ancient buddhist relics wat dhammachak semaram thailand

A trove of ancient Buddhist relics, including gold, silver, and bronze items, was discovered beneath Wat Dhammachak Semaram temple in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, during conservation work in April. The finds, found in an earthenware container just over a meter deep, include gold rings, silver earrings, bronze ornaments, a gold repoussé plaque of a seated Buddha, and a lead-tin repoussé of a standing Buddha with attendants, dating back over 1,300 years to the Dvaravati era.

A Painting by the Master of the Blue Jeans Joins a Museum in Ticino

Un tableau du Maître de la toile de jean rejoint un musée dans le Tessin

The Pinacoteca cantonale Giovanni Züst in Rancate, Switzerland, has acquired 'Woman Begging with Two Children,' a significant work by the anonymous 17th-century artist known as the Master of the Blue Jeans. The painting was notably featured in a landmark 2010 exhibition at Galerie Canesso that helped define the identity of this Lombard artist, famous for depicting lower-class subjects wearing indigo-dyed denim-like fabric.

Who Gets to Define ‘American Art’? Inside the 2026 Whitney Biennial

The 2026 Whitney Biennial is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, running from March 8 through August 2026. For the first time in the museum's history, the exhibition is co-curated by a Latina, Marcela Guerrero, who brings a new perspective to the prestigious show. Of the 56 artists featured, 16 are Latino, and the exhibition includes immersive installations with slimy green sculptures, lemongrass scents, and insect sounds, alongside works such as Leo Castañeda's video game "Camoflux: Levels & Bosses (Igapó)" and Gabriela Ruiz's "Homo Machina."

Artist’s Perspective: Anila Quayyum Agha

Artist Anila Quayyum Agha will give a talk at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville on May 22, 2026, discussing her exhibition "Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven." The survey spans two decades of her practice, including immersive installations, works on paper, paintings, and sculptures that draw on themes of migration, identity, and inequality, as well as influences from Indo-Islamic architecture, poetry, and the California Light and Space movement.

Plains Art Museum marks Smithsonian relationship with new Indigenous exhibit

The Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, has been awarded a Smithsonian Affiliation, becoming the only institution in the state with such a designation. The partnership grants the museum access to Smithsonian programs, including artwork loans, touring exhibitions, educational resources, and professional development. The first public display of this collaboration is the new exhibit "Know Your Treaty: Wiwahokichiyapi," which opened in late April. The touring Smithsonian show, developed by the National Museum of the American Indian, examines the history of treaties between Indigenous nations and the U.S. government through photographs and text, while the museum has supplemented it with works by Indigenous artists from its permanent collection and loans.

Opening Conversation: International Surrealism from Tate

The Frist Art Museum in Nashville will host "Opening Conversation: International Surrealism from Tate" on May 21, 2026, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. The event features a discussion with Dr. Matthew Gale, exhibition curator; Michael J. Ewing, Frist Art Museum associate curator; and Caroline Yates, Susan H. Edwards Curatorial Fellow, focusing on the exhibition "International Surrealism from Tate: Fifty Years of Dreams." The exhibition, drawn from the Tate's collection in the United Kingdom, presents a broad selection of paintings, photographs, sculptures, publications, and archival material that traces the long trajectory and global reach of surrealism. A live musical performance in the Grand Lobby precedes the conversation from 5:15 to 6:15 PM, and the museum remains open until 9:00 PM for gallery visits.

Oxford Festival Of The Arts brings world famous artists, free exhibitions and silent films to the city centre

The Oxford Festival of the Arts is bringing a major visual art component to its 2025 program, featuring free exhibitions by world-renowned artists across multiple venues in Oxford city centre. Highlights include James Gemmill's cinematic paintings at St John's College, a collaborative installation by Chinese artist Qu Lei Lei and Caroline Deane at OVADA examining humanity and geopolitics, a retrospective of Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Dubovyk's 'White Bouquet' series, and a charitable project supporting Ukrainian children through art. All exhibitions are free and require no booking.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Unveils Its Fashion Galleries, Highlighting Fashion’s Place in Museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled the new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot suite of exhibition spaces designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office. Located adjacent to the museum's Great Hall, the galleries relocate fashion exhibitions from a previously tucked-away basement space to one of the museum's most visible and architecturally significant locations. The new spaces debuted with "Costume Art," an exhibition organized by The Costume Institute and curated by Andrew Bolton, which places roughly 200 garments and accessories in dialogue with 200 artworks from the museum's collection, exploring themes such as "The Classical Body," "The Aging Body," and "The Disabled Body." The design, by architects Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, uses a restrained material palette of grey marmorino plaster and oak doors framed by limestone arches to create permanent-feeling yet flexible spaces that harmonize with the museum's historic Beaux-Arts architecture.

