From the beaches of Valencia to the gardens of Andalusia, the virtuoso Joaquín Sorolla celebrated by a luminous exhibition in Toulouse

Des plages de Valence aux jardins andalous, le virtuose Joaquín Sorolla célébré par une exposition lumineuse à Toulouse

The article announces a luminous exhibition in Toulouse celebrating the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923), known for his radiant beach scenes and masterful use of light. Co-curated by Ana Debenedetti of the Bemberg collection and Enrique Varela Agüí, director of the Museo Sorolla in Madrid, the show features iconic works such as *Contre-jour, Maria à Biarritz* (1906) and *Sur le sable, plage de Zarautz* (1910), alongside a reconstruction of Sorolla’s studio. The exhibition highlights his unique style blending realism, impressionism, and luminism, with energetic brushwork, bold compositions, and photographic framing.

Which exhibitions and museums to visit in the evening this May in Paris?

Quels expos et musées voir en nocturne en ce mois de mai à Paris ?

Paris museums and galleries are extending their hours for evening visits in May, with many offering late-night openings on specific weekdays. The Palais de Tokyo is open until 10pm daily except Tuesday, the Musée du Luxembourg stays open until 10pm on Mondays, and the BnF Richelieu site is open until 8pm on Tuesdays. The Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, newly relocated near the Louvre, welcomes visitors until 10pm on Tuesdays, while the Jeu de Paume stays open until 9pm on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, the Musée du Louvre extends its hours until 9pm, alongside other museums. Current exhibitions include shows dedicated to Leonora Carrington, Martin Parr, and Nan Goldin, among others.

Ces 5 créatrices « inoubliables » à découvrir absolument à Gand

The Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent is hosting the exhibition "Inoubliables" (Unforgettables), on view until May 31, which highlights the work of women artists from the 17th and 18th centuries in the former Netherlands region. The show features about 40 female creators active between 1600 and 1750, including painters like Michaelina Wautier, Judith Leyster, and Rachel Ruysch, working in genres from portraiture and still life to engraving, lacemaking, and paper cutting. The exhibition aims to restore these women to their rightful place in art history.

The True Story of César's Forger Currently Featured in a Canal+ Documentary Series

L’histoire vraie du faussaire de César actuellement dans une série documentaire sur Canal+

The French documentary series on Canal+ explores the life of Éric Piedoie Le Tiec, a prolific art forger who flooded the market with thousands of fake works. Based in the French Riviera, Le Tiec specialized in creating pieces "in the style of" modern masters like Raoul Dufy and César Baldaccini. Following César's death in 1998, Le Tiec partnered with Jean-Charles Villa to mass-produce fake "compressions" using industrial car crushers, exploiting the artist's rising market value and lack of a definitive catalogue raisonné.

The Beautiful Renaissance of the [mac] in Marseille

La belle renaissance du [mac] à Marseille

The [mac] (Musée d’Art Contemporain) in Marseille is undergoing a significant revival following years of stagnation and underfunding. Under the new leadership of Stéphanie Airaud, who was appointed in 2023, the museum has completed major renovations including updated storage facilities, a new rooftop terrace, and a reorganized gallery layout. The institution is leveraging its impressive but previously underutilized collection of over 1,000 works—featuring masters like Basquiat, Klein, and Saint Phalle—while actively working to correct historical gender imbalances and strengthen ties to Mediterranean contemporary art.

How Entertainment Exec Hassan Smith Built an Art Collection Championing Black Artists

Entertainment executive Hassan Smith has curated a deeply personal art collection in his North Atlanta home that bridges historical mastery with contemporary Black identity. His holdings range from a 17th-century Rembrandt drawing in the kitchen to iconic photography by Gordon Parks and contemporary works by artists like Ferrari Sheppard and Derek Fordjour. The collection is characterized by its integration into daily family life, featuring a Basquiat-inspired aesthetic that begins at the front door.

How to Take Great Photographs of Art, According to Artists

Contemporary gallery-going has become synonymous with digital documentation, as visitors increasingly use smartphones to capture paintings, sculptures, and installations. This shift from passive observation to active photography serves as a method of personal archiving, allowing viewers to preserve the fleeting experience of a physical exhibition and share it within their social circles.

