beauty perfume fragrance critics perfumetok

Cultured magazine has enlisted three top fragrance critics—April Long, Arabelle Sicardi, and Maxwell Williams—to discuss the state of fine fragrance in an era of oversaturation, where over 3,000 new perfumes launch annually and #perfumetok has amassed over 7 billion views. The conversation covers niche perfumery, dupe culture, AI noses, and the central question of when a perfume qualifies as a work of art versus a mere commodity. Each critic brings a distinct background: Long is a New York-based journalist with 15 Fragrance Foundation awards; Sicardi is a beauty philosopher and author of the upcoming book 'House of Beauty'; Williams is both a journalist and a working perfumer trained at the Institute for Art and Olfaction.

john gachot shelter island studio

John Gachot, a Manhattan-based designer, has transformed a shed on his Shelter Island property into a studio where he can finally pursue drawing and painting after decades of relegating his practice to notebooks and bar napkins. The space also houses sculptures by his late father, Richard Gachot, an artist who worked out of an ice house on the family's Long Island estate and created animated, politically charged works. The article, structured as an interview, explores how the shed became a creative sanctuary for John and a continuation of his father's artistic legacy.

daniel english jeans dinner party

CULTURED editor-in-chief Sarah Harrelson and Legacy Investing co-founder Daniel English hosted an intimate dinner at Jean's in New York, bringing together leaders from art, finance, and real estate. Guests included Frieze's Julie Kim, Wells Group founder George Wells, Art Intelligence global director Rick Cappellazzo, and others. The evening featured Oscar Wilde's quote about artists and money printed on bookmarks, and guests received copies of Michael Craig-Martin's On Being an Artist and Michael Findlay's The Value of Art, along with CULT100 totes filled with magazines and products.

Paul Stopforth | HERE COMES EVERYBODY 5 (2026) | For Sale

Paul Stopforth's artwork "HERE COMES EVERYBODY 5" (2026) is being offered for sale through The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The piece is a unique gouache on panel measuring 16 × 16 inches, priced at US$900, hand-signed by the artist, and includes a certificate of authenticity. Stopforth, born in 1945 and originally from South Africa, emigrated to the United States 27 years ago and has since lived and worked in Boston, Cambridge, and Provincetown. His career includes teaching at Harvard University, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and the Fine Arts Work Center, with his works held in public collections including the Harvard Film Archive, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and the National Gallery in Cape Town.

Two New Exhibitions Open May 1 at Smith House Galleries

The Arts Council of the Valley is launching two concurrent solo exhibitions at the Smith House Galleries in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 'Young Warriors' by Sukenya Best features vibrant portrait paintings that explore themes of resilience and nature, while 'Water’s Journey' by Anna Freeman showcases ceramic and 2D works focused on the intertidal boundaries between land and water. The opening event on May 1 includes artist talks and a live portrait-drawing pop-up by artist Will Stroud.

A first home, a first gallery, and a life built around art

Peggy Robinson, a graduate of the Elam School of Fine Arts and a former staffer at Page Galleries, has launched her own contemporary art space, PEG Gallery, in Wellington's Newtown district. The gallery debuted in November with a focus on national artists, including the estate of the late Selwyn Muru, fulfilling a long-held professional ambition for Robinson after years of working in the commercial art sector.

February 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

A curated list of open calls, grants, and residencies for artists and designers for February 2026 has been published. Key opportunities include applications for The Other Art Fair Brooklyn, the Quilt Visions 2026 exhibition at Visions Museum of Textile Art, Jackson’s Art Prize, a public art commission for Boise Airport, the McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, the Melancholy 2026 online exhibition, the Sónar+D digital creativity festival, the World of WearableArt Competition, and the Hasselblad Masters 2026 photography contest.

In a month of war, Iran’s cultural heritage has suffered huge damage

Iran's cultural heritage sites, including several historic palaces, have sustained severe damage during the recent conflict. The Golestan Palace in Tehran, specifically the Hall of the Marble Throne, and the Chehel Sotoun and Ali Qapu Palaces in Isfahan have suffered extensive destruction to their intricate mirror-mosaic decorations, painted ceilings, and structural elements.

