Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur

Middlebury College Museum of Art presents 'Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur,' an exhibition showcasing the 18th-century Italian printmaker, architect, designer, and antiquities dealer. The show features prints, drawings, a book, a map, and a recently acquired sculpture drawn from Middlebury's collections, augmented by loans from the Yale University Art Gallery, the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, and private collections. Curated by architectural history professor Pieter Broucke, the exhibition includes label texts researched by Middlebury students in a January 2025 curatorial lab course.

Artists and scholars respond to White House’s list of Smithsonian grievances

Over the weekend, artists, scholars, and concerned citizens responded to the White House's list of objectionable Smithsonian Institution exhibits and texts, released under the heading 'President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian.' The list includes bullet points targeting exhibits on white culture, LGBTQ+ history, Afrofuturism, and works by artists such as Ibram X. Kendi, Ayana V. Jackson, Hugo Crosthwaite, Rigoberto A. Gonzalez, and Amy Sherald. Those singled out defended their work, with some comparing the administration's actions to Jim Crow-era censorship or Nazi Germany's 'degenerate art' campaigns, while others expressed pride in being included and vowed to continue making political art.

Iranian artworks sold at Bonhams' online auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art

Two works by Iranian artists were sold at Bonhams London's online auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art on August 14, 2025. The auction featured 45 pieces from Middle Eastern artists, including 10 by Iranian artists such as Sirak Melkonian, Ebrahim Olfat, Babak Kazemi, Marcos Grigorian, and YZ Kami. Only two works found buyers: an untitled 2020 oil on canvas by the late Sirak Melkonian (1930-2024) sold for $13,888, and Ebrahim Olfat's calligraphy painting "Eshgh (Hafez Poem)" (2012) sold for $5,207. The article provides extensive background on Melkonian, an Iranian-Armenian modernist pioneer and co-founder of the Azad Art Group, and on Olfat, a calligraphy specialist with a medical degree.

Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds

The Art Institute of Chicago is presenting "Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds," an exhibition running from March 29 to July 13, 2025. It focuses on Kahlo's first and only trip to Europe in 1939, where she fell ill and convalesced at the home of American avant-garde bookbinder Mary Reynolds. The show features approximately 100 objects, including paintings, book bindings, and letters, drawn from the Art Institute's Mary Reynolds Collection and loans from the US, Mexico, and Europe.

football city, art united transforms manchester's aviva studios into a pitch for creativity

Manchester International Festival 2025 presents "Football City, Art United" at Aviva Studios, a group exhibition co-curated by former footballer Juan Mata, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Josh Willdigg. The show pairs eleven international footballers with artists across media—including Ryan Gander with Eric Cantona, Keiken with Ella Toone, and Suzanne Lacy with Vivianne Miedema and Ali Riley—to explore intersections of sport and contemporary art. Works range from a holographic tribute to Diego Maradona by Jill Mulleady to an interactive installation by Stefano Boeri Architetti with Sandro Mazzola. The exhibition runs through August 24, 2025.

'The idea is to breathe new life into the space': Didier Fusillier, the president of the newly reopened Grand Palais, on his vision for the Parisian institution

Didier Fusillier, president of the newly reopened Grand Palais in Paris, outlines his vision for the historic venue in an interview. The reopening is marked by 'Grand Palais d’été,' a diverse program in partnership with the Centre Pompidou that includes talks, performances under the 'Fun Palace' banner, exhibitions of Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hultén, Bruno Decharme’s Art Brut collection, contemporary tapestries, and 'Euphoria. Art is in the air.' Fusillier emphasizes a collaborative, eclectic approach, with free public access to new spaces and sponsorship from Chanel.

Somerset House to mark 25 years as a public space with weekend of free events

Somerset House, a central London center for contemporary art and innovation, will host a free weekend of interactive events on September 13-14 to celebrate 25 years as a public space. The Step Inside 25 Weekend will feature installations by Turner Prize-winning artist Tai Shani, musician Gaika, and sound artist Nick Ryan, alongside works from the inaugural Talent 25 awardees—a new mentorship program led by artist Yinka Ilori. The event will open rarely accessible areas like the Deadhouse subterranean spaces and the Portico Rooms.

In ‘A Natural History of the Studio,’ Many William Kentridges Add Up to One

William Kentridge's latest exhibition, 'A Natural History of the Studio,' at Hauser & Wirth in New York presents over 70 drawings from his nine-part film series 'Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot,' alongside new sculptures. The works, created during the pandemic, explore self-portraiture through charcoal, pastel, and collage, often featuring doppelgängers that argue and disagree, reflecting the artist's engagement with theater and the materiality of his forms.

