The Great Lone Wolf of Art

Der große Einzelgänger der Kunst

Georg Baselitz, the German painter known for his radical, figurative works and iconic upside-down motifs, has died at age 88. Born Hans-Georg Kern in 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, Saxony, he fled East Germany for West Berlin in 1957 after being expelled from art school for "socio-political immaturity." Baselitz rose to international fame with his expressive, fractured depictions of the human figure, famously inverting his compositions starting with "Der Wald auf dem Kopf" (1969). He also worked as a stage and costume designer for operas by Harrison Birtwistle, György Ligeti, and Richard Wagner.

Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu to curate 2027 Istanbul Biennial

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (ISKV) has announced that Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu will curate the 2027 Istanbul Biennial. Liu Ding is a Beijing-based artist and curator who has participated in numerous international biennials and taught at NABA Milan, while Carol Yinghua Lu is an art historian and director of the Inside-Out Art Museum in Beijing, with a background at OCAT Shenzhen, Museion Bolzano, and Asia Art Archive. The pair, who have collaborated since 2007, most recently served as artistic directors of the 2024 Yokohama Triennale. The 19th edition of the Istanbul Biennial is scheduled for 18 September to 14 November 2027.

Fair Week in NYC!

New York City is hosting a packed week of art fairs in May 2025, including Frieze at The Shed, Independent Art Fair at Pier 36, TEFAF New York at the Park Avenue Armory, and NADA New York at the Starrett-Lehigh Building. The fairs feature hundreds of international galleries, with Frieze emphasizing Central and South American exhibitors, Independent exploring a dystopian theme, TEFAF offering antiquities and fine art, and NADA celebrating its 12th edition with 121 galleries. The article also notes recent major exhibitions at the New Museum, Whitney Biennial, MoMA PS1, The Met, and MoMA, and includes a guide to Upstate New York art destinations.

A Londra si allestisce un’installazione di Christo e Jeanne-Claude che non si era mai vista prima

An unprecedented installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, titled "Air Package on a Ceiling," is being exhibited for the first time at Gagosian's Grosvenor Hill space in London, opening May 21, 2026. The work was originally conceived in 1968 for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia but never realized due to technical constraints. It was rediscovered in 2018 when Lorenza Giovanelli, Christo's former studio manager, found a detailed scale model hidden inside a pedestal. The exhibition also includes early works such as "Wrapped Automobile—Volvo, Model PV-544" (1981), not seen in thirty years, alongside preparatory drawings and collages.

Art Dubai Marks 20 Years with Special Edition Focused on Collaboration and Cultural Exchange – Friday, 15-17 May 2026.

Art Dubai returns to Madinat Jumeirah from 15–17 May 2026 for a special 20th-edition programme that reflects on the fair's evolution and reaffirms Dubai's role as a global cultural hub. Presented in partnership with A.R.M. Holding and Dubai Culture, the fair features approximately 75 presentations from commercial galleries, institutional partners, and cultural initiatives, with around 60% of participating galleries drawn from the region. Highlights include the Made Forward presentation from Dubai Collection, the 20th edition of the Global Art Forum titled 'Before and After Everything', and an exhibition of modern Arab art from the Barjeel Art Foundation. The fair also introduces an innovative risk-sharing model where booth costs are payable based on sales performance, and entry is free for all visitors.

The Top Collections Leading the May Marquee Auctions

The article reports that the May 2025 marquee auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's are being driven by a resurgence of major single-owner collections, reversing a period of trophy scarcity in the secondary market. Key collections include the $130 million Robert E. Mnuchin collection at Sotheby's, the personal collection of gallerist Marian Goodman at Christie's, and the S.I. Newhouse collection expected to generate around $450 million, featuring Jackson Pollock's 'Number 7A (1948)' and Constantin Brancusi's 'Danaïde (1913)'. The article notes that the ultra-high tier above $10 million rose 30% year-on-year, and single-owner collections in New York auctions totaled $730.9 million, an 89.9% increase from Q1 2025.

Peter Doig | Peter Doig - Courtauld Gallery Exhibition poster, 20… (2024) | For Sale

A hand-signed offset lithograph poster by Peter Doig, created for his 2023 exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery in London, is being offered for sale by Alpha 137 Gallery in New York. The poster, signed by the artist in marker and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, is priced at $5,500. The listing includes a detailed biography of Doig, noting his birth in Edinburgh in 1959, his upbringing in Trinidad and Canada, his studies at Wimbledon School of Art, Saint Martin's, and Chelsea School of Art, and his rise to international prominence as a painter who reinvigorated the medium. It also highlights his major museum exhibitions and auction record of $39.9 million at Christie's in 2021.

