Amid tariff and economic struggles, the newly rebranded Beijing Art Season persevered

Beijing's art week, rebranded as the Beijing Art Season, ran from 22 May to 1 June, featuring three concurrent events: Art021 Beijing (formerly JingArt) at a new venue in the 798 Art District, Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ), and the fair Beijing Dangdai. The 798 gallery complex merged with the adjacent 751 complex, becoming the 798 751 Art District. GWBJ scaled back this year, suspending its curated selling exhibition and international visiting sector, instead hosting only one pop-up gallery. Organizers cited economic struggles and tariffs as challenges, with gallerists reporting slower sales and cancelled US orders due to new tariffs.

The Brooklyn Museum to Present Monet and Venice, the First Major Exhibition in over a Century Dedicated to Claude Monet’s Venetian Cityscapes

The Brooklyn Museum will present "Monet and Venice" from October 11, 2025, to February 1, 2026, the first major exhibition in over a century dedicated to Claude Monet's Venetian cityscapes. The show reunites nineteen of Monet's Venetian paintings alongside more than one hundred artworks, books, and ephemera, placing them in context with works by Canaletto, John Singer Sargent, J. M. W. Turner, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is cocurated by Lisa Small of the Brooklyn Museum and Melissa Buron of the Victoria & Albert Museum, and sponsored by Bank of America.

Museum openings: V&A East Storehouse and the Met’s Rockefeller Wing, plus Rachel Whiteread at Goodwood Art Foundation—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three major museum developments. Ben Luke tours the V&A East Storehouse in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a new facility offering unprecedented public access to the Victoria and Albert Museum's collection, speaking with deputy director Tim Reeve, lead technician Matt Clarke, senior curator Georgia Haseldine, and director of collections care Kate Parsons. Ben Sutton visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art's newly revamped Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, which houses collections from Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania, interviewing curator Alisa LaGamma and contemporary artist Taloi Havini. The episode also features Rachel Whiteread's new work 'Down and Up (2024-25)' as Work of the Week, part of her debut exhibition at the Goodwood Art Foundation in West Sussex.

Stanford University acquires Filipina American artist Pacita Abad’s archive

Stanford University has acquired the archives of Filipina American artist Pacita Abad, a gift from the Pacita Abad Art Estate that also includes funding to catalog 120 linear feet of archival materials—photographs, correspondence, exhibition records, and personal artifacts. The archive will be stewarded by Stanford University Libraries' Bowes Art and Architecture Library in collaboration with the Cantor Arts Center, and is expected to be available to students and scholars within a year. The acquisition follows Abad's posthumous traveling retrospective that opened at the Walker Art Center in 2023, which brought her prolific 32-year practice to the attention of U.S. institutions.

Melbourne exhibition celebrates the long overlooked contributions of Indigenous Australian artists

An exhibition titled "65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art" opens at Melbourne University’s Potter Museum of Art on 30 May, celebrating the long-overlooked contributions of Indigenous Australian artists. Co-curated by Judith Ryan and Marcia Langton, the show argues that Indigenous art dates back millennia before European settlement but was only recognized as fine art from the 1980s, having been previously confined to ethnographic categories. It highlights frontier artists like Tommy McRae, William Barak, and Mickey of Ulladulla, as well as contemporary photographers Ricky Maynard, Naomi Hobson, and Destiny Deacon, while addressing the link between racist policies and the denial of Indigenous art's value.

Pallets, not plinths: the V&A opens its vast storehouse to the public

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London will open its V&A East Storehouse on 31 May, a vast open-access working store at the 2012 Olympics site in Stratford. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the 16,000 sq. m space holds over 250,000 objects and 1,000 archives, allowing visitors to browse collections without glass cases via a self-guided route and an 'Order an Object' booking service. Deputy director Tim Reeve compares the experience to shopping at Ikea, emphasizing flexibility and public access.

Ten essential works of art to see on the French Riviera

The article highlights ten essential artworks to see on the French Riviera, tracing the region's artistic heritage from the 19th century to the present. It features works by Paul Signac, Henri Matisse, Ludovico Brea, and others, housed in museums such as the Musée de l'Annonciade in Saint-Tropez and the Musée Matisse in Nice, with historical context on how artists like Renoir, Picasso, and Chagall were drawn to the area's light and atmosphere.

