Embattled US Venice Biennale Pavilion is Seeking Donations

The American Arts Conservancy (AAC), an organization founded last year by the Trump administration, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. This comes amid widespread controversy and calls to exclude the US, Russia, and Israel from the event. The AAC website solicits donations starting at $100, claiming a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to restore America's artistic presence abroad. The US government has already contributed $375,000, but the State Department says the total exhibition cost far exceeds that amount. This year's pavilion will feature sculptor Alma Allen, after Barbara Chase-Riboud and William Eggleston declined to participate.

Online-Only Art Auctions Overwhelmingly Succeed in 2025

A new report from Artnet reveals that online-only auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips, Bonhams, and Artnet Auctions generated $423.9 million in 2025, an 8% increase from 2024. The average price of artworks sold online also rose 8.6% to $14,309, with some platforms like Fair Warning finding success through hyper-specific sales, such as one centered on Andy Warhol’s 1974 portrait of Brigitte Bardot. Christie’s reported that 63% of new buyers made their first purchase online in 2025, where the average price point was $22,700.

Marcello Dantas Named Curator of 2027–29 Vancouver Biennale

The Vancouver Biennale has appointed Brazilian artist and documentary filmmaker Marcello Dantas as senior curator for its 2027–29 edition. Dantas, currently art director at the immersive museum Ster Ik in Tulum, Mexico, recently cocurated the 2024 iteration of Saudi Arabia's Desert X AlUla with Maya El Khalil. He has previously organized exhibitions for artists including Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor, Shirin Neshat, and Bill Viola, and curated a project by Vik Muniz for the 2013–15 Vancouver Biennale. Dantas plans to shape the event by addressing the city's corporate real estate development alongside its First Nations and colonial history, exploring themes of displacement and belonging.

Yves Saint Laurent–Owned Mirrors Shatter Record, Selling for $33.5 Million

A unique set of fifteen mirrors custom-made for fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé sold at Sotheby’s for $33.5 million, setting a new auction record for the artist Claude Lalanne. The gilt bronze, copper, and mirrored glass mirrors, created between 1974 and 1985, were originally displayed in the couple’s Paris apartment and were purchased from the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg.

Arthur Jafa and Julie Mehretu Among Art Basel Awards 2026 Medalists

Art Basel has announced the thirty-three winners of its 2026 Art Basel Awards, recognizing individuals and institutions across nine categories. The winners include prominent artists like Arthur Jafa, Julie Mehretu, and Barbara Kruger, as well as institutions such as The Brick in Los Angeles and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. A new jury member, Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, was also added for this edition.

Masterpieces of Italian Renaissance exhibited at National Art Museum of China in Beijing

An exhibition titled "Homage to the Virtuosos: From Leonardo da Vinci to Caravaggio -- Masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance" opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing on May 5, 2026. The show features 36 masterpieces by more than 20 renowned Italian artists from the 15th to the 17th centuries, spanning the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Cy Twombly | Untitled | Art & Prints

This article is a listing for Cy Twombly's artwork "Untitled" (1960-61), a graphite and wax crayon on paper piece offered at Christie's. It provides a detailed biography of the artist, noting his birth in Lexington, Virginia, his studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Students League of New York, and Black Mountain College, and his permanent move to Rome in 1957. The listing includes his major exhibitions, such as retrospectives at MoMA and the Whitney Museum, and highlights his high auction record of $70.5 million for "Untitled" (1970) at Sotheby's in 2015.

BTS RM to unveil personal art collection at SFMOMA

BTS member RM (Kim Namjoon) will present his personal collection of modern Korean art in an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) from October 3 to February 7. The show, titled "RM x SFMOMA," will feature approximately 200 works from both his holdings and the museum's collection, including pieces by Korean artists like Yun Hyong-keun, Park Rehyun, and Kim Whan-ki, alongside works by Western artists such as Mark Rothko and Agnes Martin.

