Treasures from the worlds of fashion and art collide at an extraordinary new exhibition in Lisbon

A new exhibition titled 'Art & Fashion' has opened at Lisbon's Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, curated by Eloy Martínez de la Pera Celada. It juxtaposes masterpieces from the museum's permanent collection—spanning ancient Egyptian artifacts to Rembrandt and Impressionist works—with historic and contemporary fashion pieces, including garments from Charles Frederick Worth, Yohji Yamamoto, Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen, and Sarah Burton's debut at Givenchy. The show is organized by regional provenance and temporarily replaces the museum's usual display while its Brutalist building undergoes renovation.

Artists reimagine Kanjeevaram saris in ‘Journey and Exile’ showcase at Asian Art Museum, USA

Artist and curator Vara Ramakrishnan presented a one-day exhibition titled 'Journey and Exile' at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, featuring 34 Kanjeevaram saris reimagined with artwork by artists and master weavers. The saris, including a piece by Shirin Nijhawan titled 'Ganesha' enhanced by embroidery artist Prabha Narasimhan, were displayed as unstitched garments that transcend size and social status, each carrying its own narrative.

May 2026 Free Museum Days In San Francisco, From SFMOMA To The Legion Of Honor

A guide published in April 2026 lists free admission days at San Francisco museums and gardens for May 2026. Participating institutions include the Asian Art Museum, Legion of Honor, de Young Museum, SFMOMA, Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco Zoo, GLBT Historical Society Museum, Museum of Craft and Design, Museum of the African Diaspora, SF Botanical Garden, and Japanese Tea Garden. Many venues also offer recurring free days for Bay Area residents, EBT cardholders, and library card holders through programs like Museums for All and Discover and Go.

The new London museum that looks like a ‘reconstructed Toblerone’

The V&A has opened a new outpost in east London's Lower Lea Valley, a former industrial area transformed into a cultural quarter after the 2012 Olympics. The museum, described as looking like a 'reconstructed Toblerone', is the latest addition to the 'Olympicopolis' vision, which aimed to create a cultural legacy akin to west London's Albertopolis. The article, written by Catherine Slessor in The Guardian, offers a mixed review: praising the beauty and craftsmanship of the galleries while criticizing overuse of trendy phrases like 'lived experience' and 'transcultural identities'.

Explore HKMoA's large-scale exhibition "Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West" Starting April 24

The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) opens its large-scale exhibition "Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West" on April 24, featuring over 100 sets of paintings and artefacts from the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Palace of Versailles, and HKMoA's own collection. Works include paintings, prints, lacquerware, sculpture, ceramics, and glassware, with highlights such as Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" and "Water Lily Pond," Zhang Daqian's "Entrance of Bade Garden," and a Ming dynasty bowl with garden scenes. The exhibition also includes a scenographic recreation of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering enhanced with technology for an immersive experience.

Important Early Works from the Cy Twombly Foundation

Gagosian Gallery will present an exhibition of six early works by Robert Rauschenberg from the Cy Twombly Foundation, opening April 25 at 980 Madison Avenue. The show coincides with the centennial of Rauschenberg’s birth and runs alongside a Marcel Duchamp exhibition in the gallery’s new ground-floor space. The featured works, including a rare 1950 sculpture and the photogram *Untitled (1950)*, were preserved by Cy Twombly, reflecting the close friendship and artistic exchange between the two artists who met in 1951 at the Art Students League of New York and later traveled together through Europe and North Africa.

Dataland, the world’s first museum of AI arts, sets opening date and first exhibition

Dataland, the world's first museum dedicated to AI arts, will open on June 20 in downtown Los Angeles. Co-founded by new media artists Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç, the 35,000-square-foot museum anchors the $1-billion Frank Gehry-designed Grand LA complex. Its inaugural exhibition, "Machine Dreams: Rainforest," created by Refik Anadol Studio, uses vast data sets from partners including the Smithsonian and London's Natural History Museum to immerse visitors in a machine-generated sensory experience of the Amazon rainforest. The museum features five immersive galleries, a 30-foot ceiling, and is powered by an open-access AI model called the Large Nature Model, which runs on Google Cloud servers using 87% carbon-free energy.

