Houston’s Best Free Night Out Is an Art Opening

The article highlights Houston's vibrant gallery scene, focusing on the accessibility and social appeal of free art openings. It profiles 87-year-old Patti Lou Richardson, a regular attendee who, along with her family's "art posse," frequents openings at venues like Foltz Fine Art, Monterroso Gallery, and others across neighborhoods such as Montrose, Midtown, and the Arts District. The piece also notes resources like the Mused Houston newsletter and Glasstire magazine that help locals discover weekly events.

Distinctive Voices: Corey Helford Gallery presents 2 solo shows and group exhibition

Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles presents two solo shows and a group exhibition, running through February 14. Japanese pop-surrealist Junna Maruyama debuts her first solo show at the gallery, "Who Am I?", featuring her Gyaru Series and signature doll-like figures, butterflies, and mixed-media elements. Chicago-based artist Travis Lampe presents "The Ham-Fisted Coping Mechanism," inspired by rubber-hose animation and vintage cartoons. The group exhibition accompanies these solo presentations.

At 87, Larry Poons Is at the Height of His Painting Power: ‘There Are No Rules’

At 87, New York-based artist Larry Poons remains highly productive, with two works featured in Artnet Auctions' GEMS: Collecting Post-War Abstraction, live through September 24, 2025. The paintings—To Have Missed the Walk (2014, est. $160,000–$180,000) and Jarrett (2019, est. $60,000–$70,000)—exemplify his color-driven, gestural abstraction. Poons, who studied at the New England Conservatory of Music before turning to painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, is also showing in Yares Art's group exhibition "Fields of Color V" and recently had a solo show there, "Provocation, Iliad: Powers + Spells." In a studio visit, he discussed his process, his early career, and his belief that painting has no rules.

New York Gallery Show Spotlights Iconoclastic Comic Artist Paul Pope

Comic artist Paul Pope is the subject of a new gallery exhibition at Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York, opening June 19, 2025. The show spans his three-decade career, featuring never-before-seen original works and curated selections from his archives, coinciding with the release of his career retrospective monograph *Pulp Hope 2: The Art of Paul Pope* (Boom! Studios, 2025). Pope is known for works such as *Batman: Year 100*, *Heavy Liquid*, and *Battling Boy*, blending American, European, and Japanese influences.

Float Into The World Of The Balloon Museum Pop-Up In SG, Its First Time In Asia

The Balloon Museum's traveling exhibition 'Pop Air – Art is Inflatable' has opened at Marina Bay Sands Expo Hall F in Singapore, marking its first-ever show in Asia. The exhibition features 17 inflatable artworks by international contemporary artists, including pieces like 'Aria', 'Spiritus Sonata' by ENESS, 'Soft Hurricane' by Quiet Ensemble, 'Cloud Swing' by Lindsay Glatz & Curious Form, and 'Hypercosmo' by Hyperstudio. The museum, which debuted in Rome in 2021, has previously toured Berlin, Paris, London, and New York, and will remain in Singapore until August 31, 2025.

Art in DUMBO opens artist studios to public in Brooklyn

Art in DUMBO has announced that DUMBO Open Studios will take place on April 26th and 27th, 2025, featuring 155 artists who will open their studios to the public across the Brooklyn waterfront. The weekend kicks off with the Sharpe-Walentas Open Studios reception on April 25th, offering a look at 17 artists in the annual residency program. Participants include artists from five residency programs: BRIClab Contemporary Art, Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program, New York Studio School, and Triangle NYC. The article also details the history of the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, which began in 1991 with support from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation and later the Walentas Family Foundation.

A new experimental and independent art and culture bookstore is about to open in Venice

A Venezia sta per aprire una nuova libreria d’arte e cultura sperimentale e indipendente

Rupture Arts & Books is set to open a new experimental art bookstore and cultural hub in Venice’s Santa Croce district on April 29, 2026. Moving from its previous Giudecca location to the city’s "museum quarter" near Fondazione Prada, the space will function as more than a retail outlet, incorporating an independent publishing house, a record label, and a podcast production studio. Founded by Alexandre Sap and Anne-Marie Gaultier, the project aims to redefine the contemporary reading space through a multidisciplinary approach.

