

Hyperallergic's May guide for Los Angeles highlights ten art shows, including a posthumous exhibition of Celeste Dupuy-Spencer's paintings at Jeffrey Deitch, Yoko Ono's first solo museum show in Southern California at The Broad, and a survey of Richard Mayhew's abstract landscapes at Karma. Other notable shows include Joe Brainard's matchbook miniatures at Chris Sharp Gallery, Gordon Parks's musical output at the California African American Museum, and a two-venue presentation of Magdalena Suarez Frimkess's ceramics and drawings.

10 Exhibitions to See in Upstate New York This May

Hyperallergic's guide highlights 10 exhibitions opening in Upstate New York this May, including the Hessel Museum of Art's annual showcase of thesis exhibitions by graduates of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, featuring works by Alice Aycock, Arthur Jafa, Mike Kelley, and Ana Mendieta. Other notable shows include Daniele Frazier's camera-less photography at September Gallery, Onnis Luque's investigation into resource exploitation at Art Omi, and Japanese woodblock prints at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. The guide also covers Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo's mixed-media works and Maria Auxiliadora da Silva's paintings.

10 Ausstellungen, die Sie zum Gallery Weekend nicht verpassen sollten

The article highlights ten must-see exhibitions during Berlin's Gallery Weekend, curated by the editorial team of Monopol magazine. Featured shows include Jiyoon Chung's installation "Dead End" at Anton Janizewski, which explores perception and anxiety through subtle triggers; Giorgio Griffa's retrospective at Walter Storms Galerie, showcasing his poetic abstract paintings on un-stretched linen; Walid Raad's "Like a Rubber Rung on a Ladder" at Galerie Thomas Schulte, referencing the Lebanese Civil War with a crashed VW Beetle and graffiti; and Thomas Demand's exhibition at Sprüth Magers, where his photographs printed on copper plates reflect on current events like the Gaza war and climate change.

10 exhibitions you can still see after Berlin's Gallery Weekend

10 Ausstellungen, die Sie auch nach dem Gallery Weekend in Berlin sehen können

The Monopol editorial team highlights ten standout exhibitions from Berlin's Gallery Weekend, including Jiyoon Chung's installation "Dead End" at Anton Janizewski, which uses subtle triggers to explore perception and anxiety; Giorgio Griffa's retrospective at Walter Storms Galerie, featuring his poetic abstract paintings on raw linen; Walid Raad's narrative-driven show at Galerie Thomas Schulte, referencing the Lebanese civil war with a crashed VW Beetle and bomb graffiti; and Thomas Demand's new works at Sprüth Magers, printed on copper plates to create a shimmering aura. The article provides a curated tour of these shows, many of which remain open after the weekend.

Guadalupe Rosales Brings East LA to Venice for the Biennale

Guadalupe Rosales, a Los Angeles–based artist known for her Instagram archive @veteranas_and_rucas documenting 1990s Chicana life, has been selected to participate in the main exhibition of the 2026 Venice Biennale, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. In an interview with ARTnews, Rosales discusses how her invitation came about after Kouoh's passing, her evolving practice that includes photography, murals, and installations, and the emotional depth of her archival work—balancing joy and grief, as exemplified by her cousin's death certificate. She will also publish a memoir titled *East of the River* in September.

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.

The Egyptian Modernist Inji Efflatoun gains international exposure with new biographical collection

The article profiles Egyptian Modernist artist and activist Inji Efflatoun, detailing her life from her birth in 1924 in Cairo to her political activism, arrest in 1959, and four-and-a-half-year imprisonment. It highlights a new biographical collection, *The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun*, which includes her translated memoirs and critical essays, offering a comprehensive view of her art and revolutionary life.

8 Must-See Art Exhibitions in Tokyo This May

This article, published by Tokyo Weekender, lists eight art exhibitions opening in Tokyo during May. The featured shows span a range of venues and styles, including a solo presentation by Yayoi Kusama at the National Art Center, a group show of contemporary Japanese photography at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, and an installation by teamLab at their borderless digital art museum. Other highlights include a retrospective of the Gutai movement at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and a showcase of emerging artists at the Mori Art Museum.

At MAXXI L'Aquila, exhibition dedicated to Ai Weiwei recounts catastrophes and memory

From April 29 to September 6, 2026, MAXXI L'Aquila presents "AI WEIWEI: Aftershock," an exhibition curated by Tim Marlow featuring approximately seventy works by Chinese artist, architect, and activist Ai Weiwei. The show spans his entire career, focusing on themes of earthquakes, wars, political repression, and memory. The centerpiece is the installation "Straight" (2009–2012), made from 150 tons of steel rods recovered from schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, displayed across three rooms. The exhibition is held at Palazzo Ardinghelli, a Baroque building that houses MAXXI L'Aquila and was itself restored after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, creating a dialogue between the works and the building's history of recovery.

