At Home at Hong Kong Art Week

During Hong Kong Art Week, beyond the dominant Art Basel Hong Kong fair, a series of intimate interventions and installations across the city explore the boundaries between art, design, and everyday life. One notable event is a 'Listening Session' organized by Guangzhou's Vitamin Creative Space in a private home in the New Territories, where Lebanese artist-composer Tarek Atoui debuted two new 'instruments' that transform the living room itself into an interactive sound sculpture. The gathering of about 30 people, mostly in town for art week, blurred the lines between performance, installation, and domestic space.

One Erased Vermeer, Two Books, and No Consensus

Two new books examine the legacy of Johannes Vermeer from contrasting angles. Ruth Bernard Yeazell's "Vermeer's Afterlives" (Princeton University Press) explores how the artist's open-ended, figureless interiors have inspired later creators, from painter George Deem to novelist Tracy Chevalier. Andrew Graham-Dixon's "Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found" restores the historical and religious context of 17th-century Delft, arguing that modern readings have overlooked the original meanings of Vermeer's works.

Venice Biennale Controversies Continue, French Parliament Report Finds Flaws in Museum Security, and More: Morning Links for May 13, 2026

Iran has denied withdrawing from the Venice Biennale, with Mahdizadeh Tehrani, general director of visual arts at Iran's Ministry of Culture, stating the country still hopes to participate despite Biennale organizers announcing Iran would not be represented at its pavilion. Meanwhile, the Somalia Pavilion has sparked controversy, with the Somali Arts Foundation alleging it was led by diaspora figures and European collaborators without meaningful consultation of artists based in Somalia, and the queer collective Warbixinta Cidda demanding the removal of an Italian co-curator due to Italy's colonial history. Separately, a French parliamentary inquiry has exposed major security flaws in the country's museums, following the theft of France's crown jewels from the Louvre in October, calling for reforms in security resources and museum leadership appointments.

Frank Stella’s eye-dazzling collection of Navajo weavings to go on view

An exhibition of Navajo (Diné) weavings from the collection of the late artist Frank Stella opens on 15 May at Peter Pap Rugs at Arader Galleries in New York City, running until 10 June. The show features 40 weavings from the 19th and early 20th centuries, acquired by Stella over four decades for their optical effects and resonance with his own work. Organized by dealer Peter Pap in collaboration with Stella’s widow Harriet McGurk, the exhibition also includes geometric drawings by Stella from the 1960s, on loan from the Frank Stella Estate.

Frieze New York marks 15th edition with expanded international reach

Frieze New York marks its 15th edition from 13-17 May at the Shed, featuring 68 galleries from over 25 countries. The fair includes 57 exhibitors in the main section and 11 in Focus, with nearly half maintaining a New York location. First-time participants include Europa, Sargent’s Daughters, Soft Opening, Ulrik, and W-galería. Latin American representation has grown significantly, with 14 galleries from the region, including Campeche from Mexico City, Isla Flotante from Buenos Aires, and Central from São Paulo. Christine Messineo, Frieze’s director of fairs for the Americas, highlights the fair’s increasingly international scope and the strong Brazilian contingent.

Bruno Bischofberger, Art Dealer of Stars Like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dies at 86

Bruno Bischofberger, the legendary Swiss art dealer who championed American artists like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in Europe, has died at age 86. His Zurich-based gallery announced his death on Saturday. Bischofberger founded his eponymous gallery in 1963, which became one of Switzerland's most important blue-chip art spaces. He forged deep personal and professional relationships with artists, including acquiring a stake in Warhol's Interview magazine, producing Warhol's film L'amour, and famously proposing the collaborative paintings between Warhol and Basquiat in 1984. Bischofberger also maintained a decades-long tradition of placing advertisements on the back page of every Artforum issue.

