Exhibition explores woman who shaped Edinburgh’s fine art collection

The City Art Centre in Edinburgh is hosting a free exhibition titled "Jean F. Watson: An Artistic Legacy" from May 16 to October 4, 2026. It features over 40 historical and contemporary Scottish artworks acquired through the Jean F. Watson Bequest Fund, including pieces by artists such as JD Fergusson, Elizabeth Blackadder, and Alison Watt. The exhibition highlights the impact of Jean Fletcher Watson (1877-1974), an Edinburgh resident whose financial donations in the 1960s and 1970s helped build a nationally recognized collection of Scottish art, now comprising over 1,000 works.

Tracey Emin debuts intimate new prints at London art fair

British artist Tracey Emin has debuted a new series of six intimate lithographs titled "I Need tomorrow" at the London Original Print Fair, held at Somerset House in London. The prints, which include the work "You Never made me sad" (2026), are on display until Sunday and are published in editions of 50 by Counter Editions. Emin describes the series as a "gift" to herself, created spontaneously while working on a print for her major Tate Modern exhibition. The fair appearance coincides with her landmark retrospective "A Second Life" at Tate Modern, running until August 31, which spans 40 years of her career and features iconic pieces like the 1998 installation "My Bed."

MUUS Collection Acquires Todd Webb Archive, Expanding Its Story of 20th-Century American Photography

MUUS Collection has acquired the archive of American photographer Todd Webb (1905–2000), adding approximately 15,000 prints, 50,000 negatives, ephemera, and his extensive journal to its holdings. Webb is known for his evocative postwar images of New York and Paris, as well as his travels across the American West, Great Britain, New Guinea, and Africa. The archive documents his relationships with key figures such as Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe, Walker Evans, and Berenice Abbott, and will join works by Rosalind Fox Solomon, Larry Fink, and Deborah Turbeville in the collection.

Beauty by Volume: On the Art-Book Trail of Chicago

This article is a guide to finding art books in Chicago, tracing a walking trail that begins at the Chicago History Museum and continues to the Graham Foundation and the Newberry Library. The author reflects on beloved but now-closed art bookstores like Rizzoli's Water Tower Place, Prairie Avenue Bookshop, and Golden Age, then proposes a contemporary route for discovering art, architecture, and design books in the city's remaining cultural institutions and museum shops.

Controversial Costumes at the Met’s Newest Galleries

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has opened the new Conde M. Nast Galleries, designed by the Brooklyn-based firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The inaugural exhibition, titled "Costume Art," features 200 pieces from various museum departments and will run until January 10, 2027. The 12,000-square-foot space, located off the Great Hall, incorporates historic structural elements and uses subtle lighting and materials to create a quiet backdrop for the display of fragile costumes and art objects.

Best Bets: Rosemont hosts Spring Fun Fest and Anime Central

This article is a roundup of upcoming events in the Chicago area, primarily focused on the Rosemont suburb. It announces the annual Spring Fun Fest at Parkway Bank Park on May 16, featuring family activities and music, and the return of Anime Central, a major anime and Japanese pop-culture convention, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center from May 15-17. The article also lists several other cultural happenings, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's all-French program, a new exhibition at the Driehaus Museum titled "Ink & Outrage: 18th Century Satirical Prints in London & Dublin," an improv performance by Bluebird Improv at the Studebaker Theater, and a Chamber Blues concert by Corky Siegel at Space in Evanston.

Multi-Museum Exhibition Spotlights Legacy of Betsy James Wyeth

A major multi-museum exhibition titled *By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth* will open across three U.S. institutions in 2026, re-examining the life and legacy of Betsy James Wyeth. The collaborative project—organized by the Farnsworth Art Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, and Brandywine Museum of Art—is the first to fully explore her role as an innovative designer of immersive spaces and key creative collaborator to her husband, Andrew Wyeth. Each venue highlights a different aspect of her work: the Farnsworth focuses on her built environments in Maine; Colby examines Allen and Benner Islands with new commissions by contemporary artists; and Brandywine centers on Brinton’s Mill and the Wyeths’ creative partnership, drawing from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

Summer 2026 Midnight Moment Program

Times Square Arts has announced the Summer 2026 Midnight Moment program, featuring three artists: Sonia Boyce (June), Tromarama (July), and Maia Chao (August). Boyce's 'Transform' presents a kaleidoscopic film of Andean ancestral movements, presented with the Queens Museum. Tromarama's 'Turn On #2' examines technology's impact on reality and the environment, presented with The Kitchen. Maia Chao's 'Studies for American Idle' draws from a 2025 site-specific performance in Times Square. The works will be shown nightly from 11:57 pm to midnight on nearly 100 electronic billboards.