The Picasso of India: Amrita Sher-Gil exhibit opens in Drents Museum

The Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, has opened a major exhibition of works by Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), the Hungarian-Indian painter often called the Picasso of India. Titled “Europe is Picasso’s, India is Mine,” the show features nearly 50 paintings and drawings on loan from the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, marking the first-ever Sher-Gil exhibition in the Netherlands and the first in Europe in nearly two decades. Originally scheduled for March, the opening was delayed due to geopolitical tensions linked to the war in Iran, which postponed the transport of the artworks. The museum worked for six years to secure the loan, and 23 Dutch museums stepped in to create an alternative exhibition during the delay.

Rollstone Bank commits $100K to Fitchburg Art Museum

Rollstone Bank & Trust has committed $100,000 to sponsor free admission at the Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM) through 2029, the final year of the museum's Centennial celebration. The gift eliminates all admission fees, replacing previous categorical free programs with universal access, and is expected to significantly increase the museum's annual attendance of 14,000 visitors.

Women in the American Glass Studio at Corning Museum of Glass

The Corning Museum of Glass will open a new exhibition titled "Tough Stuff: Women in the American Glass Studio" on May 16, 2026, as part of its 75th anniversary celebration. This is the first survey exhibition focused on women artists working in glass during the American Studio Glass Movement from the 1960s through the late 1970s, featuring over 200 objects by artists including Claire Falkenstein, Audrey Handler, Margie Jervis, Susie Krasnican, Kathleen Mulcahy, Ginny Ruffner, Ruth Tamura, and Toots Zynsky.

Syracuse-born artist Peter McGough hand-painted Anne Hathaway’s Met Gala dress

Syracuse-born artist Peter McGough hand-painted a custom Michael Kors gown worn by Anne Hathaway to the 2026 Met Gala. The dress, a strapless black Mikado silk ball gown with a plunging neckline and high-leg slit, features intricate Grecian patterns inspired by the Met's urns and statues, including a goddess with a dove on the back. McGough, a former classmate of Michael Kors at the Fashion Institute of Technology, painted directly on the silk and wool gown over a week using three layers of fabric paint. The design aligns with the gala's 'Fashion Is Art' dress code and references John Keats' poem 'Ode on a Grecian Urn,' also tying into Hathaway's upcoming film 'The Odyssey.'

Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art announces $100m expansion

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art in Pennsylvania has announced a $100 million expansion project to transform its 15-acre campus. The plan includes a new 40,000-square-foot museum building designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates—the firm's first museum in the U.S.—along with renovations to the original mid-19th century grist mill building, and the creation of a 325-acre publicly accessible preserve and garden with 10 miles of trails. Construction is set to begin in spring 2027, with completion expected in autumn 2029.

New exhibition charts motherhood from the 15th century to today

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has opened a new exhibition titled 'Mother,' curated almost entirely from its existing collection. The show traces the experience of motherhood from the 15th century to the present, beginning with a juxtaposition of Giovanni Toscani's Madonna and Child and a 1998 birth mat by Elizabeth Birritjama Ngalandjarri. Co-curators Sophie Gerhard and Katharina Prugger organized the exhibition around the 'life cycle' of a mother, covering themes from matrescence to loss. It features works by artists including Kate Just, Kyra Mancktelow, Destiny Deacon, and Hannah Brontë, with a strong emphasis on First Nations perspectives and fiber arts.

