A world record for Lena Cronqvist and several million-plus sales at Stockholms Auktionsverk’s spring art auctions

Stockholms Auktionsverk's spring auctions, The Modern Art Sale and The Contemporary Art Sale, achieved strong results including a world record for Lena Cronqvist's sculpture "Flicka med flätor och parasoll", which sold for nearly SEK 1.9 million. Other top sales included Andy Warhol's "Queen Elizabeth II" at SEK 2.5 million, Jean-Paul Riopelle's "Arthur" at SEK 1,875,000, and Warhol's triptych "Ingrid Bergman" at SEK 1.25 million. Karin Parrow also set a new personal record with "Kappseglingsdag" selling for SEK 231,250.

Why artists’ love for opera will never die

This article explores the enduring fascination that visual artists have with opera, tracing a historical lineage from figures like Oskar Kokoschka and David Hockney to contemporary practitioners such as William Kentridge and Tacita Dean. It examines how opera's fusion of music, drama, and visual spectacle has inspired artists to create set designs, costumes, and even direct productions, often blurring the boundaries between fine art and performance.

Color them talented: Teen artists offered big scholarship money

Two Illinois high school seniors, Dashiell Speir and Hazel Anderson, received substantial art-school scholarship offers after participating in the Illinois High School Art Exhibition's northern regional show. Speir, a student at Downers Grove North High School, was offered $524,000 in scholarships, while Anderson, from Central High School in Burlington, received $372,000 in offers. Speir plans to attend the College of DuPage before transferring to a four-year school, and Anderson intends to enroll at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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.

Jemima Wyman

Jemima Wyman's retrospective "Deep Surface" surveys three decades of her work exploring DIY aesthetics of concealment, protest iconography, and political solidarity. Born in Sydney and based in Los Angeles since 2004, Wyman is known for collages of masked protesters, activist signage, and street rally residues, as seen in works like *Aggregate Icon (RBW)* (2016) and *Mass Monument (Y & B)* (2018). The exhibition highlights her early inspiration from Fluxus, Minimalism, and Yayoi Kusama, as well as the influence of Brisbane's late-1990s art scenes and postcolonial Indigenous Australian art debates. Wyman, who has Indigenous (Palawa) heritage, uses camouflage and disguise to blur boundaries between visibility and concealment, figure and ground.

Displaying the gallery

The Los Medanos College Art Gallery is preparing for its spring student exhibition, which opened April 15. Gallery director Sarah Lee oversees the installation process, working with student workers and volunteers like Jordan Castro, Dasha Shevchenko, and Eric Sanchez to arrange artworks—including paintings, sculptures, and ceramics—into a cohesive display. A guest juror selected the pieces, and this year's show features an interactive element created by senior lab coordinator Cesar Reyes and Nick Nabas, inviting visitors to engage directly with the exhibit.

Venus Lespugue

The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens presents "Jeff Koons: Venus Lespugue," an exhibition pairing Jeff Koons' monumental stainless steel sculpture *Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange)* (2013–2019) with ten certified copies of Paleolithic Venus figurines from major European museums. The Koons work, on public display for the first time, is loaned from the Homem Sonnabend Collection and directly references the 28,000-year-old Venus of Lespugue carved from mammoth tusk ivory.

Art Exhibits: What's on display in the Fort Wayne area

The article lists current and upcoming art exhibitions in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, including shows at The Orchard Gallery of Fine Art, Garrett Museum of Art, Clark Gallery, ArtSpace/Lima, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Artlink, Ruth Koomler Art Gallery, Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, Visual Arts Gallery at Purdue University Fort Wayne, Allen County Public Library, Langhinrichs Art Gallery, and Atelier. Featured artists include Heidi Malott, Hope Wallace, Greg Lookerse, Jim Gabbard, Angela Green, Chuck Sperry, Jeff Schofield, Katherine Kratzer, Julie Wall, Andrea Granger, and KristinA, with exhibitions ranging from oil paintings and mixed-media to photography, printmaking, and electric vehicle art.

Top Five: April 30, 2026

Glasstire's "Top Five: April 30, 2026" highlights five art events across Texas, including solo exhibitions by Alfredo García at Monterroso Gallery in Houston, Angela Weddle at Un Grito Gallery in San Antonio, and Ludwig Schwarz at Conduit Gallery in Dallas, as well as a group show "Homeward Bound" at DORF in Austin. The article provides details on dates, opening receptions, and artist statements for each event.

