‘America’s Mona Lisa’: how chance, genius and cheap paint made the masterpiece Whistler’s Mother

James Abbott McNeill Whistler's iconic painting of his mother, Anna, known as 'Whistler’s Mother' or 'Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1', is returning to London for the first time in nearly two generations as part of a Tate Britain exhibition. The article recounts how the portrait was painted in 1871 in Whistler's Chelsea studio during a low point in his career, using cheap paint and a used canvas after a young sitter canceled. The author, who restored the painting for the Musée d'Orsay, details the work's accidental genesis, Whistler's radical minimalist aesthetic, and the initial critical confusion it caused.

Russia's 2026 Venice Biennale Will Not Open to the Public, and Other News.

Russia's pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will be closed to the public for nearly the entire run of the exhibition (May 9–November 22), with access limited to a brief preview period for press and invited guests. Instead of physical access, visitors will experience the pavilion's project—titled 'The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky'—via video documentation displayed on exterior screens. The arrangement is widely seen as a compromise shaped by international sanctions and political backlash over Russia's return following its absence after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In other news, Matthieu Blazy unveiled his first Chanel cruise collection in Biarritz; San Francisco appointed Matthew Goudeau as its first-ever executive director of arts and culture; the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art received a $490 million construction grant from Diriyah Company; and online auction sales grew 8 percent in 2025, generating $423.9 million.

William Turnbull Origins Exhibition Spotlights Elemental Forms in New York

William Turnbull Origins, an exhibition dedicated to the Scottish-born artist William Turnbull, is now on view in New York, highlighting his early and mid-career works that emphasize elemental, abstract forms. The show focuses on his sculptures and paintings from the 1940s through the 1960s, drawing attention to his exploration of primitive and organic shapes.

Exhibition | William Turnbull, 'Origins (1946–1959)' at Karma, Chelsea, New York, United States

Scottish artist William Turnbull (1922–2012) is the subject of a new exhibition titled 'Origins (1946–1959)' at Karma gallery in Chelsea, New York. The show surveys Turnbull's early career, focusing on the transformative period after World War II when he moved between Surrealist Paris and Abstract Expressionist New York. It features key works such as the sculpture 'Horse' (1946), inspired by a Parthenon marble at the British Museum, and 'Playground (Game)' (1949), reflecting his interest in phenomenology and movement. The exhibition traces his evolution from an illustrator and Slade School student to a sculptor and painter who engaged elemental forms like the horse, standing figure, and human head.

« Caïn » de Fernand Cormon : aux origines de la conscience humaine ?

Beaux Arts Magazine analyzes Fernand Cormon's monumental 1880 painting "Caïn," currently held at the Musée d'Orsay. The article describes the scene: a prehistoric, weary clan trudges through a desert, led by a haggard patriarch, with a tired mother on a litter and hunters carrying game. Cormon's work is presented as the antithesis of classical triumph, evoking a melancholic, post-traumatic atmosphere. The painting is linked to the biblical story of Cain, who killed his brother Abel and was condemned to exile, and is accompanied by verses from Victor Hugo's poem "Conscience."

Museums in England largely oppose proposal to charge admission for foreign tourists

The UK government is exploring a proposal to charge admission fees for foreign tourists at national museums in England, sparking widespread opposition from cultural institutions. The idea was raised in a review of Arts Council England by Labour peer Margaret Hodge, who suggested digital ID checks could enable such a system, though she noted it would bring in less than £10 million and may not be worth the hassle. Museums like the Royal Armouries have condemned the plan as undermining universal access and projecting a lack of generosity, while the Cultural Policy Unit warns it would be logistically complex and ideologically problematic given the colonial origins of many collections.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 to Lenny Henry: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

The Guardian's weekly entertainment guide highlights two major art exhibitions opening in May 2025: 'Aleksandra Kasuba' at Tate St Ives (2 May to 4 October) and 'Zurbarán' at the National Gallery, London (2 May to 23 August). The Kasuba show is the first UK presentation of the Lithuanian American artist's proto-immersive 'spatial environments,' featuring early paintings, mosaics, and installations focused on utopian social harmony. The Zurbarán exhibition presents a blockbuster survey of the 17th-century Spanish Baroque master, known for his intense religious subjects and dramatic chiaroscuro.