148 News Roundup: Career Moves, Infrastructure, Controversies, Public Domain

Curator and writer Reuben Keehan has been appointed artistic director of the forthcoming Kontempo – Center for Contemporary Art in Manila, a new institution developed by the Ayala Foundation. Keehan will relocate from Australia, ending his 15-year tenure as curator of contemporary art at Brisbane’s Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. In other career moves, Manuel Rabaté has become CEO and director of New Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, bringing over 25 years of museum leadership including his previous role as inaugural director of Louvre Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the Kochi Biennale Foundation has named board member and Mumbai-based artist Jitish Kallat as president of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, succeeding Bose Krishnamachari who resigned in January.

Henrike Naumann Stared Down a Divided Germany’s Past While Eyeing Our Troubled Present

Henrike Naumann, a German artist known for using secondhand furniture and design to explore political extremism and consumer capitalism, is profiled in ARTnews. The article recounts her first US exhibition, “Re-Education” at SculptureCenter in New York in 2022, where she created installations referencing the January 6 Capitol attack, juxtaposing Federal-style office furniture with a Flintstonian mancave and chairs arranged by ideological subtext. The show gained unexpected attention when German media covered it, linking her small hometown of Zwickau with New York, and she later visited Thomas Hart Benton’s murals at the Met to understand American power and aesthetics.

Auctioneer Kimberly Pirtle Leaves Sotheby’s to Launch Hybrid Art-Philanthropy Advisory

Kimberly Pirtle, a fast-rising auctioneer at Sotheby’s, has left the company to launch Gabriel Advisory Group, a hybrid art advisory and cultural philanthropy firm. The new practice works across primary and secondary markets, advising collectors on acquisitions while also guiding philanthropic strategy and institutional engagement, drawing on Pirtle’s experience in Sotheby’s collectors group and her work with benefit auctions for organizations including the Pratt Institute, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Queens Museum, and the Gordon Parks Foundation. Pirtle is also maintaining a role as a VIP consultant with Frieze.

David Geffen Settles Divorce With David Armstrong After Bitter Legal Fight

Billionaire art collector and entertainment mogul David Geffen has reached a private settlement with his estranged husband, David Armstrong, ending a contentious legal battle. The divorce proceedings gained significant public attention due to the absence of a prenuptial agreement and serious allegations of exploitation and psychological manipulation leveled by Armstrong. While the financial terms remain confidential, the settlement concludes months of litigation over spousal support and asset division following their two-year marriage.

Gisela Colón on Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny, and the Power Beneath the Island

Artist Gisela Colón is the subject of two concurrent solo exhibitions: "Radiant Earth" at the Bruce Museum in Connecticut and "The Mountain, The Monolith" at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico. This dual presentation marks a significant career milestone and a homecoming for the Puerto Rican-born artist, who has built an international profile over the past decade with installations from Desert X AlUla to sites near the Pyramids of Giza.

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The European Alliance of Academies has launched 'Re:Create Europe,' a four-year, $2 million initiative designed to safeguard artistic freedom and cultural autonomy across the continent. Funded largely by the European Union, the program will provide financial aid, residencies, and digital resources to artists and institutions facing political censorship, economic precarity, and the impacts of war. Notable beneficiaries include Madrid’s Círculo de Bellas Artes, which will receive funding to offset recent politically motivated local budget cuts.

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NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery has launched its first Gulf Quinquennial, titled "Between the Tides," featuring around 30 artists from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The exhibition presents a coherent selection of videos, installations, paintings, and traditional record-keeping practices, aiming to deepen and complicate the cultural narrative of the Arabian Peninsula by highlighting its diversity, linguistic interactions, and migrant labor.

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TEFAF New York has announced the exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, set to take place at the Park Avenue Armory from May 15 to 19. The fair will feature 88 galleries from 14 countries, including nine new participants and 78 returning dealers, with a focus on modern and contemporary art, design, jewelry, and antiquities. Major international galleries like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner will be present.