Exhibition | RonNAGLE, 'Phantom Banter' at Gio Marconi, Milan, Italy

Gió Marconi Gallery in Milan, Italy, is presenting 'Ron Nagle. Phantom Banter,' the first solo exhibition in Italy dedicated to West Coast sculptor Ron Nagle. The show features eleven ceramic sculptures produced between 2024 and 2026, along with recent drawings, highlighting Nagle's refined small-scale works and his process of translating drawings into three-dimensional objects. Nagle, born in 1939 in San Francisco, apprenticed with Peter Voulkos in the 1960s and became a key figure in the California Clay Movement, influenced by artists like Ken Price.

미시시피미술관 '사진과 흑인미술운동, 1955-1985'(7/25-11/8) - Lounge

The Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) presents "Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985," a landmark exhibition exploring the role of photography in fostering Black visual culture and identity during the civil rights and Black Arts Movement eras. The show features approximately 150 works by over 100 artists, including Dawoud Bey, Gordon Parks, and Carrie Mae Weems, drawn primarily from the National Gallery of Art's collection, and runs from July 25 to November 8, 2026, as the final stop on a national tour.

MOCAD Reopens with New Exhibitions from Detroit Artists

Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAD) has reopened after an eight-month closure for construction, unveiling four new exhibitions as part of its 2026 Spring Exhibition and 20th anniversary. The renovations include a new HVAC system, educational space, and windows that allow passersby to see inside. The building has been renamed the Julia Reyes Taubman Building in honor of the late co-founder, whose family contributed $1.8 million toward the $3 million first phase. Mayor Mary Sheffield toured the exhibitions at an April 23 media preview, praising the museum's role in community healing and access. Featured exhibitions include "Olayami Dabls: Detroit Cosmologies," the first retrospective of the artist's nearly 50-year career, showcasing his evolution from figurative acrylics to abstract collage.

Islamophobia, motherhood, war and immigration: Indy artists get political

Four Indianapolis-based artists—Salma Taman, Alejandra Carrillo, Bailey Jörk, and Iryna Bondar—are creating work that directly responds to contemporary political and social crises, including the war in Gaza, immigration, and political division. Their art, ranging from Taman's Arabic calligraphy painting promoting forgiveness to Carrillo's digital drawing protesting a migrant detention center, serves as a form of personal and communal expression in a fraught global climate.

Space One Eleven presents art exhibitions by El Paso artist José Villalobos and local artist Jason Tanner Young

Space One Eleven Art Center in Birmingham is launching two concurrent solo exhibitions: "Navegando la Masculinidad de la Frontera / Navigating the Border’s Masculinity" by El Paso-based artist José Villalobos and "see saw sawn" by local sculptor Jason Tanner Young. Villalobos’s work utilizes sculpture and performance to deconstruct machismo and queer identity within Norteño culture, while Young, an Associate Professor at the University of Montevallo, presents a body of work rooted in his extensive background in wood and expanded sculpture practices.

Space One Eleven presents art exhibitions by El Paso artist José Villalobos and local artist Jason Tanner Young

Space One Eleven in Birmingham, Alabama, is presenting two new exhibitions: “Navegando la Masculinidad de la Frontera / Navigating the Border’s Masculinity” by El Paso artist José Villalobos and “see saw sawn” by local artist Jason Tanner Young. The opening reception with the artists takes place on February 19, 2026, and the shows run through April 17, 2026. Villalobos, a multidisciplinary artist, explores queer identity, machismo, and border culture through sculpture, performance, and installation, while Young, an associate professor at the University of Montevallo, works primarily in sculpture.

AOY Art Center’s 14th Juried Show set to open

The AOY Art Center in Yardley, Pennsylvania, is launching its 14th annual Juried Show, featuring 137 selected works from over 425 regional submissions. Curated by Amanda C. Burdan of the Brandywine Museum of Art, the exhibition spans various mediums including painting, sculpture, and photography. The show opens April 10 with a public reception and includes specialized honors such as the Frumi Cohen memorial award for wildlife art.

Step inside Luxembourg artist Massimo Beni’s studio

Luxembourg artist Massimo Beni gives a video tour of his home studio in Esch-sur-Alzette, demonstrating his creative process. Beni explains that his living space doubles as his workspace, allowing him to act on inspiration immediately. He shows how he uses both traditional sketching and digital tools like an iPad to develop his art, emphasizing the importance of never deleting or discarding unfinished work.