A Poetic and Material Institutional Critique: Gala Porras-Kim at kurimanzutto and the Venice Biennale

UNA CRÍTICA INSTITUCIONAL POÉTICA Y MATERIAL: GALA PORRAS-KIM EN KURIMANZUTTO Y LA BIENAL DE VENECIA

Colombian artist Gala Porras-Kim presents her first solo exhibition at kurimanzutto gallery in Mexico City, titled "Espacios del futuro replican los del pasado" (2026), alongside her participation in the 2026 Venice Biennale. The show critically examines how museum conservation protocols transform objects by detaching them from their original material, ritual, and spiritual contexts. Central to the exhibition is "The Motion of an Alluvial Record" (2024), a greenhouse that recreates the humidity and temperature of Yucatecan mangroves, allowing clay and sediment to shift continuously, resisting the linear, stratified time of Western archives and evoking cyclical Maya cosmologies. Another series, "Uprooted" (2026), reproduces fragments of looted Teotihuacan murals from Techinantitla, now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, reinstalling them near the floor to restore their original architectural scale and orientation.

14 artists having major museum moments in 2026

The article previews 14 artists who will have major museum exhibitions in 2026, highlighting key shows such as a long-awaited US retrospective of Marcel Duchamp, a Calder exhibition in Paris, and a Rothko show in Florence. It also details concurrent auction highlights at Christie's New York, including works from the S.I. Newhouse collection by Brancusi, Lichtenstein, Matisse, and Pollock. Specific exhibitions covered include "Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Whitney Museum, and multiple European shows for Constantin Brancusi's 150th anniversary.

Inside Frieze New York 2026: The Best Booths and Standout Moments of the Art Fair

Frieze New York 2026 opened at the Shed in Hudson Yards, drawing a record crowd of collectors, artists, and celebrities on preview day. The fair featured over 65 international galleries, with a strong presence of Latin American artists and a notable shift toward textile-based works, sculpture, and paper pieces. Highlights included the Ruinart Art Lounge with preparatory studies by Tadashi Kawamata, and the Focus section spotlighting emerging galleries. Notable attendees included Leonardo DiCaprio, gallerist Almine Rech, and Sotheby's senior vice president Ralph DeLuca.

A Milano una grande mostra a Palazzo Reale racconta i Macchiaioli (e l’Italia del loro tempo)

A major exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan explores the Macchiaioli, the 19th-century Italian painting movement often seen as a precursor to Impressionism. The show brings together works by key figures such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Giuseppe Abbati, and Odoardo Borrani, alongside tangential artists like Giovanni Boldini, Federico Faruffini, and Gerolamo Induno. It traces the movement's origins at Florence's Caffè Michelangiolo, its epicenter at Castiglioncello under patron Diego Martelli, and its evolution from the 1850s through the 1870s, when the group's democratic ideals and en plein air techniques challenged academic conventions.

London exhibition explores untold history of how homelessness was criminalised

A new exhibition titled "Criminal: The Untold History of Homelessness" opens at the Museum of Homelessness in London, exploring the origins of homelessness in the UK and how it has been criminalized. The exhibition challenges the typical focus on the 19th-century Vagrancy Act, instead tracing the "Homelessness Big Bang" to the early 1600s, when land enclosures, economic shifts, and colonial expansion began penalizing unhoused people. Staged in a meadow at Finsbury Park, the show features artists and activists including the anonymous graffiti artist 10 Foot, designer Matt Bonner, and poet Gemma Lees, with works such as 10 Foot's first sculpture "Fairie Newbuild"—a skip-shaped object made from palisade fencing containing a hawthorn tree.

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.

The Colorful History of the Van Gogh Museum and the Highlights You Must Not Miss

The article traces the history of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, from its origins in the efforts of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger—who preserved Vincent van Gogh's works after his death—to its official opening in 1973 by Queen Juliana. It describes the museum's location on Museum Square, its two-part building designed by Gerrit Rietveld and Kisho Kurokawa, and its role as a major tourist attraction that drew nearly two million visitors in 2024.

Three Venice shows everyone is talking about

The Korea Herald recommends three must-visit museum shows in Venice during the Venice Biennale. At Palazzo Grassi, the Pinault Collection presents "Michael Armitage. The Promise of Change," featuring the Kenya-born British painter's vivid works addressing sociopolitical tensions and migration. At Gallerie dell'Accademia, "Transforming Energy" by Marina Abramovic marks her 80th birthday, creating a dialogue between her performance art and Renaissance masterpieces. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection hosts "Peggy Guggenheim in London: The Making of a Collector," revisiting her formative years and her short-lived London gallery Guggenheim Jeune.