2 Cincinnati museums to feature Charley and Edie Harper's works this fall

Two Cincinnati museums will present simultaneous exhibitions dedicated to artists Charley and Edie Harper this fall. The Taft Museum of Art will host the first solo museum exhibition of Edie Harper's work, featuring over 100 pieces spanning her entire career. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Art Museum will mount the first full-scale retrospective of Charley Harper's paintings, with about 150 works on display, covering his career from early pieces to near his death. Both exhibitions open in October 2026, with the Taft's running through January and the Cincinnati Art Museum's through March.

Met Inaugurates ‘Costume Art’ for the Spring 2026 Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open 'Costume Art' in spring 2026, a major exhibition that positions fashion as a lens for examining the human body across cultures and history. Housed in a new 12,000-square-foot gallery adjacent to the Great Hall, the show pairs garments from The Costume Institute with ancient statues, artworks, and paintings, organized around thematic body types such as idealized, distorted, exposed, and reclaimed. The exhibition design by Peterson Rich Office uses sheer scrims and varied ceiling heights to create an immersive, interconnected experience.

Bvlgari enters the inner circle of the Venice Biennale

Bvlgari has become the first Exclusive Partner of La Biennale di Venezia, a landmark agreement that extends through 2030. The Roman jeweler will inaugurate its role at the 2026 Venice Biennale with two major initiatives: a newly created Bvlgari Pavilion at the Giardini featuring Canadian artist Lotus L. Kang, and an exhibition at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana curated by Fondazione Bvlgari, presenting works by Italian artists Lara Favaretto and Monia Ben Hamouda.

N.Y.'s Met museum to add Japanese designer Tamae Hirokawa to collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will add garments by Japanese designer Tamae Hirokawa to its permanent collection. Seven bodysuits from her signature "Skin Series" line, which explores the concept of seamless knitwear as a "second skin," will be displayed in the spring 2026 Costume Art exhibition. Hirokawa joins fellow Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, and Hanae Mori in the museum's Costume Institute collection. The exhibition, held in new galleries adjacent to the Great Hall, pairs garments with artworks to highlight the relationship between clothing and the body.

PHOTOS: Celebrities interpret 2026 Met Gala theme ‘Fashion is Art’

On May 4, 2026, celebrities including Emma Chamberlain, Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Jenner, and Janelle Monae attended the Met Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, celebrating the opening of the "Costume Art" exhibition. The event featured arrivals at the museum and departures from The Mark Hotel, with performances by Joshua Henry, and was captured by photographers Evan Agostini, Andy Kropa, and Jamie McCarthy.

CMOA unveils the 59th Carnegie International

The Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA) held a press tour on May 1, 2026, for the 59th Carnegie International, titled "If the word we." The exhibition features 61 artists from around the world, including 36 newly commissioned works, alongside pieces from CMOA's permanent collection. It opens to the public on May 2, 2026, and runs through January 3, 2027. Notable participants include artists Abraham González Pacheco, Elle Márjá Eira, Hans Ragnar Mathisen, Joar Nango, G. Peter Jemison, Sarah Ndele, and Georges Adeagbo, with tours led by professor Jongwoo Jeremy Kim.

First look at the 59th Carnegie International

The Carnegie Museum of Art held a press tour on May 1, 2026, for the 59th Carnegie International, titled "If the word we." The exhibition features 61 artists from around the world, including 36 newly commissioned works, alongside pieces from the museum's permanent collection. It opens to the public on May 2, 2026, and runs through January 3, 2027.

Ellen Noël Art Museum Looks Toward Future Following Renovation & Reopening

The Ellen Noël Art Museum of the Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas, reopened in December 2025 after a decade-long, $20 million renovation. The project added 8,000 square feet, a new silver oval exterior, a two-story lobby, renovated galleries, and a state-of-the-art lighting system. The museum is currently in transition, with interim director Steve Patton overseeing operations while a search for a permanent executive director is underway. Recent exhibitions include "Home, Love, and Loss" and "Shifting Subjects: The Heroes of the West."