The best exhibitions of 2025, as chosen by curators and museum directors

Curators and museum directors from leading institutions worldwide selected their favorite exhibitions of 2025, highlighting a diverse range of shows. Standouts include Wolfgang Tillmans at Centre Pompidou, Paris, praised for its generous scope and integration of the library space; 'Encounters: Giacometti x Mona Hatoum' at Barbican Art Gallery, London, noted for its dialogue across time; and Ithell Colquhoun's retrospective at Tate St Ives, which repositions the artist from a Surrealist footnote to a major figure. Other acclaimed exhibitions include Noah Davis at Barbican Art Gallery, Linder at Hayward Gallery, Hamad Butt at Whitechapel Gallery, and Caroline Walker at Hepworth Wakefield.

A decade on, Ilham Gallery continues to engage new audiences with meaningful art

Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, which opened in August 2015 with the exhibition 'Picturing The Nation,' has marked its tenth anniversary by reflecting on a decade of growth. Over 38 exhibitions across two gallery spaces, the institution has seen its audience expand dramatically—from 4,600 visitors for its first show to over 41,000 for the recent 'The Plantation Plot' (April–September 2025). Director Rahel Joseph notes that the largest demographic is now visitors aged 25 and below, driven by education programs, social media, and a shift toward regional and international collaborations with institutions like the National Gallery Singapore and MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum. Upcoming projects include a video installation by South Korean artist Eunhee Lee, supported by the Han Nefkens Foundation.

From subways to galleries: Miami's Museum of Graffiti traces the appeal of street art

Miami's Museum of Graffiti, located in the Wynwood neighborhood, is hosting a new exhibition that chronicles the origins and development of graffiti and street art, timed to coincide with the annual Art Basel fair and its satellite shows. The museum, founded six years ago by Alan Ket, bills itself as the first museum in the world dedicated to graffiti and street art. The exhibition features works by artists like JonOne (Jon Perello), who began tagging New York subways as a teenager, and highlights key moments such as the 1973 Razor gallery show, which helped legitimize graffiti as an art form.

Serpentine Galleries and FLAG Art Foundation launch U.K.’s biggest contemporary art prize.

Serpentine Galleries in London and the FLAG Art Foundation in New York have announced a new biennial artist prize that will award £200,000 ($264,700) to five artists, one selected every two years, making it the largest single-artist prize in the United Kingdom. The total payout over the next decade is £1 million ($1.32 million). Each winner will receive a solo exhibition at Serpentine, which will then travel to the FLAG Art Foundation in New York. The prize launches in 2026, with the first exhibition scheduled for fall 2027 in London and spring 2028 in New York. Eligible artists must be actively working, have a strong exhibition record, and no more than 10 years of professional show history. A jury of art historians, curators, and artists will select winners from nominations.

Home, belonging, displacement, community: Artes Mundi exhibitions open across Wales

The 11th edition of Artes Mundi, the UK's largest contemporary art prize, has opened across multiple venues in Wales, featuring six international shortlisted artists. The multi-venue format includes a group show at the National Museum Cardiff and solo presentations at Mostyn in Llandudno, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea, and Chapter Art Centre in Cardiff. Artists such as Jumana Emil Abboud, Antonio Paucar, Anawana Haloba, Sawangwongse Yawnghwe, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Sancintya Mohini Simpson explore themes of home, belonging, displacement, and community through diverse media including sculpture, performance, painting, and text-based installation. The winner of the £40,000 prize will be announced on 15 January 2026.

Frieze London diary: a Mick Jagger meeting, a movie night and punk fair style

Frieze London 2025 is underway with a series of off-site events and colorful encounters. Highlights include a Prada Mode installation by Elmgreen & Dragset at Camden Town Hall, where the duo transforms a former council chamber into an auditorium filled with mannequins and a looping abstract film. At Nahmad Projects, artist Michelangelo Pistoletto met Mick Jagger at an exhibition pairing his new Mirror Paintings with Cubist works by Picasso. Belgian collector Alain Servais turned heads in a blazer emblazoned with British rock band names and the slogan "Anarchy in the UK." Russian performance artist Petr Davydtchenko displayed his Pfizer-forehead tattoo as part of his archive piece "Skin in the Game" (2025), acquired by the A/POLITICAL collection. Meanwhile, Victoria and Albert Museum director Tristram Hunt published a Financial Times op-ed defending London and the UK as a cultural destination.