Artists made their mark at 2026 Met Gala

The 2026 Met Gala, held on May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, raised a record $42 million for the Costume Institute, surpassing last year's $31 million. Honorary chairs Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos contributed at least $10 million, but their involvement sparked protests outside the event, with demonstrators holding signs like "Tax the Rich" and a group called Everyone Hates Elon leaving fake urine bottles labeled with Bezos's face. Inside, artists made a strong impression: Amy Sherald wore a Thom Browne look based on her painting; Jordan Roth donned a Robert Wun outfit inspired by a Met collection work; and Tschabalala Self collaborated with Brandon Blackwood on a gown evoking Degas's ballerina sculpture. The gala's dress code was "fashion is art," and the accompanying exhibition, "Costume Art" (May 10–January 10, 2027), debuts the Met's new 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries.

King Charles Visits Christie’s in New York, After White House Dinner

King Charles III and Queen Camilla made a surprise visit to Christie’s headquarters in New York on April 29, 2026, following a White House dinner and address to Congress. They attended a gala for the King’s Trust, a charity supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, rather than bidding on auction lots like a $100 million Jackson Pollock or a $60 million Roy Lichtenstein. The event, co-chaired by Lionel Richie, drew guests including Martha Stewart and Anna Wintour, and featured a dinner in the James Christie Room. Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan curtsied to the king, and the royals viewed the new rostrum designed by Jony Ive, set to debut in New York during Christie’s May marquee week.

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Billionaire hedge fund manager and prominent art collector Kenneth C. Griffin has issued a stark warning regarding the global economy, stating that a recession is inevitable if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed through the end of the year. Speaking at the Semafor World Economy summit, Griffin highlighted that the closure of this vital oil passageway has created energy shocks and treacherous conditions for central bankers, potentially forcing further interest rate hikes to combat inflation.

Inside ‘Prince of Prints’ Jordan Schnitzer’s Sprawling Collection

Jordan Schnitzer, the Portland-based philanthropist often called the 'Prince of Prints,' recently provided a rare tour of his massive 50,000-square-foot art warehouse. The facility utilizes a sophisticated 'floating bin' logistics system, similar to those used by major retailers, to manage over 22,000 works, including extensive holdings by Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys, and Richard Prince. Schnitzer’s foundation operates as a lending library, frequently shipping works to museums and hosting educational tours for students from districts where arts funding has been eliminated.

Paying tribute to storied printmaker Kenneth Tyler at the IFPDA Print Fair

The International Fine Prints and Drawings Association (IFPDA) Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory is honoring the legacy of master printer Kenneth E. Tyler. A central highlight of the event is the presentation by the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) of a new three-volume catalogue raisonné documenting Tyler Graphics from 1986 to 2001. The 94-year-old Tyler, a foundational figure in American printmaking, collaborated with titans of Modern art including Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, and Roy Lichtenstein across his storied career at Gemini GEL and Tyler Graphics.

Which Artists Are Insiders Searching For? After 10 Years, Not Much Has Changed

Artnet's Price Database analysis reveals that the most-searched artists by its users have remained remarkably consistent over the past decade. Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Marc Chagall continue to hold the top three positions, with David Hockney and Yayoi Kusama joining the list, while Salvador Dalí and Lucio Fontana have dropped off.

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Major international museum projects are nearing completion for 2026, signaling a period of significant institutional expansion despite global economic and political pressures. Key highlights include the long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, which will finally open its doors on Saadiyat Island after two decades of planning. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is preparing for two major debuts: George Lucas’s $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and Refik Anadol’s Dataland, a dedicated space for AI-driven digital art.

Damien Hirst offers his hot take on art dealers

On a recent podcast, artist Damien Hirst identified his manager, Joe Hage, as the most influential person he's met, praising his work with other major artists. Hirst also downplayed the role of major galleries like Gagosian and White Cube, comparing them to 'estate agents,' and revealed a new private commission: an amethyst-encrusted grotto for the Getty family.

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Aardman Animations is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a major immersive exhibition titled "Larger Than Life: Starring Wallace & Gromit, Shaun and More" at London’s Lightroom venue. Opening in October 2026, the 50-minute experience will utilize 36-foot-high projections to showcase the studio's claymation legacy, featuring archival footage, original sets, puppets, and newly created animation sequences. The show will be narrated by co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton alongside various voice actors, tracing the studio's history from its school-day origins to its status as an employee-owned powerhouse.

