In Venice, 22 unmissable exhibitions on the sidelines of the biennial

À Venise, 22 expositions incontournables en marge de la biennale

The article highlights 22 must-see exhibitions happening alongside the 61st Venice Biennale, which is expected to be affected by geopolitical tensions but still promises artistic vibrancy. Notable events include Bvlgari's dual projects featuring artists Lotus L. Kang, Lara Favaretto, and Monia Ben Hamouda; the unveiling of the Asscher collection at the Ama Venezia foundation with works by Charles Ray, Jenny Saville, and Richard Serra; and the inaugural exhibition "The Only True Protest Is Beauty" at the Fondation Dries Van Noten, showcasing 200 objects across fashion, design, and art. Other highlights include a dialogue between Picasso, Morandi, and Parmiggiani at the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.

Georg Baselitz, Lion of German Neo-Expressionism, Dead at 88

Georg Baselitz, the influential German Neo-Expressionist painter, printmaker, and sculptor, died on April 30 at age 88. His death was announced by Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, his longtime representative. Born Hans-Georg Kern in 1938 in Saxony, Baselitz was profoundly shaped by his childhood experience of war and the destruction of Nazi Germany. He was expelled from art school in East Berlin for "socio-political immaturity," moved to West Berlin, and adopted his pseudonym from his hometown. His first solo exhibition in 1963 was raided by police for obscenity, cementing his reputation as a provocateur. Known for his upside-down figures and fierce brushwork, he created series such as "Heroes" and "Fracture" that addressed trauma, violence, and the psychic toll of postwar life.

What ‘Costume Art’ Gets Wrong About the Body

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition, featuring nearly 400 objects, pairs garments and ensembles with Western figurative artworks from the museum's permanent collection in dyadic, associative displays. The show eschews traditional art-historical timelines and context in favor of visual and thematic parallels—comparing, for example, Rudi Gernreich's Pubikini with an Egyptian statuette, or Ying Gao's sound-responsive dress with a David Hockney drawing. The exhibition is sponsored by Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

8 Must-See Shows during Gallery Weekend Berlin 2026

Gallery Weekend Berlin 2026 features over 50 galleries across the city, with a strong emphasis on painting. The event, founded in 2005 by a cooperative of local gallerists as an alternative to traditional art fairs, this year confirms the lasting power of painting despite its original anti-painting ethos.

Alma Allen Flops in Venice

Hyperallergic reports on the 2026 Venice Biennale, with Editor-in-Chief Hakim Bishara criticizing the U.S. pavilion's exhibition of Alma Allen's work as a disappointing departure from the previous editions' profound explorations of Indigenous life and Black sovereignty. Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian offers a positive review of the main exhibition "In Minor Keys," while Greta Rainbow covers a poetry procession honoring the late artistic director Koyo Kouoh. Additional stories include a review of the film "The Christophers" about an artist and forger, and news of workers at the American Folk Art Museum picketing for higher wages.

New Louvre Chief Christophe Leribault Reveals His Vision for the Museum Post-Heist

Christophe Leribault, the new director of the Louvre, has outlined his vision for the museum following a $100 million heist in October 2025. The Apollo Gallery, where the theft occurred, will reopen in July with a redesigned display that removes mineral cases to highlight its Romantic wall paintings, inspired by Versailles’s Hall of Mirrors. Empress Eugénie’s diamond-and-emerald crown, crushed by the thieves, is being restored and will become a new highlight. Security upgrades include window bars, 100 new cameras by 2026, a mobile police station, and a new security coordinator. The heist led to the resignation of former director Laurence des Cars in February.

Biennale di Venezia 2026. Le grandi mostre da non perdere in città

The article previews major exhibitions in Venice during the 2026 Biennale, highlighting a rich lineup of shows across the city's museums and foundations. Key highlights include a retrospective for Marina Abramović at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, a Peggy Guggenheim exhibition at her former home, and dual shows at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana featuring artists like Michael Armitage, Amar Kanwar, Lorna Simpson, and Paulo Nazareth. Other notable venues include Fondazione Prada, Ca' Pesaro, and the Museo Correr, with artists ranging from Joseph Kosuth to Jenny Saville.

