Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2026 visibility 9 link 6 artists

Marisa Merz at 100: Major Retrospective to Span Three Italian Museums

Three Italian museums—the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GAM) in Turin, Fondazione Merz, and Castello di Rivoli—are jointly mounting a major retrospective titled “Marisa Merz – The Dance of the Hours” to mark the centenary of Marisa Merz’s birth. The exhibition, which spans all three venues, will feature never-before-seen works alongside highlights from her 2017 U.S. retrospective, and is described as unlikely to be replicated in comprehensiveness. Merz, the only woman in Italy’s Arte Povera movement, was long known as the wife of Mario Merz but has increasingly gained recognition for her own pioneering practice in sculpture, painting, and mixed media.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2026 visibility 12 link 15 artists, 6 galleries

Cave paintings, a galleon and a wild Frenchman: London Gallery Weekend’s 10 must-see shows

London Gallery Weekend returns for its sixth year, bringing together hundreds of galleries across the city for a weekend of free exhibitions, talks, performances, and events. The article highlights ten must-see shows, including a Francis Picabia survey at Hauser & Wirth, Anne Imhof's gothic explorations at Sprüth Magers, Dominic Watson's surreal galleon installation at The Sunday Painter, and Savannah Harris's critique of gentrification at Harlesden High Street. The event runs from late May into early June, with galleries open late and all admission free.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 3, 2026 visibility 14 link 28 artists

Venice verdicts: art world figures give their thoughts on the 2026 Biennale

Art world figures including Naomi Beckwith, Beatrix Ruf, and Diana Campbell Betancourt share their reflections on the 2026 Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh under the title "In Minor Keys." Beckwith praises the exhibition's focus on post-war African art with an emphasis on women artists like Werewere Liking and Ranti Bam, describing it as a "peri-spiritual project" that asks audiences to shift their art-consumptive behavior. Ruf notes the Biennale felt "major" rather than minor, highlighting how national pavilions and projects responded to the theme with political and poetic urgency, citing works by Florentina Holzinger, Sung Tieu, and others. Campbell Betancourt emphasizes Kouoh's curatorial approach as expansive and inclusive.

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gavel restitution schedule Jun 2, 2026 visibility 13 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

French Court Rules That Lawsuit Between Monet Heirs and Wildenstein & Co. Gallery Can Proceed

A French court ruled that a lawsuit filed by Claude Monet's heirs against Wildenstein & Co. can proceed in Rouen, Normandy. The case stems from a 2004 transaction in which Monet's great-nephew traded the rare painting *Adolphe Monet Reading in a Garden* (1867) to the gallery in exchange for five lesser works, including a damaged Monet landscape *Marine, Amsterdam* (1874). The family claims the gallery concealed the damage, which was discovered when they tried to sell the painting in 2019. Wildenstein & Co. had argued the case should be heard in New York, but the court deemed the plaintiffs general consumers based in Normandy.

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article policy schedule Jun 2, 2026 visibility 11 link 5 artists

Colorado passes law giving artists new legal and fiscal tools

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 133 (SB26-133) into law on June 2, creating a new type of limited liability company called an Artist Company. The bill, authored by state senator Jeff Bridges and inspired by Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler's TED Talk, provides artists with a legal structure that treats their work as capital contributions rather than generic assets, allowing for financial leverage such as loans. It requires 51% artistic ownership and ensures that upon dissolution, rights to artistic work revert to the artist.

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rate_review review schedule Jun 2, 2026 visibility 12 link 4 artists

John Constable, an artist and man for all seasons, shines brightly in new book

A new book titled *Constable's Year* offers a fresh perspective on John Constable, blending art history, biography, and nature writing to explore how the changing seasons and agricultural cycles of Suffolk shaped his life and work. Author Owens visited the exact sites Constable painted during the corresponding seasons and structured her book's four chapters around spring, summer, autumn, and winter, covering the artist's full lifespan from 1776 to 1837. The book also draws heavily on Constable's correspondence, revealing his deep emotional connection to nature.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 2, 2026 visibility 9 link 2 artists

