Katharina Grosse: ‘Imagination doesn’t have a scale’

Katharina Grosse has created a monumental site-specific commission titled CHOIR (2025) for the Messeplatz at Art Basel, covering the entire square and the Messe building with her signature spray-painted veils of high color. In an interview with The Art Newspaper, Grosse discusses how she tackled the vast urban space, emphasizing the immediacy of entering the square without any transitional experience, and describes her process of painting over roofs, facades, a fountain, and even a clock, using only magenta and white to create luminous effects. The work is part of a busy summer for the artist, who also has exhibitions at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

‘Very beautiful’ portrait of Gallagher brothers to go to auction for £1.5m

Sotheby's will auction a 1996 portrait of Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher by American artist Elizabeth Peyton at its June contemporary art sale in London, with an estimate of £1.5m to £2m. The painting, based on a 1995 photograph by Stefan De Batselier, captures the siblings at the height of Britpop fame, shortly after Noel allegedly hit Liam with a cricket bat. Sotheby's specialist Antonia Gardner notes the "quiet tension" in the work and Peyton's tendency to feminize macho pop stars.

The Brooklyn Museum to Present Monet and Venice, the First Major Exhibition in over a Century Dedicated to Claude Monet’s Venetian Cityscapes

The Brooklyn Museum will present "Monet and Venice" from October 11, 2025, to February 1, 2026, the first major exhibition in over a century dedicated to Claude Monet's Venetian cityscapes. The show reunites nineteen of Monet's Venetian paintings alongside more than one hundred artworks, books, and ephemera, placing them in context with works by Canaletto, John Singer Sargent, J. M. W. Turner, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is cocurated by Lisa Small of the Brooklyn Museum and Melissa Buron of the Victoria & Albert Museum, and sponsored by Bank of America.

Call for Applications: 2026–27 and 2027–28 Freund Teaching Fellowships

Washington University in St. Louis's Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Saint Louis Art Museum are accepting applications for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellowships. The fellowship offers emerging and mid-career visual artists a $45,000 teaching award, studio space, access to WashU's facilities, and a solo exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum as part of its Currents series. Applicants must hold an MFA earned at least five years prior and have professional exhibition experience; prior teaching is not required. The deadline is September 1, 2025.

New art show opens in Roswell Park's gallery

A new exhibition titled "Hallwalls Founding Artists From the Gerald Mead Collection" has opened at the Art Heals Gallery on the first floor of Roswell Park's main campus in Buffalo. Running from June 2 to August 28, 2025, the show features 18 works in various media by seven artists—Diane Bertolo, Charles Clough, Nancy Dwyer, Robert Longo, Larry Lundy, Cindy Sherman, and Michael Zwack—who founded Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in 1974. The exhibition coincides with Hallwalls' 50th anniversary celebration and draws from the private collection of Gerald Mead, an award-winning artist, educator, and leading authority on Western New York art.

Monet to Matisse exhibition coming to Birmingham Museum of Art in 2026

The Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) will premiere "Monet to Matisse: French Moderns, 1850–1950" on January 30, 2026, featuring over 100 masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum's European collection and supplemented by 50 works from BMA's own holdings. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by artists such as Monet, Matisse, Chagall, Degas, and Renoir, and will run through May 24, 2026, with accompanying public programs like lectures, guided tours, and workshops.

Mbare Art Space: a colonial beer hall in Zimbabwe has become a vibrant arts centre

Moffat Takadiwa, a leading figure in Zimbabwe's artist-run spaces movement, has transformed a former colonial-era beer hall in the Mbare township of Harare into the Mbare Art Space. Opened in 2019 under a long lease from the Harare City Council, the nonprofit hub now houses studios, an exhibition hall, a digital hub, and office space, serving as a vibrant center for artistic and community revival. The beer hall was originally built by British colonial authorities as a tool of social control and segregation, but Takadiwa has repurposed it into a site of creative freedom and empowerment, inspired by global precedents like Theaster Gates' Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago.

"East-Northeast: Charting Moments in Maine" Presents Four Different Exhibitions of Maine-Focused Artists in Summer 2025

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) presents "East-Northeast: Charting Moments in Maine," a series of four exhibitions running in summer 2025 that highlight artists inspired by Maine. The shows include Gordon Parks’s previously unseen 1944 photographs of rural life, John McKee’s coastal series "As Maine Goes" (first public viewing since 1966), Ann Craven’s lunar paintings from 2020 and 2024, and films by Swiss-American artist Rudy Burckhardt. The exhibitions span from June 28 to November 9, 2025, with a keynote lecture by Philip Brookman on June 28.

Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World

The Art Institute of Chicago announces "Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World," a major exhibition running from June 29 to October 5, 2025. Featuring over 120 works—including paintings, drawings, photographs, and documents—the show offers a fresh perspective on the Impressionist artist, highlighting his intimate focus on family, friends, sportsmen, and neighborhood life, in contrast to his peers. Key loans include the Musée d'Orsay's recent acquisition "Boating Party" and the Louvre Abu Dhabi's "The Bezique Game," alongside the Art Institute's own "Paris Street; Rainy Day." The exhibition is organized collaboratively by the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée d'Orsay, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Just a number: drawing by 11-year-old Joseph Wright of Derby goes on view for the first time

A pencil drawing of the wreathed head of Silenus, created by Joseph Wright of Derby at age 11 in 1745, will go on public display for the first time at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery. The drawing, recently rediscovered in a private family collection, is the earliest known work by the artist and is inscribed “Jos Wright 11 Years”. It features in the exhibition *Life on Paper*, which focuses on Wright’s intimate drawings, letters, and sketches, including tender depictions of his baby daughter and a self-portrait acquired through a public appeal in 2022.

Lee Ufan donates eight paintings to Dia Art Foundation

Korean artist Lee Ufan, a key figure in the Mono-ha movement, has donated eight paintings from the 1970s to the 1990s to the Dia Art Foundation in New York. The works, from his From Point, From Line, and With Winds series, will be featured in a spring 2026 exhibition at Dia Beacon alongside sculptural installations already in the foundation's collection. Lee is also collaborating with Avant Arte on a limited-edition print release to support Dia's programming.

In a new exhibition, the Getty Centre uncovers the mysterious world of medieval codes

The Getty Center in Los Angeles has opened a new exhibition titled "Symbols and Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts," which runs from May 20 to August 10. The show features illuminated manuscripts from the 9th to 17th centuries, including the Rothschild Pentateuch, a 700-year-old Hebrew manuscript with over 1,000 pages. Curator Orsolya Mednyánszky explains that the exhibition aims to demystify the codes—words, images, and schematic symbols—that medieval readers would have understood intuitively, pairing the manuscripts with modern photographs from the Getty’s collection to highlight parallels in visual communication.

Peabody Essex Museum opening new gallery of Korean art and culture May 17, 2025

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, will open the Yu Kil-Chun Gallery of Korean Art and Culture on May 17, 2025. This landmark installation showcases PEM’s historic Korean collection, featuring works from the late Joseon dynasty through the early 20th century and into the present day, including rare objects, textiles, and recent acquisitions by artists like Nam June Paik. The gallery is supported by the Korea Foundation and the National Museum of Korea, and is curated by Dr. Jiyeon Kim.

An UES carriage home from a celebrity architect opens up for a public art show

Art dealer and collector Adam Lindemann is presenting a free public exhibition titled "Urhobo + Abstraction" in his East 77th Street carriage house on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The show features five life-size 19th- and early-20th-century sculptures carved by the Urhobo people of southern Nigeria, paired with works by contemporary artists of African descent including El Anatsui, Alma Thomas, and Jack Whitten. The carriage house is the first Manhattan building designed by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye, whose renovation was completed in the late 2000s. The exhibition runs through June 13, open Mondays through Thursdays, and the sculptures are not for sale.

Chicago Is The Only City To Host 'The First Homosexuals,' An Extensive Collection Of Queer Art

The article reports that 'The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939,' a major international exhibition of queer art, is currently on view at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Curated by art historian Jonathan D. Katz, the show features around 350 works from over 100 lenders, including private collectors and major museums, and runs through July 26. Katz notes that no other institution in the world has agreed to host the exhibition, citing widespread refusals from venues in the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia.

Whitney Museum of American Art invites visitors to take in the river view

The Whitney Museum of American Art is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Meatpacking District building by inviting visitors to experience Mary Heilmann's installation "Long Line" on the fifth floor. The work features a large-scale mural of sea green and foamy white waves, accompanied by whimsically colored boxy chairs that visitors can rearrange. The installation, which runs until January 19, 2026, encourages rest and contemplation, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the Hudson River. Curator Laura Phipps notes that Heilmann, who created the inaugural commission "Sunset" for the building in 2015, has long prioritized visitor comfort and seating in her work.

