The Kanal-Centre Pompidou, a major new modern and contemporary art museum in Brussels, will open on November 28. Housed in a converted 1930s Citroën garage, the €230m institution will launch with ten exhibitions, including a 350-work show drawn from the Centre Pompidou's collection in Paris and installations by artists like Otobong Nkanga.
The shortlist for the Prix Marcel Duchamp, France's most prestigious art prize, has been announced. The five nominees are Joël Andrianomearisoa, David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin, Laura Henno, and Josèfa Ntjam. The winner receives €35,000 from a total prize fund of €90,000. Due to the closure of the Centre Pompidou for renovations, the accompanying exhibition will be held at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris from 2 October 2026 to 14 February 2027. The winner will be announced on 22 October.
In the first episode of 2026, Ben Luke, Jane Morris, and Gareth Harris preview the year's major art events, including museum openings, biennials, and exhibitions. Highlights include the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, V&A East, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, along with the Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, and shows dedicated to artists like Gainsborough, Raphael, Zurbarán, and Matisse.
A preview of ten major art exhibitions opening across the United States in 2026, curated by art historian Emily Snow. Highlights include 'Frida: The Making of an Icon' at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, a Mary Cassatt centenary show at the National Gallery of Art, a focused presentation of Matisse's 'Jazz' at the Art Institute of Chicago, the 82nd Whitney Biennial, and the first comprehensive Raphael exhibition ever staged in the U.S. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other featured shows include 'America 250: Common Threads' at Crystal Bridges Museum and 'Manet & Morisot' at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Basia Monka profiles three contemporary Israeli artists—Ariel Hacohen, Jessica Moritz, and others—who, despite diverse backgrounds and mediums, share a common drive to explore order and chaos through repetition in their work. Hacohen, a 2024 Rappaport Prize laureate, uses photography, video, and sculpture to blend archaeology, history, and memory, with current exhibitions at the Haifa Museum of Art and Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The article presents each artist's answers to three questions about inspiration, the definition of art, and what makes their work unique.
The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced the 56 artists, duos, and collectives participating in the 2026 Whitney Biennial, the 82nd edition of the landmark U.S. contemporary art survey. Co-curators Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer have chosen not to give the exhibition a thematic title, instead letting conversations with artists guide the selection. The roster includes well-known figures like Andrea Fraser, Kamrooz Aram, Precious Okoyomon, Pat Oleszko, and Julio Torres, alongside emerging talents and historical or overlooked figures such as Carmen de Monteflores, José Maceda, and Kimowan Metchewais. The exhibition opens March 8, 2026, occupying most of the Whitney's Manhattan building with performances, public events, and online programming.
Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has announced the first 14 artists for its 59th Carnegie International, running from May 2026 to January 2027. Participants include Torkwase Dyson, Alia Farid, Sanchayan Ghosh, Jonathan González, Abraham González Pacheco, Eric Gyamfi, G. Peter Jemison, Liz Johnson Artur, Arturo Kameya, Claudia Martínez Garay, Cinthia Marcelle, Shala Miller, Brooke O’Harra, Sofu Teshigahara, and Ginger Brooks Takahashi. The exhibition, curated by Ryan Inouye, Liz Park, and Danielle A. Jackson, will feature commissions across multiple disciplines, including a planetarium animation, sound installations, photography, performance, and public outdoor works. Venues include the Carnegie Museum of Art, Children’s Museum, Kamin Science Center, Mattress Factory, and Thelma Lovette YMCA.
A block of Great Jones Street in downtown Manhattan, between Bowery and Lafayette Street, has been officially renamed Jean-Michel Basquiat Way in honor of the late Neo-Expressionist artist. Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones Street from 1983 until his death from a heroin overdose at age 27 in 1988, renting the space from his friend Andy Warhol. On October 21, New York city council members and Basquiat's family, including his sister Lisane Basquiat, unveiled the street signs. The building now features a commemorative plaque and has been rented by actress Angelina Jolie as a showroom and curatorial space for her fashion brand Jolie Atelier.
The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is presenting "High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100," a centennial exhibition celebrating Alexander Calder's iconic work "Calder’s Circus" (1926-31). The show brings together the miniature circus figures, wire sculptures, drawings, archival materials, and early abstract works, exploring how the circus inspired Calder's lifelong exploration of balance and movement, leading to his invention of the mobile. The exhibition runs from October 18, 2025, to March 9, 2026, and is co-curated by Jennie Goldstein and Roxanne Smith.
Sylvio Perlstein, the Belgian art collector and jeweller, died at age 94 in Antwerp, where he was born in 1931. A third-generation gem-cutter from a diamond dynasty, he fled the Nazis with his Jewish family to Brazil as an infant, reinventing himself as "Sylvio." His collecting began as an adolescent in Rio, where he bought a strange painting from a florist. Over decades, he amassed a major collection of 20th-century avant-garde art, befriending artists like Man Ray and Yves Klein, and acquiring works by René Magritte, Marcel Broodthaers, and Pablo Picasso. He was known for his discerning eye, seeking works that were "esquisito"—weird, strange, and different—rather than conventionally beautiful.