Koyoltzintli’s Clay Instruments Channel Sounds from Distant Pasts

Koyoltzintli, an Ecuadorian-born artist based in upstate New York, creates ceramic instruments—flutes, whistles, drums—that channel ancient sound-making traditions from the Pacific coast of Ecuador. Unable to travel home during the pandemic, she began visiting museums and was drawn to ceramics she believed had lost sonic potential. Her practice now includes making instruments, organizing performances, and creating installations that combine sound with photography, video, and drawing. Her current exhibition, “How to Play a Broken Bone,” at the Al Held Foundation in Boiceville, New York, features works inspired by a centuries-old bone flute and includes pieces like “9 Tz’lkin” (2026), a large ceramic water whistle activated by pouring liquid.

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article culture schedule Jun 2, 2026 visibility 11 link 2 artists

An expert's guide to Marina Abramović: five must-read books on the performance artist

Marina Abramović, the pioneering Serbian performance artist who turns 80 this year, is the subject of a new reading list curated by Shai Baitel, the curator of her current exhibition "Transforming Energy" at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. Baitel recommends five essential books on Abramović, including her memoir "Walk Through Walls" (2016), "Marina Abramović: A Visual Biography" (2023) by Katya Tylevich, "When Marina Abramović Dies" (2010) by James Westcott, the quote collection "Abramović-isms" (2024) edited by Larry Warsh, and the catalogue for her 2023 Royal Academy of Arts solo show. The article also notes her concurrent exhibition "Seven Deaths" at Cisternerne in Copenhagen.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 2, 2026 visibility 12 link 5 artists, 1 gallery

‘An endless silent scream feeling’: artist Roni Horn on horror, hope and landing in a lake in Iceland

Artist Roni Horn, 70, recounts being removed from a US-to-Germany flight after a dispute with a steward over her seat position, an incident she shares not for sympathy but to illustrate her experience as an androgynous person in Trump's America. She then traveled to London for her first solo exhibition in a decade, "Seizure of Hope" at Hauser & Wirth, featuring 80 graphite-and-wax-pencil drawings repeating the phrase "I am paralysed with hope," alongside a cast glass sculpture. The drawings, which Horn rearranges intuitively, explore themes of hope, horror, and repetition, inspired by comedian Maria Bamford's routine and the political climate.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 1, 2026 visibility 32 link 5 artists

Early portrait denied by Lucian Freud shown for first time after authentication

An early portrait by Lucian Freud, titled *Man in a Black Scarf* (1939), will be exhibited for the first time after experts authenticated it, despite the artist having denied it was his for years. The painting depicts John Jameson, a friend and heir to the whiskey family, and was created while Freud was a student at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Hadleigh, Suffolk. The work gained attention on the BBC's *Fake or Fortune?* in 2016, but authentication was complicated by Freud's repeated denials, which stemmed from a personal feud with the original owners, Denis Wirth-Miller and Richard Chopping. New evidence from Tate Britain archives confirmed the painting's origin, and it will now debut in the exhibition *Benton End: A Paradise of Pollen and Paint* at the Garden Museum in London.

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article news schedule Jun 1, 2026 visibility 35 link 3 artists

Maurizio Cattelan’s Infamous Banana Vanishes. Again

Maurizio Cattelan's banana sculpture *Comedian* (2019) was stolen again from the Centre Pompidou-Metz in France, where it is on view in the exhibition "Dimanche Sans Fin." The thief remains at large, and the museum quickly replaced the banana per the artist's protocol. This marks the second incident at the same venue; a previous visitor ate the fruit in 2025. The work has a history of being consumed, starting with performance artist David Daturna at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, followed by a Seoul art student, and later by crypto billionaire Justin Sun after he bought the piece for $6.2 million at Sotheby's in 2024.

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article news schedule Jun 1, 2026 visibility 22 link 2 artists

Gone bananas: Cattelan's Comedian stolen from Centre Pompidou-Metz exhibition

Maurizio Cattelan's iconic artwork *Comedian* (2019)—a banana duct-taped to a wall—was stolen from the Centre Pompidou-Metz in northern France on May 30. The museum reported the theft, filed a complaint, and quickly replaced the banana, restoring the work to its original presentation. The perpetrators remain unknown, and the museum emphasized that the work's value lies in its certificate of authenticity and display protocol, not the perishable fruit.