First look: the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ rehang at London's National Gallery

On May 10, London's National Gallery will unveil its first full rehang of the collection since the Sainsbury Wing opened in 1991. The wing has been closed for over two years to create a larger entrance foyer. Christine Riding, the director of collections and research, oversaw the rehang, which she calls a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. Nearly 40% of the collection—1,045 paintings—will be displayed, including 919 from the collection and 126 on loan. The rehang is sponsored by Hong Kong-based property developer C C Land and is called "C C Land: The Wonder of Art." Works by female artists have been given greater prominence, and some paintings were conserved or reframed. The chronological arrangement from west to east remains similar, but many pictures have been repositioned to highlight artistic influences across generations.

Humanitas Bong Joon Ho in conversation, new student art, and beach photos

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho will visit Yale University on May 5-6 for a public conversation with photographer Gregory Crewdson about filmmaking, followed by a Schwarzman Session for students and the community. The visit coincides with a film retrospective of Bong's work organized by Marc Francis, including screenings of "Parasite," "The Host," and "Mickey 17." Separately, the Schwarzman Center has launched a virtual Storyboard exhibition titled "over time," featuring artworks by 10 Yale students responding to a prompt about the future, curated by Airi Gavan. The article also notes an upcoming summer exhibition of photographs by Yale School of Art professor emeritus Tod Papageorge.

This Month the Museum Will Open "Ann Craven | Painted Time: Moons (Laboratory)"

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) will open "Ann Craven | Painted Time: Moons (Laboratory)" on May 22, 2025, featuring Ann Craven's moon paintings created between 2020 and 2024. The exhibition highlights Craven's direct observation of the moon, with each work documenting the date, time, and place of creation. The show includes a "laboratory" of lunar studies stored in labeled cardboard containers, offering insight into her process. It will be presented in three rotations curated by Anne Collins Goodyear, Jay Sanders, and Adam Weinberg, with about 20 paintings per rotation selected from over 150 compositions. The exhibition runs until August 17, 2025, and is accompanied by a digital catalogue. It coincides with two concurrent solo shows of Craven's work in Maine: at the Farnsworth Art Museum and the Portland Museum of Art.

Mind-bending work of M.C. Escher alters reality, space at new Arlington exhibition

The Arlington Museum of Art has opened "M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations," an exhibition featuring nearly 150 of the Dutch artist's prints, including his famous lithograph "Relativity" (1953). The show spans Escher's career from the early 1930s to the late 1960s, with themed galleries covering his early works, book illustrations, tessellations, and impossible worlds. The exhibition runs through August 3 and includes an Infinity Mirrored Room as an immersive finale.

Early Basquiat to Lead Sotheby’s Contemporary Auctions -

Sotheby’s will offer a rare untitled 1981 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat at its Contemporary Evening Auction in New York, estimated at $10–15 million. The work, unseen for 36 years, has been held in a private collection since 1989 and captures the raw energy of Basquiat’s breakout period. Other highlights include Lucio Fontana’s *Concetto spaziale, La Fine di Dio* (1963), Robert Rauschenberg’s *Combine Rigger* (1961), Frank Stella’s *Adelante* (1964), and Ed Ruscha’s *That Was Then This Is Now* (1989). The auction is built around three major private collections: the estate of gallerist Barbara Gladstone, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, and the “Im Spazio” group assembled by Daniella Luxembourg.

As the Met’s Gorgeous New John Singer Sargent Exhibition Proves, There’s Much More to Madame X Than That Scandalous Strap

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a major new exhibition, "Sargent and Paris," organized with the Musée d'Orsay, focusing on John Singer Sargent's formative decade in the French capital. The show culminates with his iconic portrait *Madame X* (1883–84), which caused a scandal at the 1884 Paris Salon when its jeweled strap appeared to slip off the subject's shoulder. Curator Stephanie L. Herdrich spent six years developing the exhibition, which includes approximately 100 works and aims to provide a more nuanced retelling of the painting's creation and impact. The exhibition runs from April 27 to August 3 at the Met before traveling to the Musée d'Orsay, marking the first monographic show of Sargent's work in France and the first time *Madame X* has been exhibited there in over 40 years.

