Wiscasset Bay Gallery exhibition will take viewers on grand tour

Wiscasset Bay Gallery in Maine is presenting "The Grand Tour in Thirty Days," an exhibition running from May 23 through June 24 that showcases the evolution of painting from realism to impressionism to modernism. The show features works by European and American artists depicting popular and remote locales across Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including pieces by Jean de Botton, Luigi Moretti, Robert Weir Allan, Polly Parker Nordell, and Mary Cassatt.

Is Fashion Art? The Met and Sotheby’s Answer

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute Benefit (The Met Gala) kicked off this past Monday with the theme "Fashion is Art," coinciding with the opening of the Met's new Condé M. Nast Galleries. The inaugural exhibition, titled "Costume Art," spans nearly 12,000 square feet and pairs pieces from the Costume Institute with objects from the museum's broader collection, juxtaposing items such as a Greek vessel from 460 BCE with a 1920s Fortuny gown, and Albrecht Dürer's "The Man of Sorrows" with Vivienne Westwood's "Martyr to Love" jacket.

Take a Look Inside This Year's 2026 Met Gala 'Costume Art' Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced its spring 2026 Costume Institute exhibition titled "Costume Art," along with the accompanying Met Gala fundraiser scheduled for May 4, 2026, with a "Fashion is Art" dress code. The exhibition will debut in the newly designed 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, featuring nearly 400 objects that juxtapose historical garments with fine art across thematic bodily categories such as the "Classical Body" and "Pregnant Body." Curated by Andrew Bolton, the show includes standout pairings like a Glenn Martens suit with an ancient marble statue and a Comme des Garçons ensemble with a Max Weber painting, with mannequins featuring polished steel heads by artist Samar Hejazi.

Exclusive | Met Gala 2026 and ‘Costume Art’ brashly transform flesh, bones and guts into too-cool couture

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will debut its spring 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art,” on May 10, preceded by the Met Gala on May 4. The exhibition explores the dressed body in all forms—nude, pregnant, plus-size, disabled, aging, and internal—and features fashion designer Renata Buzzo’s hand-stitched “Corset Anatomia” from her 2024 collection “The Body.” Buzzo was personally selected by curator Andrew Bolton and donated her pieces. The exhibition will be housed in the new Condé M. Nast Galleries, an 11,500-square-foot space that will make fashion galleries the first thing visitors see upon entering the Great Hall. The Met Gala, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, raised a record $31 million in 2025 and will follow the dress code “Fashion is Art.”

Jean-Michel Basquiat | FAE Musée d'Art Contemporain (Sans titre) (Untitled) (1993) | For Sale

An extremely rare original 1993 exhibition poster for a posthumous Jean-Michel Basquiat solo show at FAE Musée d'Art Contemporain in Pully-Lausanne, Switzerland is being offered for sale by Graves International Art. The offset-lithograph poster, featuring Basquiat's untitled 1982 painting, was designed by Pierre Neumann and comes from a private collection in Hamburg, Germany. The listing notes that no other example of this poster has appeared on the secondary market or at auction before, and it is issued unsigned and posthumous.

Cambodian Artist Sopheap Pich Shares in an Exhibition how He Conceives Sculptures

Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich is presenting an exhibition at Meta House in Phnom Penh that reveals his creative process, showing how he conceives sculptures from initial drawings and woodblock prints to works in bamboo and metal. Born in Battambang, Pich survived the Khmer Rouge regime as a child and later immigrated to the U.S., earning an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before returning to Cambodia in 2002. The exhibition includes early rattan pieces and recent metal sculptures, reflecting his intuitive, memory-infused approach to making art with a team of ten assistants in his Phnom Penh studio.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: ONE Art Space Hosts Celebrity Packed Chuck Connelly Art Show!

ONE Art Space in Tribeca is hosting "Tribeca’s Midnight Parade — When Art Runs Wild," a solo exhibition of paintings by Chuck Connelly. Co-curated by Adrienne Connelly and MaryAnn Giella McCulloh, the show features the 1994 painting "Animals in the Street," which depicts Tribeca figures as animal archetypes, including a lion judge and the artist as a horse. The private opening drew a celebrity guest list including Princess Tina Radziwill, orchestrated by PR powerhouse Norah Lawlor.

