After a century in storage, an 18th-century tapestry goes on show at Blenheim Palace

A rare 18th-century tapestry, *The Battle of Arbela*, has gone on public display at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, UK, after more than a century in storage. The tapestry, part of the *Story of Alexander the Great* series commissioned by the first Duke of Marlborough in 1707, was woven by Flemish weaver Judocus de Vos and designed by French artist Charles Le Brun. It depicts Alexander the Great's victory over the Persian Army at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. The piece is now exhibited in the palace's Great Hall until 26 August, following conservation work completed in the early 2000s.

Column: New Richard Hunt exhibit takes the measure of the artist and the man

A new exhibition titled "Freedom in Form: Richard Hunt" is on view at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) in Chicago through November 15. The show features over 160 works, including intimate sculptures and maquettes, offering a personal look at the late sculptor Richard Hunt, who died in December 2023. It originated at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, inspired by Illinois first lady MK Pritzker. The exhibition highlights Hunt's early life, his self-taught welding skills, and his pivotal experience attending Emmett Till's funeral in 1955, which shaped his commitment to civil rights and social justice through art.

Exhibition represents lifetime of work by acclaimed artist

Carol LaChiusa, a 95-year-old artist from Grosse Pointe Farms, is the subject of a new exhibition titled "Carol LaChiusa: A Journey in Art" at the Grosse Pointe Congregational Church Arts Ministry Gallery. The show features approximately 28 works spanning her career from age 15 to just months ago, including her 1947 painting "Down by the Tracks," which earned her a scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art. A public reception with the artist will be held on August 7, featuring jazz by the Matthew Daher Trio, and the exhibition runs through September 7.

King Charles Shares Art from His Personal Collection for an Inside Look at Royal Tours

King Charles and Queen Camilla held a reception on July 9, 2025, to celebrate a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace featuring 72 artworks from the monarch's personal collection. The works, created by artists who accompanied Charles on foreign tours over the past 40 years, include paintings, sketches, and even an iPad image. The exhibition, titled "The King’s Tour Artists," opens to the public from July 10 to September 28 and marks the summer opening of the palace. Charles began inviting artists on tours in 1985, and since then, 43 artists have joined him on 70 tours to 95 countries, with the King acquiring at least one piece from each artist.

Never Before Seen Art From King Charles’s Royal Tours Debuts at Buckingham Palace

A new exhibition titled "The King's Tour Artists" has opened in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom, showcasing over 70 works from King Charles III's private collection. The artworks, created by 43 different artists during 70 royal tours to 95 countries and regions since 1985, are displayed together for the first time. The exhibition was viewed by the King and Queen during a reception marking 40 years of the King's initiative to bring artists on official tours. Highlights include a 1985 watercolor from Italy and 2007 portraits of Charles and Camilla by James Hart Dyke from a visit to the Gulf States. The show runs from July 10 to September 10, 2025, as part of the Palace's summer opening.

Kimbell Art Museum to Exhibit Rare Ancient Roman Sculptures

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth will host "Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection" from September 14, 2025, to January 25, 2026. This exhibition features 58 marble masterpieces from the Torlonia Collection, the world's greatest private collection of ancient Roman sculpture, many of which have never left Italy. It marks the first time these works are displayed in North America, and the Kimbell is one of only two U.S. museums to receive this honor. The sculptures range from the fifth century B.C. to the early fourth century A.D., with thematic sections exploring mythology, imperial power, and restoration.

Frist Exhibition Dresses a Bloody History in Silk and Velvet

The Frist Art Museum's summer exhibition, "Venice and the Ottoman Empire," presents over 150 artifacts from Venice's civic museums, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, and the University of Zadar's museum. Co-curated by Stefano Carboni and Trinita Kennedy, the show explores the complex relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, highlighting not only their centuries of brutal warfare but also their extensive trade networks and cultural exchange. Luxury textiles, including silk and velvet with Ottoman designs, feature prominently, alongside books, a qibla indicator, and military artifacts like a 17th-century Ottoman banner. The exhibition focuses on commerce and the elite who commissioned portraits, though it notably omits discussion of the slave trades and minimizes production processes.