Petr Pudil, a Czech businessman and co-founder of BPD partners, discusses his journey as an art collector and the opening of Kunsthalle Praha in Prague with his wife Pavlína. The museum, housed in a former 1930s electricity substation, opened in 2022 and features temporary thematic exhibitions from their collection of over 2,000 works, including pieces by Max Ernst, Alicja Kwade, and William Kentridge. Pudil reflects on his acquisition strategy, regrets, and favorite London spots during Frieze week.
Glenn Lowry, the influential former director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, expressed deep concern that non-profit U.S. museums could lose their tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status under the Trump administration. Speaking on the podcast "The Art World: What If…?!" hosted by Charlotte Burns, Lowry warned that the federal government is prepared to exert significant power to achieve its ambitions, potentially revoking the tax exemption that he calls the "magic wand" behind America's robust cultural programming. His comments follow a House bill passed in November that would allow the Treasury Secretary broad powers to revoke non-profit status, though the bill has stalled in the Senate.
The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) has opened a new exhibition titled "The Bradley Collection of Modern Art: A Bold Vision for Milwaukee" in the Baker/Rowland Galleries, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Peg Bradley's donation of nearly 400 works to the museum. The show features highlights from the collection, including pieces by Wassily Kandinsky, Raoul Dufy, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, alongside works by American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Andy Warhol. The exhibition offers visitors a chance to see these works in a new setting and learn more about Bradley as a collector and philanthropist.
An exhibition titled 'LOOK HERE' opens at Haverford College's Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, featuring six neurodivergent artists from Greater Philadelphia who are connected with the Center for Creative Works (CCW). Curated by Jennifer Gilbert alongside CCW artists Paige Donavan and Mary T. Bevlock, the show highlights diverse works including mixed-media sculptures by blind artist Cindy Gosselin, textured ceramics by Clyde Henry, marker drawings by Allen Yu, and contributions from Kelly Brown, Tim Quinn, and Brandon Spicer-Crawley. The gallery is designed for accessibility, with lowered paintings, sensory backpacks, braille booklets, ASL-embedded videos, and custom seating by artists.
The article presents a curated list of ten essential artworks at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, coinciding with the departure of longtime director Glenn Lowry after 30 years and the appointment of Christophe Cherix as his successor. It highlights iconic pieces such as Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907) and Matisse's "The Red Studio" (1911), while reflecting on MoMA's history, its founding vision by Alfred Barr, and its evolution through expansions including the incorporation of PS1 and the $450 million renovation of its 53rd Street building.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has received a promised gift of 188 Dada and Surrealist works from collector and trustee John Pritzker, known as the Bluff Collection. The gift includes pieces by Man Ray, Max Ernst, Marcel and Suzanne Duchamp, Jean Arp, Lee Miller, and others, with 35 works debuting in the upcoming exhibition "Man Ray: When Objects Dream" (14 September 2025 – 1 February 2026). Pritzker is also donating over 100 books and ephemera, and funding a new research initiative, the Bluff Collaborative for Research on Dada and Surrealism, through his family fund.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening a major exhibition titled "Man Ray: When Objects Dream" on September 14, 2025, featuring 64 rayographs and about 100 other works by the artist from his most productive period in the late 1910s and 1920s. Curators Stephanie D'Alessandro and Stephen C. Pinson aim to separate fact from the artist's own mythology, while the exhibition's centerpiece is "Le Violon d'Ingres" (1924), the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction, purchased by museum trustee John Pritzker for $12.4 million at Christie's in 2022. The show also includes a previously unannounced promised gift of 188 artworks by Man Ray and his Dada and Surrealist cohort from Pritzker.
The Armory Show opened its 2024 edition in New York with solid sales during the VIP preview on September 4, providing a positive signal for the city's art market after a summer marked by gallery closures and economic uncertainty. The fair saw the return of over 20 galleries that had previously taken a hiatus, including Andrew Kreps, Uffner and Liu, Instituto de Visión, and White Cube for the first time since 1994. Fair director Kyla McMillan emphasized the importance of rooting the fair in New York and praised exhibitors for taking risks with experimental works, such as Nikita Gale's installation 'Interceptor' (2025), which sold for $60,000 before the preview began.
The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) team faced an extraordinary challenge installing the retrospective “Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei,” which required handling eight tractor-trailers of artwork—far more than the usual two—within just three weeks. The exhibition features 130 complex works, including a giant tree sculpture, a life-size jail cell replica, and a Lego rendition of the Mueller report, many arriving without instruction manuals and requiring creative assembly by a 12-person crew led by lead preparator Joshua Gosovich.
The Saint Louis Art Museum is presenting "Roaring: Art, Fashion, and the Automobile in France, 1918–1939," a major exhibition on view from April 12 to July 27, 2025. Curated by Genevieve Cortinovis, the show brings together automobiles, haute couture, painting, sculpture, photography, film, and decorative arts to explore the intertwined evolution of fashion and car design in early 20th-century France. Highlights include a 1917 painting by Henri Matisse depicting the view from his Renault, juxtapositions of Alfa Romeo and Citroën logos with works by Piet Mondrian and Charles Loupot, and a c. 1927 dress by Suzanne Talbot inspired by Tutankhamun's funerary mask. The exhibition draws heavily from local and midwestern collections, including the Missouri Historical Society.
