Groundbreaking Art Takes Spotlight at O’Donnell Athenaeum Exhibit

A new exhibition titled “Groundbreakers: Post-War Japan and Korea from the Dallas Museum of Art and The Rachofsky Collection” has opened at the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum at The University of Texas at Dallas, running through July 2026. Curated by Dr. Natalia Di Pietrantonio of the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the show features works from three major postwar movements—Mono-ha, Dansaekhwa, and Gutai—using unconventional materials like white glue, bells, wires, tin, and rocks. Highlights include Kazuo Shiraga’s foot-painted canvases, Takesada Matsutani’s vinyl glue sculptures, Atsuko Tanaka’s interactive wire installation, and Do Ho Suh’s translucent polyester corridor inspired by homesickness.

59th Carnegie International's inaugural artist commissions revealed

Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has announced the first 14 artists for its 59th Carnegie International, running from May 2026 to January 2027. Participants include Torkwase Dyson, Alia Farid, Sanchayan Ghosh, Jonathan González, Abraham González Pacheco, Eric Gyamfi, G. Peter Jemison, Liz Johnson Artur, Arturo Kameya, Claudia Martínez Garay, Cinthia Marcelle, Shala Miller, Brooke O’Harra, Sofu Teshigahara, and Ginger Brooks Takahashi. The exhibition, curated by Ryan Inouye, Liz Park, and Danielle A. Jackson, will feature commissions across multiple disciplines, including a planetarium animation, sound installations, photography, performance, and public outdoor works. Venues include the Carnegie Museum of Art, Children’s Museum, Kamin Science Center, Mattress Factory, and Thelma Lovette YMCA.

The story of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s brief but dazzling life, as told by an art-world insider

Doug Woodham, former president of Christie's Americas and current managing partner of Art Fiduciary Advisors, has authored a new biography titled "Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon." The book is divided into two halves: the first offers a straightforward biography of Basquiat's life from his gifted childhood in Brooklyn to his rise as a star artist, his friendship with Andy Warhol, and his tragic death from a heroin overdose at age 27. The second half analyzes how Basquiat achieved such early success, examining the influence of his father Gerard, the legal battle with dealer Vrej Baghoomian over the artist's estate, and the roles of collectors like Peter Brant and José Mugrabi. Notably, the Basquiat estate refused permission to include images of his artwork because the book openly addresses sensitive issues about his character and life.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (11/03—11/09)

Robert Rauschenberg’s New York

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) has opened "Robert Rauschenberg’s New York: Pictures from the Real World," an exhibition celebrating the centennial of artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008). Organized in partnership with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the show focuses on Rauschenberg’s photography and its integration with found objects, painting, and sculpture. It is divided into three sections—Early Photographs, In + Out City Limits, and Photography in Painting—and features a centerpiece photographic survey conducted across the United States from 1979 to 1981, alongside works from 1963 to 1994 that combine New York imagery with global photographs.

With the help of exhibitions, Jeanne Lanvin's eponymous fashion house is keeping her legacy alive

Jeanne Lanvin, a trailblazer in 20th-century French fashion and interiors, is being honored through exhibitions that explore her legacy. The article features a conversation between Peter Copping, Lanvin's current artistic director, and Olivier Gabet, director of the Department of Objets d'Art at the Musée du Louvre. Gabet curated the exhibition "Louvre Couture" featuring 99 looks from 45 fashion houses, while Copping has drawn inspiration from the Lanvin archive and the preserved rooms of Jeanne Lanvin's apartment now on permanent display at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

The greatest Cypriot show in Florida: Ringling Museum opens its first permanent ancient-art gallery

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, is opening its first permanent ancient-art gallery nearly a century after John Ringling acquired around 3,300 pieces of ancient Mediterranean art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1928. The collection, which includes Cypriot limestone statues, silver jewelry, and other artifacts dating back to the Early Bronze Age, had largely remained in storage due to the 1929 stock-market crash and Ringling's death in 1936. Guest curator Joanna S. Smith and chief curator Sarah Cartwright spent a decade on conservation and research, recontextualizing the objects and tracing their origins, including the controversial excavations by Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the Met's first director.