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The Ayala Foundation has appointed Reuben Keehan as the incoming artistic director of Kontempo, a new contemporary art space set to open in Manila. Designed by Kulapat Yantrasat of WHY Architecture, the venue will feature over 26,000 square feet of exhibition space across three galleries and nearly four acres of green space for sculptures and installations, located in the Circuit Makati development. Keehan joins from the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, where he served as curator of contemporary art, and has curated the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art since 2013.

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Yasha Grobman, an architect and researcher, has been appointed director general of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, ending a prolonged leadership crisis. He succeeds Suzanne Landau, who stepped down after serving as interim director since September 2023. Grobman, a former dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, has been publicly critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and has spoken at protests in Haifa opposing the war in Gaza. His appointment follows a discreet search by a board-appointed committee and comes as the museum faces financial strain, reduced hours, and a decline in international activity.

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A five-inch-tall red chalk drawing of a foot, attributed to Michelangelo (1475–1564), is set to be auctioned at Christie’s New York in February with an estimate of $1.5–2 million. The work was discovered when Giada Damen, a specialist in Old Master drawings at Christie’s, flagged it from a public online submission; after extensive provenance research, technical analysis, and comparison with known sketches, Christie’s has declared it a preparatory study for the Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508–1512). If authenticated, it would be one of only two such Michelangelo drawings remaining in private hands.

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Hundreds of staff at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) voted to form a union, LACMA United, in association with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36, calling for higher wages, better benefits, and greater transparency. LACMA leadership declined to voluntarily recognize the union, opting instead for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election, which is currently paused due to the federal government shutdown, effectively delaying the unionization effort. The union has filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), asserting its status as public sector employees.

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Employees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) have formed a union called LACMA United in association with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36. In a letter dated October 29 addressed to museum leadership, a supermajority of eligible staff across departments requested voluntary recognition by November 5, citing wages that have not kept up with the rising cost of living and the need for fairer compensation, expanded benefits, and greater transparency. The effort comes ahead of the opening of LACMA's new Peter Zumthor–designed David Geffen Galleries, scheduled for next April.

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Staff at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University sent a letter of no confidence in executive director Gaëtane Verne to university officials on August 25, 2023, as reported by Columbus outlet Matter News. The letter, signed by 13 employees, alleges high turnover, organizational dysfunction, financial instability, and reputational harm under Verne's leadership. Specific complaints include a "red card" for financial turmoil, a $1 million capital project lacking transparency, and over $200,000 spent on exhibition catalogues without proper budgeting. Since Verne's appointment in November 2022, nearly 50% of staff have departed, and seven Foundation Board trustees have resigned. Ohio State is reviewing the letter, while Verne has defended her leadership as fostering a respectful workplace.

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British artist and designer Es Devlin, known for stage designs for U2 and Kendrick Lamar, has created a 50-foot-tall revolving library titled 'The Library of Us' for the 10th anniversary of the Faena hotel and cultural complex in Miami Beach. The installation, presented during Art Basel Miami Beach, contains 2,500 books that have influenced Devlin, with visitors able to sit on revolving stools and read. Phrases from 250 books will appear on an LED screen accompanied by Devlin's voice. After the installation closes on December 9, all books will be donated to Miami organizations including public libraries and schools.

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Athens-based artist Marina Xenofontos has been selected to represent Cyprus at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a pavilion titled “It rests to the bones.” Curated by Kyle Dancewicz, deputy director of SculptureCenter in New York, the exhibition will be housed at the Associazione Culturale Spiazzi near the Arsenale. Xenofontos, born in Limassol in 1988, works across sculpture, kinetic objects, and film, often exploring Cyprus’s history and British colonial legacy. Her proposal was chosen from 21 submissions via an open call organized by Cyprus’s Department of Contemporary Culture, with a five-person advisory committee praising its engagement with Cypriot micro-histories and global issues.