A natural history of the studio

William Kentridge presents his first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth in New York, titled "A natural history of the studio." The show features his acclaimed episodic film series "Self-portrait as a coffee-pot" (completed in 2024) alongside over seventy works on paper and sculptures. Spanning two floors at 542 West 22nd Street and extending to the gallery's 18th Street location, the exhibition includes charcoal drawings used in the film's animation, Paper procession sculptures, and the animated video "Fugitive words" (2024). The installation, designed by longtime collaborator Sabine Theunissen, evokes Kentridge's Johannesburg studio environment.

Brittany Webb is Joining Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art: 'There is A Lot That Attracted Me to the MFAH'

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) has appointed Brittany Webb as curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, effective late summer 2025. Webb joins from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where she served as the Evelyn and Will Kaplan Curator of 20th-Century Art and the John Rhoden Collection since 2018. At PAFA, she organized several exhibitions including a comprehensive retrospective of sculptor John Rhoden, and added over 200 works to the permanent collection. MFAH Director Gary Tinterow praised Webb's passion, community connections, and track record of thoughtful exhibitions of American and African American art.

John Singer Sargent exhibition in London shines a light on the lives of the ‘dollar princesses’

English Heritage has opened an exhibition titled 'Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits' at Kenwood in London, featuring 18 portraits by John Singer Sargent of American heiresses known as the 'dollar princesses.' These women traveled to the UK in the late 19th century to marry into the British aristocracy, bringing wealth that helped restore estates like Blenheim Palace. The show marks 100 years since Sargent’s death and includes never-before-displayed works, such as a charcoal portrait of Consuelo Vanderbilt. Curator Wendy Monkhouse emphasizes that the exhibition focuses on the sitters as individuals, addressing themes of misogyny, stereotyping, and xenophobia.

Art Institute’s Frida Kahlo-Themed Exhibit Highlights Artist’s Paris Years

The Art Institute of Chicago has opened "Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship With Mary Reynolds," its first dedicated exhibition to the Mexican artist. The show explores Kahlo’s 1939 stay in Paris, where she lived with American bookbinder Mary Reynolds and artist Marcel Duchamp after being hospitalized with a kidney infection. Featuring 100 objects—including seven self-portraits, letters, photographs, and book bindings—the exhibition draws on the Art Institute’s own Mary Reynolds Collection and loans from public and private collections across the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. Curated by Caitlin Haskell, Tamar Kharatishvili, and Alivé Piliado, the display reveals new details about Kahlo’s recovery and creative re-inspiration in the avant-garde hub of Reynolds and Duchamp’s home.

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Maine art galleries showcase dozens of artists in summer shows

A roundup of summer art exhibitions across Maine highlights dozens of artists showing at galleries and pop-up spaces from Rockport to Portland. Notable shows include Alexandre Gallery's pop-up featuring charcoal works by the late Cooper Union-trained artist Emily Nelligan, who spent decades depicting Cranberry Island; Karma's annual summer pop-up at artist Ann Craven's deconsecrated church in Thomaston; and solo exhibitions at Caldbeck Gallery, Courthouse Gallery, and Cove Street Arts. Other venues such as Carver Hill Gallery, Corey Daniels Gallery, Dowling Walsh, and Moss Galleries present group and solo shows spanning landscape painting, mythical imagery, and works addressing social resistance.

THE VENICE BIENNALE IN AN EDITION MARKED BY POLITICAL GAMES

The Venice Biennale's 2024 edition is embroiled in political controversy surrounding its national pavilions, particularly those of Russia, South Africa, and Israel. The Russian pavilion's readmission amid the war in Ukraine drew sharp criticism from the artistic community and led the European Union to withdraw approximately two million euros in funding. The Israeli pavilion, which remained empty in 2024 to protest hostage situations, now features a proposal by sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, prompting protests from the Art Not Genocide Alliance and over 200 artists demanding its exclusion. The curatorial team, appointed by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, resigned collectively nine days before the opening, and the Biennale's directorship canceled the opening ceremony, postponing awards to November. Demonstrations led by Art Not Genocide Alliance, Pussy Riot, and FEMEN surrounded the Russian pavilion during the press opening, and a strike by cultural workers is planned for May 8th.

La sede ad Albisola della Galleria Raffaella Cortese è più “un pensatoio che spazio espositivo”: la storia e le collaborazioni con gallerie d’arte emergente

Raffaella Cortese opened a small 12-square-meter space in Albisola Superiore, Italy, in June 2022, described as "more a think tank than an exhibition space." The venue, located near the Ligurian sea, honors the town's legacy as a center for contemporary ceramics from the 1950s to the 1970s, hosting artists like Lucio Fontana and Asger Jorn. The space alternates works from Cortese's Milan gallery with collaborations from emerging galleries, such as Fanta-MLN of Milan (presenting Noah Barker's installation "lux principum" in 2023) and Gian Marco Casini Gallery of Livorno (featuring Clarissa Baldassarri's "Exposure value" in 2024). A future collaboration with Triangolo gallery of Cremona is scheduled for May–September 2026, showcasing Nicole Colombo's sculpture "Rosario (to the moon and back)."