Child damages Rothko work at Rotterdam museum

A child visiting the Depot, a publicly accessible storage facility at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, made small scratches on Mark Rothko's painting *Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8* (1960). The museum confirmed superficial damage to the unvarnished paint layer and is consulting conservation experts in the Netherlands and abroad, expecting the work to be displayable again in the future. No information on valuation, repair costs, or further handling has been released, and images of the damage will not be circulated.

HommeGirls’s First Store Brings a Streetwear-Chic Slant to Chinatown

HommeGirls has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in New York's Chinatown, a 250-square-foot space designed by Rafael de Cárdenas. The shop features an operational dry cleaner's rack rotating above a Portaluppi-style marble floor, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and a vintage Italian valet stand, reflecting the label's blend of discipline and disorder. The article also covers Miya Ando's solo show at Saint Laurent Rive Droite Los Angeles, Flamingo Estate's new candle inspired by a New York holiday, and the Met's upcoming "Sargent and Paris" exhibition.

At the Venice Biennale, Canada’s entry blooms with unease

Montreal artist Abbas Akhavan's installation "Entre chien et loup" transforms the Canadian pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale into a living climate system, featuring a humid, Amazon-like environment with a pond of Victoria water lilies. The seeds were sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova, with the lilies growing and blooming over the course of the biennale.

James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain — a plunge into the rush of the modern world

Tate Britain presents a major exhibition of James McNeill Whistler's work, showcasing his immersive depictions of early industrial life alongside masterpieces of Victorian portraiture. The show brings together a wide range of Whistler's paintings, prints, and works on paper, highlighting his innovative approach to capturing the energy and atmosphere of the modern world in the late 19th century.

Artist Felipe Pantone's home is a 'permanent exhibition' - with its own indoor nightclub

Spanish-Argentinian contemporary artist Felipe Pantone, who never reveals his face to the public, opens the doors to his striking home 'Casa Axis' in Valencia, Spain. Originally built between 1972 and 1975 by architect Pascual Genovés and designer Antonio Segura, the property was known as the 'Revolving House' before Pantone renamed it. After a two-year renovation, the 7,000 sq m estate now includes an indoor swimming pool designed by the artist, a private tennis court, a dance club, and rooms filled with natural light. Pantone and his partner Victoria Fernández host artists from around the world at the home, which also served as a backdrop for Netflix's Black Mirror.

Rising Voices: Inside the V&A’s Landmark Exhibition Of Asian, Australian & Pacific Art

A new exhibition, 'Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific,' opens this weekend at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It features over 70 works by more than 40 artists from 25 Asia Pacific countries, including sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, and textiles, many never before exhibited outside the region. The show is presented in partnership with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane and co-curated by Daniel Slater, the V&A's director of exhibitions.

‘Art’s Selfish’: Canada Pavilion Artist Abbas Akhavan on What Comes After Venice

Abbas Akhavan, representing Canada at the 2026 Venice Biennale, has transformed the Canada Pavilion into a greenhouse-like installation titled “Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup.” The pavilion’s wooden door has been replaced with glass, revealing a pond of pinkish water illuminated by sunlight and LED grow-lamps. Visitors encounter mossy boulders, a vintage fur coat sprayed with mist, sharpened bronze sticks, and frosted mirrors that blur the architecture. Three giant Bolivian water lilies, grown from seeds sent from Kew Gardens to Padua, will gradually fill the pond over the summer. Akhavan describes his role as a “custodian” rather than a controller, emphasizing the unpredictability of nature.

The National Gallery of Canada, commissioner of Canada's participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, unveils the exhibition Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup

The National Gallery of Canada has unveiled the exhibition "Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup" for the Canada Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. The site-specific installation reimagines the pavilion's architecture as a Wardian case, a precursor to the terrarium used to transport plants across the British Empire, featuring a custom pool with giant Victoria water lilies. The artist replaced the facade with glass panels, making the plants visible from outside, and the installation is framed by additional sculptural works. The exhibition is curated by Kim Nguyen and accompanied by a fully illustrated publication.