Art Exhibits: What's on display in the Fort Wayne area

This article is a local arts calendar listing current and upcoming exhibitions in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area. It highlights new shows such as "Grounded in Light" featuring Julie Wall at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, "Summer Selections" of student work at Purdue University Fort Wayne's Visual Arts Gallery, and "Archetypes" by printmaker Chuck Sperry at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Also listed are ongoing exhibitions including the "46th National Print Exhibition" at Artlink, a tribute to late ceramic artist Tom Sherbondy at Ruth Koomler Art Gallery, and several other shows at venues like the Orchard Gallery, Allen County Public Library, Garrett Museum of Art, and Honeywell Center.

All 3.5 Million Pages of the Epstein Files Are Now on View at This Pop-Up Exhibition

The Institute for Primary Facts has transformed New York's Mriya Gallery into the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Reading Room, a pop-up exhibition displaying all 3.5 million pages of the released Epstein files in 3,437 bound volumes. Open from May 8 to May 21 in Tribeca, the installation is the group's first live project, requiring visitors aged 16 and over to book appointments via a platform called Trumpsonian. Only accredited press, Congress, law enforcement, and victims' advocates may open the volumes, due to the Department of Justice's failure to properly redact victims' names.

BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF CANADA BRINGS TWILIGHT TO THE VENICE BIENNALE

Abbas Akhavan, born in Tehran in 1977, represents Canada at the 61st Venice Biennale with an exhibition titled "Entre chien et loup" (Between Dog and Wolf). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Kim Nguyen, the installation transforms the Canada Pavilion into a monumental Wardian case—a 19th-century plant transport device—converted into a greenhouse for Victoria water lilies. The lilies, native to South America and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova from seeds provided by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, reference their prominent display in the Crystal Palace during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The exhibition runs until November 22, 2026.

WHO ARE THE CURATORS THAT WILL LEAD THE NEXT BIENAL DE SAO PAULO

The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has appointed Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca as chief curators for the 37th Bienal de São Paulo, scheduled for 2027 at the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo in Ibirapuera Park. Carneiro, a curator at MASP since 2018 and an artistic organizer for the 2024 Venice Biennale, and Fonseca, a visual arts curator at Culturgest and curator-at-large at the Denver Art Museum, will lead the largest visual arts event in Latin America.

Kazakhstan's creative industry accelerates. A new foundation supporting the art scene emerges

L’industria creativa del Kazakhstan accelera. Spunta una nuova fondazione che sostiene la scena artistica

A new private foundation called TOVA Foundation, based in Geneva, has been established to promote contemporary art from Central Asia, specifically focusing on Kazakhstan's art scene. The foundation debuted at the Venice Biennale with an exhibition titled "Trading Treasures" featuring Kazakh artists Saule Suleimenova and Sayan Baigaliyev at Casa dei Tre Oci. The initiative is backed by Togzhan Wertheimer, a Kazakh-born entrepreneur and philanthropist connected to the fashion industry through her husband David Wertheimer, and includes a board with figures like Tatiana de Pahlen and art consultant Jean-Olivier Despres. The foundation's curator is Vladislav Sludskiy, who previously worked at Ethan Cohen Gallery and co-founded the ARTBAT FEST and Eurasian Cultural Alliance.

In Venice, a new project aims to transform museums into living, participatory spaces

A Venezia un nuovo progetto punta a trasformare i musei in spazi vivi e partecipati

The Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) has launched "Performing MUVE," a new program set to begin in spring 2026 that reimagines museums as dynamic, participatory spaces. The initiative, developed by MUVE Academy and MUVE Education, will unfold across three venues: Museo Fortuny, Casa di Carlo Goldoni, and the new MUVEC – Casa delle Contemporaneità in Mestre. The program includes four distinct projects—led by Mattia Berto, choreographer Elena Ajani, actress Sara Urban, and dancer Giulia Gemma Manfrotto—that use dance, theater, and embodied practices to transform visitors from passive observers into active participants.

In Salento c’è una residenza che mette gli artisti in contatto con territorio e storia della Puglia. Intervista

In Casamassella, in the heart of Salento, Red Lab Gallery's residency program has produced "Chiedete al vento, all’onda, alla stella, all’uccello," a project by artists Agata Ferrari Bravo and Thomas Michael Saccuman with an intervention by Flavio Favelli, curated by Leonardo Regano. The centerpiece is a large bird-cart, a hybrid sculpture and performative device made from papier-mâché, fragments of festive lights, and objects collected from the local area, designed to be disassembled and reactivated. Favelli's installation transforms decommissioned luminarie into a suspended environment that amplifies the work's ambiguous, almost ritualistic quality.