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trending_up market schedule Jun 1, 2026 visibility 26 link 7 artists

Museum acquisitions round-up: a double-sided print by Kirchner and one of the most depicted Black models in pre-20th century art

The Art Newspaper reports on three notable museum acquisitions. The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has purchased a portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre (around 1879-80) by Swedish artist Alma Holsteinson. Alexandre, born in French Guyana, is recognized as one of the most depicted Black models in pre-20th century art. The painting was sold at Bukowskis in Stockholm for 760,000 kronor ($82,200) in December 2024. Separately, the Jena Kunstsammlung in Germany acquired a double-sided print by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner depicting archaeologist Botho Graef and his partner Hugo Biallowons, using funds from the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation. The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin acquired RPM (revolutions per minute) (2018), an audio work by Jennie C. Jones, for its Butler Sound Gallery.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 1, 2026 visibility 17 link 5 artists

Show celebrates legacy of the art school in Benton End—which counted Lucian Freud among its students

An exhibition at London's Garden Museum, titled "Benton End: A Paradise of Pollen and Paint," will explore the legacy of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing and its founders, artists Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines. The school operated from the Tudor manor house Benton End in Suffolk from 1940 to the 1970s, attracting students including a young Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling. The show features immersive reconstructions, original objects, and the portrait "Man in Black Scarf" (1939), controversially attributed to Freud, exhibited publicly for the first time.

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article culture schedule Jun 1, 2026 visibility 14 link 10 artists

What Was Nigeria’s Osogbo School of Art, and Why Was It So Important?

The article explores the Osogbo School of Art, an art movement that emerged in the 1960s in Osogbo, Nigeria, from experimental workshops at the Mbari Mbayo Club, a theater complex founded by playwright Duro Ladipo and German academic Ulli Beier. Facilitated by European figures like Ulli Beier, Susanne Wenger, Georgina Betts Beier, and visiting artists Denis Williams and Jacob Lawrence, the workshops allowed young locals without formal training to develop their own visual art practices, producing works that celebrated Yoruba heritage and individuality. Key artists like Jimoh Buraimoh emerged from the movement, and their works have been shown globally at institutions such as the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Tate Modern's 'Nigerian Modernism' exhibition.

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article culture schedule May 31, 2026 visibility 16 link 11 artists

As Full-Time Art Critics All But Disappear, What Can We Learn From the Retiring Generation?

Christopher Knight retired as art critic at the Los Angeles Times at the end of 2025, marking the departure of the last of three major U.S. critics of the postmodern era. Roberta Smith retired from The New York Times in 2024, and Peter Schjeldahl died in 2022. The article reflects on the dwindling number of full-time art critic positions, from an estimated 30 in 2008 to fewer than 10 by 2013, with the trend pointing toward zero. The author, a freelance critic, recounts the accidental path many critics take, the challenges of freelance work, and the value of consistent local criticism, using the example of William Wilson at the Los Angeles Times.

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article culture schedule May 31, 2026 visibility 16 link 8 artists

From bikinis to cat bowls: how museum gift stores became the place to shop

Museum gift shops are evolving from simple souvenir stands into curated retail destinations, offering everything from slogan T-shirts and coffee mugs to cat feeding bowls and limited-edition lipsticks. The article highlights examples such as London's National Portrait Gallery selling Marilyn Monroe-inspired cat-eye sunglasses and baseball caps, the Tate Modern offering cat-themed items for Tracey Emin's exhibition, and the V&A selling tote bags and hairspray tied to its Schiaparelli and catwalk shows. This shift reflects a broader strategy by museums to boost revenue through merchandising that interprets exhibitions in creative, non-literal ways.