Powerhouse Museum builds ‘tower to stars’ for $18 million opening show

The Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta is constructing a six-storey tower inside its largest exhibition hall for an $18 million opening show titled "Task Eternal," set for September 2026. The exhibition explores humanity's fascination with stars, flight, and space, featuring 290 loans from international institutions including the British Museum and NASA, as well as Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg's spacesuit on public display for the first time. Designed by Beijing-based firm OPEN architecture, the show includes a steel tower inspired by Ted Chiang's novella "Tower of Babylon," with installations by Thai artist Torlarp Larpjaroensook and US artist James Turrell.

Princeton University Art Museum Announces Inaugural Exhibitions in New Building

Princeton University Art Museum will open its new building on October 31, 2025, with two inaugural exhibitions: *Princeton Collects* and *Toshiko Takaezu: Dialogues in Clay*. *Princeton Collects*, curated by director James Steward and the museum’s curatorial team, features approximately 150 works donated during a “campaign for art” that began in 2021, including pieces by Sean Scully, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, and Zanele Muholi. *Toshiko Takaezu: Dialogues in Clay* highlights the pioneering ceramic artist and longtime Princeton professor, showcasing her “closed forms” alongside works by her teachers and contemporaries.

Ackland’s new exhibit adds splash of ‘Color’

The Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill has opened a new exhibition titled "Color Triumphant," featuring 54 modern paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the collection of Julian and Josie Robertson. The show spans from the 1870s to the present, highlighting the liberation of color in modern art with works by Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso, Frank Stella, and André Derain, whose painting "The Jetty at L'Estaque" serves as the flagship piece. Curated by deputy director Peter Nisbet, the exhibition was developed in collaboration with the Robertson Foundation after Julian Robertson's death in 2022, and includes student research support. It runs through January 4, with related lectures and film screenings, and a second iteration, "Color Concentrated: A Salon-Style Hang from the Robertson Collection," opening January 30.

Thaddaeus Ropac is betting on Milan—will it pay off?

Austrian dealer Thaddaeus Ropac opened a new gallery in Milan on September 20, capitalizing on Italy's newly reduced 5% VAT on art imports—the lowest in the EU—and an influx of wealthy expats from London following the UK's abolition of non-dom tax status. The gallery occupies the first floor of the historic Palazzo Belgioioso, with Elena Bonanno di Linguaglossa appointed as director. Ropac's move follows his earlier successful expansions into Seoul and Pantin, which proved prescient.

A secular church for the art of Alexander Calder opens in Philly on Sunday

A new $100 million art center dedicated to Alexander Calder, called Calder Gardens, opens on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Sunday, September 21. Designed by architect Jacques Herzog of Herzog & de Meuron with landscape by Piet Oudolf, the building features underground galleries, sunken gardens, and no wall text, encouraging visitors to have a personal, sacred experience with Calder's sculptures, paintings, and works on paper. The Calder Foundation built the space, and the Barnes Foundation administers it in partnership.

Giorgio Armani, designer who changed how museums engage with fashion, has died aged 91

Giorgio Armani, the Italian fashion designer who bridged fashion and contemporary art, has died aged 91. Born in Piacenza in 1934, he founded his eponymous label in 1975 and became a global brand. In 2000, he became the first fashion designer to have a solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, curated by Germano Celant, which marked a turning point in how museums engage with fashion. In 2015, he opened Armani/Silos in Milan, a converted warehouse serving as an archive and cultural venue, hosting retrospectives of photographers Aldo Fallai and Peter Lindbergh. He also collected photography, sponsored exhibitions like Magnum on Set at the Museo della Permanente, and lent his archive to institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Fall Arts Preview

The article previews the Fall 2025-26 arts and entertainment season in Richmond, Virginia, highlighting cultural venues and events across the city and surrounding counties. Key highlights include the new Foyer Gallery, which opens with a solo exhibition by Patrick Berran titled "Burn Blue," and the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront, which closes its inaugural season with performances by James Taylor, Leon Bridges, Steve Martin and Martin Short, and Tedeschi Trucks Band. Other venues mentioned include The National, The Valentine, and Hanover Tavern, along with events like "InLight" at Abner Clay Park and a concert by Jason Mraz.

Wausau, WI Prepares To Celebrate 50 Years Of ‘Birds In Art’

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, is preparing to open the 50th annual 'Birds in Art' exhibition over Labor Day weekend. The show features 102 juried artists from 16 countries, selected from over 700 applicants, and includes paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Museum director Matt Foss notes that the exhibition has evolved from traditional realism toward more diverse, contemporary interpretations of birds, with artists experimenting with new styles and mediums.

