10 Shows Around Venice Not to Miss During the Biennale

ARTnews has published a guide to 10 exhibitions in Venice worth seeing during the 2026 Biennale, beyond the central show "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh and the national pavilions. Highlights include a major survey of Lee Ufan at the San Marco Art Centre (SMAC Venice), organized by the Dia Art Foundation and curated by Jessica Morgan; "Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince" at Fondazione Prada, curated by Nancy Spector; and "Strange Rules" at Palazzo Diedo, conceived by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Mat Dryhurst and Holly Herndon, introducing the concept of "Protocol Art." Other venues include the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Pinault Collection, Berggruen Arts & Culture, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and a three-night-only performance at Teatro Goldoni.

gloria klein anat ebgi crisis management

Gloria Klein, a late New York-based painter known for anxious acrylic arrangements and methodical mathematical systems, is the subject of a new solo exhibition titled "Crisis Management" opening January 9, 2026, at Anat Ebgi New York. The show presents many of her later paintings for the first time, and coincides with the announcement that Anat Ebgi now represents her estate. Klein, born in Brooklyn in 1936, was a queer artist who participated in the feminist publication HERESIES, created portraits of critics Arlene Raven and Lucy Lippard, curated the 1977 exhibition "10 Downtown: 10 Years" at PS1, and was a member of the Criss Cross art cooperative. Despite a recent sale of her work for $30,000 at Frieze Los Angeles in 2023, she remains relatively unknown.

These Are the Exhibitions to See During Frieze Los Angeles 2026

Frieze Los Angeles 2026 has sparked a city-wide surge of artistic activity, characterized by large-scale artist-led group shows and the creative reclamation of non-traditional spaces. Key highlights include the transformation of a massive abandoned 99 Cents Only store into a chaotic exhibition featuring over 120 artists, a sprawling video art installation across six floors of a historic vaudeville theater, and major collection surveys focusing on influential women and artists of color.

The must-see exhibitions during Art Basel Paris

Numéro magazine lists the must-see exhibitions during Art Basel Paris art week. Highlights include a major minimal art exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection featuring Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, and Lygia Pape; a historic Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton with nearly 300 works; the Fondation Cartier's new space near the Louvre designed by Jean Nouvel, showcasing artists like Ron Mueck and Junya Ishigami; and a carte blanche exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo curated by Naomi Beckwith exploring the influence of French theory on American art.

When Gagosian Goes So Do His Galleries, How Hockney’s Swimmer Swam Away, and Green Shoots in the Gallery World

Kenny Schachter's article opens with a broad critique of the political climate under the Trump administration, linking it to a chilling effect on free speech and democracy, before pivoting to the art world. He notes the absence of a U.S. representative for the 61st Venice Biennale, mentions Marilyn Minter's protest piece, and references David Hockney's *Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)* at Christie's. The piece also touches on market negativity, the resilience of art, and skepticism about the Middle East as a market savior.

Sotheby’s $304M Modern Evening Auction Confirms the Market Has Found Its Footing

Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction on May 19 achieved $304 million with a 98% sell-through rate across 45 lots, more than doubling the total from the equivalent sale in November. The auction was anchored by fresh-to-market masterpieces, including Henri Matisse's "La Chaise Lorraine" from the Barbier-Müller collection, which sold for $48.4 million—the second-highest price for a Matisse painting at auction. Other highlights included works from the Enrico Donati collection, which generated a combined $58.9 million, and Pablo Picasso's "Arlequin (Buste)" (1909) selling for $42.6 million. The sale contributed to a running combined total of $839.6 million for Sotheby's marquee sales, following strong results from the Mnuchin collection and Contemporary Day Auction.

London Saw Few Auction Shakeups as Guarantees Steadied the Market

Christie’s marquee evening sales in London achieved a combined total of £197.5 million ($263.8 million), characterized by a steady, prearranged atmosphere rather than high-stakes drama. The auction house relied heavily on financial safety nets, with a 52 percent year-over-year increase in third-party guarantees ensuring the sale of 21 key lots. While the event featured a theatrical unveiling of a new rostrum designed by Sir Jony Ive, the actual bidding remained largely conservative and focused on blue-chip stability.