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Tate Modern, the world's most visited modern and contemporary art museum, reported a budget deficit six months ago, prompting critics to blame its programming and curatorial strategies for declining foot traffic. While domestic attendance has recovered to 95% of pre-Covid levels, international visitors have dropped significantly—down 39% at Tate Modern, 32% at Tate Britain, and nearly 40% at Tate St Ives. Tate Liverpool remains closed until 2027. Research from The Art Newspaper's annual visitor report, however, points to external factors such as Brexit, socioeconomic shifts, and the cost-of-living crisis as key drivers of the decline, particularly among young European visitors aged 16 to 24.

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Flash flooding over the July 4 weekend in Texas killed at least 137 people, devastating the Hill Country region between Austin and San Antonio. The town of Kerrville, home to roughly 25,000, was hit hardest. Darrell Beauchamp, executive director of the Museum of Western Art, was awakened by rescue efforts and joined emergency crews and volunteers searching the Guadalupe River for victims and debris. The museum's collection, located on high ground, was unharmed, but Beauchamp noted the outpouring of support from fellow art-world institutions.

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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has acquired a monumental stained-glass window by Tiffany Studios, titled *Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window)* (1917). Measuring approximately nine feet by seven feet, the window was commissioned by the fraternal organization Woodmen of the World as a memorial to its founder, Joseph Cullen Root. Its design is attributed to Agnes F. Northrop, a lead designer at Tiffany Studios for half a century. The window was originally installed in Omaha, Nebraska, moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1931 for a tuberculosis hospital chapel, and later stewarded by the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ. The acquisition, facilitated by stained-glass restorer Bryant J. Stanton, took about a year to finalize.

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Nicolas Nahab and Samy Ghiyati, two seasoned art world professionals, have left their high-profile gallery positions to launch NG, an independent art advisory and exhibitions company. Nahab, formerly a director at Mendes Wood DM and previously at Marian Goodman Gallery and Yvon Lambert, will focus on curating, while Ghiyati, who worked at David Zwirner and Kamel Mennour, will handle advising. Their inaugural show will feature a solo exhibition of new work by New York–based Moroccan artist Meriem Bennani in Essaouira, Morocco, opening in December 2025.

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Bint Mbareh, a Palestinian sound artist and stage name assumed around 2019, creates installations and performances that use water and sound as metaphors for Palestinian experience. Growing up in Ramallah and later studying at Goldsmiths in London, she learned geographically specific Palestinian rain-summoning songs, which she twists and destabilizes using digital technology in works like *Time Flows in All Directions: Water Flows Through Me* (2020). After October 7, 2023, she expanded her practice to include a “choir” of collaborators performing collective grief, with appearances at an Artists for Aid benefit concert in London and at Tate Modern. Recent installation works such as *Bodies of Knowledge* (Royal College of Art) and *What’s Left?* (Sharjah Biennial) incorporate water tanks vibrated by sound, evoking both childhood and displacement.

japanese sculptor kunimasa aoki wins 2025 loewe craft prize 1234743920

Japanese sculptor Kunimasa Aoki won the 2025 Loewe Craft Prize on Thursday evening in Madrid, receiving a €50,000 cash prize. His anamorphic terracotta sculpture “Realm of Living Things 19” was selected by a 12-member jury from 30 shortlisted works on display at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum. The jury praised the work's honest expression of the ancestral coil process and the raw, unfinished form of the material. Two special mentions were awarded: Nigerian artist Nifemi Marcus-Bello for “TM Bench with Bowl” and Studio Sumakshi Singh from India for “Monument.”

frieze seoul 2025 exhibitor list 1234743703

Frieze Seoul 2025 will bring together 120 galleries from over 30 countries for its fourth edition, running September 4–6 at the COEX convention center with a preview day on September 3. The fair coincides with Kiaf Seoul and is split into three sections: the main Galleries section (90 exhibitors), Focus Asia (10 solo presentations of emerging artists), and Frieze Masters (20 booths covering works from the Middle Ages to the 20th century). Blue-chip participants include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, and David Zwirner, alongside leading Korean galleries such as Gallery Hyundai and Kukje Gallery. Five galleries have graduated from Focus Asia to the main section, and 20 first-time participants join the main section.