La quinquennale d’art contemporain

This issue of Le Journal des Arts (n°676, May 2, 2026) covers a range of contemporary art news in France and internationally. Headlines include a critical look at the Whitney Biennial's perceived neutrality, the increasing complexity of art taxation in 2025, an interview with Bourges mayor Yann Galut about scaling down the Bourges 2028 project, the unveiling of a contemporary gallery at Angers Cathedral, the abandonment of the Frigos artists' site in Paris, and a profile of auctioneer Hubert L'Huillier.

The Venice Biennale Reaches Full Capacity

La Biennale de Venise fait le plein

The Venice Biennale has reached full capacity, with all exhibition spaces and pavilions fully booked for the upcoming edition. The article reports on the overwhelming demand from participating countries and artists, highlighting the logistical challenges and the record number of national pavilions confirmed for the event.

Alain Passard's Art Recipe: Monet's Sublime 'Water Lilies' Invade the Plate

La recette d’art d’Alain Passard : les sublimes « Nymphéas » de Monet s’invitent dans l’assiette

Chef Alain Passard shares a recipe inspired by Claude Monet's "Nymphéas" (Water Lilies) series, connecting the painter's obsessive depictions of his Giverny water garden to a spring consommé decorated with flower petals. The article recounts Monet's move to Giverny in 1883, his creation of a water garden, and his decades-long focus on painting the pond's surface, light, and reflections—culminating in the immersive panoramic panels gifted to France in 1918 and now housed at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.

Photographs of Victorine Meurent who posed for 'Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe' discovered by chance in Grenoble

Les photos de Victorine Meurent qui ont servi de modèle au « Déjeuner sur l’herbe » retrouvées par hasard à Grenoble

A chance discovery at the Musée de Grenoble has unearthed two previously unknown photographs of Victorine Meurent, the favorite model of Édouard Manet, taken by Gaudenzio Marconi in 1863. Art historian Laure Boyer, while researching a different subject, recognized Meurent in the images and realized they directly served as studies for Manet's iconic paintings *Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe* and *Olympia*. The photographs show Meurent in poses nearly identical to the figures in both works, with only the orientation reversed in one case and facial expressions swapped between the two paintings.

« La Boule » de Villeroy & Boch : l’art explosif et pop du pique-nique

Villeroy & Boch, the historic German porcelain manufacturer founded in 1748, launched "La Boule" ("Die Kugel") in 1971—a stackable 19-piece porcelain dinner service for four that compacts into a colorful decorative sphere. Designed by Helen von Boch, the eighth-generation family director, the set was part of a pop-design wave and came in original color variants that have since become collectors' items. The article also highlights related designs like the "La Bomba" picnic cutlery set (1968) and melamine set (1972), both held by MoMA, and notes Villeroy & Boch's collaborations with artists such as Keith Haring, Paloma Picasso, and Luigi Colani.

Renowned Gallery Air de Paris Bankrupted, Closing This Week

Air de Paris, the Paris gallery known for its punk ethos and commitment to cutting-edge Conceptual art, will close this week after 36 years and more than 400 exhibitions, amid bankruptcy proceedings. Founded in Nice in 1990 by Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino, the gallery was named after Marcel Duchamp’s 50cc of Paris Air and became legendary for its inaugural show, “Les Ateliers du Paradise,” which featured artists living in the gallery and later influenced critic Nicolas Bourriaud’s theory of relational aesthetics. The gallery moved to Paris in 1994 and later to Romainville in 2019, showing artists such as Paul McCarthy, Raymond Pettibon, Liam Gillick, Pierre Huyghe, and Dorothy Iannone.

JR to cover Paris’s Pont Neuf in homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

French artist JR has begun installing a monumental trompe-l’oeil work titled *La Caverne du Pont Neuf* (2026) on Paris’s Pont Neuf, transforming the city’s oldest bridge into an immersive cave. The project reimagines the bridge as a limestone quarry cave, referencing the stone from which the bridge and many Parisian buildings were constructed. The work pays homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s iconic *The Pont Neuf Wrapped* (1985) and will be visible both day and night throughout the summer.

Bubbles, Algae, and Plastics Go Haute Couture in ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’

The Brooklyn Museum is opening a new edition of 'Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses,' building on a 2023 retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The exhibition features over 140 haute couture designs by Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, known for merging high-tech materials like laser-cut Plexiglas with biological elements such as glowing algae and plastic bubbles. It includes recent collections like 'Sympoiesis' and works by artists including Kenny Nguyen, Wim Delvoye, and Tara Donovan, alongside a soundscape by Salvador Breed. The show runs from May 16 to December 6.