refik anadol's DATALAND opens june 2026 in los angeles as the first museum of AI arts

Refik Anadol Studio will open DATALAND, the world's first Museum of AI Arts, on June 20, 2026, at The Grand LA in downtown Los Angeles. The 2,320-square-meter institution will feature five galleries, including the Infinity Room, and launch with the inaugural exhibition "Machine Dreams: Rainforest," running through January 31, 2027. The museum integrates AI systems into its architecture, powered by the studio's Large Nature Model trained on ecological data from the Smithsonian and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new central building is a 'machine of discovery'

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new central building, the David Geffen Galleries, to the public. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor at a cost of $724 million, the 347,600-square-foot structure reorients the museum with a single, flowing second-story floor plan, eschewing a traditional main entrance or atrium to encourage wandering and serendipitous encounters with art. The galleries are named for major oceans and are designed to blend cultures and artworks from different eras.

Free museums in Paris and free monuments in Île-de-France: the top cultural deals

The article is a guide listing museums and monuments in Paris and the Île-de-France region that offer free admission, either permanently or on specific occasions like the first Sunday of each month. It highlights venues such as the Paris Museum of Modern Art (MAM), the Petit Palais, the Musée Bourdelle, and Notre-Dame cathedral, detailing their collections and practical visiting information.

Coming to campus this spring? Check out these exhibitions.

The University of Chicago is hosting a diverse slate of art exhibitions across its campus this spring. Highlights include 'A Bestiary of Ancient Nubia' at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, 'Beyond Boundaries: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art' and 'Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas' at the Smart Museum of Art, the photography exhibition 'Black Culture in Chicago' at the Logan Center, and 'History on the Edges: Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Caribbean' at the Regenstein Library.

Bruegel to Rembrandt at Compton Verney: From Brussels to the English Countryside

Compton Verney in Warwickshire is hosting the exhibition 'Bruegel to Rembrandt: Drawing Life, Sketching Wonder,' featuring 50 old master drawings from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. This marks the first time these works, including pieces by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt, and Rubens, have been shown in the UK, offering a rare glimpse into 16th and 17th-century artistic practice through intimate sketches of everyday life.

Review: Getting lost in the art is the best part of LACMA’s new revisionist fever dream of a museum

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a radical reinvention of the museum experience. The installation, conceived by director Michael Govan and architect Peter Zumthor, abandons traditional chronological and departmental silos, instead creating a continuous, curving flow of art from across time, place, and medium. Visitors are encouraged to wander and get lost, forging their own connections between works.

At the Venice Biennale, Canada’s entry blooms with unease

Montreal artist Abbas Akhavan's installation "Entre chien et loup" transforms the Canadian pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale into a living climate system, featuring a humid, Amazon-like environment with a pond of Victoria water lilies. The seeds were sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova, with the lilies growing and blooming over the course of the biennale.

Full extent of Stephen Friedman Gallery's £7.8m debt revealed in filings

Administrators' filings for Stephen Friedman Gallery reveal a total debt of £7.8 million following its closure in February. Three prominent artists—Alexandre Diop, Deborah Roberts, and Kehinde Wiley—are among the unsecured creditors owed a combined £795,000, expected to recover only eight to nine pence per pound. The largest secured creditor is Coutts & Company, owed £3.1 million, followed by Pentland Group with £1.4 million outstanding. The gallery also owes £505,113 to the Pollen Estate for its Cork Street lease, £550,000 to HMRC, and significant sums to shipping and storage firms, including Crozier (£256,470) and Gander & White (£86,772). Art fairs Frieze and Art Basel Qatar are owed £71,227 and £18,763 respectively.

Where to see artworks in Marin

A comprehensive listing of art exhibitions and gallery shows across Marin County, California, for spring 2025. The article highlights dozens of venues including Robert Green Fine Arts in Mill Valley, which will display John Grillo's works from the 1940s beginning in May, alongside shows at Anthony Meier, Art Works Downtown, Bolinas Museum, and many local libraries and cultural centers. Exhibits range from abstract works and pop art to photography, ceramics, and sculptures by artists such as Saif Azzuz, Drew Frazier, Lenore Golub, and Sonny Smith.

