Metropolitan Museum gifted 188 Dada and Surrealist works

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has received a promised gift of 188 Dada and Surrealist works from collector and trustee John Pritzker, known as the Bluff Collection. The gift includes pieces by Man Ray, Max Ernst, Marcel and Suzanne Duchamp, Jean Arp, Lee Miller, and others, with 35 works debuting in the upcoming exhibition "Man Ray: When Objects Dream" (14 September 2025 – 1 February 2026). Pritzker is also donating over 100 books and ephemera, and funding a new research initiative, the Bluff Collaborative for Research on Dada and Surrealism, through his family fund.

On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival

The Art Institute of Chicago presents 'On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival,' an exhibition running from September 6, 2025, to March 15, 2026. Featuring over 100 objects from antiquity to the present, the show draws primarily from the museum's own collection and is organized into four thematic sections: Death and Mourning, Transition of Realms, Care and Repair, and Resistance and Survival. Works include funeral hangings, burial cloths, mourning samplers, Indonesian ship cloths, a Taoist priest's robe, and contemporary pieces by artists such as Nick Cave, Carina Yepez, the Noqanchis collective, and Diné weaver Barbara Teller Ornelas. The exhibition is curated by four artist-educators from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Fiber and Material Studies department: Isaac Facio, Nneka Kai, L Vinebaum, and Anne Wilson, with senior museum advisor Melinda Watt.

Amy Sherald, Having Canceled Her Smithsonian Show, Will Take Paintings to Baltimore

Amy Sherald has canceled her planned exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and will instead bring her paintings to the Baltimore Museum of Art. The decision follows a period of reflection and logistical challenges, with the Baltimore venue offering a more intimate and locally resonant setting for her work.

Krannert Art Museum’s opening turned a gallery into gathering

Krannert Art Museum in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, reopened after an 18-month closure for repairs and upgrades with a celebratory evening event. The crowd included students, retirees, new faculty, and local dignitaries such as Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen and Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams. Speeches emphasized the museum's role as a community anchor, and performances by Peruvian Quechua hip-hop artist Liberato Kani and dancer Yana Paqcha energized the space. Attendees explored newly reinstalled collections, including works by Thomas Gainsborough and Nicola Victor Ziroli, as well as exhibitions like "Fragmented Histories: Andean Art Before 1600" and "Ronny Quevedo: a l l s t a r s."

Berlin Atonal, the first biennial rooted in music and sound, pushes the boundaries of what ‘art’ can mean

Berlin Atonal, recently recognized by the Biennial Foundation as the first biennial rooted in music and sound, defies conventional categories of festival and exhibition. Held in the decommissioned Kraftwerk power station, the event prioritizes sound as a central art form, with artists like Billy Bultheel, Anne Imhof, and Basma al-Sharif creating immersive, site-specific works. The festival sold out on Resident Advisor, reflecting growing demand for experimental sound in visual culture settings.

Art Blooms Across South Korea in September, Despite an Uneasy Market

South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is promoting a month-long Korea Art Festival in September 2025, featuring scores of events including design, craft, and calligraphy biennials across the country. The centerpiece is the concurrent staging of Frieze Seoul (fourth edition, over 120 exhibitors) and Kiaf (24th edition, some 175 galleries) at the Coex convention center in Gangnam, with a single ticket granting access to both fairs. International galleries have been opening local outposts in Seoul, and a Centre Pompidou branch is planned, as the city builds its reputation as an art capital.

Claws for celebration: Canada’s first cat museum launching with Montreal pop-up exhibition

Canada's first cat museum, Le Miaousée, is launching with a pop-up exhibition in Montreal's Little Italy district from September 12-28, 2025. Founded by cultural entrepreneur Aqeela Nahani, the museum aims to celebrate the bond between cats and humans while supporting rescue cat charities. The debut show, titled 'Miaoutréal: The History of Montreal’s Cats,' will feature archival photographs dating back to the 1860s, cat-themed events, contemporary art by local artists including Sylvain Amblard, Andréanne Lupien, and Linda Luttinger, and a tribute to animal rescue organizations such as the Montreal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A permanent museum is planned for 2026, which will include rotating exhibits, a cat lounge for adoptable cats, and a boutique.