Joyce Pensato at the ICA Miami, FL, USA

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) will present a major survey of Joyce Pensato (1941–2019) from December 2, 2025, to March 15, 2026. The exhibition brings together approximately 65 works spanning five decades, including rarely seen pieces from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, and traces the evolution of her recurring motifs—from early Batman drawings (1976) to enamel paintings and imagery drawn from cartoon and live-action figures like Felix the Cat and South Park.

Newport Art Museum to present ‘Howard Gardiner Cushing: A Harmony of Line and Color’

The Newport Art Museum will present 'Howard Gardiner Cushing: A Harmony of Line and Color' from July 12 to December 31, 2025, the first major retrospective in decades of the Gilded Age artist. Curated by Ricardo Mercado, the exhibition features over 55 paintings, many unseen publicly for over 60 years, and will be held in the museum's Cushing Gallery, named after the artist and funded by his patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

Are you not entertained? Three ancient helmets headline UK exhibition exploring the ‘real’ gladiators

Three exceptionally well-preserved ancient bronze gladiator helmets, discovered in Pompeii, are the centerpiece of a new exhibition titled *Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum* at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. The show, organized in collaboration with the Colosseum in Rome, marks the first UK iteration of a touring exhibition that has attracted over a million visitors worldwide. It features arms, armour, and everyday objects from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, along with immersive installations exploring gladiatorial life.

Asian Art Museum’s exhibit finds hope and beauty in ‘Everyday War’

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is presenting "Everyday War," the first North American solo exhibition of Taiwanese artist Yuan Goang-Ming, on view through August 4. The show features two video installations—"Dwelling" (2014) and "Everyday War" (2024)—that depict domestic spaces being violently destroyed by unseen forces, only to reassemble moments later. Yuan, who created "Everyday War" for the Venice Biennale, uses slow-motion explosions and intimate household details to evoke anxiety, beauty, and catharsis without showing blood or fleeing figures.

NSIDER: Frist Art Museum Debuts ‘Venice and the Ottoman Empire’

The Frist Art Museum has debuted 'Venice and the Ottoman Empire,' an interactive exhibition exploring the cultural, artistic, and commercial exchanges between Venetians and Ottomans from 1400 to 1800. Featuring over 150 works from seven Venetian museums, the show includes ceramics, glass, metalwork, paintings, prints, and textiles by artists such as Gentile Bellini and Vittore Carpaccio, alongside anonymous craftspeople. Immersive elements like soundscapes, scent stations, and a video installation with Nashville chefs Paulette Licitra and Ilyas Bakla enhance the experience, with rooms dedicated to doges, sultans, shipwreck artifacts, and the spice trade.

‘We are all part of this intergalactic universe’: Saya Woolfalk’s solo show immerses viewers in her “Empathic Universe”

Saya Woolfalk's solo exhibition "Empathic Universe" at the Museum of Arts and Design (Mad) in New York presents two decades of her visionary world-building practice. The show unfolds in five chapters, featuring sculptures made from textiles, videos, performances, and immersive digital installations that trace the evolution of fictional plant-and-human hybrid races. Woolfalk discusses the origins of her project, which began after her return from Brazil with works like "Winter Garden: Hybrid Love Objects" (2005) at MoMA PS1, and how the Empathic Universe came into focus during her time in the Whitney Independent Study Program around 2006, drawing on mythology, anthropology, technology, and feminist theory.

An expert's guide to artists' books: four must-read publications on the genre

The Warburg Institute in London is opening an exhibition titled "Art & the Book" (16 May–2 August) and organizing the Biblioteka Art Book Fair (20–21 June) to explore the medium of artists' books. Curated by Arnaud Desjardin and Hlib Velyhorskyi, the show spans examples from the 1960s to today. To help readers understand the genre, Desjardin—author of the reference work *The Book on Books on Artists Books* (2013)—recommends four key publications: Lucy Lippard's *Six Years* (1973), the exhibition catalogue *Looking Telling Thinking Collecting* (2004) edited by Anne Moeglin-Delcroix and others, Clive Phillpot's essay collection *Booktrek* (2013), and Michael Lailach's *Printed Matter: Die Sammlung Marzona/The Marzona Collection* (2005).

