France Passes Landmark Restitution Law for Looted Art

France has passed a landmark restitution law for looted art, marking a significant shift in the country's approach to addressing Nazi-era confiscations and colonial-era acquisitions. The legislation establishes a legal framework for returning artworks and cultural objects to their rightful owners or heirs, streamlining a process that previously required case-by-case parliamentary approval. This law is expected to accelerate the return of thousands of items held in French museums and public collections.

Think you have strong opinions about the 2026 Archibald prize? Check out the portraits that didn’t make the cut | Dee Jefferson

The article explores the annual ritual of the Archibald Prize, Australia's most famous portrait competition, through the lens of the 2026 edition. The author, Dee Jefferson, describes the predictable cycle of public enthusiasm, critical disdain, and media coverage that surrounds the prize, noting recurring trends like brown suits, oversized heads, and the dominance of male artists painting male subjects. The piece highlights specific works in this year's exhibition, including a portrait of musician Keli Holiday by Sindy Sinn that the author finds disorienting, and contrasts the main exhibition with the Salon des Refusés, the showcase of rejected entries, which includes a provocative portrait of Patricia Piccinini by Wendy Sharpe featuring exaggerated anatomy.

What You Should Definitely Avoid in Venice

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The article humorously critiques the Venice Biennale, highlighting several disappointments. It describes a Japanese pavilion installation by Ei Arakawa-Nash featuring baby dolls for diaper-changing, which a critic dismisses as a male artist over-romanticizing parenthood. Other flops include long queues for the German and Austrian pavilions, underwhelming main exhibition "In Minor Keys," and annoying self-promotional performers outside venues. The piece also laments the presence of loud American collectors and donors who dominate the event.

Look Inside the Art-Filled Home of New York City's Cultural Crusaders

This profile explores the Upper West Side residence of Crystal McCrary McGuire and Raymond J. McGuire, a power couple deeply embedded in New York City’s cultural and financial sectors. Their home serves as a private gallery for a significant collection of African American art, featuring masterworks by Norman Lewis, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Elizabeth Catlett, and Romare Bearden. The couple’s shared passion for collecting began independently, sparked by their formative years studying in France, and has since evolved into a joint mission to preserve and live alongside Black artistic heritage.

RocioSantaCruz : Ouka Leele : Barcelona 1978-1980

RocioSantaCruz gallery in Barcelona presents the exhibition "Ouka Leele : Barcelona 1978-1980," showcasing previously unseen photographs and texts by the late Spanish photographer Ouka Leele (Bárbara Allende Gil de Biedma). The show focuses on her formative years in Barcelona from 1978 to 1980, including her seminal series "Peluquería" and other works from that period, drawn from over 600 negatives and contact sheets studied by her daughter María Rosenfeldt, head of the Ouka Leele archive. The exhibition also features unpublished poems and texts from the magazine Ajoblanco, highlighting the artist's deep connection to the Catalan capital.

Richard Lewer Wins 2026 Archibald Prize

The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) named Richard Lewer the winner of the 2026 Archibald Prize on May 8. Lewer, a New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based artist and six-time finalist, won the AU$100,000 prize for his life-size portrait of Pitjantjatjara elder, senior artist, and traditional healer Iluwanti Ken. The jury of AGNSW trustees selected the work unanimously from 59 finalists culled from 1,034 entries. Additional prizes were awarded: Gaypalani Waṉambi won the Wynne Prize for The Waṉambi tree, Lucy Culliton won the Sulman Prize for Toolah, artist model, and Sean Layh won the Packing Room Prize for his portrait of actor Jacob Collins.

8 New Art Exhibitions You Cannot Miss This May

This May, galleries across India are presenting a diverse array of new art exhibitions, ranging from postcolonial installations and forgotten print histories to deeply personal paintings and sculptural storytelling. Highlights include Sri Lankan artist Shanaka Kulathunga's solo show 'Silent Stories' at Bikaner House, exploring memory and displacement; the group exhibition 'In the Telling' at Chemould Prescott Road in Mumbai, focusing on narrative-making and fragmented memory; and 'An Ancient Ballad' at Emami Art in Kolkata, drawing from mythology and folklore. Other notable shows include a retrospective of modernist A. A. Raiba at Thapar Gallery, the politically charged 'The Architecture Of The Void' at Gallery Dotwalk, and Navjot Altaf's 'Waste Archives as Landscape' at CSMVS museum in Mumbai.