White House Bashes Smithsonian Museums, Exhibitions, as “Woke”

On August 21, the Trump administration published an unsigned article on the White House website attacking several Smithsonian museums and their exhibitions for promoting what it described as "woke" content. The article specifically called out the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and two planned institutions—the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women’s History Museum. It cited exhibitions and artworks addressing race, transgender identity, and immigration, including Amy Sherald’s painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which led the artist to cancel her solo show at the National Portrait Gallery after the museum sought to remove the work to avoid provoking Trump.

Frye Art Museum opens three new summer exhibitions

The Frye Art Museum in Seattle has opened three new summer exhibitions: Hugh Hayden's 'American Vernacular,' Jamie Wyeth's 'Unsettled,' and the latest installment of the 'Boren Banner Series' featuring photography by Tarrah Krajnak. The exhibitions were launched with a summer reception on July 11. Krajnak's banner, which blends performance, art, and photography, is displayed on the museum's exterior wall until Sept. 28. Wyeth's indoor exhibit includes paintings and sculptures, notably pieces from his 'Screen Door Sequence,' and runs until Oct. 5. Hayden's show, a collection of mixed-media sculptures organized into thematic spaces like the nursery and the gym, is on view until Sept. 28.

football city, art united transforms manchester's aviva studios into a pitch for creativity

Manchester International Festival 2025 presents "Football City, Art United" at Aviva Studios, a group exhibition co-curated by former footballer Juan Mata, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Josh Willdigg. The show pairs eleven international footballers with artists across media—including Ryan Gander with Eric Cantona, Keiken with Ella Toone, and Suzanne Lacy with Vivianne Miedema and Ali Riley—to explore intersections of sport and contemporary art. Works range from a holographic tribute to Diego Maradona by Jill Mulleady to an interactive installation by Stefano Boeri Architetti with Sandro Mazzola. The exhibition runs through August 24, 2025.

Less than two years after opening, the Museum of Censored Art in Barcelona has closed its doors

The Museu de l’Art Prohibit (Museum of Censored Art) in Barcelona, the world's first museum dedicated to censored artworks, has closed indefinitely less than two years after opening. Founded in October 2023 by Catalan journalist and businessman Tatxo Benet, the museum housed over 200 banned works by artists including Ai Weiwei, David Wojnarowicz, and Abel Azcona. The closure, announced on June 27, was attributed to financial losses caused by four months of picketing by the Solidarity and Unity of Workers union (SUT), which protested the museum's termination of a contract with management company Magma Cultura. The union demanded better working conditions, including improved air conditioning, more breaks, and higher pay.

Renewed Bern Kunsthalle works to reframe Switzerland's history

The Kunsthalle Bern has reopened after a year-long transformation led by director iLiana Fokianaki, marked by a new entrance designed by ALIAS architects and a trio of exhibitions by Black artists. The reopening follows a symbolic intervention by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, who wrapped the building in jute sacks referencing the colonial history of Swiss cocoa extraction in Ghana, echoing Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 1968 wrapping of the same building. The inaugural shows feature solo exhibitions by Melvin Edwards, Tuli Mekondjo, and Tschabalala Self, with Edwards's retrospective traveling from the Fridericianum in Kassel to the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

A natural history of the studio

William Kentridge presents his first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth in New York, titled "A natural history of the studio." The show features his acclaimed episodic film series "Self-portrait as a coffee-pot" (completed in 2024) alongside over seventy works on paper and sculptures. Spanning two floors at 542 West 22nd Street and extending to the gallery's 18th Street location, the exhibition includes charcoal drawings used in the film's animation, Paper procession sculptures, and the animated video "Fugitive words" (2024). The installation, designed by longtime collaborator Sabine Theunissen, evokes Kentridge's Johannesburg studio environment.

Pauline Karpidas collection estimated to make £60m at Sotheby's

Sotheby's will hold a two-day sale in London on September 17-18 of around 250 works from the collection of British patron Pauline Karpidas, estimated at over £60 million—the highest estimate ever for a single-owner collection at the auction house in Europe. The sale includes Surrealist works by Max Ernst, Niki de Saint Phalle, Francis Picabia, and Salvador Dalí, alongside pieces by Andy Warhol and design objects by Les Lalanne, all drawn from Karpidas's London home.

Albanian dictator’s fortress-like palace becomes ‘hub for artistic experimentation’

Vila 31, a Brutalist compound in Tirana that once served as the fortress-like residence of Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, has been transformed into an artistic hub called Vila 31—Art Explora. Opened in April by the Paris-based Art Explora Foundation, the site now hosts up to 30 international artists annually for residencies and experimentation, with programming developed in collaboration with the École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy, the Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, and Oral History Kosovo. The conversion, led by NeM Architectes, preserves key elements of the original structure while radically reimagining its interior, turning a symbol of repression into a center for creative freedom.

