Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 9 link 13 artists

Rothko Leads Sotheby’s $433.1 M. Contemporary Art Sale, UK Returns Artifacts to Ethiopia, and More: Morning Links for May 15, 2026

Sotheby’s kicked off the May marquee auction season with a $433.1 million result from its modern and contemporary art evening sales in New York. The sale was led by Mark Rothko’s painting *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (1957), which sold for $85.8 million from the estate of late dealer Robert Mnuchin, who had purchased it in 2003 for $6.7 million. The auction also saw strong results for works by women artists like Joan Mitchell and ultra-contemporary artists such as Ding Shilun and Yu Nishimura. Separately, the King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum Trust in the UK returned looted artifacts to Ethiopia, including a lock of hair and blood-stained cloth belonging to Emperor Tewodros II, taken during the Anglo-Indian Expedition of 1868.

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trending_up market schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 13 link 25 artists, 4 galleries

Rothko from Robert Mnuchin’s Estate Sells for $85.8 M., Leading Sotheby’s New York’s $433.1 M. Contemporary Art Sale

Sotheby’s New York held a $433.1 million modern and contemporary art sale at its Madison Avenue headquarters, led by Mark Rothko’s *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (1957), which sold for $85.8 million. The auction opened with 11 works from the estate of legendary dealer Robert Mnuchin, totaling $166.3 million, including a second Rothko and pieces by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Pablo Picasso. The contemporary art segment followed, with Jean-Michel Basquiat’s *Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)* (1983) selling for $52.7 million. The overall sale was described by advisers as robust but not particularly exciting, and it significantly exceeded the $186.1 million equivalent sale from last year.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 10 link 5 artists

Does L.A’s Bold New LACMA Museum Work?

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has debuted a long-awaited new building designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, costing $750 million. The museum opened to the public last month with a gala for the David Geffen Galleries, and its charismatic director Michael Govan promises a new vision for how museums show art and relate to the public. Art critic Carolina Miranda joins Artnet News's Ben Davis to discuss the building's significance, having published her own analysis calling it an instant LA icon.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 12 link 8 artists

Dutch Designer Iris van Herpen’s High-Tech Garments Are On View in a Mid-Career Retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum is opening a mid-career retrospective titled “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses,” showcasing the Dutch designer’s high-tech garments. The exhibition features over a decade of van Herpen’s work, including the first 3D-printed garment sent down a runway in 2010, pieces worn by celebrities like Lady Gaga, Björk, and Beyoncé, and new collaborations such as an algae dress grown from living microorganisms. Organized by senior curator Matthew Yokobosky, the show originated at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and has traveled internationally before arriving in Brooklyn, where it is augmented with objects from the museum’s collections in art, science, and natural history.

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article news schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 11 link 5 artists

The Met Teams Up with Band-Aid on Art-Themed Adhesive Bandages

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Band-Aid have reunited for a second collaboration, releasing a new set of art-themed adhesive bandages in 2026. The bandages feature details from three flower paintings in the Met's collection: Claude Monet's *Water Lilies* (1919), Vincent van Gogh's *Irises* (1890), and Odilon Redon's *Bouquet of Flowers* (ca. 1900–1905). The 50-count assortment includes small, medium, and large fabric bandages packed in a collectible tin, available exclusively at Target for $7.29. The 2025 Hokusai collection, which sold out quickly, is also back on sale at major retailers.

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Hungary’s New Minister of Culture Vows to Restore Artistic Freedom, Turner’s Famous ‘Self-Portrait’ Called Into Doubt, and More: Morning Links for May 14, 2026

An expert claims that the iconic self-portrait of J.M.W. Turner, which hangs in Tate Britain and appears on British £20 notes, was not actually painted by Turner. James Hamilton, a Turner scholar, argues the work was misattributed when it entered the Turner Bequest and may instead be by Turner contemporary John Opie. Meanwhile, Hungary’s new Minister of Culture, Zoltán Tarr, vows to restore artistic freedom and dismantle political control over cultural institutions following the election of Prime Minister Peter Magyar. The Trump administration is proceeding with construction of a contested Triumphal Arch and a White House ballroom, and a former Louvre employee has been charged in a ticket fraud scandal.

