Masterpieces of Art Modeled and Printed in Ultra-High Definition: The Challenge Met by LITO

Des chefs-d’œuvre de l’art modélisés et imprimés en très haute définition : le défi relevé par LITO

Beaux Arts Magazine partnered with the Austrian printing and publishing company LITO to stage a challenge at its 500th-issue launch party. Guests were asked to identify the authentic 15th-century painting by Giovanni Bellini's circle from among four seemingly identical works, three of which were ultra-high-definition reproductions created by LITO. The company's patented modeling and printing technology replicates the texture of brushstrokes, varnish sheen, canvas grain, and even craquelure with unprecedented precision.

1,1 milliard de dollars

The Journal des Arts' issue No. 677, dated May 15, 2026, leads with the opening of the Venice Biennale amid a tense climate. Other top stories include the final adoption of a French law on the restitution of cultural property looted during colonization, the V&A East museum's strategy to attract younger audiences, a report on how Monet's legacy in Giverny does not benefit everyone locally, and an analysis of the structuring market for the Nabis artists.

Record pour Pollock

The Journal des Arts' May 15, 2026 issue (No. 677) covers a range of art-world developments: the Venice Biennale opens amid controversy, a French law on the restitution of cultural property looted during colonization is definitively adopted, the V&A East museum targets younger audiences, the town of Giverny struggles to benefit from Monet's legacy, and the market for Nabis artists is becoming more structured.

Le coup d’envoi des ventes de New York

Le Journal des Arts' issue n°677 (May 15, 2026) leads with the opening of the Venice Biennale amid a tense climate. Other top stories include the final adoption of a French law on the restitution of cultural property looted during colonization, the V&A East museum's strategy to attract younger audiences, a report on how Monet's legacy in Giverny does not benefit everyone locally, and an analysis of the structuring market for works by the Nabis artists.

Décès de Bruno Bischofberger

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist and art dealer, has died. Known for his Zurich gallery that represented major contemporary artists, Bischofberger played a pivotal role in the careers of figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Francesco Clemente. His death marks the end of an era for the post-war and contemporary art market.

The Met Gala, an Institution within the Institution

Le Met Gala, une institution dans l’institution

Le Met Gala 2026 took place on Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams. The event raised a record $42 million for the Costume Institute, with celebrities like Madonna and Kendall Jenner attending under the dress code 'Fashion is Art'. The gala also opened the exhibition 'Costume Art', curated by Andrew Bolton, featuring 25 new mannequins with diverse body types.

Maximilien Durand

Maximilien Durand has been appointed to a new role in the art world, as reported by Le Journal des Arts. The article announces his position, though specific details of the appointment are not provided in the given text.

Melissa Chiu Appointed Head of Guggenheim New York

Melissa Chiu nommée à la tête du Guggenheim New York

Melissa Chiu has been appointed as the new director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, effective September 1. Currently the head of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Chiu succeeds Mariët Westermann, who will transition to a strategic role overseeing the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s international network. Chiu brings a proven track record of fundraising, having secured nearly $250 million during her tenure at the Hirshhorn, and is credited with significantly increasing attendance and diversifying the museum's collections.

Guernica will remain in Madrid

Guernica restera à Madrid

The Spanish government has officially confirmed that Pablo Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece, Guernica, will remain at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. This decision puts an end to long-standing requests from the Basque Country to have the mural moved to Bilbao, specifically to the Guggenheim Museum, or to Guernica itself, the town whose 1937 bombing inspired the work.

Postal Museum

Musée Postal

The Musée de la Poste in Paris is currently hosting a series of diverse exhibitions and cultural programs, ranging from a focused look at Henri Matisse's vibrant painterly style to an exploration of how design has integrated into national heritage. The institution is also featuring the chaotic architectural installations of Tadashi Kawamata and a deep dive into the historical and cultural construction of the 'witch' archetype.

Centre Pompidou Hanwha to open its Seoul space in June 2026.

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha is scheduled to open its doors in Seoul in June 2026, following a three-year construction period. Located within the iconic 63 Building in the Yeouido district, the 10,000-square-meter facility replaces a former aquarium with a four-story "box of light" designed to maximize natural illumination.

Ornament & Information at Chicago Cultural Center

The Chicago Cultural Center is presenting 'Ornament & Information,' an exhibition featuring 62 images and no videos, as documented by Contemporary Art Daily. The show explores the interplay between decorative ornamentation and informational content in contemporary art, though specific artists, dates, and curatorial details are not provided in the available text.

How Fatinha Ramos Channels ‘Visual Activism’ in Her Richly Layered Illustrations

Fatinha Ramos, a Portuguese artist and illustrator based in Antwerp, describes her work as 'visual activism,' creating richly layered illustrations that give voice to minorities and address social issues. She collaborates with major clients including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Tate, Scientific American, the Anne Frank Museum, and MoMA, which commissioned her to illustrate an essay about being compared to Frida Kahlo. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), Ramos spent much of her childhood in hospitals, where drawing became an escape. After 12 years as an art director in advertising and publishing, she now focuses on her own practice, which challenges stereotypes around disability, climate crisis, sexism, and racism. She is currently working on a graphic novel and a series of anatomical glass sculptures based on brittle bone disease.