At the Galleries for April 23, 2026

A series of new gallery and community art exhibitions are opening across the Hamptons and Montauk. Highlights include Timothy Tibus's solo painting show "Live Forever" at The Lucore Art in Montauk, the group exhibition "Echoes of Matisse" at The Drawing Room in East Hampton, Ann Pibal's solo show at Halsey McKay Gallery, and a one-week solo exhibition for Marcie Honerkamp at the Springs Community Library.

Exhibition | Megan Jenkinson, 'Secateur / Sequitur' at Two Rooms, Auckland, New Zealand

Artist Megan Jenkinson presents her latest body of work, 'Secateur / Sequitur', at Two Rooms in Auckland. The exhibition features intricate photocollages that blend botanical elements with man-made materials like wire, drawing inspiration from classical philosophy and the Japanese art of ikebana. Jenkinson’s meticulously structured compositions explore the tension between the natural world and human systems of order.

Venice exhibition of US artist Hernan Bas will tackle issue of mass tourism

American artist Hernan Bas is set to debut a major new series of over 30 paintings titled "The Visitors" at the Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice. The immersive installation, created in part during a residency in the city, satirizes the absurdity of global mass tourism, from iconic clichés like the Mona Lisa to "dark tourism" sites such as Chernobyl. The works depict a procession of North American and European youths performing for cameras and navigating tourist traps with a mix of naiveté and arrogance.

In a risk-averse market, Paris Photo offers diversity

Paris Photo returns to the Grand Palais for its 28th edition, featuring 220 exhibitors from 33 countries, including 178 galleries and 42 publishers. The fair opens amid a risk-averse market where dealers report slower acquisitions, increased production costs, and reduced collector risk-taking, yet attendance reached 81,000 in 2024. Notable trends include a resurgence of Japanese galleries after a five-year absence, strong Latin American presentations from Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Santiago, and Mexico City, and a rise in women artists to 39% of practitioners, up from 20% in 2018. Highlights include MEM's exhibition of the August 6 Hiroshima Day student photography project and Claudia Andujar's Yanomami works shown by Galeria Vermelho.

Continue the Frieze London buzz: these are the best new gallery openings in the UK to visit now

The article highlights five new or relocated gallery openings across the UK, from London to rural Wiltshire, that are generating buzz alongside the Frieze London art fair. These include Brink in Notting Hill, which pairs architecture with art in a former temperance hall; Huxley-Parlour's new rural outpost in the North Wessex Downs; Monument, an archival objects gallery expanding in Leyton; 3812 Gallery relocating to The Whiteley in Queensway with a focus on Chinese contemporary art; and Cobogó Gallery's first physical London space in Chelsea Harbour, specializing in Brazilian design.

Victoria Miro gallery launches sophisticated digital platform to put past and present exhibitions online

Victoria Miro gallery has launched a new digital platform called Live / Archive, which uses 3D modeling, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) to present past and current exhibitions online. The platform, powered by the Vortic software developed by Oliver Miro, initially features 72 archived shows dating back to 2019, including Grayson Perry's "Super Rich Interior Decoration." The launch coincides with the gallery's 40th anniversary, and the platform allows artists like Chantal Joffe to revisit and plan exhibitions virtually.

GRIMM Grows Across London with New St James’s Gallery Opening This Autumn

GRIMM, the international gallery founded in 2005, will open a new space in London's St James's district this autumn, timed to Frieze Week. The gallery will occupy the ground and lower floors of a historic late Victorian building at 43a Duke Street, expanding from its current Mayfair location at 2 Bourdon Street. The inaugural exhibition will feature new paintings by German artist Matthias Weischer. Founder Jörg Grimm described the move as a logical progression following the gallery's establishment in London in 2022.

A hundred years on, Cork Street is the beating heart of London’s art scene once more

Cork Street in London's Mayfair district, a historic hub for commercial art, is celebrating its centenary with a collaborative group show involving 15 galleries. The exhibition is inspired by a controversial 1938 Jean Cocteau work, "La peur donnant des ailes au courage," which was deemed obscene by British authorities and only shown in a back office at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, after her petitions. Participating galleries include Stephen Friedman Gallery, Alon Zakaim Fine Art, and Goodman Gallery, with works by artists like Caroline Coon, Shirin Neshat, and others, curated by Tarini Malik.