Collaborations: Robert Rauschenberg, Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, and Merce Cunningham at BAM

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The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is hosting "Dancing with Bob," an international tour celebrating the centennial of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth. The program features restagings of seminal avant-garde dance collaborations, most notably the 1983 masterpiece "Set and Reset," which combined the choreography of Trisha Brown, the music of Laurie Anderson, and the visual design of Rauschenberg. The tour also includes a rare professional restaging of the 1977 piece "Travelogue," a collaboration between Rauschenberg and Merce Cunningham.

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The Art Business Conference in Paris recently highlighted the growing trend and inherent risks of collaborations between artists and commercial brands. Keynote speaker Vadim Grigoryan and other industry experts discussed how these partnerships have evolved from historical precedents like Dalí and Schiaparelli into a modern necessity for brands seeking cultural relevance. While these deals offer artists financial stability and massive public exposure, the conference warned of the dangers of "commodity" marketing and the exploitation of artistic vision.

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The U.S. Department of Justice has released approximately 3 million additional files related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, sparking a new wave of resignations and investigations across the global art world. The documents detail extensive connections between Epstein and high-profile figures, including museum leaders, major collectors, and artists. While inclusion in the files does not prove criminal wrongdoing, the public pressure following these revelations has forced several prominent individuals to step down from influential institutional roles.

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David Hockney will create a monumental 22-by-32-foot window installation for the Sunley Gallery at Turner Contemporary in Margate, UK. The work, based on a 2020 iPad painting of a Normandy sunrise, will be illuminated at night and is scheduled to be on view from April 1 to November 1 as part of the gallery's 15th-anniversary celebrations.

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Qatar has announced details for its inaugural contemporary art quadrennial, Rubaiya Qatar, set to launch in November alongside Frieze Abu Dhabi. Organized by Qatar Museums, the event will feature over 50 artists and new commissions, with a major exhibition titled 'Unruly Waters' curated by Tom Eccles, Ruba Katrib, Mark Rappolt, and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. Confirmed artists include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Sophia Al Maria, Mohamed Bourouissa, and Lydia Ourahmane. Additionally, a previously unpublicized pavilion dedicated to Gerhard Richter will open within the quadrennial. Separately, revelations from the Epstein files show ties between Jeffrey Epstein and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, including a donated artwork and potential financial backing for a piece by Neri Oxman. A small Michelangelo drawing of a foot sold at Christie's for $27.2 million, setting a new auction record.

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London’s Courtauld Gallery will open two new contemporary art galleries at its Somerset House campus, funded by a £10 million ($13.8 million) gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The top-floor spaces, originally built as a display area for the Royal Society in the 18th century, are expected to debut in 2029. The donation brings the foundation’s total support for the Courtauld to £20 million ($27.5 million), following earlier backing for the museum’s 2021 renovation. The new galleries will be programmed in part by students in the Courtauld’s curating master’s program and will host exhibitions connecting historical and contemporary art.

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STPI is launching the inaugural Print Show and Symposium Singapore during Singapore Art Week (January 22–31, 2026). The event will feature over 27 internationally acclaimed contemporary artists—including Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois, Takashi Murakami, and Do Ho Suh—showcasing their engagement with printmaking. A symposium titled "The Politics of Print: elephant in the room," curated by Stephanie Bailey, will bring together 25 curators, museum directors, and artists such as Michael Craig-Martin, Adele Tan, Sook-Kyung Lee, and Pinaree Sanpitak for six panels over two days.

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Christie's London will auction a major collection of modern and contemporary art from Belgian collectors Roger and Josette Vanthournout during its March marquee sales week. The collection, estimated at £40 million ($53.8 million), spans six decades of collecting and includes works by René Magritte, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Yayoi Kusama, Lucio Fontana, Agnes Martin, and Max Ernst. It will be offered across three sales: a March 5 evening sale, a March 6 daytime sale, and an online sale from February 25 to March 12. Highlights include Magritte's 'La plaine de l'air' (1940) and Moore's 'Goslar Warrior' (1973–74), each estimated at £3.5–5.5 million.