26 Best Museums in the U.S. for Art, Culture, and Unique Experiences

This travel guide highlights 26 of the most significant museums across the United States, ranging from massive encyclopedic institutions to niche cultural centers. The list features major art landmarks like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Center alongside specialized venues such as the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the immersive art experience Meow Wolf.

Max Ernst | Untitled (ca. 1949) | Available for Sale

Max Ernst | Untitled (ca. 1949) | Available for Sale

A rare miniature gouache on paper by Surrealist pioneer Max Ernst, titled 'Untitled' (ca. 1949), has been made available for sale through PM Gallery in Paris. The unique work, measuring only 3.1 x 2.85 cm, is presented in a bespoke silver and 18K gold frame adorned with ruby beads, created by the artist and jeweler Marcial Berro. The piece boasts a distinguished provenance, having previously belonged to the influential Parisian gallery owner Édouard Loeb and featured in the 1970 retrospective at the Württemberg Art Association.

Why this Minneapolis feminist art collective still matters 50 years later

The Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM), one of the oldest feminist art collectives in the United States, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Founded in 1973 in Minneapolis, the collective emerged as a grassroots response to the systemic exclusion of women from mainstream galleries and museums, eventually establishing its own gallery space and a robust mentorship program that continues to support female-identifying artists today.

REVIEW: The Open: Odyssey at Hastings Contemporary

Hastings Contemporary has launched its inaugural biennial, titled "The Open: Odyssey," featuring over 150 artists with connections to Sussex. Selected from a pool of 2,600 applicants by a panel led by Kathleen Soriano, the exhibition explores themes of marine ecology, migration, mythology, and coastal life. Notable works include Alan Patch’s large-scale hanging of plastic detritus, Kate Howe’s monumental waxed paper installation "The Moving Edge," and Kevin J J Warren’s sculptures made from salvaged fishing nets.

Best Exhibitions Starting in April 2026

The Japanese art scene is preparing for a robust spring season in April 2026, featuring a diverse array of exhibitions across Tokyo's major institutions. Highlights include Martin Margiela’s first large-scale Japanese exhibition at the historic Kudan House, a centenary celebration of fashion icon Hanae Mori at the National Art Center, and a deep dive into the studio practice of Georges Rouault at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art. Traditional art also takes center stage with a focused look at Utagawa Hiroshige’s "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art.

Vancouver Art Gallery gifted more than 800 photographs by Stephen Shore

The Vancouver Art Gallery has received a major gift of over 800 photographs by the acclaimed American photographer Stephen Shore. Donated by the Chan family, the collection primarily features Shore’s seminal series "Uncommon Places" (1973–81), which documented North American landscapes and interiors in vivid color. This acquisition establishes the gallery as one of the world's leading repositories of Shore’s work, with a dedicated exhibition of the series scheduled to open on March 27.

Museum Exhibitions Coming to East & South Texas in Spring 2026

Several museums in East and South Texas have announced their spring 2026 exhibition schedules. The Beeville Art Museum will open a solo show of landscape painter William Anzalone in January. The Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi will present 'In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting,' a traveling exhibition from the Reading Public Museum. The Longview Museum of Fine Arts will host a retrospective of photographer Frank Armstrong. The International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen will open three shows: 'Piñatabstract' by Josuè Rawmirez, 'Voces del Arte Popular' featuring Mexican folk art, and 'Aviary,' a bird-themed exhibition. South Texas College will also present two exhibitions in January and February, including Leila Hernández's 'The Lessons of the Empress.'

Repeat art fraudster arrested for stealing Courbet painting

London gallery owner Patrick Matthiesen consigned a Gustave Courbet painting, *Mother and Child on a Hammock* (1844), to the Nicholas Hall Gallery in New York for Tefaf Maastricht 2023, listed at $650,000. After it failed to sell, Matthiesen was contacted by a man calling himself Thomas Doyle (also A.J. Doyle), who claimed to be a former US Air Force pilot, government contractor, and art dealer with family ties to Doyle Auctions. Despite Doyle having 11 prior fraud convictions—including stealing a bronze Degas statue in 2007—Matthiesen was convinced by artworks Doyle sent for inspection, including works attributed to El Greco, Rubens, and a Michelangelo drawing. In 2024, Doyle borrowed the Courbet to show a potential buyer and never returned it. Doyle has now been arrested for the theft.