An artist told the incredible story of a Calabrian village that no longer exists. The interview

Un artista ha raccontato l’incredibile storia di un borgo della Calabria che non c’è più. L’intervista

Italian artist Martin Errichiello has created [campanamuta], a six-part audio work broadcast on RAI Radio 3's Zazà program in late 2025 and now available on RaiPlay Sound. The piece tells the story of Eranova, a farming community founded in 1896 near Reggio Calabria that was destroyed by 1980 after the Christian Democratic party planned—but never built—a steel center on its land, now the site of the Port of Gioia Tauro. Errichiello weaves together interviews with former residents and his own original texts, using non-linear narration to explore the village's utopian origins and forced disappearance.

Art Notes, May 13

Artist and teacher Jamie Jarka, creator of the popular Milo the Seagull mascot for Long Beach Island, has expanded her merchandise to Ron Jon Surf Shop in Ship Bottom, selling prints, stickers, magnets, and nightlights. Jarka will also teach weekly summer art classes at three Island venues: Bayview Park in Brant Beach, Firefly Gallery in Surf City, and Sea Shell Resort and Beach Club in Beach Haven, with schedules and pricing detailed for each location. Additionally, the article covers the 51st annual Art in Bloom movement, with events at Pine Shores Art Association's Stafford gallery and the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences (LBIF), where garden club members create floral arrangements inspired by artworks. Other news includes the PSAA Tuckerton Art Center's "Blooming Spring" show, a "Glimpses of America" exhibition at Beach Haven Borough Gallery, and a call for South Jersey photographers to submit work for an LBIF photography exhibition and fundraiser celebrating LBI lifeguards.

Art exhibition at P.E.I. Farm Centre features work of Wendy Jones

The P.E.I. Farm Centre in Charlottetown is hosting an exhibition titled "Chaos Corralled: Art Harvested from the Heart of Havoc" by Belle River artist Wendy Jones, running from May 20 to June 30. The show features paintings and photographs, with an opening reception on May 20 where Jones will demonstrate fluid art techniques and offer visitors a chance to create their own miniature pour paintings.

Para verte mejor, en todo tiempo

The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney is presenting "Para verte mejor, en todo tiempo" (To see you better, at all times), a solo exhibition by Venezuelan-born artist Nadia Hernández. The show features an immersive textile collage, mural, and soundscape that draws on Venezuelan protest songs, musical traditions, and the artist's own diasporic experiences to explore memory, displacement, and resistance. It includes recent works such as "En todo tiempo (at all times)" 2024 and "El segundo verso (the second verse)" 2025, and is part of the gallery's Contemporary Projects series highlighting artists from New South Wales and wider Australia.

Buddy Holly Center to host gallery talk, closing reception for ‘Daybook’ exhibition

The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas, will host a closing reception and gallery talk for 'Daybook,' an exhibition of mixed media works by DFW-based artist Ashley Stecenko, on Sunday, May 17, 2026. Stecenko will lead a guided tour discussing her creative process, which combines drawing, printmaking, and quilting techniques to explore domestic spaces and personal memory. The exhibition includes her ongoing 'Little Ditties' series, where small journal-like pieces are sometimes sewn into larger patchwork compositions.

Art Gallery of Burlington opens vibrant spring exhibition you have to experience

The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) opens its spring exhibition "A material called Earth, Volume 1: The life of corners" on May 16th, featuring the immersive textile art of Argentinian artist Celina Eceiza. The installation transforms the main gallery with hand-dyed, stitched, and embroidered works, including sculptures ranging from palm-sized to near-monumental, and incorporates ceramics from the AGB's collection. A public opening on May 16th includes a talk and tour with curator Sylvie Fortin and the artist, plus free programming by artist Camila Salcedo and refreshments from local vendors.

St. Mary’s College Professor Of Art Sue Johnson Reveals D.C. Gallery Exhibition

Sue Johnson, professor of art at St. Mary's College, is presenting her second solo exhibition at gallery neptune & brown in Washington, D.C., titled “Blueprint for Happiness.” The show runs from May 16 through June 20, with an opening reception on May 16. Johnson debuts a new series, “My Teenage Years,” which builds on her earlier “Symmetrical Bodies” work and examines the pressures on women to conform to ideals of happiness and perfection in body image and domestic spaces, drawing on 1960s-70s material and commercial culture.