Luca De Michelis, chief executive of Marsilio Arte, on his favourite spots in Venice beyond the Biennale

Luca De Michelis, CEO of Marsilio Arte, shares his personal guide to Venice beyond the Biennale, highlighting historic sites, shopping, dining, and cultural venues. His recommendations include Palazzo Grimani, Micheluzzi Glass, the Gardens of the Church of the Redeemer on Giudecca, Antiche Carampane restaurant, the newly opened Dries Van Noten Foundation, San Giorgio Maggiore island, Codroma for spritz, and the upcoming exhibition 'Strange Rules' at Palazzo Diedo’s Berggruen Arts & Culture.

psychedelics and art ryan mcginniss

Artist Ryan McGinness has published a new art book titled 'Trip Advisor: Notes From over 25 Years of Psychedelic Voyages.' The book combines images of his paintings, studio photos, and personal diaries chronicling his experiences with psilocybin mushrooms since 1999, alongside essays reflecting on their significance.

wet paint in the wild li hei di debut solo show

Artist Li Hei Di documents her first solo show with Pace Gallery, titled "Tongues of Flare," in Hong Kong through a disposable camera photo diary for Artnet News's "Wet Paint in the Wild" column. The 28-year-old London-based artist shares behind-the-scenes moments from her opening at Pace HK, including dinner with friends, visits to Tai Kwun Museum and M+, and an after party at an ice-cream shop where a custom flavor named Plum_Black_Field was created. The show is set to travel to the Pond Society during Shanghai Art Week in the fall.

7 unique hotel experiences around the world for inspired travelers

7 expériences hôtelières inédites à travers le monde pour voyageurs inspirés

Beaux Arts Magazine presents a curated selection of seven unique hotel experiences worldwide, designed for art-loving travelers. The featured properties include a converted convent in Nice (Hôtel du Couvent, opened summer 2024), a Louis XIII-era castle near Fontainebleau (Domaine de Fleury), a five-star hotel in Amboise (Relais d'Amboise) with artworks by Bernar Venet, and a mountain inn in Sils-Maria, Switzerland (Chesa Marchetta) operated by art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Each destination blends historic architecture, exceptional landscapes, and artistic elements to offer immersive stays.

12 exciting fashion and jewelry exhibitions that will make you travel this summer

12 expos de mode et de bijoux passionnantes qui vous feront voyager cet été

Beaux Arts Magazine presents a curated selection of twelve fashion and jewelry exhibitions across France, Paris, and Vienna, running through summer 2026. Highlights include a retrospective of Mossi Traoré at the Mucem in Marseille, a showcase of Thai haute couture at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and "Africa Fashion" at the Musée du quai Branly, celebrating African design from the independence era. Other featured exhibitions cover Christian Dior, Gianni Versace, Daniel Brush, Provençal costumes, and anniversaries of glittering fashion houses.

The Art Market Year in Review

The art market experienced a turbulent 2025, beginning with a 12% decline in sales from 2024, following a 3% drop in 2023, as reported by the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. Major auction houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips saw average sales fall 6% in the first half of the year. However, the market rebounded by autumn, with strong sales at London and Paris art fairs and a 15% year-on-year increase in auction sales at the three main houses by December, according to Pi-eX. Key events included Sotheby’s failed sale of Alberto Giacometti’s *Grand tête mince* in May, followed by a record-breaking $236 million sale of Gustav Klimt’s *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* in November, and a $31.4 million record for François-Xavier Lalanne’s *Hippopotame Bar*.

Highlights from Art Basel 2025

Art Basel returned to Basel for its 55th edition in June 2025, featuring 289 top international galleries from 42 countries and territories. The fair attracted 88,000 visitors, including collectors, curators, and representatives from over 250 museums and foundations. Highlights included Arturo Kameya's storytelling installation at GRIMM in the Statements section and Lothar Hempel's series of painted aluminum works at Anton Kern Gallery in the Kabinett sector, alongside large-scale installations in Unlimited and public projects in Parcours.

The Langmatt Museum in Baden Reopens Its Doors

Le Musée Langmatt de Baden rouvre ses portes

The Langmatt Museum in Baden, Switzerland, has reopened after a two-year, €21 million renovation of its Art Nouveau villa, which required urgent structural intervention. The project was co-financed by the city of Baden and the canton of Aargau, with the city contributing CHF 10 million. To secure the museum's endowment fund, the Langmatt Foundation controversially sold three Paul Cézanne masterpieces at Christie's New York in November 2023 for a total of CHF 40.32 million, sparking ethical debate in museum circles. The renovation covered all 75 rooms, including new fire protection, an elevator, accessibility upgrades, a glass pavilion, and restoration of the historic park, while preserving the villa's character.

art juliana halpert frieze los angeles 2026

Juliana Halpert, writing for Cultured's Critics' Table, offers a local perspective on Los Angeles's busy February art scene, contrasting the global art-fair circuit with four distinctive local exhibitions. She visits Tanya Brodsky's "Stories of the City" at Campbell Hall school in Studio City, where Brodsky's sculptures engage with Italo Calvino's *Invisible Cities*; the Julia Stoschek Foundation; Amanda Ross-Ho's show; and Rita McBride's exhibition. Halpert uses Calvino's metaphor of Eutropia—a city whose inhabitants cycle through identical suburbs—to critique the repetitive nature of art fairs like Art Basel and Frieze, which travel from city to city with little variation.