Escher’s Impossible Worlds Are Coming to the Arlington Museum of Art

The Arlington Museum of Art will host "M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations" from April 26 to August 3, 2025, featuring over 150 works from the largest private collection of M.C. Escher's art. The exhibition includes iconic pieces like "Snakes" (1969), his final print, alongside early bookplates, tessellations, and impossible constructions, with interactive and digital elements designed to immerse visitors in Escher's perceptual puzzles.

'Sean Scully: The Albee Barn, Montauk’ at The Parrish Art Museum, New York, USA

The Parrish Art Museum in New York will present 'Sean Scully: The Albee Barn, Montauk' from May 11 to September 21, 2025. The exhibition surveys Scully's work from 1981 to 2024, focusing on a pivotal month he spent in Montauk in 1982 with a fellowship at The Edward F. Albee Foundation. It features 15 of the original 1982 Montauk paintings, reunited for the first time since their creation on found wood scraps in the Albee Barn, marking a turning point where Scully broke from Minimalism and embraced nature, color, and visible brushstrokes.

Edvard Munch, Reprinted: A Study in Process at Harvard Art Museums

The Harvard Art Museums have opened a new exhibition titled "Edvard Munch, Reprinted: A Study in Process," which delves into the Norwegian artist's experimental printmaking techniques. The show examines Munch's repeated reworking of his own compositions, revealing how he used printmaking as a dynamic, evolving process rather than a means of simple reproduction. It features multiple states of iconic prints such as "The Scream" and "Madonna," alongside preparatory drawings and rare proofs that trace his creative decisions over decades.

Museum Spotlight: Kim Chong Hak Exhibition

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is hosting the first American museum exhibition dedicated to Kim Chong Hak, a South Korean master painter born in 1937 and known as "the painter of Seoraksan." Featuring over 70 works, including new acquisitions from the museum's own collection, the show spans the artist's mature career and highlights an aspect of late 20th-century Korean art rarely seen outside South Korea. The exhibition runs through November 2, 2025.

Day Trip From Chicago: Milwaukee Art Museum to Exhibit Significant Collection of 16th-17th Century Spanish Art

The Milwaukee Art Museum will debut a major exhibition titled "The Brilliance of the Spanish World: El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán" on May 2, 2025. Billed as the "most significant collection of Hispanic art outside of Spain," the show features masterpieces from 16th- and 17th-century Spanish painters including El Greco, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco de Zurbarán, spanning Renaissance and Baroque periods. The exhibition runs through July 27 and is included with general admission.

At the Galleries for April 9, 2026

The Hamptons art scene is entering the spring season with a diverse array of gallery openings across Montauk, East Hampton, Sag Harbor, and Bridgehampton. Key highlights include Timothy Tibus’s abstract retrospective at The Lucore Art, a Matisse-centered group show at The Drawing Room featuring rare etchings, and Kristy Gordon’s myth-inspired "Primavera" at Grenning Gallery. Other notable exhibitions include a showcase of artists from the Cold Castle collective at Keyes Art and a curated group show titled "Connections" at Dan Welden Studio/Gallery.

In Veneto, a New Art Center is About to Open in Two 16th-Century Villas on the Brenta Riviera (Opening on the Same Day as the Biennale)

In Veneto sta per inaugurare un nuovo centro d’arte con sede in due ville cinquecentesche della Riviera del Brenta (apertura lo stesso giorno della Biennale)

A new cultural center named Ca' Riviera will open on May 9, 2026, in Mira, Veneto, housed within two 16th-century villas on the Brenta Riviera. The project, founded by Riccardo Corò and Leonardo Tiezzi, aims to be a permanent hub for contemporary art, design, and architecture, featuring exhibitions, installations, and artist residencies. Its inaugural exhibition, 'The Shape of the Self / La forma del Sé,' is organized in collaboration with the Milan gallery Cassina Projects.

At the BnF, wonderful maps to imagine new worlds

À la BnF, des merveilles de cartes pour imaginer des mondes nouveaux

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is presenting an exhibition of extraordinary maps that blend imagination with cartography, tracing the evolution of maps from ancient tools of navigation to fantastical creations that fueled exploration and myth. The show features rare works including Renaissance sea monsters, cosmological paintings, and literary maps from Tolkien's Middle-earth and George R.R. Martin's Westeros, alongside contemporary artists like Alighiero Boetti, Sergio Aquindo, and Michael Druks who use maps to express personal and political visions.