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article culture schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 9 link 5 artists

5 Art Novels to Read This Summer

ARTnews has published a list of five art novels to read this summer, all released within the past year. The featured books include Ben Lerner's 'Transcription,' Larissa Pham's 'Discipline,' Deborah Levy's 'My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction,' Stephanie Wambugu's 'Lonely Crowds,' and Luke Goebel's 'Kill Dick.' Each novel explores how art emerges through relationships—with friends, mentors, parents, lovers, and historical artists—offering a range of perspectives from anxious inner monologues to satirical critiques of the art world.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 9 link 19 artists, 11 galleries

The Best Booths at Frieze New York, From Cindy Sherman’s Newest Photos to UFOs

The article reviews the best booths at Frieze New York 2026, held at the Shed in Hudson Yards. It highlights eight standout presentations, including Hauser & Wirth's debut of new Cindy Sherman photographs, Andrew Edlin Gallery's themed booth featuring artists like Paulina Peavy and Melvin Way who explore extraterrestrial themes, and Carlos/Ishikawa's display of Evelyn Taocheng Wang's monumental paintings that engage with Agnes Martin and Georgia O'Keeffe. The author notes that while art fairs prioritize commerce, some galleries successfully balance good art with monetization.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 11 link 8 artists

‘The content, material and form support each other’: Sandy Rodriguez on her Hispanic Society Museum show

Sandy Rodriguez presents her new exhibition, *Tierra Insurgente*, at the Hispanic Society Museum and Library in Washington Heights, featuring her hand-painted maps on amate paper alongside historic codices and globes from the institution's collection. Her works blend Mesoamerican and colonial-era imagery with contemporary symbols of state violence and resistance, such as riot police, calavera-style surveillance helicopters, and references to the 2020 racial-justice protests in New Orleans. Rodriguez uses natural pigments like cochineal and hand-processed minerals on bark paper, a material once outlawed by Spanish colonizers, to create a dialogue between past and present.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 13 link 4 artists

Garment, body and space merge in Iris van Herpen’s first major New York show

The Brooklyn Museum is hosting Iris van Herpen's first major New York exhibition, featuring over 140 haute couture looks from the Dutch fashion designer. Van Herpen, who founded her house in 2007, pioneered 3D printing in fashion and uses unconventional materials like upcycled marine debris and fermented fibers. The touring show, which originated at Paris's Musée des Arts Décoratifs, includes contemporary art, scientific objects, and natural-history specimens alongside her garments. Curated by Matthew Yokobosky, the Brooklyn iteration draws on the museum's own collections and loans from the American Museum of Natural History, the Staten Island Museum, and the Yale Peabody Museum. Highlights include a dress made with living bioluminescent algae and a re-creation of Van Herpen's atelier.

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trending_up market schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 10 link 11 artists

Contemporary Icons and Modern Masters Headline This Major May Sale

Rago/Wright is hosting two major spring sales on May 14, 2026: 'Pure Edge: American Geometric Abstraction, Selected Works from the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires' and a Post War and Contemporary Art sale. The first features 19 works from the museum's premier collection of American geometric abstraction, while the second spans 20th- and 21st-century art. Highlighted lots include Sam Gilliam's 'Sun Woman' (1970, est. $300,000–$500,000), Annie Morris's 'Stack 7 (Ultramarine Blue)' (2015, est. $150,000–$200,000), Miyoko Ito's 'Adam and Eve' (1957, est. $200,000–$300,000), and Maria Martins's 'Impossible' (1946, est. $150,000–$200,000).