National Gallery spends £16m on altarpiece by unknown artist

The National Gallery in London has purchased a 500-year-old altarpiece, *The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and Two Angels*, for £16.4 million from an anonymous owner. The painting, created between 1500 and 1510, is of unknown authorship—experts cannot agree whether the artist was Netherlandish or French, with candidates including Jan Gossaert and Jean Hey. The oak panel was felled around 1483, and the work was first documented at the priory of Drongen in Ghent in 1602. It was sold through Sotheby’s with support from the American Friends of the National Gallery London and had been kept at the Lulworth Estate in Dorset, home of the Weld family.

Weaving a history: Worcester Art Museum exhibits tapestries 'From the Vault'

The Worcester Art Museum is opening a new exhibition, "From the Vault: Collecting Tapestries at the Worcester Art Museum," on May 3, 2025, running through July 27. The show features nearly 30 works, including 12 large-scale tapestries and 18 fragments, many unseen for decades. The centerpiece is the museum's iconic 16th-century "The Last Judgment" tapestry, restored after 35 years in storage. Other highlights include a contemporary piece by Diedrick Brackens, a Flemish tapestry depicting Emperor Titus, and works by Jean Lurçat.

Speed Art Museum discusses 'Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939' exhibit

Erika Holmquist-Wall, chief curator of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, discussed the museum's new exhibition "Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939" in a televised interview. The show, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery, features nearly 80 works including paintings, photographs, works on paper, and sculptures that portray American women who moved to Paris during the early 20th century to pursue careers in the arts. The exhibition includes portraits of figures such as singer Ethel Waters, and offers interactive elements like a participatory portrait-making room and curated Spotify playlists.

A Storied Rockefeller Art Trove Goes on View at Asia Society

The Asia Society in New York has unveiled a major exhibition drawn from the Rockefeller family's extensive collection of Asian devotional sculptures. The show, curated by the institution's own critic, spans 70 years of acquisitions and features works the critic was personally involved in installing decades ago.

The City That Inspired Rothko (It’s Not New York)

A major exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, "Mark Rothko: The Artist's Museum," presents a significant collection of the artist's monumental works, including the rarely seen Harvard Murals and the Seagram Murals. The show focuses on Rothko's late-career shift towards creating immersive, chapel-like environments intended for deep, meditative viewing.

Donna Distefano Recreates Centuries-Old Jewelry for the Frick Collection

Donna Distefano, a contemporary jewelry designer, has meticulously recreated 16th-century jewelry pieces for The Frick Collection's exhibition "Gold, Silver, and Rare Stones: Renaissance Jewelry in the Robert Lehman Collection." Her work involved extensive research into historical techniques and materials, resulting in wearable replicas of intricate pendants and brooches originally owned by European nobility.

Early David Hockney artwork to be sold at auction

A previously unseen early artwork by David Hockney is being offered at auction through Tenants Auctioneers. The piece was purchased directly from Hockney's end-of-year student show by a buyer named Riley and has remained in the same family ever since. Francesca Young, a modern and contemporary art specialist at the auction house, described the consignment as a rare and exciting discovery.

Stockholms Auktionsverk Presents: The Modern Art Sale and The Contemporary Art Sale

Stockholms Auktionsverk is holding two live auctions, The Modern Art Sale and The Contemporary Art Sale, on May 20 and 21, 2026, at Nybrogatan 32 in Stockholm. The sales feature a curated selection of Swedish and international artists from the early 20th century to the present day, including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Tony Cragg, Lena Cronqvist, and a newly discovered painting by Gösta Adrian-Nilsson. The Modern Art Sale highlights modernist masterpieces by Otte Sköld, Sigrid Hjertén, and Ragnar Sandberg, while The Contemporary Art Sale pays tribute to Ola Billgren and includes works by David LaChapelle, Cindy Sherman, and Britta Marakatt-Labba.

Sold-out auctions suggest Hong Kong’s art market is back. But is it?