The MAR Museum in Ravenna Opens a Permanent Gallery Dedicated to Fashion Photographer Paolo Roversi

Il museo MAR di Ravenna apre una galleria permanente dedicata al fotografo di moda Paolo Roversi

The MAR museum in Ravenna, Italy, is opening a permanent gallery dedicated to fashion photographer Paolo Roversi, set to launch on May 20. The space, curated by Chiara Bardelli Nonino, will showcase Roversi's poetic and visual universe, featuring his iconic portraits of models like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Rihanna, along with his fashion work and still lifes. The gallery is designed by scenographer Ania Martchenko with lighting by Silvestrin & Associati, and includes areas such as the Studio, the Archive, and the Room of the Muses.

One of the most important galleries in Brazil is in Rome these weeks with an exhibition. The interview

Una delle più importanti gallerie del Brasile in queste settimane è a Roma con una mostra. L’intervista

Brazilian gallery A Gentil Carioca has brought the first Italian solo exhibition of artist Miguel Afa to the Fondazione Capitolina in Rome, in collaboration with the Rhinoceros space. Titled "Il tempo che vive in me" (The Time That Lives in Me), the show features works created during Afa's residency in Rome, exploring themes of time, memory, and light through oil paintings that blend Brazilian and Roman imagery.

In London, you can discover an unpublished Luigi Ghirri in an exhibition made of photographs and words. Review

A Londra si può scoprire un Luigi Ghirri inedito in una mostra fatta di fotografie e parole. Recensione

A new exhibition titled "Felicità" at Thomas Dane Gallery in London presents previously unseen works by Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri (1943–1992). Curated by Alessio Bolzoni and filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, the show features unpublished photographs, fragments of atlases, postcards, posters, and mirrors, exploring Ghirri’s unique vision of everyday life as visual discovery. The exhibition spans two gallery spaces on Duke Street, juxtaposing interior and exterior scenes, and includes works by conceptual artists Félix González-Torres and Giorgio Morandi. A bilingual book, "Luigi Ghirri. Felicità" (MACK), accompanies the show, collecting the exhibited works and three essays by the artist.

The southernmost contemporary art fair in Italy is about to debut in the town of Fiuggi

Sta per debuttare nella cittadina di Fiuggi la fiera d’arte contemporanea più a sud d’Italia

A new contemporary art fair called ArteFiuggi is set to debut in September 2026 in Fiuggi, a small town in Lazio, south of Rome. Organized by Nicola Monti, son of renowned dealers Pio Monti and Liliana Maniero, the fair aims to become the southernmost art fair in Italy. It will be held at the Fiuggi Convention Centre, designed by Studio Valle and previously host to the 2024 G7, and will offer included hospitality for exhibitors at two local hotels.

In Naples, an International Exhibition to Map Instability and Deactivate Borders

A Napoli una mostra internazionale per mappare l’instabilità e disattivare i confini

The exhibition "Atlante" at Thomas Dane Gallery in Naples, curated by James Lingwood, brings together works by eight international artists—Igshaan Adams, Teju Cole, Luigi Ghirri, Emma McNally, Claudio Parmiggiani, Anri Sala, Tatiana Trouvé, and Akram Zaatari—to challenge traditional cartographic representations. Through maps, drawings, textiles, and photographs, the show interrogates the ideological and political assumptions embedded in mapping, reframing the Mediterranean not as a border but as a connective space, and exposing the instability and power asymmetries underlying historical worldviews.

Berlin is the capital of contemporary performance. Here's why

Berlino è la capitale della performance contemporanea. Ecco perché

Berlino si conferma capitale della performance contemporanea, con musei e spazi non teatrali che diventano luoghi di azione e sperimentazione. L'articolo descrive quattro recenti performance: 'Glitch Choir – Vocal Variations' di Deva Schubert allo Schinkel Pavillon, dove il corpo e la voce esplorano il glitch come condizione fisica e politica; 'Roses Rising – The Movement' di Leila Hekmat al Gropius Bau, un rituale collettivo di danza e musica; e altre opere che trasformano istituzioni come l'Hamburger Bahnhof in dispositivi di produzione sensoriale. Anche il Bode Museum partecipa con 'The Healing Museum', uno spazio di meditazione interreligioso.