Metropolitan Museum's new Condé M. Nast Galleries will put fashion at the forefront

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open the Condé M. Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot space adjacent to the Grand Hall, next spring. The new galleries will become the permanent home for the annual Costume Institute exhibition, replacing the museum's largest retail space. The inaugural show, "Costume Art" (10 May 2026–10 January 2027), will pair paintings, sculptures, and other art objects with historical and contemporary garments, emphasizing the dressed body as a central theme across the museum's collections. The move follows the record-breaking success of 2018's "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," which drew over 1.6 million visitors.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Opening of the Condé M. Nast Galleries, Designed by Peterson Rich Office

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the opening of the Condé M. Nast Galleries, a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space designed by the New York-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The galleries, located adjacent to the museum's Great Hall, will be inaugurated in May 2026 by The Costume Institute's spring exhibition titled "Costume Art," which explores the dressed body by juxtaposing garments from the Institute's holdings with treasures from the museum's broader collections. The project is part of a larger renovation that also includes a redesign of the Fifth Avenue and 83rd Street entrance to improve visitor flow.

This Years Met Gala Felt More Like an Art Exhibition Than a Red Carpet

The 2026 Met Gala, held on May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was widely described as feeling more like an art exhibition than a traditional red carpet. The theme, "Costume Art," with the dress code "Fashion Is Art," encouraged celebrities to treat their bodies as canvases. Beyoncé made a highly anticipated return after a decade, serving as a co-chair alongside Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour. Beyoncé wore a sculptural skeleton-inspired design by Olivier Rousteing, while Kiddon wore a shimmering red Chanel gown and Williams donned a Swarovski crystal gown inspired by her Smithsonian portrait. Other notable looks included Sabrina Carpenter in a Dior dress made from vintage film strips, Kendall Jenner referencing classical sculpture, Madonna channeling surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, and Heidi Klum arriving as a marble statue. Inside, live performances by Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks added to the spectacle.

Beyoncé, Bad Bunny and Heidi Klum take artistic liberties with Met Gala dress code

The 2026 Met Gala, celebrating the opening of the Costume Institute's "Costume Art" exhibition, saw celebrities including Beyoncé, Naomi Osaka, Emma Chamberlain, and Heidi Klum embrace the dress code "Fashion is art" with bold, sculptural, and art-inspired ensembles. Beyoncé wore a custom Olivier Rousteing skeleton dress with a feathered train and diamond crown, while Osaka stunned in a Robert Wun white sculptural dress with a red anatomy-themed reveal. Co-chairs Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams also made notable appearances, with Williams referencing a Robert Pruitt portrait of herself. Many guests drew direct inspiration from art history, such as Lauren Sánchez Bezos channeling John Singer Sargent's "Madame X" and Lena Dunham collaborating with Valentino's Alessandro Michele to depict Artemisia Gentileschi's "Judith Slaying Holofernes."

Met Gala guests arrive on carpet in dramatic works of art

The 2026 Met Gala, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, featured celebrities arriving in dramatic, custom outfits adhering to the dress code 'Fashion is art.' Notable attendees included Naomi Osaka in a Robert Wun white sculptural dress with red feathers and dripping red paint, Emma Chamberlain in a hand-painted Mugler gown by Miguel Castro Freitas, and co-chair Anna Wintour in a mint ensemble by Matthieu Blazy for Chanel. The event celebrated the opening of the Costume Institute's exhibition 'Costume Art.'

What Is the 2026 Met Gala Exhibit “Costume Art” All About?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will unveil its 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art,” on May 4, 2026, coinciding with the Met Gala. Curated by Andrew Bolton, the show explores the relationship between fashion and the human body, juxtaposing garments like Rei Kawakubo's bulbous Comme des Garçons ensemble with artworks such as Hans Bellmer's “La Poupée” and Albrecht Dürer's “Adam and Eve.” Mannequins cast from real bodies and mirrored heads by artist Samar Hejazi will enhance the immersive experience. The exhibition runs from May 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, in the new Condé M. Nast Galleries.

Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo Shares a Vision for the Future of Art, Technology, and Creativity

Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo, an entrepreneur, investor, Harvard-educated lawyer, former Princeton academic, and board member of the Shed, shares her vision for integrating frontier technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics into the art world. She argues that these tools can enhance human creativity rather than replace it, drawing on her early experiences with Asian antiquities and her pioneering work in blockchain, including co-founding OpenSea 2.0. The article, based on an interview with CULTURED, traces her journey from collecting a jade gourd as a child to advising tech companies and joining the board of the Shed, a Bloomberg-backed cultural center in Hudson Yards.