Gozo Yoshimasu Wins £200,000 Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize

Tokyo-based poet and artist Gozo Yoshimasu has won the inaugural Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize, receiving £200,000 (approximately $272,000) along with solo exhibitions at Serpentine Galleries in London in fall 2027 and at the FLAG Art Foundation in New York in spring 2028. Yoshimasu, 87, emerged from the avant-garde scene of 1960s Tokyo and is known for blending poetry with performance, photography, audio recordings, and moving image. His work has been featured in the Shanghai Biennale, the Bienal de São Paulo, and major surveys such as “Poet Slash Artist” at Factory International. The prize was selected by a jury including Serpentine artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, FLAG Foundation director Jonathan Rider, MoMA curator Michelle Kuo, Museum MACAN director Venus Lau, and artist Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Venice Biennale 2026 Highlights: Off-Site Exhibitions

ArtReview editors highlight off-site pavilions and exhibitions at the 61st Venice Biennale, running from 9 May through 22 November 2026. Featured works include Li Yi-Fan's film *Screen Melancholy* at Palazzo delle Prigioni, which uses motion capture and a free-trial videogame engine to explore digital alienation and the 'enshittosphere,' and Roberto Diago's installation *Free Men* at the Pavilion of Cuban Republic, comprising rusted iron heads, fragmented wooden figures, and text works critiquing political oppression in Cuba.

Au musée Picasso, l’artiste africain-américain Henry Taylor dévoile sa peinture d’un quotidien troublé par la violence

The Musée Picasso in Paris is hosting a retrospective of African American artist Henry Taylor, running until September 6. The exhibition centers on Taylor's 2007 painting *From Congo to the Capital, and Black Again*, a bold reimagining of Picasso's *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon* that replaces the original figures with darker-skinned women and introduces Josephine Baker and a white man's arm. The show follows the museum's series on African American painting, after Faith Ringgold in 2023 and ahead of a Harlem Renaissance exhibition in 2027.

10 Must-See Shows During the Venice Biennale 2026

The 2026 Venice Biennale is embroiled in multiple controversies, including the cancellation and reinstatement of Australia's representative artist Khaled Sabsabi, ongoing calls to bar Israel from participating, criticism over allowing Russia to participate, and mounting voices to exclude the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump's actions in Iran. Despite these disputes, the article highlights that many of the city's most exciting shows will take place away from the main Biennale venues.

Niklaus Stoecklin at Hauser & Wirth, Basel

Hauser & Wirth Basel is presenting a focused exhibition of works by Swiss artist Niklaus Stoecklin (1896–1982), featuring paintings and drawings spanning from the 1920s to the 1970s. The show includes several rarely seen pieces, highlighting Stoecklin's distinctive approach to depicting life—people, animals, trees, stones, and space—as he described it.

Art Movements: Michelle Millar Fisher Heads to Cooper Hewitt

Michelle Millar Fisher, formerly curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has been appointed chief curator at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan. She succeeds Matilda McQuaid, who is retiring after 24 years. Separately, the Getty Foundation awarded $1.8 million in grants to eight institutions through its Black Visual Arts Archive initiative, supporting the processing of historical records related to Black art. Other notable appointments include Jamie Blosser as curator of the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graham C. Boettcher as director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum, and Susan Fisher Sterling's retirement from the National Museum of Women in Arts. Artist Nora Turato also unveiled a humorous billboard near the High Line reading 'GIVE US MOM!!!'.

Collateral Events Not to Miss at 61st Venice Biennale

The article highlights several collateral events not to miss at the 61st Venice Biennale, including "The Spirits of Maritime Crossing 2026" at Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfù, featuring 20 artists from Southeast Asia, Ireland, and Serbia, anchored by Marina Abramović's performance piece "Sea Punishing" (2006). Other notable exhibitions include a seven-decade survey of Korean artist Lee Ufan at San Marco Art Centre, "TURANDOT: To the Daughters of the East" at ACP Palazzo Franchetti featuring 11 female artists from Central Asia, Li Yi-Fan's "Screen Melancholy" at Palazzo delle Prigioni, and Nalini Malani's "Of Woman Born" at Magazzini del Sale.