Phillips’ Evening Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art More than Doubles Auction Total from the Previous Year

Phillips’ Evening Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art achieved a total that more than doubled the previous year's auction result, driven by strong demand for works spanning the 19th to 21st centuries. The sale opened with three lots exceeding their high estimates, including record prices for Lee Bontecou's rare 'Untitled' (1985-2001), which set a new record for any two-dimensional work by the artist after nearly five minutes of bidding. Other records were set for Pat Passlof, P.S. Krøyer, and Joseph Yaeger. Top lots included Andy Warhol's 'Sixteen Jackies' ($16.2 million), Claude Monet's 'La Route de Vétheuil, effet de neige' ($9.9 million), and Jackson Pollock's 'Untitled' ($9.2 million). The sale also featured works from The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr., which achieved a combined $8.4 million, with two Vilhelm Hammershøi works acquired by prominent institutions.

Amorepacific Museum of Art Presents APMA, CHAPTER FIVE - FROM THE APMA COLLECTION

The Amorepacific Museum of Art in Seoul has launched "APMA, CHAPTER FIVE – FROM THE APMA COLLECTION," a major exhibition featuring approximately 80 works from its permanent holdings. Running from April 1 to August 2, 2026, the showcase includes a diverse array of paintings, sculptures, and installations by over 40 influential Korean and international artists. High-profile participants include Kiki Smith, Rose Wylie, Carol Bove, and Gala Porras-Kim, alongside Korean masters such as Nam June Paik, Lee Bul, and Haegue Yang.

Two Exhibitions in Paris Galleries

Deux expositions dans les galeries parisiennes

Two notable drawing exhibitions are currently on view in Paris galleries. The first, organized by dealer Nicolas Schwed on Rue Saint-Honoré, features a strong selection of old and modern master drawings, with a surprising emphasis on 18th-century French works alongside Italian pieces. Highlights include a preparatory study by Federico Zuccaro for a Roman fresco and a rare drawing of the Trinity by Cornelis Schut, which is linked to a lost altarpiece from Cologne.

In the heart of Trastevere, an exhibition by an artist paying homage to an ancient Roman goddess

Nel cuore di Trastevere la mostra di un artista che omaggia un’antica dea romana

Diego Gualandris presents 'Floralia,' a solo exhibition at ADA gallery in Rome's Trastevere district, running until May 24, 2026. The show blends painting and music to create a modern homage to Flora, the ancient Roman goddess of spring and fertility. Gualandris displays a series of medium- and small-scale canvases from 2026 alongside a 1970s gramophone playing two original tracks—'The world in a flowerbed' improvised by the artist on piano with saxophonist Francesca Pegurri, his mother. The exhibition also references Hermann Nitsch through works like 'Prinzendorf,' and features playful, erotic botanical compositions that invite viewers to lie down and experience the space through sound and imagery.

Dahiye, il quartiere di Beirut che non esiste quasi più. Nelle foto di un artista italiano

Italian photographer Armando Perna (born 1981 in Reggio Calabria) has documented Dahiye, a southern suburb of Beirut known as Hezbollah's stronghold, using a digital camera hidden inside a car and controlled remotely via Bluetooth. His project, initiated in 2013 and exhibited in 2017 at the Fondazione Pino Pascali in Polignano a Mare (Bari), creates a street-view-style mapping of a neighborhood that has been heavily bombed by Israeli forces, most recently in the past weeks. The work was promoted by Planar gallery, founded by Antonio Ottomanelli, with Perna and Anna Vasta as part of the #showcase project.

100 anni tra arte e poesia per annullare i confini. Intervista a Lamberto Pignotti

Lamberto Pignotti, the 100-year-old Florentine artist and poet and a leading figure in visual poetry, is celebrated with two concurrent exhibitions: "Pignotti 100. Pop-esie visive" at the Mart in Rovereto (in collaboration with the Collegio Cairoli of Pavia) and the dual solo show "Identikit di Pignotti e Hogre" curated by Marco Giovenale at Galleria Bianco Contemporaneo in Rome. The latter exhibition, born from a dialogue between Pignotti and the anonymous artist Hogre, centers on a collection of envelopes Pignotti has saved for over fifty years—each addressed to him with varying titles (architect, artist, poet, professor) or altered names (Alberto, Lorenzo, Mario, Giuseppe)—revealing his fragmented identity. Pignotti co-founded the Gruppo '70 in Florence in 1963 with Eugenio Miccini, a movement that brought together multidisciplinary artists including Lucia Marcucci, Ketty La Rocca, and musicians Giuseppe Chiari and Sylvano Bussotti.