Jack Goldstein “Pictures, Sounds and Movies” at Kunst Museum Winterthur

Jack Goldstein (1945–2003), a Canadian-born artist and CalArts graduate, is the subject of the exhibition "Pictures, Sounds and Movies" at Kunst Museum Winterthur. The show highlights his role in the Pictures Generation, a group that in the 1970s rejected traditional art forms by appropriating images from advertising, television, and popular culture, while Goldstein also explored the autonomy of Minimal Art objects.

Julia Heyward “Miracles in Reverse” at Kunstverein Nürnberg

Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft is presenting "Miracles in Reverse," the first institutional solo exhibition in Europe by American artist Julia Heyward (born 1949). Heyward was a central figure in New York's downtown art scene during the 1970s and 1980s, and her work anticipated major developments in art history. The exhibition showcases her distinctive practice developed over five decades.

The Best Booths at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, From Surrealist Fantasias to Afro-Brazilian Imaginings

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has returned to the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea, New York, featuring over 20 galleries from Africa and the diaspora, with a special focus on Brazil and Afro-Brazilian perspectives. The fair, running through Sunday, includes first-time participants from Lagos, São Paulo, Nassau, and New York, and highlights five standout booths: Sulette van der Merwe's surrealist paintings at Blond Contemporary, Modou Dieng Yacine's Senegalese wrestler-inspired works at 193 Gallery, Ekene Ijeoma's Black Forest Library community project, Rommulo Vieira Conceição's aluminum works at Aura, and the curated section "Brazil Beyond Brazil" featuring 10 artists selected by Igor Simões.

Frick Inks Three-Year Partnership with Louis Vuitton, with Support for Exhibitions and Free Fridays

The Frick Collection in New York has announced a three-year partnership with Louis Vuitton, under which the fashion house will sponsor three upcoming exhibitions, a curatorial research associate position, and a year of the museum's free First Fridays program. The partnership launches with Louis Vuitton's Cruise 2027 collection show, designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, held in the Frick's first-floor galleries on May 20. The sponsored exhibitions include “Siena: The Art of Bronze, 1450–1500” (fall 2025), “Painting with Fire: Susanne de Court and the Art of Enamel” (spring 2027), and a third exhibition on 19th-century paintings (late 2027). The Louis Vuitton Curatorial Research Associate will be Yifu Liu, currently a curatorial fellow at the Frick, who will research Asian porcelain and cross-cultural exchange between Europe and China.

‘Blood can either be a connective tissue or something used for division’: Jordan Eagles on his show a Pioneer Works

Jordan Eagles presents "Bases Loaded," a solo exhibition at Brooklyn's Pioneer Works that explores his lifelong fandom of the New York Mets through works made with donated blood and medical waste. The show features three bodies of work: large-scale reproductions of New York Post covers about the team, cast-resin sculptures of home plate filled with blood and family artifacts, and T-shirts given to blood donors at the Mets ballpark that Eagles cropped and splashed with blood from HIV-positive gay men, arranged by color into orange and grey factions.

Artist Alleges Hair Dress in the Met’s ‘Costume Art’ Show Copies Her Design

London-based artist Anouska Samms has accused the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and curator Andrew Bolton of displaying a garment in the spring 2026 exhibition "Costume Art" that she claims is a counterfeit of her collaborative work. Samms says the piece, titled Corpus Nervina 0.0, was inspired by a 2023 hair dress she co-created with fashion designer Yoav Hadari for his label Psycheangelic. Despite a contract giving Samms sole ownership of the hair-based textile's intellectual property, the museum's wall label credits only Hadari and states Samms's textile was not used. Samms's lawyer, Jon Sharples, says the museum initially expressed interest in acquiring the original dress but later shifted to a remake after Hadari reported water damage, then stalled entirely before the exhibition opened.

A Lucas Cranach the Elder Masterpiece Once Hung in Hitler’s Munich Apartment

A Lucas Cranach the Elder painting, *Cupid complaining to Venus* (1526–27), once hung in Adolf Hitler's Munich apartment, according to a report by the Art Newspaper. The work was identified in a 1940s photograph published in a 1978 furniture catalog and later in a 2023 article by art historian Birgit Schwarz, who confirmed Hitler's ownership via a 2006 discovery of an album at the Library of Congress. After World War II, American journalist Patricia Lochridge took the painting from a warehouse in Berchtesgaden and smuggled it to the US. The National Gallery in London acquired it in 1963 from A. Silberman Galleries, which falsely claimed it came from the 1909 auction buyer's heir; it had actually been purchased from Lochridge.