Sarasota Art Museum stages an Art Deco extravaganza

The Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) on the Ringling College of Art and Design campus has opened "Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration," an exhibition of 100 large posters from the Crouse family collection. Curated by Rangsook Yoon, the show celebrates the 100th anniversary of Art Deco, tracing its origins from the Belle Epoque through the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, and features works by artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. The Crouses, who previously lent works to The Guggenheim and the Victoria and Albert Museum, displayed part of their collection at New York's Poster House in 2023-2024.

Hispanic art tour winds down in Texas

The Hispanic Society Museum and Library's traveling exhibition, "Spirit & Splendour: El Greco, Velázquez and the Hispanic Baroque," has reached its final stop at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. The show features 57 works from the Hispanic Society's permanent collection, including all three of its Diego Velázquez paintings, and runs from August 24. The Blanton iteration adds key pieces from its own collection, such as El Greco's 1570s Pietà and a sculpture by Luisa Roldán, to contextualize the Spanish and Latin American masterpieces.

Step into the fire. A new exhibition ignites the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Dallas-based artist David-Jeremiah presents his solo exhibition "The Fire This Time" at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, featuring 27 shaped paintings created between 2020 and 2024. The paintings are shaped like Lamborghini hoods and arranged in clusters that invite visitors to stand at the center, becoming the focal point of an "inverted performance installation." Curated by Christopher Blay, the show spans four rooms and explores themes of beauty, violence, identity, and transformation, drawing inspiration from James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time." The exhibition also includes works from the museum's permanent collection by John Chamberlain, Anselm Kiefer, and Mark Rothko that resonate with the show's themes.

Landmark George Morrison show foregrounds Abstract Expressionism’s debt to Native art

A new exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, titled "The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York," showcases the largest-ever show of works by Ojibwe abstract painter George Morrison (1919-2000). Running until 31 May 2026, the exhibition features 25 works and archival materials, highlighting Morrison's Abstract Expressionist style and the tension between his life in New York City and his roots on the Grand Portage Chippewa reservation. The show includes pieces like "The Antagonist" (1956) and "Aureate Vertical" (1958), revealing his dual experiences of urban glamour and Native displacement.

A brush with… Jane and Louise Wilson—podcast

Jane and Louise Wilson, identical twin artists born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1967, are featured in a podcast interview where they discuss their collaborative practice since the late 1980s. Working primarily in video installation, photography, and sound, they explore duality and selfhood through loaded sites like abandoned military bases and borderlands. The podcast covers their early inspirations, including John Martin and Cindy Sherman, and the influence of filmmakers such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean Cocteau, and Stanley Kubrick. Their current exhibitions include 'Performance of Entrapment' at London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE (until 10 January 2026) and 'Dendrophiles' at Leadenhall Building as part of Sculpture in the City, London (until spring 2026).

The Six Female Artists With Major Solo Shows This Fall

Six female artists—Karen Barbour, María Berrío, Ana Cláudia Almeida, Adebunmi Gbadebo, Sasha Gordon, and Olivia van Kuiken—are each opening major solo exhibitions in September. The article profiles their distinct practices, from Barbour's abstract dot-filled dreamscapes and Berrío's collaged visions to Gbadebo's sculptures using human hair and indigo dye. It includes first-person accounts from the artists about their creative processes, with exhibitions at venues such as Harkawik and Matthew Brown.

Visualizing a “god of queer liberation:” An interview with queer artist Daniel de Jesús about their new Philadelphia exhibition

Philadelphia-based queer artist Daniel de Jesús, also a cellist and composer, is featured in a group exhibition at the William Way LGBT Community Center that opened July 10, 2025. In an interview with Emma Cieslik, de Jesús discusses their paintings blending Catholic iconography, mysticism, and queer identity, drawing on symbols like Saint Sebastian and the unicorn. They describe how a Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition on colonial Latin American art inspired their exploration of religious syncretism and the reclamation of Catholic imagery by queer and trans people.