A Guillon-Lethière for Worcester

Un Guillon-Lethière pour Worcester

The Worcester Art Museum has acquired Guillaume Guillon-Lethière's painting "Lucien Bonaparte contemplant Alexandrine de Bleschamp Jouberthon" (1802), which depicts the second brother of Napoleon with his second wife. The work had been on loan to the museum from London dealers Lowell Libson and Johnny Yarker, who had purchased it at a Christie's New York auction in October 2019 after it resurfaced in a Portland sale in 2005. The painting was featured prominently in the 2024-2025 Louvre exhibition "Guillon-Lethière. Né à la Guadeloupe," where it was reunited with a portrait of its patron Lucien Bonaparte.

A Painting by Gerard van Honthorst in Utrecht

Un tableau de Gerard van Honthorst à Utrecht

The Centraal Museum in Utrecht has acquired a painting by Gerard van Honthorst, titled *Extase de Marie-Madeleine* (c. 1618-1620), purchased from Cantore Galleria. The work was previewed at TEFAF Maastricht, where the museum also announced a major retrospective dedicated to the artist, titled "Gerard van Honthorst - En tout point différent de Rembrandt," which opened on April 25.

Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Withdraw From Awards En Masse

Almost half of the artists in the 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, along with 16 national pavilion teams, have withdrawn from awards consideration in solidarity with the jury's resignation. The jury resigned on April 30 after stating it would not consider countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC, effectively disqualifying Israel and Russia. The Biennale Foundation then replaced the traditional Golden Lions with new "Visitor Lions" decided by public vote, reinstating all pavilions including Israel and Russia. The withdrawal follows protests at the Russian and Israeli pavilions and a historic labor strike that shuttered multiple pavilions.

Iran Withdraws From 2026 Venice Biennale

Iran has withdrawn from the 2026 Venice Biennale, the world's most important art event, organizers announced on May 4. No official reason was given, but the withdrawal comes amid an uncertain ceasefire in Iran's war with the United States and Israel. The Biennale confirmed the decision in a statement, noting that 100 countries will still participate, including newcomers Tanzania and Seychelles. This follows South Africa's withdrawal over a legal dispute concerning a Gaza-focused artwork, and the closure of the Russian Pavilion to the public after the EU withdrew €2 million in funding over Russia's involvement.

Stano Filko “Painting” at Layr, Vienna

Stano Filko's exhibition "Painting" at Layr in Vienna challenges the persistent binary opposition between painting and conceptualism. The show presents Filko's work from around 1980, a period when debates over the merits of painting versus conceptual art were at their peak, offering a nuanced perspective that complicates this historical divide.

Who’s Afraid of____? at Turquoise

Turquoise gallery in New York is presenting a group exhibition titled "Who’s Afraid of____?" from March 27 to May 10, 2026. The show features works by Anna-Sophie Berger, K.P. Brehmer, David Diao, Gaylen Gerber, Joseph Grigely, John Heartfield, Nandi Loaf, and Alicia Riccio, with images courtesy of the artists, The Heartfield Community of Heirs / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, and the gallery.

Part root vegetable, part deity: Inside Everything Is Terrible’s new Meow Wolf L.A. installation

Meow Wolf's upcoming Los Angeles location, set to open later this year in a former Cinemark movie theater in West L.A., will feature a 20-foot-tall, 1,000-pound amoeba-like creature named WoWoW, created by the L.A.-based multimedia collective Everything Is Terrible. WoWoW serves as the centerpiece of "the N.E.S.T.," an EIT-designed section of the 26,000-square-foot immersive exhibition space that tells the story of the Noothies, a fictional community of former film workers who discover a god and a hidden truth about reality. The installation pays tribute to maximalist roadside attractions like Wisconsin's House on the Rock and New Mexico's Tinkertown Museum, and is one of 45 installations by local collaborating artists including Gabriela Ruiz and David Altmejd.

Maddy Inez talks to Phillip Edward Spradley

Maddy Inez, a Los Angeles-based ceramic artist, discusses her practice in an interview with Phillip Edward Spradley. Her work draws on California's natural environment and histories of displacement, using ceramics to explore maternal lineage, oral history, and plant-based knowledge. A key inspiration is a midwifery certificate belonging to her great-great-great grandmother from the era of enslavement. Inez's upcoming solo exhibition at Megan Mulrooney opens May 16, 2026.