Lawsuit Alleges DOGE Cancelled $349,000 HVAC Grant to Museum after ChatGPT Flagged It As DEI

Lawsuit Alleges DOGE Cancelled $349,000 HVAC Grant to Museum after ChatGPT Flagged It As DEI

The High Point Museum in North Carolina had a $349,000 federal grant to replace its HVAC system canceled after staff at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) used ChatGPT to evaluate the proposal. According to a federal lawsuit, the AI chatbot flagged the climate-control project as related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, leading to its termination, despite the grant's stated purpose of preserving the museum's collection.

philadelphia museum of art rebrands philadelphia art museum

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has rebranded itself as the Philadelphia Art Museum, a change announced on Wednesday. The museum worked with branding studio Gretel, known for clients like the Museum of Modern Art and Crystal Bridges Museum, to develop a new name, logo, custom typography, website, and visual identity. Director and CEO Sasha Suda stated the rebrand aims to place Philadelphia front and center and make the institution more collaborative and future-focused.

Director of the Hermitage Museum Sanctioned by the European Union

Le directeur du Musée de l'Ermitage sanctionné par l'Union européenne

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Mikhail Piotrovsky, the 81-year-old director of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, as part of its 20th sanctions package against Russia. Piotrovsky was blacklisted for supporting the war in Ukraine and overseeing illegal archaeological excavations in occupied Crimea. The EU cited his use of Kremlin war rhetoric—calling the museum's exhibition policy a "cultural special operation"—and the Hermitage's role in incorporating Ukrainian cultural objects from occupied territories into Russia's state museum fund. Additionally, under his leadership, unauthorized digs were conducted at the ancient Greek site of Myrmekion in Crimea, led by Hermitage archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who was arrested in Warsaw and later released in a prisoner exchange.

Yoshiko Shimada: Selfless Devotion / Loving Care @ Ota Fine Arts

嶋田美子：滅私｜愛護 @ オオタファインアーツ

Ota Fine Arts in Tokyo is hosting a solo exhibition by Yoshiko Shimada titled "Selfless Devotion / Loving Care," running from March 14 to May 16, 2026. The exhibition features a significant selection of Shimada’s seminal works from the early 1990s, including "A Woman Shooting II," "A House of Comfort," and "Tied to Apron Strings." These pieces utilize photography, installation, and found objects to confront difficult historical narratives.

Get to know these 5 unconventional galleries driving art forward in North Texas

A wave of independent, artist-run galleries is emerging across North Texas, operating out of unconventional spaces like houses, lofts, and apartments. Notable examples include PRP (Permanent Research Project) in a little white house in Trinity Groves, Nature of Things in a Deep Ellum loft, and 2 BED 1 BATH in an Oak Cliff apartment. These venues often face precarious funding and zoning issues, yet they persist, with some like 500X operating since 1978 and PRP for a decade. Recent exhibitions have addressed themes such as the treatment of bodies in visual culture and political commentary, including a protest show after the University of North Texas shut down an exhibition critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Student artists take center stage at ArtNow 2026 Exhibition

The New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU) has launched ArtNow 2026, its largest juried high school exhibition to date, featuring 97 student artists from 36 schools across Santa Clara County. Selected from over 600 submissions, the featured works respond to the theme "Before / Between / Beyond," exploring concepts of identity, heritage, and the future. The exhibition process is designed to mirror professional standards, requiring students to submit artist statements and undergo a rigorous selection process by a panel of arts professionals.

Yoshida Chizuko

The Portland Art Museum is hosting the first major museum retrospective of Yoshida Chizuko (1924–2017), a pioneering Japanese modernist painter and printmaker. The exhibition features over 100 works, including early oil paintings, monotypes, woodblock prints, lithographs, and mixed media pieces, many never before exhibited. It traces her career from avant-garde abstraction in the 1940s and 1950s through op art and photoetchings in the 1960s and 1970s to nature-inspired late works, and includes a planned major acquisition from the Yoshida family estate.

art sanya kantarovsky studio painting

Sanya Kantarovsky, a Russian-born, Upstate New York-based artist known for his haunting, darkly humorous figurative paintings, discusses his studio practice in an interview with CULTURED. He works across painting, video, animation, and sculpture, and at Frieze London, the British gallery Modern Art will present 15 new stoneware sculptures by Kantarovsky, which showcase his dedication to the art and science of painting through glazes incorporating copper carbonate, cobalt oxide, and manganese dioxide.