Cinga Samson Conjures Mystery and the Sublime in Large-Scale Oil Paintings

South African artist Cinga Samson is currently presenting a series of large-scale oil paintings in a solo exhibition titled "Ukuphuthelwa" at White Cube in New York. The works feature dreamlike, nocturnal tableaux characterized by deep pigments, spectral figures with all-white eyes, and symbolic animals that bridge the earthly and divine. The title, which translates from isiXhosa as "unable to sleep," frames sleeplessness as a state of heightened spiritual alertness rather than a medical condition.

Julia Heyward “Miracles in Reverse” at Kunstverein Nürnberg

Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft is presenting "Miracles in Reverse," the first institutional solo exhibition in Europe by American artist Julia Heyward (born 1949). Heyward was a central figure in New York's downtown art scene during the 1970s and 1980s, and her work anticipated major developments in art history. The exhibition showcases her distinctive practice developed over five decades.

John Giorno “The Performative Word” at MAMbo, Bologna

A major retrospective exhibition dedicated to John Giorno, titled "The Performative Word," has opened at MAMbo, the Museum of Modern Art of Bologna. The show, curated by Andrea Bellini and Vincente Todolí, explores Giorno's multidisciplinary practice as a poet, artist, and activist, highlighting his collaborations and his innovative approach to making poetry a performative and visual experience.

Whitney Biennial 2026: Care, Catastrophe, and Private Gestures

The Whitney Biennial 2026, the 82nd edition of the longest-running survey of American art, opened with a stripped-down, self-referential title and no subtitle, reflecting a moment of national self-questioning. The exhibition features 56 artists, duos, and collectives, with highlights including Agosto Machado's shrine sculptures dedicated to friends lost to AIDS, Emilie Louise Gossiaux's tender works about her guide dog London, and Michelle Lopez's apocalyptic video projection *Pandemonium*. Machado, a longtime downtown New York artist and caregiver, died shortly after the biennial opened, and his ashes are to be mixed with those of Marsha P. Johnson and spread in the Hudson River.

Aboriginal in the Alps: “ROOTS” at Fondation Opale

Fondation Opale in Lens, Switzerland, has unveiled "ROOTS," a major exhibition that bridges Australian Aboriginal art with Western contemporary masterpieces. Curated by Samuel Gross, the show juxtaposes works by Aboriginal artists like Keith Stevens and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri with global icons including Olafur Eliasson, Sheila Hicks, and Niki de Saint-Phalle. The exhibition utilizes the unique alpine setting to explore themes of materiality, ancestral territory, and the universal human creative impulse across different geographies and epochs.

Ali Cherri Files War Crime Case Over Israeli Airstrike on Beirut

French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, in collaboration with the International Federation for Human Rights, has filed a civil complaint in a French court regarding a 2024 Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike, which occurred in the Noueiri neighborhood just hours before a ceasefire, destroyed Cherri’s family home and killed seven civilians, including his parents and their domestic helper. The legal action, submitted to a specialized war crimes unit, alleges that the targeting of a civilian residence constitutes a war crime under both French and international law.

Joy Labinjo’s Women Take Their Place in the Gallery

Milan's art scene is currently anchored by a series of high-profile exhibitions coinciding with the Miart fair, featuring a diverse range of international talent. Highlights include Joy Labinjo’s vibrant figurative paintings at Tiwani Contemporary, which explore Black domesticity and sisterhood, and Cao Fei’s multimedia investigation into the intersection of technology and global agriculture at Pirelli HangarBicocca. Other notable presentations include Anselm Kiefer’s monumental tributes to female alchemists and historical figures, marking a significant moment for contemporary art in the city.

Venice show brings together two leading figures from the Polish avant-garde

A collateral exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale, titled "Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990) Emballage Cricotage and Madame Jarema," brings together two towering figures of the Polish avant-garde: Tadeusz Kantor and Maria Jarema. Organized by the Starak Family Foundation at the Procuratie Vecchie, the show features over 60 works spanning paintings, monotypes, sculptures, theatre props, and costumes, culminating in a room dedicated to Kantor's seminal theatre piece "The Dead Class" (1975). Jarema's work was shown at the 1958 Venice Biennale, and Kantor exhibited in the Polish pavilion in 1960; the exhibition highlights their intertwined, interdisciplinary practice and their foundational role in post-war Polish avant-garde art.

British artist says the Met ‘should take responsibility’ for dress copyright dispute

British artist Anouska Samms has publicly criticized the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York over a copyright dispute involving a dress displayed in the Met Gala opening exhibition. Samms claims the museum included a garment called the Nervina Hair Dress, which she says is a copy of her collaborative work Hair Dress, created with fashion designer Yoav Hadari during their residency at the Sarabande Foundation. The Met had expressed interest in acquiring the original dress for its Costume Art exhibition but shelved those plans in December. Samms says she was not credited or paid, while Hadari acknowledges her IP rights over the textile but asserts the design and construction are his own. The Met has declined to comment, directing the artists to resolve the matter themselves.