Contemporary art returns to center stage in Ascoli Piceno for the fifth edition of the Premio Sparti

L’arte contemporanea torna protagonista ad Ascoli Piceno per la quinta edizione del Premio Sparti

The fifth edition of the Premio Sparti, titled "Dove finisce la città" (Where the City Ends), will open on May 23 at the Forte Malatesta in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, running through June 28. Curated by Alex Urso, the exhibition features over twenty international artists exploring artistic practice outside major urban centers, with works also installed at the Frida Museum. The show is divided into three sections—"Essere oltre," "Essere qui," and "Essere altro"—highlighting artists who have chosen peripheral, rural, or marginalized locations as bases for their research, including Francesco Arena, Davide Maria Coltro, Andrea Mastrovito, and emerging talents under 35.

Finally, Culture Minister Giuli visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale and made peace with President Buttafuoco

Finalmente il Ministro della Cultura Giuli ha visitato il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia 2026 e ha fatto pace con il Presidente Buttafuoco

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli finally visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale alongside Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, marking their first public appearance together after earlier tensions led Giuli to skip the opening ceremony. During the visit, Buttafuoco proposed that the work of artist Chiara Camoni, whose exhibition "Con te con tutto" is curated by Cecilia Canziani, should find a permanent home after the Biennale ends, sparking discussion about the future of pavilion artworks.

Notte Europea dei Musei 2026: tornano le aperture serali con biglietto a 1 euro. Il programma

The European Night of Museums returns on Saturday, May 23, 2026, with participating museums across Europe opening their doors for special evening hours. In Italy, the Ministry of Culture organizes extraordinary openings from 8 PM to midnight at the symbolic price of 1 euro, alongside events in theater, music, dance, literature, and cinema. Highlights include Rome's Notte dei Musei (16th edition) with civic museums open until 2 AM, Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este in Tivoli offering evening access and contemporary performances, and the Royal Savoy Residences in Piedmont featuring guided tours, exhibitions, and family activities.

A Rediscovered Beato Angelico Takes Center Stage at Pandolfini's Old Masters Auctions in Florence

Un Beato Angelico riscoperto protagonista alle aste di arte antica di Pandolfini a Firenze

Pandolfini auction house in Florence will auction a rediscovered fragment of Beato Angelico's *Tebaide* on May 20, 2026, after it had been missing for fifty years. The attribution was confirmed by comparison with the version held at the Museo di San Marco and formerly at the Galleria degli Uffizi. The auction house's Old Masters department, led since 2025 by young director Nicolò Pitto, has achieved strong results, including over €5 million in total revenue for the year, with top lots such as Artemisia Gentileschi's *Cleopatra* (€595,600) and a French School *Saint Catherine of Alexandria* (€620,000).

Mimmo Jodice in mostra al nuovo Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro a Napoli. Rare foto ‘barocche’ a colori

Mimmo Jodice, the renowned Italian photographer who died in October 2025 at age 91, is being honored with a new exhibition at the Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro in Naples. The show, curated by former Capodimonte director Sylvain Bellenger, presents Jodice's rare color photographs from the 1980s—his only color project—which focus on 17th-century Neapolitan Baroque paintings by artists such as Caravaggio, Jusepe de Ribera, and Artemisia Gentileschi. The exhibition runs until January 10, 2027, and also marks the inauguration of newly renovated welcome spaces at the museum, designed by Vanni del Gaudio.

Giuli Buys Everything! The Ministry of Culture Also Wants to Take Over Rome's Teatro delle Vittorie and Venice's Palazzo Labia?

Giuli compra tutto! Il Ministero della Cultura vuole prendersi anche Il Teatro delle Vittorie di Roma e Palazzo Labia a Venezia?

Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli is pursuing an aggressive acquisition campaign for cultural properties. After high-profile purchases including Antonello da Messina's *Ecce Homo* and Caravaggio's *Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini* (€30 million), the Ministry has now expressed interest in acquiring Rome's Teatro delle Vittorie and Venice's Palazzo Labia—both part of a real estate portfolio being sold by state broadcaster Rai. The Ministry also recently bought Verona's historic Cinema Astra (with a €7.5 million restoration plan) and Naples' Teatro Sannazzaro after a fire.