A brush with Cezanne in Aix-en-Provence, France: a blockbuster retrospective comes to town

Paul Cezanne's hometown of Aix-en-Provence is staging a major retrospective at the Musée Granet, bringing together over 130 works including still lifes, portraits, and landscapes. The exhibition coincides with the reopening of two key sites after an eight-year restoration: the artist's atelier in Les Lauves and the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, the family estate where Cezanne painted for 40 years. The Bastide, acquired by Cezanne's banker father in 1859, had fallen into disrepair and closed in 2017; it reopens on 28 June with guided tours and grounds open to visitors.

In The Mastermind, an art heist’s aftermath unfolds against the backdrop of Vietnam War-era America

Kelly Reichardt's new film *The Mastermind* premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, following J.B. Mooney (Josh O'Connor), a carpenter who orchestrates an art heist targeting four Arthur Dove paintings from a fictional Massachusetts museum. The heist is inspired by a real 1972 robbery at the Worcester Art Museum, and the film explores the tension between artistic value and monetary worth against the backdrop of Vietnam War-era America.

Chile to get a new contemporary art museum

A new contemporary art museum, the New Museum of Santiago (NuMu), is set to break ground in Chile's capital in August 2025. Led by businessman and philanthropist Claudio Engel and his four children through the Engel Foundation, the museum will be built around the family's collection of over 1,000 works by more than 200 artists, including Alfredo Jaar, Paz Errázuriz, and Pilar Quinteros. Designed by architect Cristián Fernández, the 2,000 sq. m facility will feature exhibition spaces, a sound-art room, an auditorium, a library, a restaurant, and a museum shop. It will be the first large-scale contemporary art museum in Chile housed in a new structure, located in Vitacura's Bicentennial Park.

Marquee May auctions in New York come at a volatile moment

New York's marquee spring auctions, beginning May 12, are facing significant headwinds from President Donald Trump's second-term policies, particularly the 'Liberation Day' tariffs and resulting stock-market volatility. Phillips deputy chairman Robert Manley confirms at least one eight-figure work was pulled from sale due to tariffs. The combined Modern and contemporary auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips carry an estimated $1.1bn to $1.5bn in art—the lowest total estimate for spring sales since 2010, roughly $250m lower than May 2024. No nine-figure-estimate lots have been consigned, and the number of catalogued lots is the lowest since 2007 (excluding pandemic and recession years). Single-owner collections dominate, with Christie's securing the $200m Leonard and Louise Riggio collection, including a Piet Mondrian estimated at $50m, and works from Anne and Sid Bass. Sotheby's offers collections from dealers Daniella Luxembourg and others.

10 Must-See Gallery Shows to Catch in New York This May

This article highlights ten must-see gallery shows opening in New York this May, timed to coincide with major art fairs like Frieze and TEFAF. Featured exhibitions include Yu Nishimura's debut U.S. solo show at David Zwirner, Thalita Hamoui's first U.S. solo exhibition at Marianne Boesky, and presentations by Willem de Kooning, Anastasia Komar, Theodora Allen, Ilana Savdie, Rosana Paulino, Alicjia Kwade, Xingzi Gu, and Moffatt Takadiwa. The roundup spans venues across the Upper East Side, Chelsea, and Tribeca, reflecting the city's vibrant gallery scene during a packed season of auctions and fairs.

Shirin Neshat: Born of Fire

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, presents "Born of Fire," a major exhibition of Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat running from April 20 to September 1, 2025. The show features three photographic series—"Women of Allah" (1993–97), "The Book of Kings" (2012), and "Land of Dreams" (2019)—alongside two double-channel videos and a full-length film. Neshat's work explores themes of alienation, repression, and identity, drawing on her experience of living between Iranian and American cultures after the 1979 Islamic Revolution prevented her from returning home.

Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Demand Israel’s Exclusion

A coalition of 182 artists, curators, and art workers participating in the 2026 Venice Biennale, organized under the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA), formally delivered a letter demanding the exclusion of Israel from the exhibition. The signatories, including prominent artists like Yto Barrada, Alfredo Jaar, and Miet Warlop, argue that the Biennale must not normalize Israeli policies towards Palestinians.