Artist Zineb Sedira on her love letter to African cinema

French-Algerian artist Zineb Sedira discusses her Tate Britain Commission, a new work that serves as a love letter to African cinema. The piece explores themes of resistance to nostalgia and learning from the past, drawing on Sedira's personal heritage and cinematic influences.

Finally, Culture Minister Giuli visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale and made peace with President Buttafuoco

Finalmente il Ministro della Cultura Giuli ha visitato il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia 2026 e ha fatto pace con il Presidente Buttafuoco

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli finally visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale alongside Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, marking their first public appearance together after earlier tensions led Giuli to skip the opening ceremony. During the visit, Buttafuoco proposed that the work of artist Chiara Camoni, whose exhibition "Con te con tutto" is curated by Cecilia Canziani, should find a permanent home after the Biennale ends, sparking discussion about the future of pavilion artworks.

Lagos curator establishes private art society with focus on cross-disciplinary exchange

Ugoma Chinelo Ebilah, an economist-turned-curator who founded Bloom Art Lagos in 2010 and the Mbari Kola Arts and Culture Foundation in 2019, is opening Mbari Kola, a private art society and members club in Lagos. Located in the affluent Ikoyi district, the 800 sq. m space will include a public gallery, shop, and garden, along with a private lounge, terrace, library, and multifunctional rooms for members. The venue will host exhibitions, residencies, film screenings, concerts, performances, and readings, focusing on pan-African art and culture. A soft launch for founding members is set for Africa Day (25 May), with further phases after summer and during Lagos Art Week in November. The club is part-funded by Ebilah and crowdfunded through around 50 founding patrons and members.

“Voglio porre domande che non avranno mai risposte”. Intervista all’artista Ndayé Kouagou in mostra a Reggio Emilia

Ndayé Kouagou, an artist from Montreuil (1992) based in Paris, presents his first solo exhibition in Italy, "Heaven's truth," at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, running until July 26, 2026. The show features his video installation "A coin is a coin" (2022) and is part of the 21st edition of Fotografia Europea 2026, themed "Fantasmi del quotidiano." During the opening, Kouagou performed with poet and actress Salber Lee Williams, composing and deconstructing phrases into the expression "Please Be Yourself." The exhibition will travel to Heidelberger Kunstverein from September 3, and new works co-produced with the institution will appear at the 18th Lyon Biennale (September 19 – December 13, 2026). In an interview, Kouagou discusses his background as a self-taught visual artist and performer, having worked as a motion designer in advertising and as a DJ, and emphasizes writing as his central expressive medium, comparing himself more to a writer than a visual artist.

A Rediscovered Beato Angelico Takes Center Stage at Pandolfini's Old Masters Auctions in Florence

Un Beato Angelico riscoperto protagonista alle aste di arte antica di Pandolfini a Firenze

Pandolfini auction house in Florence will auction a rediscovered fragment of Beato Angelico's *Tebaide* on May 20, 2026, after it had been missing for fifty years. The attribution was confirmed by comparison with the version held at the Museo di San Marco and formerly at the Galleria degli Uffizi. The auction house's Old Masters department, led since 2025 by young director Nicolò Pitto, has achieved strong results, including over €5 million in total revenue for the year, with top lots such as Artemisia Gentileschi's *Cleopatra* (€595,600) and a French School *Saint Catherine of Alexandria* (€620,000).

The Joy of Discovery at 1-54 Art Fair

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, now open at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Manhattan, presents a smaller edition than previous years but continues to offer unexpected, tactile works. Highlights include Rommulo Vieira Conceição's Pop-art-inspired wall installation at Aura gallery, Kendra Frorup's mixed-media piece at the Current: Baha Mar Gallery, and Eymric Moderne's gold-leaf and glass bird painting at TM Arthouse. The fair also features posthumous works by Marcel Gotène at Loeve and Co and Sophia Bounou's enigmatic paintings at Blond Contemporary.