Exhibition | Dai Chenlian, 'Waxing and Waning of the Augustness III' at ShanghART, M50, Shanghai, China

ShanghART Gallery presents Dai Chenlian's solo exhibition 'Waxing and Waning of the Augustness III' at its M50 space in Shanghai from April 10 to May 29, 2026. The show is the final chapter of the artist's 'Mother Trilogy,' centering on his mother's life from 1954 to 2025. Through a reconstructed old house made from loom parts, along with painting, installation, performance, sound narration, and shadow puppetry, the exhibition explores themes of memory, migration, and female resilience, drawing on a line by Tang dynasty poet Li Shangyin.

Cultural workers at Venice Biennale to strike over Israel’s participation

Cultural workers and participants at the Venice Biennale plan to strike on 8 May during the opening week of the 61st edition, protesting Israel’s participation in the event. The strike, organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) and supported by Italian trade unions, includes a rally near the Arsenale site. ANGA previously sent a letter signed by over 230 artists and curators demanding the cancellation of the Israeli pavilion, citing opposition to "genocide normalisation in culture" and precarious labor conditions. Israel is represented this year by sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, who opposes cultural boycotts.

Venice Biennale jury quits amid row over participation of Russia

The entire jury of the Venice Biennale resigned just days before the 61st international art exhibition's opening on May 9, following a dispute over the decision to allow Russia to participate. The five-member panel, led by Solange Farkas and including Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, had previously stated it would not award prizes to artists from countries whose leaders face charges of crimes against humanity, a move seen as targeting Russia and Israel. The Biennale responded by postponing the award ceremony to November 22 and announcing it would give two awards, including one that could go to any national participation, citing its founding principles of openness and rejection of censorship.

This Family Made Gin on Zoom During Covid. Here’s How It Became an Art World Staple.

During the pandemic, the Mordant family—Simon, Catriona, Brielle, and Angus—began making gin from wild juniper on their Umbria property, splitting operations between Italy, London, and upstate New York. After enrolling in a master gin-making course and refining recipes via Zoom, they entered their creation into the World Gin Awards, earning a triple-gold medal with a score of 97 out of 100. Despite initially producing only 502 bottles not intended for sale, global demand prompted them to scale up commercially, leading to Quattro Gatti becoming the official gin of the Venice Biennale.

After Going Through the Darkness Part 1: Kōta Takeuchi Exhibition "Nononononomatsuri" @ Ichihara Lakeside Museum

暗闇をくぐってみたら Part1 竹内公太展「のののののまつり」@ 市原湖畔美術館

The Ichihara Lakeside Museum, currently under renovation since late 2025, will partially reopen on May 1, 2026, with a theater-style series of solo exhibitions titled "Kōta Takeuchi: Nononononomatsuri" as its first installment. Artist Kōta Takeuchi, born in 1982 in Hyogo Prefecture and based in Fukushima, presents new video installations created during a four-month residency in Ichihara, where he visited over 70 stone monuments across the city—including horse-headed Kannon statues, Koyasu statues, and war memorials—to explore themes of parallel bodies and possession. The exhibition features works such as "Disassembly of the Sansha-za" (2013–2023), "Cement Thief" (2024), and "Sigh of the Ground" (2022), with a map showing the locations of the documented stone monuments.

Art, museum exhibits in Kenosha, Racine counties this week

This article highlights a series of art exhibitions and events taking place in Kenosha and Racine counties this week. The Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha is hosting a watercolor exhibition in collaboration with the Watercolor USA Honor Society through May 24. Additionally, the Kenosha Art Association is offering a Tatakizome (hammering plants) Flower Printing class with instructor Jill Montgomery. In Racine, an exhibition titled "Flying Kites in a Windless World" featuring works by Vanessa Filley continues.

The regeneration of Rome's former barracks begins, where the Museum of Science will also rise. Objectives and timeline of the construction site

Parte la rigenerazione delle ex caserme di Roma, dove sorgerà anche il Museo della Scienza. Obiettivi e tempi del cantiere

The Italian government, through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and COIMA Sgr, has launched the regeneration of the former Guido Reni military barracks in Rome's Flaminio district. The 5-hectare site, abandoned since 2019 and located opposite the MAXXI museum, will be transformed into a mixed-use urban district including housing, retail, a hotel, green spaces, and a new Museum of Science. Demolitions are set to begin in October 2026, with the project expected to be completed by 2029. The museum will be designed by Rome-based studio ADAT, which won an international competition in 2023.