An expansive monograph of Celia Paul paints a portrait of a single-minded, singular artist

A new monograph on Indian-born British painter Celia Paul (b. 1959) presents an expansive survey of her career, featuring over 500 color reproductions and essays by Hilton Als, Clare Carlisle, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Edmund de Waal, and Rowan Williams, alongside contributions from the artist herself. The book traces Paul's trajectory from her training at the Slade School of Fine Art and her decade-long relationship with Lucian Freud to her recent solo exhibition *Colony of Ghosts* at Victoria Miro in London, positioning her as a singular figure distinct from the shadow of Freud and the School of London painters.

‘A true champion of artists’: Victoria Miro's artists celebrate gallery's 40th anniversary

Victoria Miro opened her eponymous gallery on Cork Street in London in December 1985, at a time when the punk collective The Grey Organisation was protesting the conservative art establishment. To mark the gallery's 40th anniversary, Miro is hosting an exhibition of works by all her artists at her 17,000 sq. ft space in Hoxton, with 23 of them creating new works specifically for the show, including Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Flora Yukhnovich, Elmgreen & Dragset, Chris Ofili, Chantal Joffe, Grayson Perry, and Celia Paul. The article features heartfelt tributes from artists like Isaac Julien, who calls Miro 'a true champion of artists,' and Joffe, who describes the gallery as family.

Frank Auerbach’s Berlin homecoming, human remains and museums, Ian Hamilton Finlay’s ‘Republic’—podcast

This podcast episode covers three major art-world stories. First, the late artist Frank Auerbach receives his first-ever Berlin exhibition at Galerie Michael Werner, decades after fleeing the city as a Jewish refugee in 1939. Second, curator and author Dan Hicks discusses his new book *Every Monument Must Fall*, which examines the origins of contemporary debates around colonialism, art, and heritage, focusing on the acquisition and display of human remains in museums. Third, the episode highlights the centenary of artist Ian Hamilton Finlay with a look at his work *Republic* (1995) and a series of international exhibitions celebrating his legacy.

Why the inaugural Art Week Riyadh was a fair in everything but name

The inaugural Art Week Riyadh (AWR), organized by Saudi Arabia's Visual Arts Commission, took place from April 6-13 in the Jax district of Diriyah. Though officially billed as a non-commercial curated exhibition, the event functioned much like an art fair, with 32 galleries displaying available works, price lists visible on stands, and sales conducted throughout the week. The main exhibition, titled "At The Edge," was curated by Vittoria Matarrese with associate curators Basma Harasani and Victoria Gandit Lelandais, featuring galleries from Saudi Arabia and the wider region. Standout presentations included works by Ayesha Sultana, Mohamed Bourouissa, Mohammed Al Resayes, and Miramar Al Nayyar, alongside a moving image section and a satellite program of open studios and gallery shows.

How the State Supports Provenance Research

Comment l’État soutient la recherche de provenance

The French Ministry of Culture has created two specialized missions to assist museums in researching the provenance of their collections, addressing looted artworks, human remains, colonial acquisitions, and illicit trafficking. The Mission for Research and Restitution of Looted Cultural Property (M2RS), established in 2019, focuses on Nazi-era spoliations (1933-1945) with a budget of €220,000 annually, while the newer Mission "Provenance," launched in 2024 under curator Catherine Chevillot, covers human remains, colonial-era objects, and illicit goods with a €450,000 budget. These missions provide expertise, funding, and coordination with institutions like the Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation (CIVS), though most museums still only initiate provenance checks during acquisitions or donations.

Victoria & Albert Museum yields to Chinese censorship

Le Victoria & Albert Museum cède à la censure chinoise

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London removed a map and other content from its exhibition catalogues after its Chinese printer, C&C Offset Printing, flagged them as unacceptable to Chinese censors. The map, showing 1930s British Empire trade routes, was rejected by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) because it included Chinese territory and borders, requiring the use of state-approved maps. The museum also previously removed a map and a photograph of Vladimir Lenin from a 2021 Fabergé exhibition catalogue.

Masha Foya’s Airy Illustrations Embrace the Universality of Emotions

Kyiv-based illustrator Masha Foya has released a new series of dreamlike works that blend human emotion with the natural world. Her illustrations often feature surreal architectural and organic elements, such as foliage tunnels forming into hands or planes flying through bird-shaped apertures, to represent the boundlessness of the human imagination. The collection includes a mix of personal explorations and high-profile commissions for international publications.