The Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art have co-organized a major exhibition and catalogue exploring Marcel Duchamp’s complex relationship with art institutions. Despite his reputation as a skeptical iconoclast who famously claimed to avoid the Louvre, Duchamp spent decades actively reshaping how museums function through his "portable museum" projects, curatorial collaborations, and the strategic placement of his legacy within permanent collections.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has launched a comprehensive retrospective of Marcel Duchamp, marking the first major American survey of the artist's work in five decades. The exhibition follows a chronological path through Duchamp’s radical career, featuring early pen-and-ink drawings, his transition through Cubism and Dadaism, and his revolutionary "readymades" like the urinal titled Fountain. Highlights include the rare gathering of all three versions of Nude Descending a Staircase and documentation of his final, secretive installation, Étant donnés.
The UAE art scene is currently hosting a diverse array of exhibitions across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, despite regional disruptions. Key highlights include a major Picasso retrospective at Louvre Abu Dhabi, a 10th-century anniversary celebration at 421 Arts Campus titled 'Rays, Ripples, Residue,' and the inaugural photography exhibition at Sharjah Art Foundation’s new Al Manakh venue. These shows range from historical surveys of the human form to contemporary explorations of UAE’s urban development and climate change.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing for the public debut of its $724-million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Ahead of the April 19 member opening, public discourse has intensified following a series of reports detailing the building's architecture, the reinstallation of Alexander Calder’s "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)," and the project's massive budget. Reader reactions remain deeply polarized, reflecting a two-decade-long debate over the structure's unconventional design and its impact on the urban landscape.
The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris has announced a major retrospective of American photographer Lee Miller, scheduled to run from April 10 to August 2, 2026. Featuring approximately 250 vintage and contemporary prints, the exhibition will survey Miller’s multifaceted career, including her early days as a fashion model, her Surrealist collaborations with Man Ray, and her harrowing work as a war correspondent during World War II. The show arrives in Paris following its premiere at Tate Britain and marks the first significant retrospective of the artist in the French capital since 2008.
A small marble fragment from the Parthenon has been recovered from the wreck of the Mentor, a ship owned by Lord Elgin that sank in 1802 while transporting sculptures from the Acropolis to Britain. The fragment, discovered off the Greek island of Kythira by the Greek Ministry of Culture's underwater antiquities unit, is a decorative gutta likely from the temple's entablature or roof edge.
Michelle Ogundehin, the former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration and current head judge on BBC’s Interior Design Masters, shares her personal shopping philosophy and favorite sources for design and art supplies. The interview highlights her preference for tactile, high-quality essentials over mass consumerism, citing her love for artist-grade watercolor paper from L. Cornelissen & Son, vintage tapestries from Larusi, and curated items from Japan House London.
The National Gallery in London has appointed Tokyo-based architect Kengo Kuma to design a new £350 million wing as part of its ambitious £750 million "Project Domani" expansion. Kuma, known for the V&A Dundee, beat out high-profile Pritzker Prize winners Renzo Piano and Norman Foster for the commission. The project involves the demolition of St. Vincent House to create 15,000 square feet of new exhibition space dedicated to 20th and 21st-century art, along with new pedestrian zones and a roof garden.
The article examines the largely overlooked curatorial work of poet Frank O'Hara during his tenure at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It details his role in organizing significant exhibitions, championing emerging artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, and his influential collaborations with artists such as Larry Rivers.
Art21 will honor artists Paul Pfeiffer and Charles Gaines at its 2026 Spring Gala on April 14, alongside a tribute to philanthropist Agnes Gund. The event, held at Tribeca Rooftop, features a live auction of exclusive experiences and a marching band procession, and serves as the centerpiece of the organization's year-long 25th-anniversary celebration.
Major museums across the United States are preparing to launch a diverse array of exhibitions for the spring season. Highlights include a comprehensive Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, an exploration of Etruscan civilization at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and a major fashion-focused exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has launched a comprehensive survey of Marcel Duchamp’s work, highlighting the artist's revolutionary impact on the definition of art. The exhibition traces Duchamp's transition from traditional painting to his radical 'readymades,' which prioritized intellectual concepts over aesthetic craftsmanship.
The Getty Center in Los Angeles has announced it will close to the public for a full year starting in March 2027. This significant hiatus is required to facilitate a major infrastructure overhaul, primarily focusing on the replacement of its aging computer-operated tram system and the modernization of several gallery spaces within the Richard Meier-designed campus.
The Getty Center in Los Angeles has announced a temporary closure beginning March 15, 2027, to undergo its most extensive renovation since opening in 1997. The modernization project aims to enhance the visitor experience across the campus through a series of facility upgrades and reimagined spaces.
Gagosian Beverly Hills has announced the first exhibition of Frank Gehry’s work since the legendary architect’s death in December. Opening May 14, the show pivots away from his architectural legacy to focus on his sculptural practice, specifically his animal-themed works. Highlights include the stainless steel sculpture "Bear with Us" (2014), on loan from the Gehry family, alongside his signature fish and snake lamps and late-career copper sculptures.
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has launched a major retrospective titled “Isamu Noguchi: ‘I am not a designer,’” exploring the prolific career of the Japanese-American artist. Curated by Monica Obniski, the exhibition features over 200 objects including sculptures, stage sets, furniture, and architectural models. A central highlight is the connection to Atlanta’s own Piedmont Park, which houses "Playscapes," the only artist-designed playground Noguchi completed in the United States, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The New Museum has officially reopened its downtown New York campus following a significant expansion designed by the architectural firm OMA. The renovation introduces a massive internal staircase that connects all four floors, resolving long-standing circulation issues previously caused by a reliance on elevators. To mark the reopening, the museum debuted a site-specific facade sculpture by Tschabalala Self titled "Art Lovers" and a massive inaugural group exhibition, "New Humans: Memories of the Future," featuring over 150 international contributors.