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museum exhibitions schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 9 link 12 artists

Public art blossoms around New York

New York City's public spaces are blooming with large-scale outdoor art this spring, complementing the gallery and museum season. From the High Line to Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Bronx to Stuyvesant Square, artists including Derek Fordjour, Raven Halfmoon, Monira Al Qadiri, Judith Modrak, Woody De Othello, Shellyne Rodriguez, and Graciela Cassel have installed sculptures, murals, and interactive works. Highlights include Fordjour's mural *Backbreaker Double* (2025), Halfmoon's ceramic bust *West Side Warrior* (2025), and Rodriguez's *Phoenix Ladder: Monument to the People of the Bronx* (2025), which commemorates housing loss in the 1970s.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 15 link 8 artists

New Museum unveils Sarah Lucas's bawdy Bowery commission

The New Museum unveiled Sarah Lucas's sculpture "VENUS VICTORIA" (2026) on May 12 as the inaugural commission for its new public plaza on the Bowery in New York. The work features a pink-hued figure in yellow high heels straddling a giant cast-concrete washing machine, riffing on the classic reclining nude. Lucas's proposal was selected by an all-artist jury including Teresita Fernández, Joan Jonas, Julie Mehretu, Cindy Sherman, and Kiki Smith. The sculpture will remain on view for two years, after which another commission by a woman artist will take its place.

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article local schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 15 link 7 artists

Pioneering British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron honoured with a blue plaque in London

A blue plaque has been unveiled on the London home of pioneering British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron at 10 Chesham Place in Belgravia, celebrating her legacy. Cameron took up photography at age 48 and created iconic portraits of figures like Alfred Tennyson, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Carlyle, as well as images of her family and neighbors. The plaque was installed by English Heritage, with family members including musician Jules Cameron, singer Jasmine van den Bogaerde (Birdy), and artist Julian Bell attending the ceremony. Cameron's great-great-great-granddaughter Jules Cameron noted that the honor feels like a continuation of her work to fix presence in light and memory.

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rate_review review schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 15 link 25 artists

Two Museums Take on Performative Masculinity, Looksmaxxing, Incels, and Other Macho Buzzwords That Don’t Belong There.

The Stedelijk Museum and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen have co-organized an exhibition titled "Beyond the Manosphere: Masculinities Today," which aims to critically examine contemporary masculinity and its online manifestations such as incels, looksmaxxing, and pickup artists. The show features works by artists including Reba Maybury and Richard Serra, and is curated by Melanie Bühler, with directors Rein Wolfs and Gianni Jetzer overseeing the project. The exhibition will travel from the Stedelijk to the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen later this year.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 13 link 2 artists

Delayed by War in Iran, Paul Klee Painting from Israel Finally Joins New York Show

A long-delayed loan of Paul Klee's painting *Angelus Novus* (1920) has finally arrived at the Jewish Museum in New York, completing the exhibition "Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds." The work, on loan from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, was stuck in Israel due to the ongoing war in Iran, which began with joint US-Israeli bombardments on February 28. Until its arrival, the painting was represented by an authorized facsimile with a note citing transport delays. The exhibition, which opened March 20, focuses on Klee's final decade and runs through July 26.

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trending_up market schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 17 link 3 artists, 2 galleries

Market Outlook for New York’s May Sales

New York's May sales season is underway with over $1.8 billion worth of art heading to auction at major houses including Sotheby's, where a monumental Rothko consigned by Robert Mnuchin is expected to fetch $70–100 million. Frieze New York opens at the Shed with 68 galleries, half of them local. Other notable developments include a major Banksy work hitting the auction block with one of its highest estimates ever, and the estate of sculptor Robert Therrien leaving Gagosian after nearly 30 years to join David Zwirner.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 21 link 8 artists

Exhibitions marking 250th anniversary of the US open in New York

Several New York museums have opened exhibitions marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, which falls on 4 July 2026. The New-York Historical Society presents "Old Masters, New Amsterdam," drawn from the Leiden Collection, focusing on the lives of Dutch colonists. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library offers "Goya and the Age of Revolution," linking the American Revolution to European upheavals and Goya's depictions of war. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has installed "Revolution!" in its American Wing, reexamining the nation's founding through art. A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson will also be on view at the New York Public Library.