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candle obituary schedule May 30, 2026 visibility 13 link 6 artists

Julio Le Parc, Pioneer of Kinetic Art and Venice Biennale Prize Winner, Dies at 97

Julio Le Parc, the Argentine-born pioneer of kinetic art and winner of the Grand Prize for Painting at the 1966 Venice Biennale, died on May 30 in Paris at age 97. His son Yamil confirmed the death to La Nación; Le Parc had been hospitalized after a decline in health and died at the American Hospital in Paris. He had been eagerly anticipating a major retrospective scheduled to open at Tate Modern on June 11, which surveys nearly seven decades of his career.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 30, 2026 visibility 19 link 3 artists

‘America’s sweetheart’: exhibition explores Marilyn Monroe’s complex relationship to stardom

A new exhibition titled 'Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon' opens this weekend at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, featuring costumes, personal letters, notes, and audio recordings that explore the star's complex relationship with fame. Curated by Sophia Serrano, the show includes rarely displayed items such as the pink dress from 'Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,' a sequined outfit from a Madison Square Garden charity appearance, and handwritten letters revealing Monroe's private thoughts. The exhibition is part of a series of centenary celebrations, with concurrent shows at the British Film Institute and National Portrait Gallery in London.

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article news schedule May 30, 2026 visibility 18 link 16 artists

In Minor Keys, Khaled Sabsabi, Louvre Heist Film

This week's Hyperallergic newsletter covers a range of art news, headlined by a feature interview with Khaled Sabsabi, the Lebanese-born, Sydney-based artist who was controversially removed as the Australian pavilion representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale and later reinstated after public backlash and an independent review. Critic Aruna D'Souza discusses Sabsabi's two installations in Venice—"khalil" in curator Koyo Kouoh's main exhibition "In Minor Keys" and "conference of one's self" in the Australia pavilion—which explore migration, identity, and Sufi teachings. Other highlights include a visit to Betye Saar's doll exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, a review of Larissa Borteh's paintings, and news that a New York gallerist used AI to colorize Ansel Adams's photographs, drawing condemnation from the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 20 link 4 artists

Leonora Carrington Painting Made Inside Spanish Sanatorium Resurfaces After 80 Years

A long-lost painting by Leonora Carrington, titled *Villa Pillar* (1940), will be publicly exhibited for the first time in over 80 years at the Freud Museum in London starting July 1. The work was created while Carrington was a patient in a Spanish sanatorium in Santander, where she was treated by psychiatrist Luis Morales. Carrington gave the painting to Morales, and his family kept it until researchers from the forthcoming Faro Santander art center discovered it and convinced the family to loan it for the exhibition “The Symptomatic Surreal,” which traces Carrington’s development from 1938 to 1941 through her sketchbooks and letters. The show, which opened in March, has been extended through August 10 and will later travel to Faro Santander when it opens in September.

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candle obituary schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

Nigel Dunnett obituary

Nigel Dunnett, a pioneering landscape designer, horticulturist, and educator known for transforming urban spaces with ecologically rich and visually dramatic naturalistic planting, has died at age 63 from cancer. His major projects included the Superbloom installation in the moat of the Tower of London for Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in 2022, the planting design for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the 2012 London Olympics, and a diamond jubilee garden at Buckingham Palace. He also worked on community-scale projects like a rooftop garden on the Old Kent Road and was involved in designs for Battersea Power Station, the Barbican, and Grosvenor Square.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 16 link 3 artists

Newly Authenticated Whistler Portrait Sheds Light on His Formative Years

New conservation research has authenticated James McNeill Whistler's earliest-known portrait, a pocket-sized painting produced while he was living in Paris in his early 20s. The work, titled *Head of a Peasant Woman* (1855–58), is now on view at Tate Britain as part of a major survey of the artist's life and art, where it has been reunited with four other oil portraits from the same period for the first time in over 120 years. The exhibition also features a previously unseen self-portrait of Whistler smoking from a private collection and, for the first time, sketchbooks from his teenage years, offering new insights into his early development.