Landmark Exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Unites U.S. Bicentennial Photography Surveys for the First Time

The Smithsonian American Art Museum will present "Much Here Is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial," a landmark exhibition opening September 18, 2026, that brings together for the first time photography surveys created through a federally funded grant program by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) around the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial. Featuring 225 photographs by more than 70 photographers, the show draws on the museum's holdings and collections nationwide, including previously unseen works, and places them in the context of federal survey photography dating back to the 19th century.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Spring 2026 Exhibition Program

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled its extensive exhibition schedule through June 2026, headlined by the first comprehensive U.S. retrospective of the Renaissance master Raphael. This landmark show will feature over 200 works, including rare loans and masterpieces. Other major highlights include the spring Costume Institute exhibition, "Costume Art," which will inaugurate a new 12,000-square-foot gallery suite, and "Musical Bodies," an interdisciplinary look at the relationship between instruments and the human form.

Indigenous Artists Infiltrate the Met With a Guerrilla A.R. Project

On Indigenous Peoples' Day, nonprofit media lab Amplifier launched an unsanctioned augmented reality exhibition titled “Encoded” at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The project features 17 Native artists who have digitally altered 25 iconic American artworks from the Met's collection—such as Thomas Cole's *View on the Catskills – Early Autumn* and Emanuel Leutze's *Washington Crossing the Delaware*—overlaying Indigenous perspectives onto the museum's American Wing. Visitors can view the AR works on smartphones or iPads, and Amplifier representatives are on-site to distribute guides and offer tours through the end of the year.

art collector carmelo anthony nba hall of fame

Carmelo Anthony, the retired NBA star and soon-to-be Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, discusses his art collection in an interview with Cultured. He began collecting seriously early in his NBA career, guided by older players like Juwan Howard, and now owns works by artists such as Nelson Makamo, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Ernie Barnes, Marcus Jansen, Hebru Brantley, and Stan Squirewell. His collection emphasizes street art, photography, and the Black experience, with pieces displayed intentionally throughout his home.

design stephen alesch robin standefer

Design duo Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer, co-founders of the architecture and design studio Roman and Williams, reflect on how their Montauk home, Sea Ranch, has become the creative heart of their practice. Purchased in 2006 as a rustic mid-Atlantic Colonial cottage, the property has evolved from a weekend retreat into a laboratory for furniture prototypes, ceramic experiments, and design ideas that later appear in high-profile projects worldwide—from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s British Galleries to London’s Maison Estelle. The couple, who met on a film set in 1994, also run the SoHo shop Roman and Williams Guild and a furnishings collection, balancing the intensity of New York with the shaping and forming they do by the ocean.

Metropolitan Museum receives $23m to endow internship programme

On 30 April, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a $23m pledge from the Rubio Butterfield Foundation, led by newly elected trustee Jennifer Rubio and her husband Stewart Butterfield, to permanently endow the museum's internship program. The internships, offered for nearly 30 years with 100 participants annually, have only been paid since 2021. The article also explores broader trends in museum philanthropy, featuring insights from former directors Gary Vikan, Gary Tinterow, and Maxwell Anderson on how donors are often guided to fund endowments for curatorial positions, operations, or awards rather than art acquisitions.

Manhattan D.A.’s Office Returns 17 Stolen Antiquities and Rare Books to Italy

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office returned 17 stolen antiquities and rare books, valued at over $1.5 million, to Italy and the Vatican in a restitution ceremony. The items include six rare 16th–17th century Chinese-language Jesuit books stolen from the Vatican Archives and other artifacts seized from institutions like the Morgan Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Confronting audiences with the real history

Carla Hemlock, a Kanien’keha:ka artist, has seen a surge in interest from curators and institutions, allowing her to work at her own pace. Her collaborative installation with her son, filmmaker Raohserahawi Hemlock, titled *In the Arms of the Natural World*, has been donated to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) and is now on view in the exhibition *Rising Suns: Art from the Confederacies of the Great Lakes and Rivers*. The piece, featuring three quilts and two films, explores the legacy of residential schools with what the artists describe as absolute delicacy and care.