Famous Cranach painting spotted in rare photograph of Hitler’s apartment

A rare photograph from the early 1940s reveals that Lucas Cranach the Elder's painting *Cupid complaining to Venus* (1526-27), now a masterpiece in the National Gallery, London, once hung in Adolf Hitler's private Munich apartment. The image, previously published in Germany by provenance expert Birgit Schwarz, appears for the first time in an English-language publication. The painting was acquired by the National Gallery in 1963 from E. and A. Silberman Galleries in New York, which provided a false provenance. It had been taken from a warehouse of recovered art in 1945 by American journalist Patricia Lochridge, who smuggled it into the United States.

Is This a JMW Turner Self-Portrait? One Scholar Has Doubts

Art historian James Hamilton has published a paper in the JMW Turner Society’s magazine arguing that a famous portrait long believed to be a self-portrait by JMW Turner was actually painted by John Opie, a British portrait artist 14 years Turner’s senior. Hamilton notes that the work is an anomaly in Turner’s oeuvre, which is dominated by landscapes and seascapes, and that its dramatic lighting closely resembles Opie’s style. He suggests Opie may have given the painting to Turner, and that its authorship became misattributed after Turner’s death when his vast bequest of artworks was transferred to the nation and eventually housed at the Tate.

‘We can all coexist’: artist Es Devlin uses selfies to unite UK in portrait of a nation

Artist Es Devlin has created a new installation at the National Portrait Gallery in London titled 'A National Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery,' made in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture Lab. The work invites people across the UK to upload selfies, which are transformed into charcoal-and-chalk-style portraits using an AI model trained on Devlin's own hand-drawn works. These portraits then appear on a constantly evolving projected carousel, blending and dissolving into one another. Devlin, known for designing visual worlds for Beyoncé, Adele, and the London Olympics closing ceremony, describes the piece as a non-verbal space for coexistence amid national division.

Most famous image of JMW Turner not a self-portrait, says expert

Dr James Hamilton, a leading Turner expert, has claimed that the most famous portrait of JMW Turner—long believed to be a self-portrait and featured on the UK £20 banknote—is actually by the painter John Opie. Hamilton argues that the work, dated around 1799, was mistakenly included in the Turner Bequest after the artist's death in 1851, when his studio was in disarray and the attribution was never properly verified. He points to stylistic evidence, including Opie's characteristic use of dramatic light and shadow, and calls on Tate Britain to reattribute the painting.

Portrait looted by Nazis found in home of Dutch SS leader’s family

An artwork looted by the Nazis from the renowned Goudstikker collection has resurfaced in the home of descendants of Hendrik Seyffardt, a notorious Dutch SS collaborator. The painting, *Portrait of a Young Girl* by Toon Kelder, was discovered by art detective Arthur Brand after a family member contacted him, revealing that the piece had hung for decades in the home of Seyffardt’s granddaughter. Brand traced the painting to a 1940 auction where part of the looted Goudstikker collection was sold, and lawyers for the Goudstikker heirs have confirmed the work was stolen and called for its return.

Statement of Withdrawal from Visitor Lion Awards

AMoA hosts exhibit of student artwork, to hold special reception

The Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA) is hosting the Texas Panhandle Student Art Show, an annual exhibition showcasing student artwork from across the Texas Panhandle. A special reception will be held on May 15, 2026, to honor participating students and award winners. The show features a wide range of media including paintings, drawings, printmaking, computer art, collage, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, and mixed media. Awards include Best of Show honors, scholarships from West Texas A&M University and Amarillo College, and Georgia O’Keeffe Excellence in Art & Creativity awards sponsored by Education Credit Union.

Artists Spar Over Credit For A Dress Displayed In The Met’s ‘Costume Art’ Exhibition

London-based artist Anouska Samms has accused the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute of exhibiting a dress that she claims is a counterfeit of her work in the ongoing "Costume Art" exhibition. The dress, titled Corpus Nervina 0.0, is credited solely to New York-based Israeli designer Yoav Hadari, but Samms alleges it closely resembles an earlier Nervina hair dress she co-developed with Hadari during their 2023 residency at the Lee Alexander McQueen Sarabande Foundation. Samms discovered the display via a social media post and has since spoken out, noting that a contract from their collaboration designated her as the sole owner of the intellectual property of the fabric. The Met has requested that the two parties resolve their dispute before the museum takes further action.