At MAXXI L'Aquila, exhibition dedicated to Ai Weiwei recounts catastrophes and memory

From April 29 to September 6, 2026, MAXXI L'Aquila presents "AI WEIWEI: Aftershock," an exhibition curated by Tim Marlow featuring approximately seventy works by Chinese artist, architect, and activist Ai Weiwei. The show spans his entire career, focusing on themes of earthquakes, wars, political repression, and memory. The centerpiece is the installation "Straight" (2009–2012), made from 150 tons of steel rods recovered from schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, displayed across three rooms. The exhibition is held at Palazzo Ardinghelli, a Baroque building that houses MAXXI L'Aquila and was itself restored after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, creating a dialogue between the works and the building's history of recovery.

SWANSEA: British Art Show 10 confirmed for Glynn Vivian next year — the only Welsh stop on a national tour featuring artists from Tracey Emin to Grayson Perry

Swansea has been confirmed as the only Welsh stop on the British Art Show 10 national tour, with the exhibition taking place at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery from February 12 to May 16, 2027. Titled 'A Chorus of Strangers,' the show will also feature venues including the new home for Elysium Gallery and potentially Y Storfa, and will explore themes of Moments of Being, Ways of Living, and States of Nature across various media. Curated by Ekow Eshun, the tour launches in Coventry in October 2026 before visiting Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle-Gateshead.

Ed Ruscha | A Particular Kind Of Heaven (1983) | Art & Prints

Ed Ruscha's 1983 work "A Particular Kind Of Heaven" is being offered at auction through Tate Ward, with current bidding at £100. The piece is an exhibition poster from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, measuring 61 x 92 cm, and is part of Tate Ward's Urban and Contemporary Art London sale. The listing also shows multiple other Ruscha works available from various sellers, including posters and prints from EHC Fine Art Auction, Blond Contemporary, and Baldwin.

Pioneering British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron honoured with a blue plaque in London

A blue plaque has been unveiled on the London home of pioneering British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron at 10 Chesham Place in Belgravia, celebrating her legacy. Cameron took up photography at age 48 and created iconic portraits of figures like Alfred Tennyson, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Carlyle, as well as images of her family and neighbors. The plaque was installed by English Heritage, with family members including musician Jules Cameron, singer Jasmine van den Bogaerde (Birdy), and artist Julian Bell attending the ceremony. Cameron's great-great-great-granddaughter Jules Cameron noted that the honor feels like a continuation of her work to fix presence in light and memory.

Two Museums Take on Performative Masculinity, Looksmaxxing, Incels, and Other Macho Buzzwords That Don’t Belong There.

The Stedelijk Museum and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen have co-organized an exhibition titled "Beyond the Manosphere: Masculinities Today," which aims to critically examine contemporary masculinity and its online manifestations such as incels, looksmaxxing, and pickup artists. The show features works by artists including Reba Maybury and Richard Serra, and is curated by Melanie Bühler, with directors Rein Wolfs and Gianni Jetzer overseeing the project. The exhibition will travel from the Stedelijk to the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen later this year.

Exhibitions marking 250th anniversary of the US open in New York

Several New York museums have opened exhibitions marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, which falls on 4 July 2026. The New-York Historical Society presents "Old Masters, New Amsterdam," drawn from the Leiden Collection, focusing on the lives of Dutch colonists. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library offers "Goya and the Age of Revolution," linking the American Revolution to European upheavals and Goya's depictions of war. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has installed "Revolution!" in its American Wing, reexamining the nation's founding through art. A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson will also be on view at the New York Public Library.

George Baselitz, Purveyor of the Tortured Male Genius Myth, Dies at 88

Georg Baselitz, the influential German Neo-Expressionist painter known for his emotionally charged, often violent works and his controversial statements about women artists, has died at age 88. His final paintings will be shown in the exhibition "Eroi d’Oro" at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice starting May 6. Baselitz rose to prominence with his "Heroes" series of monumental male soldiers and his signature "upside down" paintings, which forced viewers to focus on painterly gesture over representation. He was a key precursor to Germany's Neue Wilde movement and confronted Germany's World War II trauma in works that combined expressionistic brutality with Wagnerian grandeur.

Christie’s to Offer $35 M. Renoir Painting Owned by Whitney Family For Nearly a Century

Christie's will auction Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 1876-77 painting 'La femme aux lilas (Portrait de Nini Lopez)' in its 20th Century Evening Sale on May 18, with an estimate of $25 million to $35 million. The work has been owned by the Whitney Payson family since 1929 and is being sold from the collection of the late Lorinda Payson de Roulet, daughter of the original buyers, Joan Whitney Payson and Charles Payson.