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The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, has announced a new recurring exhibition series called the Aldrich Decennial, which will take place every ten years. The inaugural edition, titled “I am what is around me,” runs from June 7, 2026, to January 10, 2027, and features 40 artists living and working in Connecticut who have not previously exhibited in the state. Organized by chief curator Amy Smith-Stewart and curatorial and publications manager Caitlin Monachino, the survey spans the museum’s entire campus and includes high-profile names such as Dominic Chambers, Tammy Nguyen, Em Rooney, Aki Sasamoto, and Julia Wachtel, with artists ranging in age from Lucy Sallick (born 1937) to Remy Sosa (born 1995).

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The Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina, is unveiling newly reconfigured collection galleries to cap its 75th anniversary and culminate a yearlong renovation. The museum will reopen its collection galleries following a gala on January 16, presenting a newly conceived display across 20 galleries. The reinstalled galleries draw from the museum’s American, Asian, European, and modern and contemporary holdings, including Italian Renaissance works from the Kress Collection, an Asian gallery anchored by Chinese art from the Tang dynasty, and thematic galleries focused on landscape, still life, and art and architecture. The renovation, which began in January 2025, included new lighting and ceilings, reinforced walls, and conservation work on pieces by Sam Gilliam, Teiji Takai, and Benjamin Wilson.

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David Hockney's double portrait *Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy* (1968) sold for $44.34 million at Christie's New York on November 17, 2025, just shy of its $50 million high estimate. The sale ranks among the highest prices ever for the artist at auction. The article also reviews Hockney's top five auction results, including *The Splash* (1966), which fetched $29.92 million at Sotheby's London in 2020, and *Nichols Canyon* (1980), which sold for $41.07 million at Phillips New York in 2020. All five of Hockney's most expensive works have sold within the past seven years, reflecting sustained demand for his early and mid-career masterpieces.

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At Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, the art market showed a strong turn toward historical references, with galleries like Gagosian featuring Jeff Koons' antique-inspired sculptures and Takashi Murakami's reproductions of Cézanne and Van Gogh. The new Zero 10 sector, named after a 1915 Malevich exhibition, highlighted digital artists such as Beeple and Larva Labs. This trend reflects a broader "flight to quality" in an uncertain market, where collectors seek reassurance by associating emerging or overlooked artists with established historical names.

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The article details the ongoing release of documents related to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, revealing his extensive ties to prominent art world figures. Key connections include former MoMA chairman Leon Black, who paid Epstein tens of millions for tax advice and engaged in art transactions involving a Giacometti sculpture and a Cézanne watercolor; retail mogul and art collector Leslie Wexner; and artist Andres Serrano. It also highlights the story of artist Maria Farmer, who was assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell and faced threats against her art career when she tried to report them in the 1990s.

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Vanity Fair published a two-part feature with unprecedented imagery of the Trump administration, shot by photographer Christopher Anderson. Diet Prada annotated the photos, highlighting that a floral still life by French impressionist Berthe Morisot, titled *Peonies* (1869), appears behind press secretary Karoline Leavitt and is currently available as a print through Walmart. The painting belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which lists it as not on view and declined to comment on whether it is on loan to the White House. The Trump administration has not responded to inquiries about the artwork's provenance or whether it was newly installed or left over from a previous administration.

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Artnet News's 'The Asia Pivot' reflects on its 2025 coverage, highlighting the expansion of Asia's art scene beyond traditional East Asian markets into emerging regions such as the Gulf, South Asia, and Central Asia. Key developments include the debut of the Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan, the opening of the Almaty Museum of Arts in Kazakhstan, and the flourishing art scene in Thailand with new private museums like Dib Bangkok. The report also covers major markets like China, Japan, and South Korea, noting the impact of geopolitical dynamics and market shifts.