Louvre Reveals Architects for $1 Billion Expansion

The Louvre has announced an international team of architects—New York's Selldorf Architects and Studios Architecture Paris—to lead its "Nouvelle Renaissance" expansion, a project estimated to cost over €1 billion ($1.2 billion). The plan, first announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in early 2025, includes a new entrance to accommodate three million additional visitors annually and a dedicated 33,000-square-foot exhibition space for Leonardo da Vinci's *Mona Lisa*. The museum's new director, Christophe Leribault, is moving forward with the project despite significant budget uncertainty, with cost estimates ranging from €270 million to €1.1 billion.

Watching You, Watching Me: On Panteha Abareshi and the Spectacle of Illness

The Same Dead Thing Alive: Contemporary Archives in L.A. and Beyond

MONUMENTS at MOCA and The Brick

The article reviews the exhibition "MONUMENTS" held at both MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) and The Brick, as covered by Contemporary Art Review LA. The review, written by Qingyuan Deng, appears in Issue 43 (February 2026) of the publication, which also features other reviews, interviews, and essays on topics ranging from olfactory art to tarot and video art.

2026 Carla Art Auction is Live!

Under new ownership, Art Monte Carlo voices 'global ambitions'

The 10th edition of Art Monte Carlo took place from April 29 to May 1 in the Grimaldi Forum, featuring 26 exhibitors ranging from Old Master paintings to contemporary works by Picasso, Warhol, and Richter. The fair was acquired last year by Informa Prestige, a luxury offshoot of Informa, which also owns Miami's Untitled fair. Executive chair John Paton aims to grow the fair, nearly double its size within two years, and expand to another location, leveraging complementary audiences from yachting and supercars.

Minnie Pwerle, Emily Pwerle, Molly Pwerle, Galya Pwerle at Château Shatto

Château Shatto gallery in Los Angeles is presenting a group exhibition featuring works by Minnie Pwerle, Emily Pwerle, Molly Pwerle, and Galya Pwerle, four Indigenous Australian artists from the Anmatyerre community. The show highlights their distinctive painting styles, which often draw on ancestral stories and bold abstract patterns, continuing the legacy of Aboriginal art in a contemporary gallery context.

Private Sales Are Surging as Auction Houses Lean into Exclusive, Experience-Led Selling

Sotheby's and Christie's are increasingly turning to private, invitation-only sales to move high-value artworks, bypassing the traditional auction model. Sotheby's recent "The Apartment" exhibition in London, featuring works by David Hockney, George Condo, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, sold half its $40 million inventory before the public even saw it. Christie's reported that its three most expensive paintings sold in 2025 were all private transactions, with the house trading $1.5 billion privately last year—nearly a quarter of its global sales.

Back to the 90s: Tate exhibition to explore decade’s art and fashion

Tate Britain will stage a major exhibition titled "The 90s: Art and Fashion" this autumn, curated by former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful. The show will feature nearly 70 artists, photographers, and designers, including Steve McQueen, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen, and Tracey Emin, alongside works by Juergen Teller, Mark Leckey, and others. It will explore the decade's art, fashion, and club culture, with pieces such as McQueen's film "Bear" (1993), Ofili's Turner Prize-winning "No Woman, No Cry" (1998), and images from Manchester's Haçienda and London's Bagley's nightclubs.

Mary Lovelace O’Neal Leaves Her Mark

Abstract mixed-media painter Mary Lovelace O’Neal, a Civil Rights activist and influential artist known for her monumental canvases and inventive 'lampblack' works, died at age 84. The article also reports that Manhattan’s Neue Galerie will merge with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and covers the NADA New York art fair, Todd Gray's exhibition, and the Lehman College Art Gallery thesis show.

