Picasso Painting That Cost S. I. Newhouse a MoMA Board Position Heads to Christie’s for $55 M.

Christie’s New York will auction 16 masterpieces from the collection of late Condé Nast magnate S. I. Newhouse on May 18, with an estimated total of $450 million. The highlight is Pablo Picasso’s Cubist painting *Homme à la guitare* (1913), estimated at $35–55 million, which Newhouse acquired in 2000 for $10 million after MoMA sold it from its collection. Newhouse, then a MoMA board member, violated museum policy by buying the work and subsequently resigned from the board.

Why did Van Gogh sign his paintings as ‘Vincent’?

Art historian Julia Engelmayer has published a study titled 'Simply ‘Vincent’: An Overview of Van Gogh’s Signed Paintings' on the Van Gogh Museum's website, analyzing why and how Vincent van Gogh signed his works. The research reveals that only 133 of his 840 surviving paintings bear a signature (16%), an unusually low proportion for a 19th-century artist. Van Gogh signed with only his first name due to strained family relations and the difficulty non-Dutch speakers had pronouncing his surname. The study also highlights his predominant use of red signatures (on 75 works), angled signatures on over half of his signed pieces, and a distinctive horseshoe-shaped 'V' used during his Arles period.

The 16 Most Expensive Artworks Ever Sold at Auction

ARTnews published an updated list of the 16 most expensive artworks ever sold at auction, highlighting recent record-breaking sales such as Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* (1914–16), which fetched over $236.4 million at Sotheby's, and Jackson Pollock's *Number 7A, 1948*, which sold for well above its $100 million estimate at Christie's in May 2026 from the S. I. Newhouse collection. The article traces the history of top auction prices, including Vincent van Gogh's *Orchard with Cypresses* (1888), which sold for $117 million during the Paul Allen sale at Christie's in November 2022, part of a record $1.5 billion single-evening auction.

Consignors Revealed: The Mystery Sellers Behind the $1.8 Billion May Auctions

Sotheby's kicked off the May auction season with a $433 million sale, including an 11-lot group from the estate of late dealer Bob Mnuchin, led by an $86 million Mark Rothko painting. The three major auction houses are offering $1.8 billion worth of art by low estimate, a 50% increase from last year, driven by consignments from estates of key figures like Mnuchin, philanthropist Agnes Gund, and dealer Marian Goodman. Christie's will stage a sale from publisher S.I. Newhouse's collection expected to bring $450 million, potentially setting records for Jackson Pollock and Constantin Brancusi. The article reveals that many top sellers are anonymous, but unmasked names include the Dennison family and French collector John Sayegh-Belchatowski.

A tale of two Annas: Van Gogh’s favourite Whistler painting stars in Tate Britain show

Tate Britain will open a major exhibition titled *James McNeill Whistler* on 21 May, running through 27 September, before traveling to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (16 October–10 January 2027) under the subtitle *Dandy and Disrupter*. The show’s centerpiece is Whistler’s iconic *Arrangement in Grey and Black no. 1* (commonly known as *Portrait of the Painter's Mother*), on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and displayed in its original frame designed by the artist. The article explores Vincent van Gogh’s admiration for the painting—he wrote to his sister Wil in 1889 that it reminded him of their own mother—and traces the work’s connections to the Goupil gallery (later Boussod & Valadon), where both Vincent and his brother Theo worked.

This month’s blockbuster auctions in New York could bring upwards of $2.5bn

This month's May auctions in New York are projected to generate between $1.8 billion and $2.6 billion across Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, and Bonhams. Major highlights include the estates of legendary dealers Marian Goodman and Robert Mnuchin, with top lots such as Gerhard Richter's *Kerze (Candle)* (est. $35m–$50m) at Christie's and Mark Rothko's *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (est. $70m–$100m) at Sotheby's. Additional offerings include works from the late S.I. Newhouse collection, featuring Jackson Pollock's *Number 7A* and Constantin Brâncuși's *Danaïde*, each estimated at $100m, as well as pieces from the collections of Agnes Gund and Marilyn Arison.