8 Must-See Exhibitions This Black History Month

Galleries and museums worldwide are presenting a series of exhibitions to mark Black History Month, highlighting the contributions of Black and African diasporic artists. These shows explore themes of identity, history, and liberation, ranging from the vibrant works of AFRICOBRA co-founder Wadsworth Jarrell to Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu's intimate portraits of her Igbo community, and a major photography exhibition at MoMA.

The galleries on Cork Street join forces for group exhibition celebrating 100 years as a landmark art destination.

Fifteen galleries on London's historic Cork Street have united for a first-of-its-kind group exhibition titled "Fear Gives Wings To Courage" to mark the street's centennial as a landmark art destination. Curated by Tarini Malik, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Royal Academy of Arts, the exhibition unfolds in three parts: an outdoor banners commission, presentations within each participating gallery from 11 to 25 July 2025, and a special catalogue issue launching during Frieze London 2025. The title references Jean Cocteau's 1938 painting of the same name, which caused controversy when shown at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery Guggenheim Jeune on Cork Street in 1938 and was confiscated by British customs.

CONTEMPORARY ART Day Sale on 6 December at 2pm - Christie's

Christie’s Paris has announced two major contemporary art auctions scheduled for late 2023, consisting of a live sale on December 6 and an online sale running from November 28 to December 8. The auctions feature over 200 lots with a combined global estimate of €8.5 million to €12.3 million, highlighted by two previously unseen paintings by Pierre Soulages and works by Jean Dubuffet and Georges Mathieu. A significant portion of the online sale is dedicated to "A Lifetime Collection," a prestigious private Parisian collection featuring works by David Hockney, Sol LeWitt, and Robert Combas.

Henry Moore's King and Queen leads Christie's 20th/21st Century London sales

Christie’s London evening sales achieved a combined total of £197.5 million ($263.8 million) on March 5, 2026, representing a 52 percent increase year-on-year. The night was headlined by Henry Moore’s monumental bronze sculpture 'King and Queen', which sold for a record-breaking £26.3 million after an eight-minute bidding war. The event also debuted a new auction rostrum designed by Sir Jony Ive’s creative collective, LoveFrom, marking the house's 260th anniversary.

Barbados's slavery museum and memorial faces major delays

Barbados's Heritage District at the Newton Enslaved Burial Ground, a major project including a memorial, national museum, archives, and cultural complex, is facing significant construction delays more than four years after its 2021 announcement. The site, one of the largest known burial grounds of enslaved Africans in the Western Hemisphere, is being developed under the Road (Reclaiming Our Atlantic Destiny) Programme led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. While a temporary pavilion for the National Performing Arts Centre opened in August 2025, the overall completion—initially slated for 2024—has been pushed back due to expanded archival digitization, supply-chain disruptions, and a fire at the Barbados Archives Department in June 2024. The memorial, designed by Adjaye Associates, is conceived as a landscape intervention using teak sourced from Ghana.

dar kuen wu taiwan digital art

The article examines the rise of Taiwanese contemporary art on the international stage, focusing on its growing prominence in digital and technological art. It traces the evolution of digital art in Taiwan through three phases: video art in the 1990s with pioneers like Wang Jun-Jieh and Yuan Goang-Ming, digital media experimentation in the 2000s driven by the tech sector, and a recent phase of internationalization and interdisciplinary integration fueled by the semiconductor industry and government support. Key factors include Taiwan's hardware industry, cultural liberalization after the lifting of martial law in 1987, and sustained policy support from institutions like the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF), the Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB), and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA).

The Italian artist who sails from the Island of Elba to Saint Helena: talking about power and making a film

L’artista italiano che parte dall’Isola d’Elba in barca a vela per raggiungere Sant’Elena: si parla di potere e si gira un film

Italian artist Luca Vitone (born Genoa, 1964) has launched a project titled "Pro Tempore," which involves a two-month sailing journey from the Island of Elba—Napoleon Bonaparte's first place of exile—to the remote island of Saint Helena, where Napoleon died in exile. The voyage, aboard the boat Adriatica, includes four intermediate stops (Balearic Islands, Algeciras, Canary Islands, Cape Verde) and is funded by the 14th edition of the Italian Council grant, in partnership with the Fondazione Oelle. The project explores the concept of temporary power and uses Napoleon's biography and the sea as metaphors for control and instability.