Peterson Rich Office Designed The Met’s New Condé M. Nast Galleries and its Inaugural Costume Institute Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened its new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The galleries, which debuted with the Costume Institute's exhibition "Costume Art," transform a former interior courtyard and gift shop into five sequential rooms, including named spaces for Thom Browne, Michael Kors, and Lance LePere. PRO also designed the exhibition itself, which pairs 200 garments and accessories with 200 artworks from the Met's collection, creating a dialogue between fashion and fine art.

Across Venice, Artists Defy Censorship to Mourn and Memorialize Gaza

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled “In Minor Keys,” features numerous artworks that mourn and memorialize the destruction of Gaza, despite censorship pressures. The main exhibition opens with a poem by slain Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, and includes works by artists such as Theo Eshetu, Mohammed Joha, Manuel Mathieu, and Avi Mograbi that directly or indirectly address the conflict. Outside the official Biennale, South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s performance series “Elegy” was censored by her country’s culture minister after she proposed a version honoring murdered Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, leading her to present the work independently at a church in Venice.

Best in Show: 6 Standouts at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Artnet News writers highlight six standout exhibitions at the 2026 Venice Biennale, which opens to the public on May 9. Among the picks are Ei Arakawa-Nash's interactive installation "Grass Babies, Moon Babies" at the Japan Pavilion, featuring baby dolls and diaper-changing stations; Florentina Holzinger's provocative performance "Seaworld Venice" at the Austria Pavilion, involving nude performers, jet skis, and recycled wastewater; and Dayanita Singh's photographic exhibition "Archivio" at the State Archives of Venice, presenting intimate black-and-white images arranged as freestanding columns.

Frieze New York will Open With 68 Galleries from 26 Countries, and Other News.

Frieze New York will open on May 13, 2026, at The Shed with 68 galleries from 26 countries, marking its 15th edition. The fair emphasizes Central and South American galleries, supported by new committee members Fátima González and Omayra Alvarado, alongside blue-chip exhibitors like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace. In other news, Phillips set a watch auction record with its $96.3 million Geneva sale, the Met Gala generated $1.56 billion in media value, and ICFF announced a November 2027 edition. Tiffany & Co. and the CFDA launched a new jewelry design scholarship.

C’è un libro che racconta il sorprendente rapporto storico tra arte, biciclette e ciclismo

Antonio Colombo, the Italian entrepreneur behind Columbus and Cinelli, has published a memoir titled "A.C. Confidential. La mia vita tra arte, bicicletta e design" (Ediciclo Editore, 2026, co-written with Giacomo Pellizzari). The book traces his family's engineering legacy—his father Angelo Luigi Colombo supplied steel tubes to Bauhaus designer Marcel Breuer in 1933—and Colombo's own career fusing technical precision with artistic vision. He acquired Cinelli in 1978, collaborated with artists like Keith Haring, Alessandro Mendini, and Barry McGee, and introduced groundbreaking bicycle models including the Rampichino mountain bike (1985) and the Laser, which won the Compasso d'Oro design award in 1991. The narrative also covers his friendships with artists Mario Schifano (who designed Tour de France jerseys) and his role in the Red Hook Criterium fixed-gear race.

MFA's Nude Exhibition Challenges Art History's Gender Norms

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has opened a new exhibition that challenges traditional gender norms in art history, featuring a dozen artists who disrupt the conventional nude. The show includes Xandra Ibarra's performance "Nude Laughing," where she paraded naked through the museum's European galleries, and works by Betty Tompkins, whose "Fuck Paintings" and "Women Words Painting" series confront misogyny and the male gaze. The exhibition juxtaposes these contemporary pieces with historical works like Jean-Léon Gérôme's "Moorish Bath" to highlight entrenched racial and gender hierarchies in art.