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article culture schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 17 link 9 artists

The Rulers of Venice: In Thrilling Book, Biennale Curators Tell All

A new book titled "High Waters: An Oral History of the Venice Biennale" (JRP Editions), edited by Massimiliano Gioni, features interviews with 16 of the 17 curators who have organized the main exhibition since 1993. The curators candidly discuss their proposals, challenges, and complaints, particularly about limited budgets, while reflecting on the Biennale's unique international audience, its structure of national pavilions, and the camaraderie that emerges under pressure. Notable figures interviewed include Okwui Enwezor, Daniel Birnbaum, Adriano Pedrosa, María de Corral, Rosa Martínez, Robert Storr, Ralph Rugoff, and Cecilia Alemani.

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article news schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 18 link 2 artists

This ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Miffy Toy Is Officially an Internet Celebrity

A Miffy plush toy styled after Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" has gone viral on X after appearing at a press conference held by the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka. The toy, dubbed "Miffy with a Pearl Earring," was introduced as the official ambassador for the painting's upcoming loan to Japan, marking its first trip beyond the Netherlands in over a decade. The press conference in Tokyo featured a giant version of the toy alongside museum officials, drawing widespread social media attention and praise from figures like journalist Heidi N. Moore.

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rate_review review schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist, 2 galleries

Don’t: Camille Henrot review – surreal sexual psychodrama for the digitally overwhelmed

The Guardian reviews Camille Henrot's latest exhibition "Don't" at a private museum in London, marking a shift from her earlier grand-scale works about the origins of humanity and the universe. The show features two bodies of work: a series of layered digital-abstract paintings titled "Dos and Don'ts" that blend screenshots, collaged paper, and brushstrokes, and a set of erotic drawings depicting surreal sexual psychodramas. Henrot, who won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2014, turns inward here, exploring the mundane, personal, and intimate aspects of everyday life.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 29, 2026 visibility 16 link 13 artists

Time and Material Feel Alive in the Hammer’s “Several Eternities in a Day” Exhibition

The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles has opened "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," an exhibition featuring 18 contemporary artists—many Indigenous and Latinx—alongside four historic figures. The show includes immersive soundscapes by Raven Chacon, soil installations by Edgar Calel, decomposing avocado works by Carmen Argote, films by Ana Mendieta, and rammed-earth pieces by Jackie Amézquita, all exploring the intersection of life, earth, and time.

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article news schedule May 28, 2026 visibility 18 link 2 artists

Getty Center reveals details of upcoming campus renovations

The Getty Center in Los Angeles has announced preliminary details of a major campus renovation project expected to cost between $600 million and $800 million. Key changes include parking upgrades, a new tram designed by Austrian manufacturer Doppelmayr, a green space and sheltered stairway by Gehry Partners, and a welcome hall by Why Architecture featuring an expanded bookstore and café. The museum will close to the public from March 15, 2027, for a year, reopening in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

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article news schedule May 28, 2026 visibility 22 link 8 artists

French Artists Call for Boycott of Pompidou’s Seoul Outpost over Partner Foundation’s Ties to Israel

A group of prominent French artists, including Ali Cherri and Lili Reynaud-Dewar, signed an open letter published by Libération calling for a boycott of the Centre Pompidou Hanhwa, the Pompidou's new Seoul satellite museum set to open June 4. The protest targets the museum's partner, the Hanwha Foundation of Culture, due to its parent conglomerate Hanwha Group's business ties with Israeli defense contractors Elbit Systems and Elta Systems, which the artists allege constitutes 'art-washing' of profits from armed conflicts.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 28, 2026 visibility 18 link 7 artists, 38 galleries

Art Basel Paris Names 206 Exhibitors for This Year’s Edition, the First Under a New Director

Art Basel Paris has announced 206 exhibitors from 41 countries for its fifth edition, taking place October 23–25 at the Grand Palais, with preview days on October 21–22. This is the first edition under new director Karim Crippa, who replaces Clément Delépine. The fair expands its main Galeries sector to over 180 exhibitors, introduces a record 12 joint booths, and welcomes nearly 30 first-time galleries. Notable returnees include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner, while several galleries from last year are absent. The fair continues its Emergence and Premise sections, with Premise featuring historical presentations on artists like Robert Indiana and Ellsworth Kelly.

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