The San Juan Islands Museum of Art Summer 2026 Exhibitions include Photography, etching, glass sculpture and feather sculpture

The San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) in Friday Harbor, Washington, will present three exhibitions from June 11 to September 14, 2026, featuring photography, etching, glass sculpture, and feather sculpture. The exhibitions include "Convergence & Divergence: The Family Aesthetic" in the Nichols Gallery, showcasing the work of Imogen Cunningham, Roi Partridge, and Rondal Partridge together for the first time, with over 100 photographs and prints spanning nearly 110 years. Also on view are "Feathered Masterpieces: The Artistry of Chris Maynard" in the North Gallery, featuring intricate feather carvings, and a glass sculpture by Raven Skyriver.

Pamela Bryan and Julia Campbell Carter Bring New Orleans Rhythm to London

Pamela Bryan of Octavia Art Gallery in New Orleans and London-based curator Julia Campbell Carter have organized "Rhythm in the Blues," a contemporary group exhibition at 14 Percy Street, London, running from May 11 to 20. The show features five international artists—Alia Ali, Aigana Gali, Azadeh Ghotbi, Naomie Kremer, and Lucille Lewin—whose works in painting, sculpture, and mixed media explore themes of memory, migration, resilience, and identity, with music serving as an atmospheric and structural influence rather than a literal subject.

PinchukArtCentre opens new exhibition at the Venice Biennale

The PinchukArtCentre has opened a new exhibition titled "Still Joy — From Ukraine Into the World" as part of the official parallel program of the 61st Venice Biennale. The show, which opened on May 7 at Palazzo Contarini Polignac and runs through August 1, features works by over 20 international and Ukrainian artists exploring joy as an act of resilience and humanity. Central to the exhibition are testimonies from Hlib Stryzhko, a marine veteran who returned from Russian captivity, which are transformed into sculptural elements. Notable works include a protest performance by Yurii Hruzinov at the Russian pavilion, a video installation of Kyiv rave parties by Malashchuk and Khimei, and installations by Future Generation Art Prize laureates Ashfika Rahman and Zhanna Kadyrova.

Tell Me About Love…

Yvon Lambert, the legendary French art dealer and collector, reflects on his lifelong relationship with art and literature in an interview for TLmag41: The Art of Collecting. He recounts buying his first painting at age 14, opening his Paris gallery in the 1960s, and later donating a major portion of his collection to the French State, now housed at the Collection Lambert in Avignon. After closing his gallery in 2014, he shifted focus to an artist's bookshop, now run by his daughter Eve Lambert. The conversation, led by Sibylle Grandchamp, explores Lambert's early influences, his father's passion for literature, and the family's shared love for art books.

A new gallery opens in Milan: Ghiringhelli Art Gallery. It starts with Japanese art

A new pop-up gallery, Ghiringhelli Art Gallery, opens in Milan on May 8, 2026, with its inaugural exhibition "Refracted Worlds. Contemporary Japan Through Multiple Lenses" at Via Tortona 20. Founded by Nicola Ghiringhelli Forlani, the gallery specializes in contemporary Japanese art and will feature works by seven Japanese artists—Kohei Nawa, Yukie Ishikawa, Kenjiro Okazaki, Mr., Ayako Rokkaku, Yuji Ueda, and Noritaka Tatehana—alongside the Chim↑Pom collective from Smappa!Group. The temporary format allows the gallery to maintain a flexible presence in Milan while the founder travels frequently to Japan to follow artists and market dynamics.

Inside Richie Shazam’s Debut Solo Show in Texas

Multidisciplinary artist Richie Shazam has launched her debut solo exhibition, "I Was Never Meant to Survive This," at the McLennon Pen Co. gallery in Austin, Texas. The show features 39 new works that blend photography, sculpture, and set design, utilizing found objects, hair, and flowers alongside Shazam’s own body as a primary subject. The collection represents a deeply personal exploration of her Guyanese heritage, trans identity, and the community that has supported her journey from New York City to the international stage.