À Marseille, la nouvelle saison culturelle Méditerranée s’ouvre avec deux semaines de festivités

France's new cultural season, "Saison Méditerranée," launches on May 15, 2026, in Marseille with two weeks of festivities running through May 24. Organized by the Institut français and announced by President Emmanuel Macron in 2023, it is the first season to focus on an entire region—the Mediterranean and its 21 bordering countries—rather than a single nation. The program includes exhibitions at venues like the [mac], the Vieille Charité, and the Friche la Belle de Mai, featuring artists such as Louisa Babari, Adrien Vescovi, Zineb Sedira, Mona Benyamin, and Abdessamad El Montassir. Highlights also include the inauguration of the transformed Citadelle de Marseille with works by Saber Zammouri and Hugo Mir-Valette, a performance by Mohamed El Khatib at the Mucem, and a concert by Sofiane Saidi and Camélia Jordana. The season continues across France until October, with a major project by Mohamed Bourouissa at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Who’s The Next Obsession? 12 European Collectors Reveal How They Discover New Talent

Cultured magazine asked 12 European collectors how they discover new talent, timed to the 61st Venice Biennale. Collectors like Nicole Saikalis Bay, Amélie du Chalard, Belma Gaudio, and Laurent Asscher share their personal approaches—ranging from emotional resonance and dialogue with existing works to long-term obsession with an artist before acquiring a piece. The responses reveal a diversity of methods, from instinct-driven buying to conceptual and technical evaluation.

Inuk artist launches first solo exhibition in U.K. gallery

Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson has opened her first solo exhibition, titled *Nuliaminik Neqilik*, at Mimosa House gallery in London. The show draws on a Greenlandic tale of a cannibal and his seventh wife, Masaannaaq, as a metaphor for Inuit resistance against colonial powers. It features beadwork, photography, film, vocal performances, and enlarged replicas of historic Inuit objects from the British Museum. The exhibition opened with an immersive performance at the British Museum and was curated by fellow Inuk artist Taqrilik Partridge. After its London run, the show will travel to the Nuuk Art Museum in Greenland and then to Ottawa.

Of This Earth: Transforming Culture and Country Through First Nations Ceramics

The National Gallery of Australia presents 'Of This Earth: Transforming Culture and Country Through First Nations Ceramics,' an exhibition featuring over thirty works by twenty-eight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, including Thancoupie, Billy Bain, Nicole Foreshew, and Janet Fieldhouse. The show highlights diverse ceramic techniques and narratives drawn from the National Collection, emphasizing cultural continuity and contemporary expression.

Dallas Museum of Art Announces 2026 Awards to Artists Grantees

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has named 21 recipients for its 2026 Awards to Artists, selected from a record 160 applicants. The grants total nearly $42,000 and are divided into three categories: the Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Fund (up to $1,500 for artists aged 15–25 in a five-state region), the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund (up to $3,500 for Texas artists under 30), and the Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant (up to $6,000 for professional Texas artists over 30). All awardees are current Texas residents, with 16 based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A public celebration will be held at the DMA on May 19, 2026.

Historic Strike Disrupts Biennale as Thousands March in Venice

On May 8, 2026, artists and cultural workers staged the first strike in the 131-year history of the Venice Biennale, disrupting the pre-opening of the international exhibition. At least 27 of the 100 national pavilions were partially or fully shut down, and thousands marched through Venice to the Arsenale, which was barricaded by Italian riot police. The strike, organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) and local activist groups, was a 24-hour action for Palestine and workers' rights, with some artists altering or draping their works in the main exhibition, "In Minor Keys."

Mario Ceroli on display in Florence: forty works at Tornabuoni Arte

The Tornabuoni Arte gallery in Florence is hosting "Mario Ceroli. Myth and Matter," an anthological exhibition featuring forty sculptures and installations by the Roman artist Mario Ceroli. The show traces his career from the 1960s to 2000, including his iconic wooden silhouettes, works inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, and pieces referencing Greek myth and the Riace Bronzes. The exhibition runs until May 29 at the gallery's Lungarno Benvenuto Cellini 3 location.

Casabianca is the name of the new art space to visit in Como

Si chiama Casabianca il nuovo spazio per l’arte da visitare a Como

A new art space called Casabianca has opened in Como, Italy, housed in a 1930s building designed by Piero Ponci. The project is spearheaded by hoteliers Paolo and Antonella De Santis, who have transformed the former luxury villa and bank into a domestic-style exhibition venue for their contemporary art collection. The space features works by artists such as Giulio Paolini, Stefano Arienti, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, Marina Abramovic, and Joseph Kosuth, with no labels or didactics to preserve the feel of a private home.