Milano Art Week 2026 Tops and Flops: The Best and Worst of the Art Week

Milano Art Week 2026 top e flop: il meglio e il peggio della settimana dell’arte

The 2026 edition of Milano Art Week, anchored by the 30th anniversary of the miart fair, presented a mixed bag of organizational shifts and high-quality artistic programming. Key highlights included the successful Milanese debut of Paris Internationale at Palazzo Galbani and the emergence of new cultural hubs like Mulino Factory, which continue Milan's trend of repurposing industrial heritage. However, the primary fair's relocation to the Allianz MiCo South Wing drew criticism for its labyrinthine layout and logistical hurdles despite the scenic park setting.

Blank Spaces. Sung Tieu by Sarah Johanna Theurer

Sung Tieu's installations, characterized by austere, bureaucratic surfaces, explore the hidden architectures of power embedded in everyday systems. The article examines her series of works that deconstruct administrative forms used in asylum procedures, reducing them to blank spaces and quantified grids to expose how institutional power operates through seemingly neutral documents. Her exhibition "In Cold Print" at Nottingham Contemporary physically manifests these themes by using steel fences to control viewer movement, drawing direct parallels between minimalist sculpture and the dehumanizing design of border controls.

Pussy Riot and Topless Activists Rally Against Russian Pavilion at Venice Biennale

On May 6, 2026, the art collective Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN staged a protest outside the Russian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Approximately 50 activists released pink smoke and blue-and-yellow flares evoking the Ukrainian flag, while FEMEN members staged a topless protest with anti-war slogans like “RUSSIA KILLS, BIENNALE EXHIBITS.” Italian police and Biennale security blocked access to the pavilion, and some Pussy Riot activists were tackled after entering. The protest targeted Russia’s participation in the Biennale for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with activists condemning the event for lending legitimacy to Russian officials and artists aligned with the government.

Statement of Resignation

The international jury for the 61st edition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled “In Minor Keys” and curated by Koyo Kouoh, has resigned as of April 30, 2026. The jury members—Solange Oliveira Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—cite their earlier Statement of Intention issued on April 22, 2026, as the basis for their collective resignation.

10 Works Under $10K at Frieze New York 2026

Frieze New York 2026 offers a selection of artworks priced under $10,000 in its online Viewing Room, making the fair more accessible to a broader range of collectors. Featured works include Esther Pearl Watson's UFO-themed paintings of rural America and Nobuyoshi Araki's intimate photographs of his cat, among other affordable pieces from various galleries.

Must-See: Rosa Loy Finds a Durable Form of Togetherness

Rosa Loy, a German painter associated with the New Leipzig School, presents a new body of work at a solo exhibition that explores themes of togetherness, collaboration, and female solidarity through her signature figurative, dreamlike style. The show features large-scale paintings and works on paper that depict pairs or groups of women engaged in shared activities, rendered in muted earth tones with subtle surrealist undertones.

Lubaina Himid on Representing a Changing Britain

Lubaina Himid, the Turner Prize-winning artist, discusses her latest exhibition that reflects on the evolving cultural and social landscape of contemporary Britain. The show features her signature vibrant paintings and installations that explore themes of diaspora, identity, and historical narratives, drawing on her own experiences as a Black British artist.

Michaela Eichwald at Maureen Paley

Michaela Eichwald has opened a solo exhibition titled "MÄR" at Maureen Paley gallery in London. The show runs from March 28 to May 23, 2026, and is documented with 27 images on the Contemporary Art Daily website.