LACMA's upcoming David Geffen Galleries, opening in 2026, will feature over 130 costumes and textiles in its inaugural installations—more than any other time since the museum opened in 1965. The museum also plans exhibitions such as 'Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity' (with mannequins by Jason Wu) and 'Fashioning Fashion' (1900–2025). Other major fashion exhibitions include 'Virgil Abloh: The Codes' at Paris's Grand Palais, 'Westwood Kawakubo' at the National Gallery of Victoria, and 'Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art' at London's V&A. The article notes that fashion exhibitions are increasingly popular and profitable for museums, citing the Met's Costume Institute and its record-breaking Met Gala fundraising.
Berlin's Meyer Riegger and Parisian Galerie Jocelyn Wolff will open a joint gallery in Seoul's Hannam-dong district on 2 September 2025, marking their first permanent Asian outpost. The new space, named Meyer Riegger Wolff and led by director Gaia Musi, will represent artists from both galleries including Clemens von Wedemeyer, Miriam Cahn, and Marcel Duchamp. The inaugural exhibition, "Heute Nacht geträumt (Dreamed Last Night)" (2 September–7 November 2025), will explore drawing across four centuries in a salon-style format.
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.
Galerie magazine has curated a list of eight must-see solo gallery shows across the United States for July, highlighting exhibitions from New York to California. Featured artists include Nancy Dwyer, whose word-based paintings and sculptures are on view at Ortuzar in New York; Marcel Dzama, showing storytelling drawings and a surreal film at David Zwirner in Los Angeles; Francis Picabia, with a focus on his Art Informal period at Hauser & Wirth in New York; and Igshaan Adams, presenting tapestries and textile works at Casey Kaplan in New York, among others.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao has announced the six exhibition proposals selected for the "Local Curatorial Project" of "Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2025." Chosen from 34 submissions by a panel including chief curator Feng Boyi, Wang Xiaosong, Song Dong, Marcel Feil, and Van Pou Lon, the winning proposals are: "Genetic Duration" (curated by Ung Vai Meng), "After Oriental Garden" (Cheong Weng Lam), "The Sea of Languages: Macao Language Research Program" (He Yan Jun and Zhang Ke), "A Speakable Position for Women" (Cheong Cheng Wa and Wang Jing), "Beneath the Wetware Peninsula" (Daisy Di Wang and Wong Mei Teng), and "Jacone's Tower" (Feng Yan and Ng Sio Ieng). These exhibitions will be part of the biennale and will also be shortlisted for the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia – Collateral Event from Macao, China.
The Seattle Art Museum has opened "Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei," the largest-ever U.S. survey of the Chinese artist and activist. Featuring over 130 works spanning performance, photography, sculpture, video, and installation from the 1980s to the present, the exhibition includes iconic pieces like *Sunflower Seeds* (2010) and *Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (Gold)* (2010), as well as international debuts such as a LEGO recreation of the Mueller Report. The show runs through September 7, 2025.
On Thursday morning, a supporter of the environmental activist group Last Generation Canada splattered pink paint on Pablo Picasso's 1901 painting *L'hétaïre* at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). The painting, on loan from the Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin and featured in the exhibition *Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-garde*, was behind protective glass and showed no immediate damage. The activist, identified only as Marcel, was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000. The museum reopened the rest of the exhibition after about an hour.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has opened “Alex Da Corte, The Whale,” a solo exhibition dedicated to the painting practice of artist Alex Da Corte (b. 1980). Featuring more than forty paintings, the show highlights Da Corte’s lesser-known work in two dimensions, as he is more widely recognized for his installations and video pieces. The exhibition includes works such as *Siren (After E K Charter)* (2015) and *Electronic Renaissance* (2021), and places Da Corte’s paintings alongside those of Robert Mapplethorpe and Vija Celmins to explore themes of self-representation and perception.
A new exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Basel, titled 'Beyond Surrealism,' explores the multifaceted career of Meret Oppenheim, best known for her fur-covered teacup 'Object' (1936). The show presents a range of her work, including melancholic wartime oil paintings, elegant abstract sculptures, and later witty pieces like 'Eichhörnchen' (1970) and 'Das Auge der Mona Lisa' (1967), highlighting her refusal to be confined to any single style or movement.
Liste Art Fair Basel is celebrating its 30th anniversary, showcasing works by artists under 40 from international galleries. Highlights include Nahum B. Zenil's self-portrait exploring LGBT and Indigenous identity, Magdalena Petroni's taxidermy rat sculptures, Al Freeman's internet-age art comparisons, Inuuteq Storch's Greenlandic love story, Javier Barrios's orchid revenge narrative, and Jonathan Sanchez Noa's Afro-Cuban spiritual installation.