At the Venice Biennale, the Armenian Pavilion Transforms into an Artist's Workshop: Works Are Born in Front of the Public

Alla Biennale di Venezia il Padiglione dell’Armenia si trasforma in bottega d’artista: le opere nascono di fronte al pubblico

The Armenian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will transform into a functioning artist's studio, where sculptor Zadik Zadikian will create works in real time before the public. Titled "The Studio," the project is curated by gallerist Tony Shafrazi and curator Tina Chakarian, and will operate daily from May 6 to November 22 at the Tesa 41 of the Arsenale. Zadikian, born in Yerevan in 1948 and now based in the US, will work with traditional Armenian plaster techniques alongside his son Aram and studio assistants, emphasizing the process of making over the finished object.

Tickets to See the Bayeux Tapestry Will Cost As Much As $45 A Piece

The British Museum has announced ticket pricing for its upcoming exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry, a 230-foot embroidered cloth depicting the Norman invasion of 1066. Standard adult tickets will cost £33 (about $45) for peak times, with off-peak and super off-peak options at £27 and £25 respectively. The exhibition runs from September 10, 2025, to July 11, 2027, and marks the first time the tapestry has left France for the UK in over 900 years. Each ticket grants a 40-minute viewing slot, and members receive two free visits. The museum is also planning a complementary outdoor installation by garden designer Andy Sturgeon.

Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices

A fraudster named Andrew Crowley, 46, attempted to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby's, claiming they were inherited from his grandfather. The items—three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette—were valued at up to £680,000 if genuine. However, the scheme unraveled when forensic analysis revealed that the accompanying invoices, purportedly typed in 1976, were produced using printing methods invented in 2001. Sotheby's experts also spotted spelling errors. Crowley received a two-year suspended sentence after admitting to making a false representation to the auction house.

Finding art in the uncanny aesthetics of MAGA

Spielzeug gallery, founded in 2025 in Bushwick by Evan Karas and Eleanor Hicks, opened a pop-up show titled MAR-A-LAGO FACE on May 13 at a former restaurant on Allen Street in New York. The exhibition critiques the plastic-surgery aesthetics associated with Republican figures like Matt Gaetz, Laura Loomer, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kristi Noem, featuring works by queer, trans, and Latin American artists. The opening blurred the line between exhibition and party, with a DJ, themed drinks, and a bouncer checking bags.

Suspect Is Taken into Custody in Decade-Long Louvre Ticketing Scam

A Louvre employee has been indicted and detained on charges including organized gang fraud in connection with a decade-long ticketing scam that defrauded the Paris museum of an estimated €10 million ($11.7 million). The scheme involved counterfeit tickets and overbooking of guided tours, primarily targeting Chinese tour groups. Nine people were arrested, including two museum employees, several tour guides, and the alleged mastermind. Authorities seized over €957,000 in cash, €67,000 in foreign currency, €486,000 in bank accounts, three vehicles, and multiple safe deposit boxes, with some proceeds invested in real estate in France and Dubai.

An Installation at the British Museum Recreates the Bayeux Tapestry’s Landscape

The British Museum will present "Tapestry of Trees," an outdoor installation by garden designer Andy Sturgeon, ahead of its historic exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry. The installation, on view from May 16 to June 2, 2026, recreates a medieval woodland using plants native to East Sussex, including silver birch, hazel, hawthorn, and field maples, evoking the landscape of the Battle of Hastings depicted in the tapestry. Dyed hessian wrapping on planters and root balls echoes the colors and textures of the embroidery.

America’s Museums Have a Building Problem

A new report from the Government Accountability Office, analyzed by The Art Newspaper, reveals that roughly 85 percent of American museums are dealing with deferred maintenance or major repair needs, and about 77 percent have at least one structural issue that could endanger their collections. Many of the country's 16,700 museums are small, under-resourced operations housed in aging or historic buildings, with half reporting over $100,000 in deferred maintenance. Basic repairs like roofs or HVAC systems can consume large portions of annual budgets, forcing some institutions to store artworks in makeshift spaces like garages or bathrooms.