In ‘Door to Life,’ Pacita Abad Evokes Traditional Yemeni Architecture

The article reports on 'Door to Life,' the third solo exhibition of works by the late Filipino artist Pacita Abad (1946-2004) at Tina Kim Gallery in New York. The show focuses on a body of work Abad created after her 1998 visit to Yemen, where she was inspired by the country's traditional architecture and decorative arts, particularly its ornate doors and qamariya (semicircular stained-glass windows). The works, executed in her signature trapunto style—a technique of stitched, padded canvas—layer geometric patterns, botanical motifs, and vibrant colors to evoke Yemeni design. The exhibition runs through June 20.

New Exhibition Explores Modern British Printmaking

The University of Liverpool's Victoria Gallery & Museum will present "Making a Mark: Artworks from the Studio Prints Collection" from June 13, 2026 to January 30, 2027. The free exhibition features 45 prints by seven British artists—including Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, and Celia Paul—created at Studio Prints, a pioneering printmaking workshop founded by Dorothea Wight in 1968. The works were gifted to the university in 2019 through the Arts Council England Cultural Gifts Scheme and will be displayed for the first time.

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.

Martin Wong’s Brick Monument to Popeye

Hyperallergic reviews Martin Wong's posthumous exhibition "Popeye" at PPOW gallery, featuring six motorized plywood panels that reimagine the cartoon character Popeye as curving brickwork. The show includes smaller works like "Sacred Shroud of Pepe Turcel" (1989–90) and paintings of vintage cartoon characters Mutt and Jeff, Little Lulu and Tubby, all rendered in Wong's signature brick style. The review highlights Wong's queer, magpie sensibility and his ability to cross boundaries between high and low culture.

How Dayanita Singh Organized a Major Show in Venice Without Institutional Funding

Dayanita Singh has organized a major exhibition titled "ARCHIVIO" at the State Archives of Venice, marking the first time the institution has opened its doors to the public for an art show. The exhibition, which runs until July 31, features collapsible wooden pillars covered with black-and-white photographs that explore Singh's 25-year relationship with Italy and her broader engagement with archival documents from both Italy and India. Singh achieved this without major institutional funding, instead relying on a "friendship economy" of bartering, negotiation, and individual patrons, and even arranged for local art students to serve as docents in exchange for professional mentorship.

Art meets flowers: What to know about Ball State’s 'Art in Bloom'

Ball State University's David Owsley Museum of Art is hosting its annual 'Art in Bloom' event from May 15 to 17, 2026, in Muncie, Indiana. Regional floral designers create arrangements inspired by works from the museum's collection, with a free public preview party on May 15 featuring jazz by the Mark Buselli Trio. The weekend includes extended hours, paper flower-making workshops, live music by pianist Mikael Darmanie, and a People's Choice Award vote. This year's event is dedicated to the late David T. Owsley, the museum's namesake and main benefactor. A special exhibition, 'Nora Krug: Belonging,' organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum, is also on view through June 13.

Musée d’Orsay opens gallery dedicated to still-unclaimed works stolen by Nazis in WWII

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has opened a permanent gallery dedicated to artworks believed to have been looted by the Nazis from Jewish owners during World War II, but whose rightful owners have not been identified. The exhibition, titled "Who owns these works?", features a rotating selection of 225 such pieces held by the museum, with twelve paintings and one sculpture currently on display. Works by Renoir, Degas, Rodin, and Alfred Stevens are included, alongside provenance research detailing their murky histories—such as a Degas ballroom scene acquired by a Jewish collector later murdered at Auschwitz.

The message behind the US pavilion at the Venice Biennale

The article previews the 61st Venice Biennale, opening May 9 and running through November 22, highlighting early controversies. The five-person Golden Lion jury, led by Brazilian curator Solange Farkas, resigned after declaring they would not consider pavilions from countries under International Criminal Court investigation, targeting the Israel pavilion and its artist Belu-Simion Fainaru. Separately, the US pavilion has drawn scrutiny from the New York Times over its selection process, with commissioner Jenni Parido (a former pet food store owner) tapping curator Jeffrey Uslip and sculptor Alma Allen, bypassing traditional funders like the Ford and Mellon foundations.