Somersfield Academy recently hosted its DP2 Visual Arts Graduate Exhibition at the Rock Island Café, showcasing the final portfolios of students Nico Bean, Hayden Smith, and Excell Jordan. The event marked the conclusion of a two-year International Baccalaureate (IB) creative journey, featuring a diverse range of works including acrylic pour paintings, marine-inspired dot paintings, and detailed anatomical illustrations of dinosaurs.
The TOTALLY Art Club recently hosted a mini art exhibition at Seadoone Mall in Amanzimtoti, South Africa, featuring 11 local artists. The three-day event showcased 88 original works ranging across various styles and subjects, with artists such as Hazel Nunes, Ann Waterson, and Sylvia Holtzhausen presenting their pieces. The exhibition proved commercially successful for the local collective, resulting in the sale of 27 paintings.
Artist Aurore Guez is transforming the Wilde Galerie in Paris into an immersive, imaginary café for a two-day exhibition titled "LE CAFÉ" on April 25 and 26, 2026. The installation features interactive paintings and talking portraits of figures such as Kalash and Lujipeka, where visitors can trigger recorded dialogue to converse with the artworks. The 80-square-meter space will utilize warped scenography and actors playing waiters to blur the lines between traditional painting, performance art, and stage design.
Artist Aurore Guez is transforming the Wilde Galerie in Paris into an immersive, imaginary café for a two-day exhibition titled "LE CAFÉ" on April 25 and 26, 2026. The installation features interactive paintings and talking portraits of figures such as Kalash and Lujipeka, where visitors can trigger recorded dialogue to converse with the artworks. The 80-square-meter space will be populated by actors playing waiters, creating a surreal environment where the boundaries between stage set, performance, and traditional painting are intentionally blurred.
The Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto has officially announced the representation of Tom Wilson Tehohàhake, a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and Order of Canada appointee. Wilson’s latest paintings are set to make their debut with the gallery at the upcoming Dallas Art Fair in April 2026. His work is characterized by vibrant, intricate patterns that incorporate elements of Mohawk beadwork and excerpts from his own literary writings.
Chiang Mai’s art scene is hosting a diverse range of exhibitions this April, anchored by a major retrospective of Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook at the MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum. The survey, curated by Kittima Chareeprasit and Roger Nelson, spans four decades of the artist's provocative video and installation works. Other highlights include Myrtille Tibayrenc’s installation of 108 Buddha paintings at the Museum of Something (MOS), Chatchai Notananda’s process-oriented solo show at Haan Studio, and Houda Bakkali’s digital compositions at Alliance Française.
Chiang Mai’s art scene is hosting a diverse range of exhibitions this April, anchored by a major retrospective of Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook at the MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum. The survey, curated by Kittima Chareeprasit and Roger Nelson, spans four decades of the artist's provocative video, installation, and photographic works. Other highlights include Myrtille Tibayrenc’s installation of 108 Buddha paintings at the Museum of Something and Chatchai Notananda’s process-oriented solo show at the newly opened Haan Studio.
The Lynnwood Event Center is hosting a free 'Meet the Artists' reception on April 14 to celebrate its current exhibition, "Flight Patterns: The Art & Motion of Winged Life." The event features a diverse range of works including painting, sculpture, and glass that explore themes of migration and transformation. Highlights include a live participatory installation by artist Alexandra Nason, where guests can decorate aluminum butterflies for a modular sculpture, and an educational presence by the conservation nonprofit Birds Connect Seattle.
The Cafesjian Art Trust (CAT) Museum in Shoreview has launched "Abstraction and Ourselves," a landmark exhibition that marks the first time a U.S. institution has paired abstract painting with glass sculpture in a dedicated showcase. Curated by Jill Ahlberg Yohe, the show features a diverse array of international artists, highlighting the formal connections between two-dimensional canvases and three-dimensional glass works.
The Cafesjian Art Trust (CAT) Museum in Shoreview has launched "Abstraction and Ourselves," an exhibition marking the first time the institution has paired abstract painting with glass sculpture. Curated by Jill Ahlberg Yohe, the show was inspired by the discovery that renowned glass artists Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová were deeply rooted in Cubist traditions and abstract theory, leading to a broader exploration of international abstraction across different media.
Santa Fe College is set to host its annual Student Juried Art Exhibition, featuring a selection of the finest works produced by its Fine Arts students. The show opens with a reception on April 17 at the Northwest Campus gallery in Gainesville, showcasing between 70 and 100 pieces across mediums including painting, photography, and ceramics. Guest juror Carly Shooster will select the top prize winners from a pool of over 300 initial submissions.
Artists and sisters Darlene Belair and Karen Dheel are set to debut a collaborative exhibition titled "The Bird Sisters" on April 17 at the Michigan Wine and Beer Portal in Monroe. The three-month showcase features a diverse range of acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media paintings that reflect the duo's deep connection to the local landscape. Belair, a long-time community artist and resident at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, will present nature-focused works, while Dheel will display plein air paintings and pieces inspired by the symbolism of ravens.
Blanchland Village Hall in rural Northumberland is hosting the "Art at the Hall" exhibition, a multi-disciplinary showcase featuring more than 21 established and emerging artists. Running through April 12, the event displays an eclectic range of works including painting, sculpture, photography, and digital art, while offering visitors free demonstrations and opportunities to meet the creators.
The Emmanuel Art Gallery hosted the opening of its annual student exhibition, titled “Guilty,” on the evening of April 2. The showcase features a diverse range of artistic media, including digital renderings and traditional oil paintings, created by the university's student body.