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article news schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 16 link 13 artists

More than 70 Venice Biennale artists withdraw from awards

More than 70 artists participating in the 2025 Venice Biennale have withdrawn from consideration for the Golden Lion awards, which this year will be decided by public vote. The artists, including Walid Raad, Laurie Anderson, and Yto Barrada, signed a statement published on e-flux on May 9, withdrawing in solidarity with the entire prize jury that resigned last month over a dispute regarding the participation of Israel and Russia. The Biennale management replaced the traditional jury-selected awards with a new "Visitor Lion" system where ticket holders can vote, but the Biennale has acknowledged that if any of the withdrawing artists win, they will not collect the award.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 9, 2026 visibility 22 link 11 artists

Venice Diary Day 3: Offsite Highlights Include Fleshy Films and Vegetarian Videos

The article reports on the author's third day at the Venice Biennale, focusing on offsite exhibitions. Highlights include Li Yi-Fan's animated video "Screen Melancholy" (2026) at the Taiwan Pavilion, described as chaotic, absurdist, and uncanny, featuring a naked CGI character interacting with ChatGPT. The author also praises Janis Rafa's video installation "Baby I'm Yours, Forever" (2026) at Fondazione In Between Art Film, which transforms scenes from a meat refrigeration plant into haunting surreal imagery. The piece notes the resurgence of video art, aided by LED screens that create immersive environments.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 8, 2026 visibility 21 link 13 artists

Venice Biennale Special 2026—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast is a Venice Biennale special, covering the opening week of the 2026 edition. Host Ben Luke, along with Louisa Buck and Jane Morris, reviews the main exhibition "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh and realized by five collaborators. The podcast features interviews with artists Gabrielle Goliath, whose work for the South African pavilion was cancelled and is instead staged in a Venice church, and Lubaina Himid, showing in the British pavilion. It also includes conversations with writer Saidiya Hartman and Daniella Kaliada of Belarus Free Theatre about their collateral projects. The episode concludes with a focus on two restored Tintoretto paintings at the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, funded by Save Venice.

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article news schedule May 8, 2026 visibility 18 link 3 artists

As Her Venice Biennale Opens, Koyo Kouoh Foundation Launches in Memory of Late Curator

The Koyo Kouoh Foundation has launched in Basel, Switzerland, coinciding with the opening of the 2026 Venice Biennale, which features the late curator Koyo Kouoh's main exhibition "In Minor Keys." The foundation aims to continue Kouoh's work supporting contemporary African cultural production globally, including plans for the Koyo Kouoh Prize and a permanent home for the Koyo Kouoh Collection. It is led by her partner, saxophonist Philippe Mall, and includes board members such as artist Alfredo Jaar, curator Adrienne Edwards, and former Kunstmuseum Basel director Josef Helfenstein.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 20 link 12 artists

Sound-based Holy See pavilion opens at Venice Biennale as Vatican’s contemporary art ambitions grow

The Holy See's pavilion at the Venice Biennale has opened, featuring a sound-based exhibition titled "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul" (9 May–22 November). The show, inspired by the medieval Benedictine nun Saint Hildegard of Bingen, includes commissioned audio works by high-profile artists and musicians such as Brian Eno, FKA Twigs, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, and Precious Okoyomon. The exhibition takes place across two Venetian sites—the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelite and the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice complex—and is co-organized by Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery, and curator Ben Vickers, in collaboration with Soundwalk Collective.

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article news schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 18 link 7 artists

Here’s Why the Venice Biennale Main Show Lost One Artist During the Planning Stages

The Venice Biennale's main exhibition, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, originally included 111 artists when announced in February, but now lists only 110. ARTnews reveals that the removed artist is Bodys Isek Kingelez, a Congolese sculptor known for his colorful cardboard "extreme maquettes" of fantastical cities. A Biennale spokesperson stated that works initially considered for Kingelez were ultimately unavailable. Kingelez, who died in 2015, was to be one of the few deceased artists in the show, alongside figures like Marcel Duchamp and Issa Samb.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 20 link 2 artists