Canada returns 11 artefacts to Turkey in the first repatriation between the countries

Canada has returned 11 Ottoman-era artefacts to Turkey, marking the first official repatriation of cultural property between the two nations. The items, which include manuscript pages and calligraphy works from the 17th to 19th centuries, were handed over in a ceremony at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa following a federal court ruling.

Arts and heritage organisations largely exempted from new UK regulations on memberships

The UK government has exempted charitable and heritage organizations from new consumer regulations that would have allowed members to cancel and receive refunds within a two-week cooling-off period. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA), set to take effect next year, will not apply to membership schemes of qualifying cultural and heritage charities.

A truckload of F1 KitKats, a painting of fish: what is it that makes heists so delicious? | Imogen West-Knights

The article explores the curious public fascination with high-profile heists, using two recent examples as a springboard: the theft of 12 tons of Formula 1-themed KitKats from a truck in Italy and the robbery of paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse from a museum in northern Italy. The author notes that such stories reliably go viral, not due to outrage but because people find them thrilling and even amusing, especially when the victims are large corporations or when the crime feels audacious and tangible.

Getty Museum Acquires Two Significant Dutch Still Lifes

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired two significant 17th-century Dutch still life paintings. The first is Jan Davidsz. de Heem's 'Glass Vase with Flowers and Fruit' (c. 1673–74), a work the museum had sought for over twenty years, which recently emerged from a private German collection. The second is Pieter Claesz's 'Still Life with Assorted Fruit' (1597/98–1660), a 'fruitagje' painting purchased at a Sotheby's auction for $1.64 million.

An Entire Paul Rudolph House Is Up for Sale at an L.A. Design Fair

The Walker Guest House, a 1953 architectural pavilion designed by Paul Rudolph, has been transported from Florida and reassembled inside the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. It is being offered for sale for $2 million as part of the Basic.Space L.A. high-design shopping event, complete with original furnishings and architectural drawings.

‘She broke the rules, fearlessly’: exhibition explores Vivienne Westwood’s revolutionary work

A major exhibition titled "Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Storyteller – Visionary" has opened at the Bowes Museum in County Durham, England. The show features over 40 ensembles and numerous accessories drawn almost entirely from the private collection of Peter Smithson, a chemistry teacher and dedicated Westwood supercollector who has amassed these pieces over three decades.

'The human-machine creative entanglement': artist Sougwen Chung on her technology-based practice

Artist Sougwen Chung is presenting new work, including the 10-metre scroll 'Recursion 0,' at Art Basel Hong Kong's new Zero 10 sector. The piece, created with brainwave data, will be completed live at the fair, showcasing her ongoing exploration of human-machine collaboration.

True Origins of King Tut ‘Curse’ Emerge in Newly Sold Letter

A three-page letter written by archaeologist Howard Carter, which disputes the origins of the famous "Curse of the Pharaohs" linked to King Tutankhamun's tomb, has sold at auction for $16,643. In the letter, Carter explicitly blames journalist Arthur Weigall for inventing the sensationalist myth out of professional pique after being excluded from exclusive coverage of the 1922 discovery.

Strange Coin Used on U.K. Bus Turns Out to Be 2,000-Year-Old Relic

A 2,000-year-old Phoenician bronze coin, originally used as bus fare in Leeds in the 1950s, has been identified and donated to the Leeds Discovery Centre. The coin was minted in the ancient Carthaginian settlement of Gadir (modern-day Cádiz, Spain) and features imagery of the deity Melqart and tuna fish, reflecting its maritime origins.

Chehel Sotoun Damaged in Isfahan, Iran

chehel sotoun damaged iran isfahan

The 17th-century Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has sustained significant damage following airstrikes in the region. Reports and video footage indicate that the palace's grand windows were shattered and its historic doors blasted open after a strike targeted a nearby government building. This incident follows a similar attack just one week prior that damaged the Golestan Palace in Tehran, marking a troubling trend of collateral damage to Iran's most significant cultural landmarks.