The new era of fashion’s art exhibitions

LACMA's upcoming David Geffen Galleries, opening in 2026, will feature over 130 costumes and textiles in its inaugural installations—more than any other time since the museum opened in 1965. The museum also plans exhibitions such as 'Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity' (with mannequins by Jason Wu) and 'Fashioning Fashion' (1900–2025). Other major fashion exhibitions include 'Virgil Abloh: The Codes' at Paris's Grand Palais, 'Westwood Kawakubo' at the National Gallery of Victoria, and 'Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art' at London's V&A. The article notes that fashion exhibitions are increasingly popular and profitable for museums, citing the Met's Costume Institute and its record-breaking Met Gala fundraising.

Waddington Custot to open in Paris ahead of Art Basel Paris

Waddington Custot has announced it will open a new gallery at 36 rue de Seine in Paris, occupying the historic space formerly home to Lansberg Gallery in the 6th arrondissement. The gallery is set to open in October 2025, ahead of Art Basel Paris, and will be managed by Isaure de Roquefeuil and Antoine Clavé. The inaugural exhibition will focus on the Nabis painters, followed by a group show of modern and contemporary artists. The 200-square-meter space is located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. (Note: The opening has since been rescheduled to early 2026.)

The Art of the Tour: King Charles's Traveling Painters

King Charles III has sponsored an exhibition titled “The King’s Tour Artists” at Buckingham Palace, featuring 43 artists he recruited to paint during 70 royal tours over the past 40 years. The show, open until September 28, includes 74 paintings selected from over 300 works in the King’s private collection, alongside a companion book, *The Art of Royal Travel: Journeys with The King*. The idea originated from Peter St. Clair-Erskine, the 7th Earl of Rosslyn, who catalogued the collection. Critics have dismissed the works as polite and old-fashioned, but the exhibition highlights Charles’s long-standing patronage of representational art and his own practice as a watercolorist.

Capitalism, cityscapes and the climate crisis take centre stage at Luma Arles

Peter Fischli's exhibition "People Planet Profit" at Luma Arles presents hundreds of cheap, poorly designed business books he photographed over seven years, exploring the tension between capitalism, climate crisis, and social wellbeing. The show includes sculptures and screen prints that critique late-stage capitalism and mass tourism. Alongside it, landscape architect Bas Smets presents "Climates of Landscape," a practical exhibition proposing urban ecological solutions to rising temperatures and tides, featuring a microclimate installation within the former industrial building.

Bronx Museum of the Arts appoints Shamim M. Momin as director and chief curator

The Bronx Museum of the Arts has appointed Shamim M. Momin as its next director and chief curator, effective September. Momin, who previously served as director of curatorial affairs at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, succeeds Klaudio Rodriguez, who left to lead the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is also a co-founder of the Los Angeles Nomadic Division and has curated biennial exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

‘Research powerhouse’: Abu Dhabi's Zayed National Museum confirms 2025 opening

Abu Dhabi's Zayed National Museum, designed by Foster + Partners on Saadiyat Island, will open in December 2025. The museum will feature star exhibits including the world's oldest natural pearl (the 8,000-year-old Abu Dhabi Pearl) and an 1,100-year-old Blue Qur'an. Centered on the life of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the UAE, its galleries explore his values such as religious tolerance and trace the country's history from ancient times to the present. The museum aims to become a research powerhouse, supported by a dedicated research fund and collaborations with institutions like the British Museum.

Your weekly dose of wonder: introducing The Specialist, a new podcast by Sotheby's

Sotheby's has launched a new podcast series titled "The Specialist," featuring its global specialists who share behind-the-scenes stories about extraordinary artworks and objects. Each episode focuses on a specific narrative, such as the restitution of a Kandinsky painting lost in Nazi-era Germany, the rediscovery of Rubens' "The Massacre of the Innocents," the story of the shredded Banksy artwork "Love is in the Bin," and the decade-long attribution project for a Vermeer painting. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Hallie Ford Museum of Art showcases Oregon’s foremost Modernist painter with ‘C.S. Price: A Portrait’

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon, has opened 'C.S. Price: A Portrait,' a retrospective exhibition of more than 40 works by Clayton Sumner Price, a Modernist painter who helped shape America’s view of the West. The show was organized by Roger Saydack, a retired attorney and self-taught scholar who first encountered Price’s painting 'The Fisherman' as a boy at the Detroit Institute of Arts and spent decades researching the artist. It runs through August 30 and is the first solo exhibition of Price’s work in over 25 years, accompanied by a 312-page catalog.