A Roma una mostra celebra il leggendario scenografo e costumista Dante Ferretti

A new exhibition titled "Dante Ferretti. Con i miei occhi" has opened at the Musei di San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome, celebrating the legendary Italian set designer and costume designer Dante Ferretti. Curated by Raffaele Curi, the show runs until July 19, 2026, and features a collection of Ferretti's sketches, charcoal drawings, and collages that served as the foundational visual ideas for films by directors including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Martin Scorsese, Federico Fellini, and Tim Burton. The exhibition presents these preparatory works not merely as production tools but as autonomous works of art, tracing Ferretti's visual genealogy from Renaissance painters like Piero della Francesca and Caravaggio to contemporary cinema.

Brittany Invites Itself to the Venice Biennale: An Unusual Pavilion Dedicated to Breton Creation Moors in the Lagoon

La Bretagne s’invite à la Biennale de Venise : un insolite pavillon dédié à la création bretonne s’est amarré dans la lagune

For the 61st Venice Biennale, a group of artists and art figures from Brittany have created an unofficial "Breton pavilion" in the form of a spectacular sailboat moored on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The boat, designed by artist Joachim Monvoisin, features contributions from Morgane Tschiember (who sewed a sail with a black cross, the 11th-century Breton flag) and master glassmaker Andrew Erdos (who made the navigation lights). Performances during the opening week included readings by Breton authors and traditional music concerts with binious and bombardes on the Via Garibaldi.

Animated Bodies

Animierte Körper

Latefa Wiersch presents her exhibition "Atlas Studios" at the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, featuring unsettling, puppet-like sculptures that resemble film sets. The works explore themes of bodily helplessness, imperfection, and geopolitical displacement, drawing on her earlier project "Hannibal" at the Dortmunder Kunstverein, which addressed post-migrant German realities and the demolition of a housing complex. The new installation references the Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco, and the history of cinema, with figures made from rags and nylon stockings that appear as actors or set workers.

‘Master Artist AA Raiba: A Unilateral Eclectic’: An art exhibition

An exhibition titled 'Master Artist AA Raiba: A Unilateral Eclectic' is currently on view at Thapar Gallery in New Delhi, showcasing works by Abdul Aziz Raiba from the 1950s and 1960s. The retrospective highlights Raiba’s diverse practice, including murals, paintings on jute, reverse glass paintings, serigraphs, calligraphy, and sketches, and features landscape works from his Kashmir sojourn between 1957 and 1959.

Minnesota Marine Art Museum celebrates two new collections with weekend events

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona is hosting a "Spring New Look Weekend" from Friday through Sunday to celebrate two new collections. The first, "Myths & Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective," features 43 paintings by 32 artists created outdoors across the state, focusing on folklore, oral traditions, and waterways. The second, "Gordon Coons: Gidibaajimomin / We Tell Stories," showcases 18 new works by Ojibwa artist Gordon Coons, along with earlier pieces and examples of Woodland Style art from Norval Morrisseau and Sam Ash. The weekend includes plein air painting demonstrations, a printmaking activity with Coons, meet-the-artist tours, and an evening social.

Photo Gallery: The artists behind UTRGV’s senior art exhibition ‘sonder’

The article is a photo gallery showcasing the senior art exhibition 'sonder' at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). It features the work of graduating art students, highlighting their individual projects and creative processes as part of their final academic showcase.

Photographer Valerio Minato strikes again. The extraordinary shot of the red moon aligned with the Milan skyline: 'I waited for 5 years'

Il fotografo Valerio Minato colpisce ancora. Lo straordinario scatto della luna rossa allineata con lo skyline di Milano: “ho atteso per 5 anni”

Italian photographer Valerio Minato captured a striking image on May 2, 2026, showing a giant red moon aligned with Milan's skyline, including the Porta Garibaldi skyscrapers and the Duomo with its Madonnina. The photograph, which went viral, was the result of a five-year pursuit involving astronomical calculations, multiple location scouting across northwestern Italy, and precise timing to align the moon with the city's landmarks. A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 crossing the lunar disk added an unexpected cinematic element.

‘Layers of Us’ show examines culture through art

Mothership Studios is hosting 'Layers of Us,' an art exhibition featuring nine artists from Texas State University: Mia Acosta, Maleah Bradford, Adrianna Garcia, Danny Ibarra Jr., Karli Jackson, Lucas Kraft, Elizabeth Olivera, Lori Rodriguez, and Hannah South. The show opens with a reception on April 30 from 7-10 p.m., followed by a brunch reception on May 1 from 9-11 a.m. The artists explore the theme of 'culture' through video, painting, photography, sculpture, and multimedia, encouraging viewers to reflect on their own perceptions and the communities around them.