A Milano c’è una mostra di un importante artista australiano in cui si ragiona sul rumore

Marco Fusinato, the Australian artist who represented his country at the 59th Venice Biennale, returns to Italy with a solo exhibition at the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (PAC) in Milan. Titled "The only true anarchy is that of Power," the show brings together installations, performances, and sound recordings from recent years, all centered on the concept of noise. Curated by Diego Sileo, the exhibition features three ongoing projects, including the monumental performance-installation DESASTRES, first presented at the Venice Biennale in 2022 and later staged at festivals such as Berlin Atonal and Unsound Krakow. The work combines randomized sound and images, using electric guitars, mass amplification, and intense feedback to create an immersive, hallucinatory experience where chaos and control coexist.

Robilant and Voena gallery founders part ways to start separate ventures with their children

Edmondo di Robilant and Marco Voena, the founders of the prominent gallery Robilant + Voena (R+V), have announced the dissolution of their 22-year partnership to launch two separate family-run firms. The split results in the creation of 'Robilant' and 'Voena,' with both founders bringing their children into senior leadership roles to ensure long-term succession. Michele di Robilant will serve as director of Robilant, while Edoardo and Virginia Voena will take on director and sales director roles respectively at Voena.

In Pol Taburet’s New Show, Being Paranoid Is the Point

French artist Pol Taburet has opened a solo exhibition titled *Paranoia as Method* at Villa Medici in Rome, on view through July 15. The show features sculptures, large-format paintings, and charcoal drawings created during his spring residency at the institution, transforming the villa’s gardens, loggias, and salons into tense psychic landscapes. Taburet’s figures drift between human and animal, evoking transformation, mortality, and spiritual tension, drawing on his Caribbean roots, voodoo traditions, contemporary culture, and classical painting.

Artist Felipe Pantone's home is a 'permanent exhibition' - with its own indoor nightclub

Spanish-Argentinian contemporary artist Felipe Pantone, who never reveals his face to the public, opens the doors to his striking home 'Casa Axis' in Valencia, Spain. Originally built between 1972 and 1975 by architect Pascual Genovés and designer Antonio Segura, the property was known as the 'Revolving House' before Pantone renamed it. After a two-year renovation, the 7,000 sq m estate now includes an indoor swimming pool designed by the artist, a private tennis court, a dance club, and rooms filled with natural light. Pantone and his partner Victoria Fernández host artists from around the world at the home, which also served as a backdrop for Netflix's Black Mirror.

Major, International Touring Exhibition ‘Treasures of the Pharaohs’ Coming to the Kimbell Art Museum in 2027

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, announced it will host the major international touring exhibition 'Treasures of the Pharaohs' from March 14 to September 19, 2027. Featuring 130 artifacts from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Luxor Museum, the exhibition spans 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, including royal treasures, newly discovered objects from the 'Golden City' in the Valley of the Kings, and works from Dynasty I to the Ptolemaic period. The exhibition is currently on view at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome and will travel to the de Young museum in San Francisco before arriving at the Kimbell.

Two Shows, One Desert: “Desert Rinpa” & “Wander” at EPMA

Two concurrent exhibitions at the El Paso Museum of Art explore the Southwestern desert through distinct artistic lenses. "Desert Rinpa" presents Mitsumasa Overstreet's large-scale panels that blend Chihuahuan Desert flora with the classical Japanese Rinpa tradition, using techniques like tarashikomi and metallic leaf to evoke desert light. Upstairs, "Suzi Davidoff: Wander" features nearly 100 works from 1991 to the present, including drawings, prints, and installations made with natural materials like dirt, clay, and charcoal gathered from wildfire sites, emphasizing the physical presence of the desert itself.

Es Devlin invites the UK to become part of a collective digital portrait at the National Portrait Gallery

Es Devlin has launched *A National Portrait*, a participatory digital artwork at the National Portrait Gallery in London, created in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture Lab. Opening on 14 May 2026 and running until 27 October 2026, the project invites anyone in the UK to upload a photograph of themselves via an online platform, where it is transformed into an animated digital portrait inspired by Devlin's charcoal and chalk drawing practice. These portraits are displayed collectively in the gallery's History Makers space, and participants receive a downloadable digital edition of their own portrait. The project is the result of three years of collaborative research between Devlin and Google Arts & Culture Lab.

'A Serene Look upon the World' at Mendes Wood DM, Brussels, Belgium on 22 Apr–30 May 2026

Mendes Wood DM in Brussels presents 'A Serene Look upon the World,' a group exhibition running from 22 April to 30 May 2026. The show features 22 artists including Lucas Arruda, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lee Ufan, and Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, whose works explore the sublime as a tension between permanence and transformation. The exhibition juxtaposes painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media to evoke moments of pause before the overwhelming, drawing on philosophical ideas from Longinus and Kant.