Tasmanian artist Joan Humble is presenting her final exhibition at the Lady Franklin Gallery in Hobart, featuring over 40 works that span from large-scale paintings to her signature miniatures. Despite a terminal cancer diagnosis at age 88, the internationally acclaimed artist remains dedicated to her craft, completing a three-year effort to document the rugged beauty of Tasmania’s South West Wilderness. Humble, a recipient of the prestigious Golden Bowl for miniature art, continues to work on remaining commissions, citing the intense concentration required for painting as a vital source of strength.
The Gallerie d'Italia in Naples has opened an exhibition featuring contemporary paintings by American artist Alexi Worth alongside ancient Attic and Magna Graecia ceramics. The show creates a deliberate visual and thematic conversation between the modern works and the classical artifacts.
China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has mandated a comprehensive, item-by-item inventory of all state-run museum collections following a major scandal at the Nanjing Museum. The audit aims to verify that objects listed in official records physically exist in storage, a direct response to the discovery that donated national treasures, including a valuable Ming dynasty painting, were improperly transferred or sold into the private market over decades.
A long-lost portrait of Abraham Lincoln by American realist Ernest Wells has reemerged after more than a century. The painting, which hung in President Theodore Roosevelt’s office throughout his term and served as a source of personal inspiration, was recently identified in the collection of the descendants of antique dealers Ann and Jack Rouchaud. The work’s provenance was confirmed via a letter from Roosevelt’s friend and Lincoln’s former bodyguard, Colonel William H. Crook, which remains affixed to the back of the canvas.
Archaeologists from Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) have identified 16 petroglyphs and cave paintings near the Tula River in Hidalgo. The artworks span over 4,000 years, ranging from prehistoric times through the Mesoamerican Postclassic period and into the early colonial era. The discovery, which includes depictions of the rain god Tláloc and various anthropomorphic figures, was made during archaeological salvage work for a new passenger rail line connecting Mexico City and Querétaro.
A new biography by art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals that nearly two-thirds of Johannes Vermeer's known works were commissioned and owned by a single family, the Van Ruijvens, and later inherited by their daughter Magdalena and her husband Jacob Dissius. The collection of 20 Vermeer paintings remained intact within this family for nearly 40 years after the artist's death, only being dispersed after Jacob's death in 1695.
Plans to extend the US-Mexico border wall through Val Verde County, Texas, threaten to damage or destroy hundreds of prehistoric rock art murals in the Lower Pecos region. Archaeologists and local landowners warn that construction vibrations could destabilize the rock surfaces housing these ancient paintings, some of which are over 5,700 years old and span up to 100 feet in length.
Douglas Lees, a dedicated architect and community figure, has died at the age of 94. Born in East London and overcoming the physical limitations of Erb’s palsy, Lees spent his career designing diverse structures across England, ranging from new town developments in Merseyside to prison facilities for the Home Office. In his later years, he became a fixture in the village of Hatfield Broad Oak, where he contributed to local planning and captured the local scenery through watercolor painting.
Hong Kong-based painter Stephen Wong Chun Hei, who spent much of his childhood indoors, has become an avid hiker and now creates vibrant, colorful paintings of the city's natural landscapes. His work focuses on capturing the dramatic geology, lush vegetation, and hidden trails of Hong Kong's country parks and coastal areas.
EL LEGADO PÚBLICO DE GONZALO DÍAZ
A collaborative research project, the Gonzalo Díaz Archive, was presented at the National Museum of Fine Arts in early 2025, focusing on the late artist's five-decade connection to the University of Chile. Just before his death in December 2025, Díaz publicly called for the university to safeguard a substantial part of his prolific work, and he was posthumously awarded the university's Rector Juvenal Hernández Jaque Medal. His widow, artist Nury González, will lead a funded project to transform his decades of preparatory notes and sketches into a new artist's book.
Artist and Holocaust survivor Yehudis Barmatz-Harris has installed a series of paintings within the barracks of Auschwitz-Birkenau, marking a profound personal and artistic return to the site of her family's trauma. The works, which utilize materials like salt and organic textures, are placed directly on the wooden bunks where prisoners once slept, creating a visceral dialogue between contemporary Jewish life and the void left by the Shoah.
The Petit Palais in Paris is hosting the first French retrospective dedicated to Károly Ferenczy, a seminal figure in Hungarian art history. Running from April 14 to September 6, 2026, the exhibition features nearly 140 paintings and drawings, many on loan from the Hungarian National Gallery and private collections in Budapest. The showcase traces Ferenczy’s stylistic evolution from naturalism to symbolism and impressionism, highlighting his role as a founder of the Nagybánya artists' colony and a pioneer of en plein air painting in Central Europe.
The Toledo Museum of Art has launched a new digital exhibition titled "Birds in Art: Devotion and Decadence," curated by a group of 25 students from the University of Toledo. The online showcase features a diverse selection of paintings, sculptures, and photographs drawn from the museum's permanent collection, all centered on the cultural and artistic symbolism of avian subjects.
The Dallas Museum of Art has launched "The Samurai Collection, Dallas, Samurai to the Imperial Court," a comprehensive exhibition featuring over 90 works of art. The showcase includes a diverse array of traditional weaponry, armor, paintings, and decorative objects, drawing from the museum's permanent collection as well as international loans. Running through September 6, 2026, the display tracks the evolution of samurai culture from its military roots to its role within the Imperial Court.
The Missoula Art Museum has launched "Buffalo Is Our Good Medicine," a collaborative exhibition by artists Aspen and Cameron Decker. The show features a diverse array of media, including traditional ledger art, sculpture, hide paintings, and multimedia installations that center on the buffalo's vital role within tribal communities. Many of the works utilize hides harvested from the Yellowstone herd, blending historical storytelling with contemporary artistic practices.
A painting by Raja Ravi Varma titled 'Yashoda and Krishna' sold for $17.9 million at a Saffronart auction in Delhi, setting a new auction record for an Indian painting. The buyer was pharmaceutical billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India.