Hong Kong’s art market showed signs of a significant rebound during the March art week with two rare "white glove" auctions, where every lot was sold. Christie’s led the momentum with a 100 percent sell-through rate totaling HK$655.8 million, followed by Sotheby’s, which achieved HK$548.4 million and set a record for the most valuable work by a female artist sold at auction in Asia with Joan Mitchell’s La Grande Vallée VII.

Hong Kong’s live art auctions are thriving thanks to Picasso and Nara

Hong Kong’s art auction market opened 2025 with significant momentum, characterized by a shift toward high-quality, museum-grade works and selective collecting. Major auction houses like Christie's, Bonhams, and Phillips reported strong results for blue-chip artists, highlighted by the sale of Pablo Picasso’s "Buste de Femme" for HK$196.75 million. While the market has become more deliberate, the demand for rare, impeccably sourced pieces by both Western masters and Asian contemporary icons remains robust.

Records for English painting and Fontana's cuts push the auction

Sotheby’s London kicked off the spring auction season with a robust modern and contemporary art evening sale, totaling £131.7 million and achieving a rare 100% sell-through rate. Despite global political uncertainty, the auction saw aggressive bidding for British post-war masterpieces and Italian avant-garde works. The event also marked the debut of Sotheby’s new commission structure, which lowers fees for high-value lots to incentivize larger transactions.

€3million contemporary art exhibition to open in Dublin

A €3 million contemporary art exhibition titled 'Contemporary Icons' will open at Gormleys Gallery in Dublin from January 15 to February 2, 2025. The show features over 40 works by blue-chip artists including Andy Warhol, Banksy, Tracey Emin, Bridget Riley, Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Julian Opie, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, and Robert Indiana. Highlights include Warhol's 'Mick Jagger' (1975) priced at €139,500 and 'Orangutan' (1983) from his Endangered Species series at €220,000.

Peter Doig is bringing a cult classic London pub back to life—here's why it matters

Artist Peter Doig and his partner, gallerist Parinaz Mogadassi, have purchased McGlynn's, a beloved London pub in King's Cross that closed after its landlord Gerry died in 2023. They submitted a planning application to restore the Grade II listed building, preserving its original character while ensuring it remains a functioning pub. Doig, who lived near the pub in the 1980s, bought the building opposite to open a gallery, with a Merry Alpern show opening October 13 organized by Tramps.

An exhibition in Milan brings visionary contemporary landscapes into dialogue with a great Turner watercolor. Review and interview

Una mostra a Milano fa dialogare visionari paesaggi contemporanei con un acquerello del grande Turner. Recensione e intervista

The exhibition "Continuum" at Robilant+Voena in Milan marks the first solo show in the city for American artist Maria Kreyn. It presents a selection of her contemporary landscapes—charged with pathos, abstract geometries, and references to art history—alongside a rare watercolor by J.M.W. Turner, *The Splügen Pass* (1842–43). Kreyn’s seascapes, influenced by her background in mathematics and philosophy, feature turbulent waves, ovoid and parabolic forms, and a sense of latent tension, creating a visual dialogue with Turner’s Romantic vision of nature.

Brooklyn exhibit showcases art by Rikers Island inmates

A groundbreaking exhibition at the Von King Cultural Arts Center in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood features 20 artworks created by inmates at Rikers Island. The show, organized in collaboration with the New York City Department of Correction, includes pieces made with unconventional materials such as markers, cardboard, bedsheets, and toothpaste due to restricted access to traditional art supplies. One featured artist, Brian Croskey, was granted a rare supervised visit to see his work on display, as inmates are typically only allowed to leave for court dates or medical visits.

design salone del mobile 2026 milan raritas

Salone del Mobile 2026 in Milan debuted a new curated section called Salone Raritas, tucked into Pavilion 9 of the fairgrounds. Conceived by fair editorial and cultural director Annalisa Rosso with exhibition design by Formafantasma, the selective showcase brought together 28 exhibitors from 32 countries, featuring rare collectibles, antiques, limited editions, and high-end craft. Highlights included Saudi design house Zaza Maison, Marseille gallery 13desserts, Italian gallery Serafini with works by Indian designer Karan Desai, and live ceramic assembly by Officine Saffi Lab. Formafantasma’s sustainable design used reusable wooden dividers and drilling-free hanging systems.