Painting LACMA's David Geffen Galleries with Light, Shadow, and Color

LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries, designed by architect Peter Zumthor, feature custom-tinted concrete walls that break from traditional museum aesthetics. The walls are coated with a transparent, nano-scale mineral glaze developed by Zumthor and Swiss craftsman Marius Fontana, manufactured by German company Keim. The palette—dusky red, vibrant blue, and nuanced black—was inspired by ancient Indigenous American pigments prepared by artist Porfirio Gutiérrez for the museum's exhibition "We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art." Diana Magaloni, LACMA's Senior Deputy Director for Conservation, Curatorial and Exhibitions, led the conceptualization and application of the glazes, which are designed to enhance the building's interplay of light and shadow without obscuring its raw concrete surfaces.

Prokofiev Studio: new gallery devoted to the abstract art of Oleg Prokofiev son of the composer & father of composer Gabriel Prokofiev

Composer Gabriel Prokofiev has opened Prokofiev Studio in Hackney, London, a new gallery dedicated to the abstract art of his father, Oleg Prokofiev (1928-1998). Oleg, son of the famed composer Sergei Prokofiev, created abstract works in the 1950s that defied the Soviet Union’s strict socialist realism doctrine. His career was shaped by his relationship with British art historian Camilla Gray, whom he married in 1969 after hiding his art for a decade; she died two years later. Oleg moved to the UK but believed his abstract works lost until a 1994 return to Moscow revealed they had been preserved. The gallery houses Oleg’s archive, including 1950s abstract artworks, letters, sketchbooks, and sculptures, with an inaugural exhibition titled "Bending Time" reconstructing his 1990s studio in Hackney Wick.

Met Gala 2026: Everything to Know About the Theme, Co-Chairs, Dress Code and More

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with the theme "Costume Art" and a dress code of "Fashion Is Art." The event honors the spring 2026 exhibition of the same name, which inaugurates the Costume Institute's first permanent galleries, the nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries. Co-chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour. The red carpet livestream will be hosted by Ashley Graham, La La Anthony, Cara Delevingne, and Emma Chamberlain on Vogue's digital platforms.

Must-See Museum Exhibits in New Orleans This May

The article highlights two must-see photography exhibitions in New Orleans this May. The New Orleans Jazz Museum presents "Less is More: The Photography of Steve Rapport," which opened April 21 and combines Rapport's earlier rock 'n' roll photography with new, emotionally charged portraits made since he moved to New Orleans—the first time both bodies of work are shown together. Meanwhile, the Ogden Museum is hosting "Herman Leonard: Images of Jazz" (through July 12), featuring the legendary photographer's iconic images of jazz musicians from the bebop and cool jazz eras, including a print of Ella Fitzgerald. Leonard lived in New Orleans later in life, and the Ogden Museum protected his negative archive during Hurricane Katrina.

Southern Guild’s New York moment signals a shift for African art

Southern Guild, a Cape Town-based gallery, opened a permanent location in New York's Tribeca district on Friday, marking a major expansion for the gallery and a milestone for contemporary African art's international visibility. The inaugural exhibitions feature South African painter Mmangaliso Nzuza's "Ballad of the Peacock" and conceptual artist Usha Seejarim's "Used," both on view until May 17. Co-founder Trevyn McGowan described the 371m² space in a historic cast-iron building as both instinctive and strategic, following the closure of the gallery's Los Angeles outpost, which served as a testing ground for American audiences.

SPUSD Snapshot | 27 SPHS Artists Juried into Autry Museum Exhibition

Twenty-seven students from South Pasadena High School (SPHS) had their artwork selected for the "Visions of Humanity" student exhibition at the Autry Museum of the American West. The selected works span painting, drawing, and photography and will be on display at the museum from April 18 to May 31, 2026.

First-of-its-kind MCA exhibition plays the beat of Caribbean activism

Carla Acevedo-Yates has curated "Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón," a major exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, which will be her final show before departing for a role on the Documenta 16 team in Germany. The exhibition, which occupies the museum's entire fourth floor through September 20, features over 40 artists and explores the social and political histories of Caribbean music genres.

World-class contemporary art exhibition coming to four North Yorkshire venues

A major exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Aesthetica Art Prize will be presented across four venues in North Yorkshire, England. The show, featuring works by 50 leading contemporary artists, will be divided into four thematic parts and staged at Skipton Town Hall, the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, Scarborough Art Gallery, and Scarborough’s Woodend Gallery from late April through September.