« Vous souvenez-vous de la dernière critique négative que vous avez lue ? »
The traditional art of negative criticism is vanishing from mainstream media, replaced by a culture of polite consensus or violent but unprincipled social media attacks. Historically, critics like Baudelaire, Zola, and Huysmans used sharp, subjective arguments to defend avant-garde movements and challenge academicism, viewing the attack on certain artists as a necessary byproduct of championing others. Today, limited editorial space and a desire to support the arts have led French journalists to focus almost exclusively on praise, resulting in a loss of discernment and comparative analysis.
Goodman Gallery is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a high-profile collaborative exhibition at Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier in Paris. Running from April 17 to August 29, the showcase features major works by leading artists from the African continent and the diaspora, including El Anatsui, William Kentridge, and Kapwani Kiwanga. The presentation places contemporary African art in direct dialogue with the high-end furniture and interior architecture of Pierre Yovanovitch, marking the start of a series of international events for the gallery this summer.
Major U.S. museums are launching a series of high-profile exhibitions this spring, headlined by a massive Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Other key highlights include the North American debut of Iris van Herpen’s technologically-driven fashion at the Brooklyn Museum and a focused look at Peter Hujar’s photography of the New York underground at the Morgan Library & Museum.
The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) has inaugurated its new, expanded facility on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University. The opening is anchored by a major solo exhibition titled "The Pursuit of Happiness" by acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney, alongside a group show, "Seamless: Art and Design." Abney’s exhibition features her signature large-scale, vibrant, and emoji-inspired works that explore the complexities of the American Dream, identity, and power structures through a lens of both visual seduction and narrative ambiguity.
Fulton Leroy Washington, the Compton-based artist known as Mr. Wash, is spearheading a $15 million campaign to build a 14,000-square-foot community arts center and studio in his hometown. The project is being supported by his latest exhibition, "The City of Compton: Then & Now," and a showcase at Jeffrey Deitch’s Compton space titled "Don’t Turn Your Back On Us." Washington, who served 21 years of a life sentence before receiving clemency from President Barack Obama in 2016, gained international acclaim for his photorealistic "teardrop" portraits created while incarcerated.
Sundaram Tagore Gallery is expanding its international footprint with the opening of a new 310-square-meter flagship space in London’s St James’s district this May. Located in a renovated Edwardian building on Pall Mall, the multi-level gallery will feature exhibition areas, a private viewing room, and dedicated spaces for live performances and screenings. The inaugural exhibition, titled "Hybridity and Belonging in Contemporary Art," will showcase a diverse roster of artists including Hiroshi Senju, Tayeba Lipi, and Sohan Qadri, focusing on themes of displacement and cross-cultural identity.
A new wave of gallery exhibitions is championing analog physicality and personal intimacy as a direct counter-response to the rise of AI-generated imagery. Artists like Ben Wolf Noam and Joseph Geagan are utilizing traditional mediums such as charcoal, lithography, and oil paint to capture spontaneous, sentimental moments of human connection, from family dinners to portraits of friends. These works emphasize the "hospitable mess" of real life, prioritizing the recognizable faces and tangible textures that AI often flattens.
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) is hosting "Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings," a comprehensive exhibition that draws from the artist’s complete archives. The show highlights Cha’s multidisciplinary practice, spanning film experiments, performance documentation, and her signature linguistic explorations. By pairing finished artworks with archival materials and personal ephemera, the exhibition reveals a playful, puckish side of the artist that is often obscured by the tragic circumstances of her death and the heavy themes of exile and dislocation in her work.
The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago has unveiled its final cohort of artist commissions ahead of its scheduled opening in June. This group includes high-profile contemporary artists such as Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Jeffrey Gibson, and Lorna Simpson, who will contribute site-specific works ranging from a multi-layered portrait of the Obamas to a 34-foot stainless steel sculpture by Martin Puryear honoring the late John Lewis. These eight artists join a previously announced roster, bringing the total number of new commissions for the 19.3-acre South Side campus to 30.
Approximately Blue (AB), a contemporary art consultancy and brokerage, is deliberately operating without a public-facing brand, social media presence, or physical address. Founded by François-Luc Giraldeau and Emily Johnson, the firm focuses exclusively on primary market fine art prints and multiples, prioritizing deep research and direct, substantive relationships with collectors over visibility and hype.
Prominent Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan is launching a new exhibition titled 'A New Integrity' at Pavilion 13 in Kyiv. The installation features prostheses suspended in mid-air, accompanied by a soundscape of recorded testimonies from veterans who have experienced limb loss during the ongoing Russian invasion. The project, commissioned by the non-profit RIBBON International, uses these mechanical replacements to symbolize the broader losses of territory, people, and future perspectives that Ukraine has endured.
Activists have launched a wheatpasting campaign across New York City calling for a boycott of the 2026 Met Gala. The protest targets the event's lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, highlighting Amazon's alleged exploitation of warehouse labor and its technological support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The posters, designed by the activist group Everyone Hates Elon, feature provocative imagery such as urine-filled water bottles and tear gas canisters to symbolize the human cost of Amazon's business practices.
The art world mourns the passing of Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, a prominent artist and activist known for her politically charged paintings and human rights advocacy, who died at the age of 46. Simultaneously, dissident artist Ai Weiwei has released a new book titled 'On Censorship,' which reflects on his career-long struggle against state persecution and the nuances of freedom of expression. Other notable developments include Gagosian's announcement of a new Upper Manhattan space dedicated to Marcel Duchamp and the detention of artist Criselda Vasquez’s father by ICE.