WTF Is an “A-Corp”?

Hyperallergic's daily newsletter announces that Noah Fischer's comic "Prospect Heights Ghost Story" won a 2026 New York Press Club Award, thanks to collaboration with the Economic Hardship Project (EHRP). The edition also covers anti-Trump guerrilla protest art in Washington, D.C., including an arcade game titled "Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell" that satirizes the White House's foreign policy. Other stories include Ridgewood, Queens emerging as a new art hotspot, a feature on Francisco de Zurbarán's religious paintings, and Paddy Johnson's guide to what an "Artist Corporation" (A-Corp) is and whether artists should start one. The newsletter also reports that the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale closed on May 8 as part of cultural workers' strike for Palestine, and that nearly half of the artists in the international exhibition plus 22 national pavilions withdrew from awards consideration in solidarity with the jury's resignation.

It is the great Mark Rothko leading Sotheby's first auctions in New York

È il grande Mark Rothko a guidare le prime aste di Sotheby’s a New York

Sotheby's kicked off New York's art and auction week with two major sales on May 14, 2026, led by the highly anticipated Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart Evening Auction. The top lot was Mark Rothko's "Brown and Blacks in Reds" (1957), which sold for $85.8 million, the second-highest price ever for the artist at auction. The Mnuchin auction achieved a "white glove" sale, selling all 11 lots for a total of $166.3 million, followed by The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction which brought in $266.8 million. Combined, Sotheby's generated $433.1 million, a 133% increase over its May 2025 session. The sales reflect a strong return of high-value trophy lots to the secondary market, driven by the dispersal of prominent collectors' estates.

Art Busan Is Building a More Sustainable Art Market

Art Busan, celebrating its 15th anniversary, will be held from May 21 to 24, 2026, at BEXCO in Busan, South Korea, bringing together over 110 galleries from 18 countries. The fair introduces two new integrated segments: DEFINE, which expands the fair to include collectible design, furniture, and craft, and LIGHTHAUS, which transforms gallery booths into curated spatial experiences to encourage deeper engagement. These initiatives aim to move beyond purely transactional sales and speculative momentum.

Mary Frank Creates Her Own Pantheon

Mary Frank, an artist in her early 90s known for mythologically rooted sculpture and works on paper, is the subject of a focused exhibition at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects in New York. Curated by Steven Harvey, the show presents 11 sculptures in wood, bronze, and ceramic from 1958 to 1985, alongside five works on paper, including a monotype and an oil-on-paper piece. Frank’s work, influenced by her study with Martha Graham, centers on self-sustaining female figures that embody agency, tenderness, and survival, often rendered in ceramic slabs or carved wood.

Maracas in hand, my toddler wanders freely through a gallery of priceless ceramics

A parent describes bringing their toddler to a "family-friendly drop-in" session at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, where children are allowed to roam freely among priceless ceramics and other artworks. The session is child-led and loosely structured, with activities like coloring, building blocks, and musical instruments placed directly in the galleries rather than in a separate cordoned-off area.

Want to See a Variety Show With Barbara Kruger, Anne Imhof, Julio Torres, and More?

Performa, the New York City-based nonprofit dedicated to performance art, is hosting a one-night-only variety show fundraiser on June 10 at Midtown's Town Hall theater. The cabaret-style event will feature 12 acts blending comedy, dance, music, and acrobatics, with participants including visual artists Barbara Kruger, Laurie Simmons, and Marcel Dzama, performance artist Anne Imhof, dancer Yvonne Rainer, actor Julio Torres, and musicians Slauson Malone, Precious Renee Tucker, and Lonnie Holley. The fundraiser supports Performa's biennial, which takes place every other November.

Frieze New York Diary: a charity sale and rogue underwear

Frieze New York is underway, with notable highlights including a provocative marble sculpture of underwear by Reza Aramesh at the Iranian gallery Dastan, representing the last garment removed before imprisonment. Meanwhile, collectors Susan and Michael Hort are hosting a charity sale at their Tribeca townhouse benefiting the Rema Hort Mann Fund, featuring a popular "Buy What You Love" section where $150 works on paper are sold anonymously. Actor Lucy Liu is also making waves with a new exhibition titled "Hard Feelings" at Alisan Fine Arts on the Upper East Side, showcasing deeply personal paintings about memory and family.