One of Van Gogh’s greatest watercolours could achieve a record price

Sotheby's New York will auction Vincent van Gogh's watercolor *The Harvest in Provence* (June 1888) on May 19, with an estimate of $25–35 million. The work, larger and more elaborate than a related watercolor at Harvard, was created just days before van Gogh's celebrated oil painting of the same scene. It is signed and titled, suggesting the artist considered it a finished piece rather than a mere study, and he sent it to his brother Theo before completing the oil version.

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.

Rare early photographs reveal lost sites featured in Van Gogh’s paintings

Two rare photographic albums taken by art critic Gustave Coquiot in 1922 have been acquired by the newly established Van Gogh Academy in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, and are now on display. The images capture many of the sites in Arles that Vincent van Gogh painted in the late 1880s, including the Yellow House, the Langlois Bridge, and the Rhône riverbank. Several of these locations were later destroyed during World War II or by modernization, making Coquiot's photographs valuable historical records of Van Gogh's original subjects.

15 Van Gogh Masterpieces that Set Auction Records

ARTnews published a listicle on May 19, 2026, detailing 15 Van Gogh masterpieces that set auction records, from *Landscape with Rising Sun* (1985) to *Portrait of Dr. Gachet* (1990). The article recounts landmark sales including *Sunflowers* ($39.9 million in 1987), *Irises* ($53.9 million in 1987), and *Portrait of Dr. Gachet* ($82.5 million in 1990), highlighting the buyers, provenance, and institutional homes such as the Sompo Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

David Hockney : tout savoir sur la superstar de la peinture exposée à la galerie Lelong

Beaux Arts Magazine has published a comprehensive dossier on David Hockney, coinciding with his current exhibition at Galerie Lelong in Paris. The article presents a multi-episode series covering the British artist's career, from his iconic "Pool Paintings" like *A Bigger Splash* (1967) to his recent works created on iPad in Normandy. It highlights his ongoing exhibitions at multiple venues, including a major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou starting June 21, a dialogue with Matisse at the Musée Matisse in Nice, a show at the Van Gogh Museum, and a loan from Tate Britain to the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence. The piece also explores Hockney's fascination with Old Masters, his use of technology, and his enduring status as a pop art and hyperrealist superstar.

What ‘Costume Art’ Gets Wrong About the Body

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition, featuring nearly 400 objects, pairs garments and ensembles with Western figurative artworks from the museum's permanent collection in dyadic, associative displays. The show eschews traditional art-historical timelines and context in favor of visual and thematic parallels—comparing, for example, Rudi Gernreich's Pubikini with an Egyptian statuette, or Ying Gao's sound-responsive dress with a David Hockney drawing. The exhibition is sponsored by Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

Allison Katz’s Playful Paintings Hide Serious Ideas in Plain Sight

Painter Allison Katz, who lived in New York for seven years but hasn't shown in Manhattan for over a decade, returns with a major debut solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth's Wooster Street location. Titled "Outta the Bag," the show features a suite of New York–centric paintings, including depictions of the city's museums and skyscrapers, as well as an ironically small "Big Apple" composition, marking a significant moment for the mid-career artist.

Landmark Works Lead Cowley Abbott’s Sale of Indigenous and International Art

Cowley Abbott is staging its major spring sale, 'Select Masterworks of Indigenous and International Art,' at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto on May 27. The auction features a diverse range of works, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Paysage du Midi' (ca. 1900), Vincent van Gogh's 'Homme à la Pipe: Portrait du Docteur Gachet' (1890), Philip Russell Goodwin's 'Camping – Canadian Club' (1916), Emily Carr's 'Wind' (1936), and Lawren Stewart Harris's 'Above Coldwell Bay, North Shore, Lake Superior (Lake Superior Sketch XV)' (1925), with estimates ranging from CA$150,000 to CA$700,000.

