Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule May 19, 2026 visibility 3 link 2 artists

After Whistleblower Complaint, Palm Springs Art Museum Declines to Release Report on Allegations of Fraud and Theft, Claims They Are ‘Not Substantiated’

The Palm Springs Art Museum in California has released a three-page statement claiming that an investigation into a whistleblower complaint alleging mismanagement, fraud, and theft found no wrongdoing. The complaint included allegations of improper reclassification of endowment funds, a $3 million discrepancy in investment accounts, and the forced departure of a former director. The museum hired law firm Barnes & Thornburg and forensic accounting firm RSM US to conduct a six-month review, but declined to release the resulting report to ARTnews or the public. The museum acknowledged that proceeds from deaccessioned artworks were used for operating expenses, calling it a long-standing board-approved practice with an internal loan being repaid by 2030.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 18, 2026 visibility 7 link 2 artists

British Museum Unveils Elaborate Display for Bayeux Tapestry

The British Museum has revealed its plans for displaying the nearly 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry when it arrives on loan from France later this year. For the first time in recent history, the 230-foot-long embroidered narrative of the Norman Conquest will be laid flat in a bespoke case, allowing visitors to view all 58 scenes in a single unbroken display. The exhibition, supported by a £5 million pledge from WorldQuant CEO Igor Tulchinsky, will also feature loans including the Junius II manuscript from Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and silver coins from the Chew Valley Hoard. Tickets for the ten-month show, opening September 10, cost £25–£33.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 13 link 15 artists, 5 galleries

The Best Booths at NADA New York, From Quietly Ominous Ceramics to Ecstatic Jazz Paintings

The New Art Dealers Alliance opened the 12th edition of NADA New York on May 14, 2026, at Chelsea’s Starrett-Lehigh building, coinciding with Frieze and 1-54 fairs nearby. The fair featured 110 exhibitors, including 51 first-time galleries from New York to Shanghai, with standout presentations by Andrae Green and Cyle Warner at Forgotten Lands, Ruth Owens at Voltz Clarke, and Keiko Narahashi at Tappeto Volante Gallery. This year’s edition emphasized ceramics and fiber art, marking a shift from recent years’ focus on figurative painting.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 10 link 1 artist

Sophie Rivera's first survey focuses on experimentation

El Museo del Barrio in New York has opened "Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures," the first career survey of the Puerto Rican American photographer (1938-2021). The exhibition reassesses Rivera's practice, highlighting her experimental work beyond her well-known 1978 series "Nuyorican Portraits," which depicted Puerto Rican sitters in Manhattan's Morningside Heights. Curated by Susanna V. Temkin, the show features works across portraiture, photojournalism, and experimental image-making, including the color photograph "Alternators" (1975, printed 1986), which Rivera donated to the museum in the late 1980s.

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article policy schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 19 link 1 artist

Getty’s Black Visual Arts Archives receives additional $1.8m in funding

The Getty Foundation has awarded an additional $1.8 million to its Black Visual Arts Archives initiative, bringing total funding to $4.5 million across 20 awards. The program supports institutions in processing, digitizing, preserving, and activating archival collections related to Black artists and arts organizations in the US. Grantees include Afro Charities, the Auburn Avenue Research Library, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Charles H. Wright Museum, Morgan State University, the South Side Community Art Center, the University of Chicago’s South Side Home Movie Project, and the David C. Driskell Center. Notable discoveries include footage of the original Wall of Respect mural from the South Side Home Movie Project.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 17 link 13 artists, 6 galleries

He’s behind you! The best of Photo London – in pictures

Photo London, the UK's leading photography fair, launches its 11th edition at a new venue, Olympia in Kensington, London, running from 13–17 May 2026. The fair features a diverse array of exhibitors, including debutants like Agony and Ecstasy gallery, which showcases nostalgic works of Ibiza by Oriol Maspons and Walter Rudolph, and Hackney-based Guest Editions, presenting Laura McCluskey and Thomas Duffield. A new 'Focus' section highlights galleries from Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe, such as Ungallery (Argentina) and Galeria Monopol (Poland). Notable presentations include vintage prints by Japanese master Daido Moriyama at Akio Nagasawa Gallery, and Ketaki Sheth's series 'Twinspotting' at Photoink, which pairs Patel twins in the UK with those in India.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 22 link 2 artists

Taiwan Presents “Screen Melancholy: Li Yi-Fan” at the Venice Biennale

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) presents the collateral event "Screen Melancholy: Li Yi-Fan" at the 61st Venice Biennale, held at the Palazzo delle Prigioni from May 9 to November 22, 2026. The exhibition features a new video installation and mixed-media work by Taiwanese artist Li Yi-Fan, curated by Raphael Fonseca, curator of visual arts at Culturgest in Lisbon and Porto. The installation integrates large-scale sculptural fragments with video and sound, exploring how screens mediate perception and emotional experience, in dialogue with the Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys."

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museum exhibitions schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 14 link 4 artists

Lotus Kang channels desire into Bvlgari's Venice Biennale pavilion

Artist Lotus Kang has created a site-specific installation for the Bvlgari pavilion at the Venice Biennale, working across three studios including a temporary Brooklyn warehouse. Her work, which includes unfixed 35mm film on the façade of Spazio Esedra and new sculptures of plaster baby birds and rubber-wrapped tatami mats, explores themes of multiplicity, permeability, and the unfixing of meaning. Kang, known for her installations at the 2023 Whitney Biennial and Chisenhale Gallery, describes herself as a maker of objects and spaces who resists single interpretations.