See Photos from Archives of Nine Photographers Going to Center for Creative Photography

The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona has acquired the archives of nine photographers: Laura Aguilar, Jack Dykinga, Jody Forster, Frank Gohlke, Mark Klett, Nathan Lyons, Stephen Marc, Patrick Nagatani, and Susan Wood. The collections include photographic prints as well as supporting materials like correspondence, notebooks, and working proofs that document the artists' creative processes.

‘I shared a single bed with my mother for three years’: Sung Tieu on her monument to immigrant workers in Venice

Artist Sung Tieu has clad the German pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale with a mosaic replica of the Gehrenseestrasse complex, a now-abandoned housing estate in Berlin where she lived as a child. The work, titled "Human Dignity Shall Be Inviolable," uses three million mosaic stones to recreate the facade of the prefabricated blocks that housed Vertragsarbeiter—contract workers from Vietnam, Mozambique, Angola, and Cuba who bolstered East Germany's economy. Tieu, who shared a single bed with her mother in the complex for three years, conceived the pavilion alongside the late artist Henrike Naumann.

Picasso’s Guernica is the ultimate emblem of the horrors of war. It has no place in Spain's partisan squabbles | María Ramírez

A political dispute has erupted in Spain over the potential temporary relocation of Pablo Picasso's iconic anti-war painting *Guernica*. The president of the Basque Country, Imanol Pradales, has formally requested the work be moved from Madrid's Reina Sofía museum to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for several months in 2027, framing it as a form of "reparation" for the Basque people. The Spanish government has rejected the request on conservation grounds, while conservative politicians have used the proposal to attack Basque nationalism.

The Prototype of an Artist

Der Prototyp eines Künstlers

Timm Ulrichs, the self-proclaimed "Totalkünstler" (total artist) known for his boundary-pushing performances—tattooing himself, locking himself inside a hollowed boulder, and running naked in thunderstorms—has died at age 86 in Berlin. A pioneer of Land Art, Body Art, concrete poetry, and endoscopic imaging, Ulrichs created works that anticipated later artists like Isa Genzken, and was invited to Documenta 6 in 1977. Despite his prolific output and influence on younger generations, he often lamented being overlooked by the international art market compared to peers like Georg Baselitz and Gerhard Richter.

The Essential Works of Yin Xiuzhen

ArtAsiaPacific published a profile of Chinese artist Yin Xiuzhen, born in 1963 in Beijing, highlighting her career as a pivotal figure in Chinese contemporary art since the 1990s. The article revisits milestone works following the closing of her solo exhibition "Yin Xiuzhen: Heart to Heart" at London's Hayward Gallery, including early pieces like *Dress Box* (1995) and *Washing River* (1995). Yin emerged alongside the second wave of Chinese contemporary artists, including Yu Hong, Song Yonghong, Wang Jinsong, and her husband Song Dong, and was an early practitioner of what art historian Gao Minglu termed "Apartment Art." Her practice uses discarded clothing, household ephemera, and industrial materials to address urbanization, globalization, environmental crisis, and collective memory.

Jon Batiste, Troye Sivan, and Amy Sherald lead a Met Gala 2026 rooted in art-historical homage.

The 2026 Met Gala, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, centered on the theme "Fashion Is Art," marking the opening of the Costume Institute's spring exhibition "Costume Art." Attendees including Jon Batiste, Troye Sivan, and artist Amy Sherald interpreted the dress code through art-historical references, with Sivan wearing Prada to channel Robert Mapplethorpe. The event brought together fashion, art, entertainment, and high society to make a deliberate case for fashion as a legitimate art form.

How Dayanita Singh Got Into Venice’s Archives

Artist Dayanita Singh mounted a major exhibition titled "ARCHIVIO" at the State Archives of Venice, which opened to the public as an exhibition venue for the first time in its history. Without institutional funding or a public relations budget, Singh relied on a "friendship economy" to install her signature "photo-pillars"—images of Indian archival documents bound in red cloth. The show attracted visitors despite the lack of traditional promotion, as documented in an interview with Hyperallergic Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian.

7 Artists to Watch at the New York Fairs This Weekend

The article highlights seven artists and presentations to watch at the New York art fairs this weekend, including Frieze, TEFAF, Independent, and NADA. Key highlights include Comme des Garçons' sculptural fashion display at Independent, Danish painter Eva Helene Pade's U.S. debut at Thaddaeus Ropac's TEFAF booth, and sold-out booths for Kelly Sinnapah Mary at James Cohan and Rachel Youn at G Gallery during Frieze. The piece notes that while no single viral spectacle dominates this fair week, a quieter but compelling mix of works and sales is drawing attention across venues.