Lee Miller at the Musée d’Art Moderne: The Future Great Photographer Who Went from Rebel Child to Vogue Model

Lee Miller au musée d’Art moderne : la futur grande photographe passée de l’enfant rebelle au mannequin Vogue

The Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris is hosting a major retrospective dedicated to Lee Miller, tracing her evolution from a rebellious child in upstate New York to a celebrated Vogue model and pioneering surrealist photographer. The exhibition highlights her early life under the influence of her father, Theodore Miller, an amateur photographer who introduced her to the technical aspects of the darkroom, and her subsequent move to Paris in 1930 where she transitioned from being a muse for photographers like George Hoyningen-Huene to a formidable artist in her own right.

An Important Urbino Maiolica Basin for the Clark

Un important bassin en majolique d'Urbino pour le Clark

The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown has acquired a significant 16th-century Urbino maiolica basin from the gallery Camille Leprince following its display at TEFAF. Attributed to the workshop of Orazio or Flaminio Fontana, the trilobed basin features intricate historiated scenes from the life of Joseph and elaborate grotesque decorations. The piece was a highlight of the fair and is accompanied by extensive research regarding its complex provenance.

Feeling Nature According to Nicolas Poussin

Ressentir la nature d’après Nicolas Poussin

An exhibition titled "Le sentiment de la nature. L’art contemporain au miroir de Poussin" has opened at the NMNM – Villa Paloma in Monaco. Curated by Guillaume de Sardes, it places Nicolas Poussin's 1651 painting *L'Orage* in dialogue with works by over twenty contemporary artists, including Sarah Moon, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Thomas Demand, Pierre Thoretton, Ange Leccia, Marine Wallon, and Claudio Parmiggiani.

At the Venice Biennale there is also Taiwan. With a collateral event on melancholy

Alla Biennale di Venezia c’è anche Taiwan. Con un evento collaterale sulla malinconia

Taiwan will present a collateral event at the 2026 Venice Biennale titled "Screen Melancholy," curated by Raphael Fonseca and featuring artist Li Yi-Fan. The exhibition, organized by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, will be held at Palazzo delle Prigioni and run until November 22, 2026. It explores anxieties of the digital age through a site-specific installation combining a single-channel video and monumental human sculptures, reflecting on information overload, fragmented perception, and the limits of human knowledge.

A New Antonello da Messina Discovered. It Will Go to Auction in June: Could Sicily Step Forward to Buy It This Time?

Scoperto un nuovo Antonello da Messina. Andrà in asta a giugno: stavolta potrebbe farsi avanti la Sicilia per l’acquisto?

A newly discovered small wooden panel painting, depicting the face of a young beardless saint, has been attributed to the Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. The work, a fragment of a lost composition, will be auctioned on June 16 by Parisian auction house Ader alongside a signed early work by Peter Paul Rubens. Both come from an anonymous collector who purchased them in France decades ago.

preservation societies lawsuit kennedy center trump 1234778757

Eight preservation societies have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to halt a planned two-year closure and renovation of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The legal action alleges that the administration is bypassing federal historic preservation and environmental laws, as well as necessary Congressional approval, to fundamentally alter the modernist landmark. The suit specifically targets the administration's lack of transparency regarding the extent of the work, which plaintiffs fear could include demolition and reconstruction.

belarus free theatre venice biennale collateral event 1234775444

The Belarus Free Theatre (BFT), an underground performance group currently in exile, has announced its first major visual art exhibition titled "Official. Unofficial. Belarus." as a collateral event for the 61st Venice Biennale. Staged at the historic La Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, the show features site-specific works by exiled artists including Sergey Grinevich, Vladimir Tsesler, and Nicolai Khalezin. The installations range from paintings functioning as altar panels to a massive sphere of banned books and a crucifix made of CCTV cameras, all designed to critique the surveillance and censorship of the Lukashenko regime.

using flight simulators peggy ahwesh crafts an elegy to a disused palestinian airport and the freedom it represented 1234766630

Peggy Ahwesh's solo exhibition "The Wayfinders," recently on view at New York's Microscope Gallery, marks a new direction for the experimental filmmaker. For the first time, she incorporates footage from an early-2000s flight simulator alongside original video and animation to create a large-scale installation. The work serves as an elegy for the abandoned Qalandia/Atarot airport, situated between Qalandia and Jerusalem, which operated as a civilian airport from 1948 to 1967 before Israel annexed the site. Through poetic voiceover and imagery of travel and navigation, Ahwesh reflects on Palestine's thwarted right to the sky, the history of wayfinding by the stars, and the porous borders of the past contrasted with today's restrictions.