Behind Christie’s $1 B. Blockbuster Result, the Market Still Looks Uneven

Christie’s New York achieved over $1 billion in sales during a two-part evening auction, led by Jackson Pollock’s *Number 7A, 1948* which sold for $181.2 million. The sale, the first billion-dollar night since the Paul G. Allen collection in 2022, also saw records for other works and active bidding from a small group of buyers, including dealer Jeffrey Deitch. However, the blockbuster results mask a more cautious middle market, where works priced between $100,000 and $1 million remain slow to sell.

Still in 'war mode': Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art reopens with exhibitions about conflict

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) has reopened with a weekly rotating post-ceasefire program called 'Art and War,' following weeks of bombardment that forced its closure and prompted emergency efforts to protect its collection. The program began with works by American Pop artists James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Indiana, and this week features three works from Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman series, focusing on Spain. Museum director Reza Dabirinezhad described the challenges of safeguarding the collection during US-Israeli strikes, including removing 80% of the oil from Noriyuki Haraguchi's installation 'Matter and Mind' (1977) to prevent fire risk, and protecting outdoor sculptures by Henry Moore, René Magritte, and Max Bill.

First Look: See What’s Inside the Met Gala’s “Costume Art” Exhibition

Vanity Fair art and style correspondents Nate Freeman and José Criales-Unzueta preview the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition "Costume Art," which inaugurates the Condé M. Nast Galleries. The exhibition arrives amid controversy over the Met Gala being sponsored by Lauren Sánchez Bezos and Jeff Bezos, leading to boycott calls and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani skipping the event. Despite this, Anna Wintour and Met director Max Hollein announced the gala raised a record $42 million. Head curator Andrew Bolton presents fashion as art, pairing garments with artworks like Warhol's Skull and Sarah Lucas's Nud Cycladic 9.

With new Costume Institute exhibition and galleries, the Met makes powerful statement about fashion's place in museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a major new Costume Institute exhibition titled "Costume Art," which runs until January 10, 2027, in the newly designed Condé M. Nast Galleries by Peterson Rich Office. Curated by Andrew Bolton with Stephanie Kramer, Ayaka Iida, and Emily Mushaben, the show features nearly 400 objects from all 19 of the museum's collecting departments, organized around body typologies such as the "Classical Body" and "Aging Body." The exhibition marks a significant institutional commitment to fashion as a central curatorial concern, with the 12,000-square-foot space adjacent to the Great Hall.

We are in danger of losing our sense of community

"Wir drohen das Gespür für die Gemeinschaft zu verlieren"

Christophe Cherix, the new director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, discusses his first months in the role, emphasizing museums as "safe social places" in an era of anxiety and screen-induced isolation. He advocates for collective vision-building with staff and defends the MoMA's independence against political pressure in Trump-era America. Separately, critic Paco Barragán argues in The Observer that biennials are in a structural crisis of repetition, tracing their history from instruments of national soft power to a "Global Neo-Liberal Biennial" system that co-opts diversity without changing its core logic. He introduces the concept of the "vibe-ennial," where discourse is replaced by atmosphere and critique by affect. Meanwhile, longtime Bonn museum director Stephan Berg critiques the boom in immersive art experiences like "Van Gogh – The Immersive Experience," calling them a "surrogate reality" tailored to the Instagram age that destroys the integrity of original works. Artforum reconstructs late-1960s debates on art criticism, focusing on Barbara Rose's challenge to formalists like Clement Greenberg and Rosalind Krauss, arguing that art must engage with societal conflicts such as Black Power and war resistance.

art venice biennale gallery exhibition guide

Cultured magazine has published a guide to art exhibitions during the Venice Biennale, highlighting several major shows across the city. Featured exhibitions include "If All Time Is Eternally Present" at Palazzo Nervi-Scattolin with works by Tai Shani, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, and Kandis Williams; "Michael Armitage: The Promise of Change" at Palazzo Grassi; "Amoako Boafo: It doesn’t have to always make sense" at Palazzo Grimani; "Transforming Energy" by Marina Abramović at Gallerie dell’Accademia; and "Helter Skelter" by Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince at Fondazione Prada. The guide provides details on dates, locations, and curatorial themes for each show.

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.