In His Last Interview, Georg Baselitz Unpacks His New Nudes, Identity Art, and Being a Lifelong Outsider

Georg Baselitz, the influential German painter known for his inverted, upside-down works, gave his final interview before his death on April 30 at age 88. In the conversation, he discussed his upcoming exhibition "Eroi d’Oro [Heroes of Gold]" at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, featuring monumental gold-primed canvases depicting nude portraits of himself and his wife Elke. Baselitz reflected on his lifelong outsider status, his refusal to follow artistic movements, and the controversial nature of his work, including his 1963 painting that led to an obscenity trial.

Coco Fusco and Jeffrey Gibson’s Public Lectures, Free Admission at MCA Denver, and More: Industry Moves for May 13, 2026

This week's art industry moves include Coco Fusco and Jeffrey Gibson being named speakers for Johns Hopkins University's Sam Gilliam Lecture Series, with free talks scheduled in Washington, D.C. Other notable developments: MCA Denver received a $1 million gift from the Precourt Foundation for free youth admission through 2031; Xavier Hufkens now represents painter Richard Aldrich; Galatea will represent the estate of Brazilian self-taught painter Grauben do Monte Lima; Green Art Gallery added Sharjah-based artist Fatma Al Ali; Chris Sharp Gallery now represents sculptor Richard Rezac; and the Oakland Museum of California received a ceramics gift and $1 million endowment from the Brian and Edith Heath Foundation. Additionally, a Banksy painting from the "Crude Oils" series is estimated at $18 million for an upcoming Fair Warning auction at Tiffany & Co.

Barbara Chase-Riboud Says She Declined US Pavilion Offer Because It Was ‘Not the Moment’

Sculptor Barbara Chase-Riboud has revealed she declined an offer to represent the United States at the 2025 Venice Biennale, stating that for her, "this was not the moment." The offer was made by the American Arts Conservancy, the nonprofit organization commissioning the US Pavilion. The revelation comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the selection process that ultimately led to artist Alma Allen being chosen, following reports that the Trump administration removed diversity language from application materials.

‘I told his family he was HIV positive’: Keith Haring’s best friend on life with the artist as unseen works go on show

A collection of unseen Keith Haring works, including a crib he painted for his best friend's unborn child, is going on display at Sotheby's New York before being auctioned in May 2025. The collection belongs to Kermit Oswald, Haring's childhood friend, and features 20 works, with a 1985 self-portrait estimated at $3m-$5m and the crib valued at $250,000-$350,000. Oswald shares intimate stories of their friendship, from childhood pranks in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, to their move to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts, and Haring's later collaboration with William Burroughs.

Hoffnung auf Rekorde bei Auktionen in New York

New York's major auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, are gearing up for their spring sales with high-value consignments from prominent collections. Sotheby's will auction Mark Rothko's "Towering Brown and Blacks in Reds" (1957), estimated at up to $100 million, from the estate of investment banker Robert Mnuchin. Christie's is offering works from the collection of the late gallerist Marian Goodman, including Gerhard Richter's "Kerze" (1982) valued at up to $50 million and "Mohn" (1995) around $15 million, alongside pieces from the estates of publisher S. I. Newhouse and collector Agnes Gund, with a Constantin Brâncuși sculpture and a Jackson Pollock painting each estimated at $100 million, and another Rothko at $80 million.

A Time of Transition

During the preview week of the 61st Venice Biennale, escalating protests targeted the national pavilions of Israel and Russia, with demonstrations by Pussy Riot, ANGA (Art Not Genocide Alliance), and Baltic pavilions. A major protest on May 8 drew over 3,000 people in solidarity with Palestine, and 27 national pavilions—including Austria, the Netherlands, France, and Japan—staged a strike, the first at the Biennale since 1968. The Golden Lion jury resigned after declaring they would not consider countries under ICC investigation (Israel and Russia), and the Biennale administration replaced the prize with a visitors' award, from which half the artists in the main exhibition have withdrawn.

Ed Ruscha | Clock (1994) | Art & Prints

This article presents Ed Ruscha's 1994 print "Clock," a Mixografia print on handmade paper measuring 40 1/2 × 34 inches, part of a limited edition of 75 plus 7 artist's proofs. The work is being offered by Upsilon Gallery, which has locations in New York, London, Miami, and Milan. The article includes a biography of Ruscha, noting his career since the 1960s, his use of unusual materials like gunpowder and Pepto Bismol, his representation of the United States at the 2005 Venice Biennale, and his auction record of $68.3 million at Christie's in 2024.