10 must-see exhibitions in Berlin this spring 2026

10 mostre da vedere a Berlino in questa primavera 2026

Artribune's article highlights ten must-see exhibitions in Berlin for spring 2026, curated by Nicola Violano. Key shows include Marina Abramović's "Balkan Erotic Epic" at Gropius Bau, exploring Balkan ritual, body, and sexuality; Giulia Andreani's "Sabotage" at the Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, which uses near-monochrome painting to critique historical narratives; and Shilpa Gupta's "What Still Holds" at the same venue, reflecting on borders and fragility in dialogue with Joseph Beuys. The selection spans major museums and galleries, emphasizing conceptual depth over pure aesthetics.

10 Exhibitions to See in Upstate New York This May

Hyperallergic's guide highlights 10 exhibitions opening in Upstate New York this May, including the Hessel Museum of Art's annual showcase of thesis exhibitions by graduates of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, featuring works by Alice Aycock, Arthur Jafa, Mike Kelley, and Ana Mendieta. Other notable shows include Daniele Frazier's camera-less photography at September Gallery, Onnis Luque's investigation into resource exploitation at Art Omi, and Japanese woodblock prints at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. The guide also covers Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo's mixed-media works and Maria Auxiliadora da Silva's paintings.

Remembering Desmond Morris, James Hayward, and Flo Oy Wong

This week's obituaries mark the passing of several significant figures in the visual arts. They include British surrealist painter and zoologist Desmond Morris, known for his 'biomorph' paintings and experiments with chimpanzee art; West Coast monochrome abstractionist James Hayward, who developed a cult following for his thickly painted canvases; and Chinese American artist Flo Oy Wong, a foundational storyteller of Oakland's Chinatown and the Asian American experience. Also remembered are assemblage artist Aldwyth, Ethiopian painter and educator Behailu Bezabih, Anglo-Irish conservator and designer Alec Cobbe, Bangladeshi art director Tarun Ghosh, and New Mexico painter Michael Hurd.

10 Ausstellungen, die Sie zum Gallery Weekend nicht verpassen sollten

The article highlights ten must-see exhibitions during Berlin's Gallery Weekend, curated by the editorial team of Monopol magazine. Featured shows include Jiyoon Chung's installation "Dead End" at Anton Janizewski, which explores perception and anxiety through subtle triggers; Giorgio Griffa's retrospective at Walter Storms Galerie, showcasing his poetic abstract paintings on un-stretched linen; Walid Raad's "Like a Rubber Rung on a Ladder" at Galerie Thomas Schulte, referencing the Lebanese Civil War with a crashed VW Beetle and graffiti; and Thomas Demand's exhibition at Sprüth Magers, where his photographs printed on copper plates reflect on current events like the Gaza war and climate change.

Difficult search for new culture senator in Berlin

Schwierige Suche nach neuem Kultursenator in Berlin

Berlin's culture senator Sarah Wedl-Wilson resigned on Friday after a state audit found that her allocation of anti-Semitism prevention funds was unlawful. The CDU politician is being succeeded by former justice senator and Bundestag member Thomas Heilmann (CDU), who is reportedly the favorite for the post. Heilmann, 61, studied law, ran a successful advertising firm, and served as Berlin's justice senator from 2012 to 2016 before sitting in the Bundestag from 2017 to 2025. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has not yet made a final decision, but transport senator Ute Bonde publicly endorsed Heilmann, citing his experience with Berlin's administration.

A Venise, trois maîtres redéfinissent la nature morte

The article announces an exhibition titled "Picasso, Morandi, Parmiggiani – Still lifes" at the Istituzione Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice, running from May 7 to July 25, 2026. The show brings together three masters—Pablo Picasso, Giorgio Morandi, and Claudio Parmiggiani—to redefine the still-life genre through a curated dialogue of their works across six rooms. The exhibition is co-organized by Tornabuoni Art, the Musée national Picasso-Paris, and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, with Cécile Debray, president of the Musée national Picasso-Paris, serving as curator. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the show.