Artexpo New York Returns to Pier 36 for 49th Annual Showcase

Artexpo New York has returned to Pier 36 for its 49th annual edition, featuring over 70,000 square feet of exhibition space. Hosted by Redwood Art Group, the fair showcases a diverse range of media from more than 20 countries, divided into the main Artexpo Pavilion for established galleries and the [SOLO] Pavilion for independent artists. The 2026 program includes interactive Art Labs, the affordable Discoveries Collection, and the prestigious Spotlight Program, which honors six selected artists and galleries.

'Two of Us' at Simchowitz, Hill House, Los Angeles, United States on 15 Feb–11 Apr 2026

Simchowitz Gallery is presenting "Two of Us," a dual exhibition featuring Ukrainian artists Andrey Samarin and Lera Derkach at Hill House in Pasadena. The show explores the creative dialogue between the two artists, who have lived and worked together in France for the past three years while maintaining distinct individual practices. Samarin’s work focuses on the physical gesture of painting, blending abstraction and figuration influenced by German Expressionism and medieval art, while Derkach’s canvases lean into dreamlike narratives, metamorphosis, and psychological tension.

Counterpublic plans sprawling, socially conscious show of public art for St. Louis in September

The St. Louis-based triennial Counterpublic has announced its artist lineup and thematic framework for its 2026 edition, set to open on September 12. Featuring more than 50 artists across five primary locations, the free public art festival will showcase newly commissioned works by major figures such as Glenn Ligon, Rebecca Belmore, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. The exhibition, titled "Coyote Time," explores themes of rapid societal change, community resilience, and the "near future," with specific installations addressing the aftermath of a 2025 tornado and the history of local landmarks like Sumner High School.

Hopkins Bloomberg Center exhibition to explore American art as cultural diplomacy

The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center is set to launch a new exhibition titled 'Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad,' showcasing four decades of American art commissioned for U.S. embassies. Opening April 7 at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery, the show features works from the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) by renowned artists including Sam Gilliam, Ellsworth Kelly, Julie Mehretu, and Martin Puryear. Highlights include never-before-seen maquettes by Don Gummer and the late Frank Stella, alongside a replica of the Declaration of Independence donated by David M. Rubenstein.

Hopkins Bloomberg Center exhibition to explore American art as cultural diplomacy

The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center is launching a new exhibition titled "Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad," showcasing four decades of American art commissioned for U.S. embassies worldwide. Opening April 7 at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery, the show features site-specific commissions, prints, and photographs from the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) collection, including works by Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, and Julie Mehretu.

9 Up-And-Coming Gallerists Chart the Path To—and Beyond—Showing at Art Basel Miami Beach

Nine emerging galleries from around the world are showing in the Positions sector of Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, a dedicated platform for up-and-coming exhibitors. The article profiles several of these gallerists, including Allann Seabra and Ian Duarte of Verve in São Paulo, and Mauricio Aguirre of N.A.S.A.L. in Mexico City and Guayaquil. They discuss their gallery's growth, key milestones such as artists participating in the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, and their hopes for gaining international exposure and deepening understanding of their local art scenes.

Shifting the dial: new fair Echo Soho celebrates women-run galleries

Echo Soho, a new art fair dedicated to female-led galleries, launched this week in London to address the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles within the art world. Conceived by gallerist India Rose James, the fair features 12 galleries, most of which are showing women artists, with works priced accessibly and participation costs kept low to encourage inclusivity. The fair takes place at Artists House, a Georgian townhouse owned by James's family's Soho Estates.

Fragility and Resistance of an Iranian Artist on Display in Rome

Fragilità e resistenza di un’artista dell’Iran in mostra a Roma

The Galleria Anna Marra in Rome is hosting "Assemblages," the first Italian solo exhibition of Iranian artist Sepideh Salehi. The show features works that blend collage, Japanese paper, photography, and drawing to depict Iranian women living in the United States who have shared experiences of displacement and political upheaval. Salehi’s figures often avert their gaze or conceal their faces, symbolizing a "calligraphy of refusal" and a quiet resistance against the historical traumas of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.