Inside Youssef Nabil’s Landmark Musée d’Orsay Exhibition

Egyptian artist Youssef Nabil makes history as the first Arab artist invited to show at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, with his landmark exhibition 'To Dream Again.' The show features his hand-painted silver gelatin prints that blend cinema, memory, and identity, and marks the first time the museum has invited an artist working primarily with photography to engage with its collection. The exhibition is deeply personal, tracing Nabil's journey from a 19-year-old rejected by art academies in Cairo to a globally recognized artist, and includes a dialogue with Pierre Puvis de Chavannes's painting 'Le Rêve,' which inspired a self-portrait Nabil created in 2021.

A dreamscape in violet: Zao Wou-Ki’s "27.01.83" sells for US$2.3m at China Guardian Hong Kong

China Guardian Hong Kong's 2025 Autumn Auctions achieved approximately HK$70 million (US$8.9 million) in its Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art Sale on 8 October. The top lot was Zao Wou-Ki's abstract canvas *27.01.83* (1983), which sold for HK$17.7 million (US$2.3 million), more than doubling its low estimate. The second-highest result was Li Chen's bronze sculpture *Dragon-Riding Buddha* (2001), which fetched nearly HK$11.15 million (US$1.4 million). The sale recorded an 85% sell-through rate across 99 lots.

barbra kruger to unveil new installation on ukrainian passenger train

Artist Barbara Kruger has created a new typographic installation, *Untitled (Another Again)*, for the exterior of a Ukrainian Railways Intercity train. The work will be unveiled on May 1 before the train's maiden voyage from Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi to Darnytsia Station, with a future route spanning Ukraine including stops in Lviv, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk. Commissioned by the nonprofit RIBBON International in collaboration with Ukrzaliznytsia, the text appears in Ukrainian and English, reflecting Kruger's signature style of bold, critical messaging.

2 art exhibits in Woolwich, Portland illuminate in more ways than one - Portland Press Herald

Two solo exhibitions by artists Josefina Auslender and Billy Gerard Frank are on view in Woolwich and Portland, Maine, through mid-May. Auslender's "La Chimera de Oro (The Golden Chimera)" at Sarah Bouchard gallery features new ink-on-paper drawings exploring themes of artistic truth and the seductive danger of commercial success, while Frank's show at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D) addresses the legacy of slavery through multimedia installations.

19 New Exhibits Coming to the Smithsonian Museums in 2026

The Smithsonian Institution has announced 19 new exhibitions opening across its museums in 2026, including shows at the African American History and Culture Museum, African Art Museum, Air and Space Museum, American Art Museum, American History Museum, and Asian Art Museum. Highlights include Nick Cave's immersive installation "Mammoth" at the American Art Museum, a photography survey of the U.S. Bicentennial, and a major reopening of the Air and Space Museum's final seven galleries after eight years of renovations. Several exhibitions tie into the nation's 250th anniversary, while others explore LGBTQ+ African art, HBCU collections, salsa music history, and contemporary water-themed paintings by Hiroshi Senju and Bingyi.

In the bag: Sotheby’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week finds success with Birkins and bling

Sotheby’s inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi (2-5 December) achieved a total of $133.4m across five live auctions held on a beachfront stage. The sale featured luxury items including a Hermès Birkin Voyageur owned by Jane Birkin ($2.9m), a 31.68-carat pink diamond called The Desert Rose ($8.8m), and a Patek Philippe watch set that became the second most valuable watch sold in Sotheby’s history ($11.9m). No art was offered, but the auction house sold 50 items privately, including the world’s largest fancy deep green diamond. The sell-through rate was strong, with only one piece of real estate and a couple of cars unsold, outperforming Sotheby’s earlier Saudi Arabia sale.

Powerhouse Museum builds ‘tower to stars’ for $18 million opening show

The Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta is constructing a six-storey tower inside its largest exhibition hall for an $18 million opening show titled "Task Eternal," set for September 2026. The exhibition explores humanity's fascination with stars, flight, and space, featuring 290 loans from international institutions including the British Museum and NASA, as well as Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg's spacesuit on public display for the first time. Designed by Beijing-based firm OPEN architecture, the show includes a steel tower inspired by Ted Chiang's novella "Tower of Babylon," with installations by Thai artist Torlarp Larpjaroensook and US artist James Turrell.