LACMA Responds to Anger Over Pedro Reyes Sculpture, New Louvre President Reveals His Plans, and More: Morning Links for May 6, 2026

A sculpture at LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries has sparked controversy. Pedro Reyes's large stone work *Tlali* (2026) resembles a 2021 project for Mexico City that was canceled because Reyes is not Indigenous. A letter signed by nearly 80 people accuses LACMA of lacking "memory" for displaying the piece. LACMA defends the work as "entirely different in purpose and meaning," and director Michael Govan suggested the figure may be androgynous, not female. Separately, new Louvre president Christophe Leribault outlined plans to reduce contemporary art projects and acquisition spending, while a jury will select an architect for the Louvre-Nouvelle Renaissance renovation. Other news includes Georg Baselitz's final exhibition at Fondazione Giorgio Cini, a planned strike at the Venice Biennale's Israel Pavilion, and the Lucas Museum's first "Star Wars" exhibition.

The Met’s Costume Institute Needs an Art History Lesson

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition, "Costume Art," pairs fashion with artworks from the Met's collection, including ancient Greek statues and Andy Warhol screenprints, alongside garments by designers from Charles James to CFGNY. Curator Andrew Bolton aims to suggest that fashion can expand understanding of art, but the show's juxtapositions often feel vague and sloppy, with only occasional resonant pairings like a Jean Paul Gaultier shirt and Joe Brainard drawing linked by queer artist lineage.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces $23M. Gift from Top 200 Collectors Jennifer Rubio and Stewart Butterfield

Jennifer Rubio and Stewart Butterfield, both listed on ARTnews's Top 200 Collectors, have pledged $23 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rubio, founder of Away, and Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr and Slack, made the donation just two months after Rubio became a Met trustee. The gift will fund the museum's internship program, ensuring all undergraduate and graduate internships are fully paid positions, building on a previous $5 million gift from Adrienne Arsht.

Brandywine Conservancy and Museum picks architects for $100m expansion project

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, has selected Kengo Kuma & Associates, along with landscape architects Field Operations and Schwartz Silver Architects, to lead a $100 million expansion project. The plan includes a new 40,000-square-foot museum building, renovation of the existing 19th-century grist mill museum, and a ten-mile loop of walking trails connecting the two buildings to the historic studios of artists N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2025, with completion in autumn 2029. Nearly half the funding has been raised, including contributions from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art and Wyeth family members.

Arthur Jafa: ‘America has always been a demonic state. And we love it’

The article covers the exhibition "Helter Skelter: Richard Prince and Arthur Jafa" at the Prada Foundation’s Ca’ Corner della Regina in Venice, curated by Nancy Spector. It brings together over 50 works by Prince and Jafa in a call-and-response format, exploring themes of appropriation, race, violence, and American identity. The show pairs Prince’s iconic rephotographed images and Jafa’s video work "Love Is The Message, The Message is Death" (2016) with new and existing pieces, including Jafa’s "Big Wheel II" and Prince’s "Blasting Mats."

Filippo Lippi painting—once the centrepiece of Florence's Palazzo Medici Chapel—to undergo two-year restoration

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin has announced a two-year restoration of Filippo Lippi’s 1459 painting *The Adoration in the Forest*, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the Schoof’schen Stiftung. The tempera-on-panel work, a centerpiece of the Palazzo Medici chapel in Florence, is now in the Gemäldegalerie’s collection. Conservators discovered that a 19th-century varnish layer is degrading the paint, causing it to lift off the panel, particularly affecting the Virgin’s blue cloak, skin, and gold leaf areas. The treatment aims to remove the varnish while stabilizing the paint layer, and may also reveal Lippi’s use of oil paint alongside egg tempera.

Museum acquisitions round-up: a rediscovered work by Rosso Fiorentino, a circular painting by Salman Toor and 16th-century gold goblet

The Art Newspaper reports on three notable museum acquisitions: a rediscovered Renaissance painting by Rosso Fiorentino acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a 16th-century silver gilt goblet by Hans Rappolt I acquired by the Siegerland Museum, and a circular painting by Salman Toor donated to the National Gallery of Art. The Rosso Fiorentino work, 'Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist' (1512/13), was thought lost for centuries and was identified after cleaning revealed a hidden figure. The goblet, made around 1581, is a rare example of Nuremberg goldsmithing and was supported by a €75,000 donation from the German Federal Cultural Foundation. The Toor painting, 'Wandering Beggars' (2022), is the first by the artist to enter the NGA's collection, donated by the Bronzini-Vender family.