Frick Inks Three-Year Partnership with Louis Vuitton, with Support for Exhibitions and Free Fridays

The Frick Collection in New York has announced a three-year partnership with Louis Vuitton, under which the fashion house will sponsor three upcoming exhibitions, a curatorial research associate position, and a year of the museum's free First Fridays program. The partnership launches with Louis Vuitton's Cruise 2027 collection show, designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, held in the Frick's first-floor galleries on May 20. The sponsored exhibitions include “Siena: The Art of Bronze, 1450–1500” (fall 2025), “Painting with Fire: Susanne de Court and the Art of Enamel” (spring 2027), and a third exhibition on 19th-century paintings (late 2027). The Louis Vuitton Curatorial Research Associate will be Yifu Liu, currently a curatorial fellow at the Frick, who will research Asian porcelain and cross-cultural exchange between Europe and China.

Pedro Reyes’s new Lacma commission sparks criticism in Mexico

Pedro Reyes's new sculpture 'Tlali' (2026), a four-meter-tall Olmec-inspired volcanic-stone female face installed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma), has sparked criticism in Mexico. An open letter signed by nearly 80 cultural figures, published on the art criticism site Cubo Blanco, alleges the work is a new version of a 2021 project that was canceled after backlash. That earlier project, 'Tlalli', was meant to replace a Christopher Columbus statue on Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma but faced opposition from over 300 cultural figures who argued a male, non-Indigenous artist should not represent Indigenous women. The site later became the 'Glorieta de las Mujeres que Luchan', an anti-monument against gender violence.

Henrike Naumann Stared Down a Divided Germany’s Past While Eyeing Our Troubled Present

Henrike Naumann, a German artist known for using secondhand furniture and design to explore political extremism and consumer capitalism, is profiled in ARTnews. The article recounts her first US exhibition, “Re-Education” at SculptureCenter in New York in 2022, where she created installations referencing the January 6 Capitol attack, juxtaposing Federal-style office furniture with a Flintstonian mancave and chairs arranged by ideological subtext. The show gained unexpected attention when German media covered it, linking her small hometown of Zwickau with New York, and she later visited Thomas Hart Benton’s murals at the Met to understand American power and aesthetics.

The art of politics: how global conflicts are playing out in this year's Venice Biennale

Israel is making a controversial return to the 2025 Venice Art Biennale after its pavilion was locked in 2024 with a note demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The artist representing Israel, Belu-Simion Fainaru, will present his project "Rose of Nothingness" in the Arsenale, while Russia also returns to the Biennale after its Giardini pavilion was reassigned to Bolivia in 2024. The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) has renewed calls for a boycott and is organizing strike action to disrupt the event, accusing Israel of genocide.

Simply divine: the extraordinary supernatural visions of Francisco de Zurbarán

Francisco de Zurbarán, one of the three great Spanish 17th-century painters alongside Velázquez and Murillo, is finally receiving his first solo exhibition in the UK at the National Gallery in London. The show highlights his distinctive style of religious painting, characterized by stark chiaroscuro, sculptural realism, and a meditative stillness that makes the immaterial seem tangible. Works such as his crucified Christ and The Apparition of Saint Peter to Saint Peter Nolasco exemplify his ability to depict visions and inner spirituality, often commissioned by powerful religious foundations in Seville during the Counter-Reformation.

Natasha Tontey to Unveil Major New Immersive Installation Exploring Indigenous Resistance During Venice Biennale

Artist Natasha Tontey will unveil a major immersive installation titled "The Phantom Combatants and the Metabolism of Disobedient Organs" during the Venice Biennale at the Ateneo Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Jointly commissioned by Berlin’s LAS Art Foundation and Helsinki’s Amos Rex, the work combines video, sound, light, and sculpture to reimagine the story of Len Karamoy, a combatant in the CIA-supported Permesta movement that fought the Indonesian government from 1957 to 1961 in North Sulawesi. Tontey, a Minahasan Indigenous artist, uses LiDAR, quantum ghost imaging, and other technologies to explore Indigenous identity, ecology, and the blurring of history and myth.

Sonic investigations non-profit to be artist-in-residence at London's Gasworks

The non-profit organization Earshot, founded by artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, has been awarded a three-year studio bursary at London's Gasworks. The bursary, backed by Spanish patron Mercedes Vilardell, provides an annual stipend and covers monthly rent for a studio space at the south London exhibition and residency space. Earshot uses sound in the defense of human and environmental rights, and the residency gives it a platform to operate independently after an incubation period with Forensic Architecture. Abu Hamdan and Earshot will also take over the Barbican Centre this autumn for an event titled Repercussions, featuring installations, performances, screenings, and live music.

Inside Sotheby’s Latest Financial Maneuvers

Sotheby's is under financial scrutiny due to two key developments. A New York real estate broker has filed a $10.2 million lawsuit against the auction house over commissions from the sale of its former Manhattan headquarters, a claim Sotheby's disputes. Concurrently, the company has launched a new delayed-payment program for clients, raising questions about its liquidity.