Paris exhibition celebrates the visionary world of Hilma af Klint, an artist ahead of her time

A major exhibition at Paris's Grand Palais presents Hilma af Klint's visionary abstract series "Paintings for the Temple" (1906–1915) for the first time in France. The show features works like "The Ten Largest" (1907), which predate the abstract art of Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich by several years. Curated by Pascal Rousseau, the exhibition highlights Af Klint's pioneering use of spirals, geometric forms, and spiritual themes, created in seclusion and long hidden from public view.

Future Fair Is a Big Artist Party

Future Fair, held at Chelsea Industrial in New York from May 13–16, 2026, brought together 69 exhibitors from nine countries. Unlike traditional art fairs with segmented booths, the fair emphasized interconnectedness and interpersonal connection, featuring artist-run booths and family-led presentations. Notable participants included Nanor Hakimian showing her brother Garo's paintings, Olivia Janna Genereaux exhibiting with her son Hans Silas Jovine, and artists Cloe Galasso, John Vitale, and Miles Ingrassia. The fair also highlighted its profit-sharing model, dedicating 15% of proceeds plus exhibitor donations to subsidize emerging galleries.

Discarded Things Alive Again: The Maeck Sculpture Foundation Grand Opening and Tour

The Maeck Sculpture Foundation opened in Burr Oak, Iowa, with a public tour led by artist Steven Maeck. The park features sculptures made from salvaged industrial materials like steel wheels and grain bins, transformed into balanced, lyrical forms. Maeck, who spent 25 years as an itinerant rug dealer before committing to sculpture full-time, described his work as modern sculpture rather than junkyard art, emphasizing form, rhythm, and spatial relationships over material origins.

Au musée de l’Image d’Épinal, les talents multiples de Frans Masereel, entre autres inventeur du roman graphique

The Musée de l'Image d'Épinal is presenting a comprehensive exhibition on Belgian artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), widely credited as the inventor of the graphic novel in 1918 with his wordless narratives composed of black-and-white woodcuts. The show, curated by Samuel Dégardin, brings together loans from major institutions and a private collection to reveal the full breadth of Masereel's practice, which spanned drawing, animation, painting, theater, ceramics, tapestry, and satirical press illustration. It highlights his pacifist activism during World War I, his collaborations with writers such as Stefan Zweig and Romain Rolland, and his humanist vision of a unified Europe.

The Founders of Open Restitution Africa (ORA) on Their New Open Data Platform

On March 31, the research initiative Open Restitution Africa (ORA) launched the ORA Open Data Platform, a database providing information on the restitution of African artifacts and ancestral remains. Developed over six years by ORA’s all-woman, pan-African team, the site uses case histories and AI-powered tools to offer practical insights into the return process, available in French and English. It presents 25 case histories spanning 200 years, using data visualizations, essays, and interactive tools to help individuals and communities develop their own restitution strategies. ARTnews interviewed founders Chao Tayiana Maina and Molemo Moiloa about the project's origins and goals.

S&M-inspired Greek Pavilion in Venice confronts its fascist chains

The Greek Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "Grecia" and conceived as a drag artist, presents an S&M-inspired installation by artist and architect Andreas Angelidakis. The immersive space features a red neon-lit floor, soft sculptures resembling beanbags, fragmented marble columns wrapped in chains, and souvenirs bearing images of queer artists and the late activist Zak Kostopoulos (Zackie Oh). The pavilion aims to deconstruct the idea of a fixed national identity, exploring themes of queerness, fascism, and historical trauma.

Trippy Film by British-Ethiopian Artist Theo Eshetu Hits the Venice Biennale

British-Ethiopian artist Theo Eshetu is presenting a new installation, *The Garden of the Broken-Hearted* (2026), at the Venice Biennale. The work features a live olive tree mounted on a rotating dais, with a video of the tree projected onto itself, marking a shift from his decades-long practice of multi-screen video installations. Eshetu discusses the project's origins in conversations with the late Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh, framing the tree as a space for mourning, human consciousness, and elemental storytelling.

The Collective Takeover

A coalition of seven Zurich-based artist-run collectives, led by Peter Baracchi and his nomadic platform 6½, has taken over the former Museum Haus Konstruktiv building in Zurich's Selnau district. The project, titled "Oceans Flow Upwards," occupies 1,200 square meters across five floors and expands into over 2,000 square meters by activating the cellar, offices, storage, shop, café, and rooftop. Participating collectives include Hotel Tiger, Die Diele, Papillarya, MATERIAL, volumes, and zwischentext. Baracchi, who previously worked at Haus Konstruktiv as a technician and photographer, initiated the takeover after the museum relocated to Areal Löwenbräukunst, securing temporary cultural use from the City of Zurich in March. Rather than dividing the space into separate zones, the exhibition presents a single, integrated show where artists were invited by the collectives, not selected by open call.