'V' from 'Hockney's Alphabet' , 1991

This article is a sales listing for David Hockney's limited-edition lithograph 'V' from the 1991 portfolio 'Hockney's Alphabet', offered by Baldwin gallery for £1,850. The work is signed by the artist and editor, comes with a certificate of authenticity, and is printed on Exhibition Fine Art Cartridge paper in an edition of 250. The listing includes a biography of Hockney, noting his iconic California pool paintings, his record-breaking $90.3 million sale at Christie's in 2018, and his representation by major international galleries.

Sotheby’s May Auctions: Rothko’s $100M Masterpiece Headlines

Sotheby's is holding its most ambitious May auction series in New York, headlined by Mark Rothko's monumental painting *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (1957), estimated at $70–100 million. The sales include a dedicated auction for the collection of legendary dealer and collector Robert Mnuchin, valued at over $130 million, featuring works by Rothko, Franz Kline, and Jeff Koons. Other highlights include Jean-Michel Basquiat's *Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)* (1983), estimated at over $45 million, and Willem de Kooning's *Untitled III* (1975), making its auction debut with a $25–35 million estimate. The series spans Modern and Contemporary art, with additional works by Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.

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.

New York auctions, James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain, Edvard Munch—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three major stories: the spring auction results in New York, which saw record prices for works by Jackson Pollock, Constantin Brancusi, and Mark Rothko; the opening of the largest James McNeill Whistler exhibition in Europe in over 30 years at Tate Britain in London, which will later travel to the Van Gogh Museum and The Mesdag Collection in the Netherlands; and a feature on Edvard Munch's 1922 frieze from the Freia Chocolate Factory, currently on loan to the Munch museum in Oslo for the exhibition 'Edvard Munch and the Chocolate Factory.'

Sotheby’s Pulls In $303.9 M. in a Solid but Subdued Modern Evening Sale Led by $48 M. Matisse

Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction on Tuesday night achieved $303.9 million in total sales, with 98% of lots sold, led by Henri Matisse’s *La Chaise lorraine* at $48.4 million—the second-highest price ever for a Matisse painting at auction. Other top lots included Pablo Picasso’s *Arlequin (Buste)* (1909), which sold for $42.6 million, and works by Alberto Giacometti and Vincent van Gogh. However, bidding was often cautious, with few prolonged contests, and the total fell below the presale high estimate of $320.2 million, reflecting a tempered market atmosphere.

Sotheby’s Hauls In $304 Million at Modern Art Auction, as Market Momentum Continues

Sotheby’s achieved $303.9 million in its modern art auction in New York, led by Henri Matisse’s *La Chaise Lorraine* (circa 1919) at $48.4 million and Pablo Picasso’s *Arlequin (Buste)* at $42.6 million. The sale included an auction record for a painted bottle, René Magritte’s *Femme-bouteille* (1955), which sold for $974,000. The auction featured conservatively priced material from smaller estates, with a 97.6% sell-through rate and a 63% increase over a similar sale last year.

Printmaking skills of Manet, Van Gogh and more celebrated in Bath show

An exhibition titled *Beyond Impressionism* at the Holburne Museum in Bath showcases over 50 prints by artists such as Édouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, James McNeill Whistler, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pablo Picasso. The show, running from 23 May to 13 September, highlights how impressionist, post-impressionist, and cubist painters revived printmaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, elevating it from commercial reproduction to a respected artistic medium. Works are drawn from public collections including the Courtauld Gallery and Ashmolean, as well as private collections.

The Met Teams Up with Band-Aid on Art-Themed Adhesive Bandages

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Band-Aid have reunited for a second collaboration, releasing a new set of art-themed adhesive bandages in 2026. The bandages feature details from three flower paintings in the Met's collection: Claude Monet's *Water Lilies* (1919), Vincent van Gogh's *Irises* (1890), and Odilon Redon's *Bouquet of Flowers* (ca. 1900–1905). The 50-count assortment includes small, medium, and large fabric bandages packed in a collectible tin, available exclusively at Target for $7.29. The 2025 Hokusai collection, which sold out quickly, is also back on sale at major retailers.

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.