Lubaina Himid on capturing the 'uneasiness' of Britain for her Venice Biennale pavilion

Lubaina Himid, the Turner Prize-winning artist born in Zanzibar and raised in England, is representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale with a pavilion that captures the 'uneasiness' of living in Britain. The exhibition features her signature paintings, prints, and cutout figures, alongside a soundscape by Magda Stawarska, designed to evoke ambiguous encounters and the gap between a question and an answer. Himid describes the pavilion as a reflection of Britain's everyday pleasantness undercut by a persistent sense of otherness, drawing on her own experience as an East African brought up by English women.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 20 link 10 artists

At the Venice Biennale, Koyo Kouoh’s ‘In Minor Keys’ Looks Deeply at Lush Gardens and a Scarred Earth

Koyo Kouoh's exhibition 'In Minor Keys' at the 2026 Venice Biennale centers on the practices of two deceased artists, Issa Samb and Beverly Buchanan, whose ways of thinking animate the show through dedicated 'Shrines' in the Central Pavilion. The exhibition also draws on Marcel Duchamp's legacy, featuring works by over a dozen contemporary artists including Akinbode Akinbiyi, Guadalupe Rosales, Natalia Lassalle-Morillo, Guadalupe Maravilla, Sofía Gallisá Muriente, and Avi Mograbi, whose installation 'Between a River and a Sea' contrasts pre-1948 business directories with a 2023 Gaza Yellow Pages. A section called 'The Schools' highlights artist-run spaces such as Denniston Hill, Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation, blaxTARLINES, and the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute.

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trending_up market schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 20 link 3 artists

Claude Monet’s Market Triumph: 12 Record‑Smashing Paintings That Define an Era

Claude Monet's market dominance is analyzed through twelve record-breaking paintings sold at auction over the past decade, led by *Meules (Haystacks)* (1890), which achieved $110.7 million at Sotheby's New York in 2019—a record for any Impressionist work. The article highlights key sales including *Le Bassin aux Nymphéas* (1919) at $80.45 million, *Nymphéas* (1906) at $54 million, and *Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil* (1873–74) at $41.4 million, tracing how Monet's serene yet radical landscapes have consistently commanded top prices across Christie's and Sotheby's.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 19 link 2 artists

Alvaro Barrington takes a road trip to the Venice Biennale

Artist Alvaro Barrington has created a vibrant haulage truck titled "Labor Day Parade ’91" (2026) as his contribution to the 61st Venice Biennale, part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys." The truck, decorated with scenes linked to his background and art historical references, was driven from London to Venice on an epic road trip across Europe. It is now parked in the Giardini next to the Austrian pavilion, with its front tyres punctured to prevent movement. During the preview, the work was admired by artist Julie Mehretu and Dia Art Foundation director Jessica Morgan.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 17 link 18 artists

Our pick of the best pavilions at the 61st Venice Biennale

The article highlights standout national pavilions at the 61st Venice Biennale. The Belarus Pavilion features a powerful installation by the Belarus Free Theatre, including a wheat field built by former political prisoners, straw spiders made from prison bars, and a confession booth that runs facial recognition. The Brazil Pavilion presents a joint exhibition by Rosana Paulino and Adriana Varejão, focusing on colonial wounds and trauma through works like Paulino's 'Aracnes' and Varejão's 'Still Life amid Ruin'. The Bosnian Pavilion by Mladen Bundalo invites tactile engagement with themes of diaspora and migration, while the Austrian Pavilion by Florentina Holzinger draws attention with nude performers in water-filled pools.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 24 link 10 artists

Brandywine Conservancy and Museum picks architects for $100m expansion project

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, has selected Kengo Kuma & Associates, along with landscape architects Field Operations and Schwartz Silver Architects, to lead a $100 million expansion project. The plan includes a new 40,000-square-foot museum building, renovation of the existing 19th-century grist mill museum, and a ten-mile loop of walking trails connecting the two buildings to the historic studios of artists N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2025, with completion in autumn 2029. Nearly half the funding has been raised, including contributions from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art and Wyeth family members.

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