A Collection Built Through Exchange. “Gifts of Friendship” at the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź.

The Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź is opening an exhibition titled "Gifts of Friendship" on 15 May, featuring nearly 150 works donated to the museum between 2024 and 2026 by some 80 artists from dozens of countries. The exhibition, curated by Barbara Piwowarska, traces the museum's origins to the 1920s when avant-garde artists like Władysław Strzemiński and Katarzyna Kobro built the International Collection of Modern Art through artist-to-artist gifts, bypassing market logic. The current show responds to the institution's recent crisis by turning again to the artistic community for support, resulting in a wave of donations that reaffirm the museum's founding ethos.

FROM SÃO PAULO TO NEW YORK: THE MUSEUM OF ERRANCY OF ÉDOUARD GLISSANT

DE SÃO PAULO A NUEVA YORK: EL MUSEO DE LA ERRANCIA DE ÉDOUARD GLISSANT

The exhibition "La tierra, el fuego, el agua y los vientos: Por un Museo de la Errancia con Édouard Glissant" has traveled from the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo to the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) in New York, marking its first U.S. presentation. Curated by Manuela Moscoso with Marian Chudnovsky, and building on prior work by Ana Roman and Paulo Miyada, the show engages with the philosophy of Martinican poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant, particularly his concepts of errantry, Relation, opacity, and the Tout-Monde. It centers on Glissant's unrealized idea of a museum as a fluid, porous space that resists colonial frameworks and fixed origins, featuring works by artists such as Melvin Edwards, Gerardo Chávez, and Eduardo Zamora.

Dolce Vita is Over

Dolce Vita war gestern

Andrea Modica's new photobook "Italian Story" collects four decades of photographs taken in Italy, beginning with her first trip there in the late 1980s. Born in 1960 to a family with roots in Sicily and Naples, Modica received a Fulbright scholarship to travel to Sicily and photograph the origins of the Catholic imagery, gender roles, and family structures she experienced growing up in New York. The book, however, is not a documentary of her heritage; instead, it presents dreamlike, surreal images—motionless bodies in water, dead fish, figures behind mosquito nets, Madonna statues—that resist clear narrative or identity politics. Modica works with an 8x10 large-format analog camera and prints using the historic platinum-palladium process, giving the images a timeless, collaborative quality.

Nicht mal Engel sind frei von der Gewalt

Janiva Ellis presents a multifaceted exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel, exploring the history of violence in modernity through paintings that blend history painting, cartoon, and abstraction. Her works, including "Glint" and "Une nuit agitée," feature angels, hybrid creatures, and dystopian landscapes, questioning the origins and functions of violence in art history and society.

Hilma af Klint en 2 minutes

Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) is profiled as a pioneering Swedish abstract artist who created a vast body of visionary, large-scale abstract paintings decades before Kandinsky, yet kept them secret during her lifetime. The article traces her life from a childhood steeped in science and nature, through her studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, to her dual artistic practice: conventional landscapes and portraits for income, and radically abstract works guided by spiritualist séances and theosophical beliefs. She founded the group "The Five" with fellow female artists, and from 1906 onward produced the monumental series "Paintings for the Temple" (193 works), convinced she was channeling a higher force. She stipulated in her will that her abstract works not be revealed until 20 years after her death, and they were only rediscovered in the late 1960s.

Maxwell Mustardo Sculpts Ancient Ornamentation in Brilliant Glazed Forms

Maxwell Mustardo creates ceramic vessels that blend ancient Greek forms like amphorae, kraters, and kylix with organic, fungal-like surface textures in fluorescent oranges, pinks, and greens. Based in New Jersey, he works as studio manager at the former residence of artist Toshiko Takaezu, and his practice focuses on pushing classical ornamentation—such as gadrooning—back into its natural origins, blurring the line between cultural artifact and living growth.

Kayem and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Showcase Role of Hot Dogs in American History

Kayem, a New England-based hot dog brand, has partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) to create an exhibition exploring the cultural significance of hot dogs in American history. The collaboration uses artworks and artifacts from the museum's collection to trace the hot dog's journey from its European origins to its status as a quintessential American food, highlighting its presence at events like baseball games, state fairs, and presidential inaugurations.