Art, Ambition and Atmosphere: Inside Dallas Contemporary’s Annual Gala

Dallas Contemporary held its annual gala and benefit auction on a balmy night, raising over $1 million. The event, presented by Headington Companies and board president Ann McReynolds with John McReynolds, featured a live auction led by Christie’s Brett Sherlock, a runway show by students from Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts, and a surprise donation from painter Francisco Moreno. Guests included philanthropist Grace Cook, collector Marguerite Hoffman, artist Vicki Meek, and museum director Jeremy Strick, among others.

London’s Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff to step down after 20 years in role

Ralph Rugoff, director of London's Hayward Gallery for nearly 20 years, will step down in spring 2026. The gallery declined to provide a reason for his departure, but Rugoff, 68, plans to continue working as an independent curator and writer. During his tenure, he curated 23 major exhibitions, commissioned public works by artists including Tracey Emin, Yinka Shonibare, and Phyllida Barlow, and oversaw the Hayward Gallery Touring program, which produced exhibitions like the British Art Show across the UK. He also served as artistic director of the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 and received an OBE for services to the arts.

Documentary chronicles decades of work by New York ‘maintenance artist’ Mierle Laderman Ukeles

A new feature-length documentary titled "Maintenance Artist" will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 8, chronicling the decades-long career of 86-year-old New York artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles. The film, directed by Toby Perl Freilich, traces Ukeles's pioneering concept of 'maintenance art'—reclaiming everyday tasks like diaper-changing, floor-washing, and garbage-collecting as artistic acts. It covers her unpaid role as artist in residence of the New York City Department of Sanitation, her 1970s performance shaking hands with 8,500 sanitation workers, and her first major retrospective at the Queens Museum in 2016-17.

Frieze New York Diary: celeb sightings and a swag-filled party

Frieze New York's VIP preview at the Shed drew celebrities including CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, artist and REM singer Michael Stipe, and actress Sharon Stone. A party in Tribeca celebrated the upcoming Counterpublic Triennial in St. Louis, featuring a custom scent by artist Emma McCormick Goodhart. Highlights include a musical performance by Oglála Lakȟóta artist Kite and a special Look Book photo studio capturing art-world figures like collector Beth Rudin DeWoody and Frieze London director Eva Langret.

Heading for Brittany! 5 art galleries to visit in Rennes

Cap sur la Bretagne ! 5 galeries d’art à visiter à Rennes

Beaux Arts Magazine highlights five art galleries to visit in Rennes, France, a city already known for its Musée des Beaux-Arts, art centers 40mcube and La Criée, and a spectacular Frac designed by architect Odile Decq. The featured galleries include Oniris, which celebrates 40 years and the centenary of artist François Morellet in 2026; Jonathan Roze, a newcomer from Paris now located on Place du Parlement; Mica, a gallery in Saint-Grégoire run by former cabinetmaker Michaël Chéneau; and Divet, an even older gallery with a strong Breton identity.

Francois Boisrond prend de la hauteur

French artist François Boisrond, a key figure of the 1980s Figuration libre movement, presents his new series "Ouvrages d'art" at Galerie Maïa Muller in Paris. The series reinterprets monumental architecture—including the Millau Viaduct, the Pont de Normandie, Mont Saint-Michel, Notre-Dame, and the Eiffel Tower—using drone-sourced images. Boisrond employs a new liquid acrylic technique that creates a matte, flat finish, producing works that appear hyperrealistic from a distance but dissolve into impressionistic or pixelated abstraction up close. The exhibition, extended through May 16, 2026, features large-format paintings priced between €25,000 and €50,000.

Raghu Rai, pioneering Indian photographer, 1942–2026

Raghu Rai, the pioneering Indian photographer and photojournalist, has died at age 84. Over his career, he produced more than 30 books covering subjects such as Tibetan exile, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, and Sikhs in India. His most famous work documented the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster, first for India Today and later for Greenpeace, resulting in the book *Exposure: A Corporate Crime* and exhibitions that toured Europe, the US, and Bangladesh. Rai began his career at The Statesman in 1966, joined India Today in 1982, and became a member of Magnum Photos in 1977 under the patronage of Henri Cartier-Bresson. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his coverage of the 1971 India-Pakistan War and the plight of Bangladeshi refugees.

art whitney biennial emilie louise gossiaux

Artist Emilie Louise Gossiaux, who lost their sight in their early 20s, is featured in the 2025 Whitney Biennial with works honoring their late guide dog, London. Through drawings and sculptures created by touch, Gossiaux imagines a dog's heaven filled with Kong toys and spiritual reunions, exploring themes of interdependence, grief, and liberation. The works include pieces like "In Dreams We'll See Again" (2025) and the installation "Kong Play."