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article local schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 20 link 2 artists

Latino community organisation opens $33m arts centre in Boston

On 15 May, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), a Latino-founded nonprofit community development corporation, will open La Casa, a $33 million, 26,000-square-foot cultural center in Boston's South End. The largest Latino cultural center in New England, La Casa is designed by local firms Studio Enée and Annum Architects and features a terracotta-colored facade, energy-efficient design, and flexible spaces for civic engagement, education, and artistic expression. Initial programming includes artist residencies, workshops, and a mural by local artist Alvin “Acóma” Colon honoring Boston’s Puerto Rican residents. The building incorporates salvaged elements from the original turn-of-the-century Lutheran church that IBA repurposed in the 1960s.

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article policy schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 21 link 1 artist

UK’s Palestinian Ambassador Calls on Government to Have British Museum Reinstate the Word ‘Palestinian’

The Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has called on the British government to intervene in a dispute with the British Museum over the removal of the word “Palestinian” from wall texts in its Middle East galleries. Zomlot raised the complaint with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office after reports that the museum had stripped the term from maps and didactics, following lobbying by UK Lawyers for Israel. The museum denies removing the word entirely, stating it still appears elsewhere, but photographic evidence suggests otherwise. Zomlot declined a tour with director Nicholas Cullinan, calling the issue “existential.”

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museum exhibitions schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 19 link 4 artists

Rosy Simas on Creating a Space for Peace in Minneapolis

Minnesota-based interdisciplinary artist Rosy Simas opened a contemplative installation titled "A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:' (i hope it will stir your mind)" at the Walker Art Center on the same day that Trump-appointed border czar Tom Homan announced the end of Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. The installation features salt bottles made from woven corn husks, each honoring one of Simas's relatives, and is inspired by the teachings of Handsome Lake (Ganyodaiyo’), her fifth great-grandfather’s half-brother, who promoted the Seneca concept of a "good mind." The exhibition, on view through July 5, is part of a two-part project that also includes performances in May. Simas, known primarily for choreography, has increasingly gained recognition as a visual artist, recently receiving a Creative Capital Award.

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article news schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 19 link 2 artists

Hundreds of ‘Piss Bottles’ Left at the Met Gala in Protest of Jeff Bezos

Hundreds of bottles filled with what appeared to be urine were discovered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the Met Gala on May 5, 2026, according to the New York Post. The protest was claimed by the anti-billionaire group Everybody Hates Elon, which targeted the event over Jeff Bezos serving as the gala's chair. The group left the bottles with signs labeling them a "Met Gala VIP toilet" and criticizing Bezos for alleged labor practices at Amazon, where workers reportedly feel forced to urinate in bottles due to lack of bathroom breaks. The group later clarified on Instagram that the bottles did not contain real urine.

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candle obituary schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 19 link 3 artists

Mark Gerson obituary

Mark Gerson, a British photographer renowned for his intimate portraits of literary figures, has died at age 104. Over a career spanning half a century, Gerson captured iconic images of authors including Evelyn Waugh, Doris Lessing, William Golding, Tom Stoppard, and Martin Amis, often photographing them in their own homes to put them at ease. His most famous picture is of a grumpy Waugh on his 60th birthday, taken after Gerson was plied with wine. Gerson's work was championed by National Portrait Gallery director Roy Strong, and in 1996 the gallery held a major exhibition of his portraits titled "Literati."

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article policy schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 23 link 1 artist

US National Gallery of Art receives $116m gift to continue nationwide lending programme

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, has received a landmark $116 million donation from the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation to permanently endow its Across the Nation lending programme. Launched in spring 2025, the initiative has already reached around 900,000 visitors at ten partner institutions, including the Anchorage Museum and the Mint Museum, by loaning works from the NGA's collection at no cost—covering transport, installation, insurance, and marketing. The next cycle will run from autumn 2027 to 2029, with new partners to be announced.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Calls on King Charles to Return Treasured Diamond to India

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly called on King Charles III to return the Koh-i-Noor Diamond to India during the British monarch's visit to New York City on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference before a 9/11 commemoration ceremony, Mamdani said he would encourage the King to return the diamond, which was given to Queen Victoria in 1850 after Britain's colonial governor-general arranged its exchange from a deposed Indian leader. The two leaders later met at the ceremony, but Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the discussion.

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article news schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 25 link 4 artists

Venice Biennale Jury Resigns in the Wake of Controversial Prize Ban

The jury for the 2026 Venice Biennale has resigned just days before the public opening on May 9, after announcing on April 22 that it would not consider artists from countries accused of crimes against humanity for the Golden and Silver Lion prizes. The jury, consisting of Solange Oliveira Farks (president), Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, cited its earlier statement of intention in its resignation, which directly impacted the participation of Russia and Israel—both subject to International Criminal Court warrants. In response, the Biennale postponed the awards ceremony from May 9 to November 22 and replaced the traditional jury with a public vote for best participant and best national participation, framing the move as upholding openness and rejecting censorship.

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article news schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 22 link 1 artist

Venice Biennale Jury Resigns En Masse, Organizers to Award “Visitors’ Lions” in November

The jury for the 2026 Venice Biennale has resigned en masse, announcing the decision via e-flux's Instagram account on April 30 without providing a reason. The five-member jury, including president Solange Oliveira Farks, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, had previously stated they would not consider national pavilions from countries charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, directly affecting Israel and Russia. In response, the Biennale postponed the awards ceremony from May to November 22 and replaced the Golden Lions with two "Visitors' Lions" voted on by the public.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 18 link 6 artists

Five Independent Souls: The Signers from New Jersey

Morven Museum & Garden in Princeton, New Jersey, is presenting "Five Independent Souls: The Signers from New Jersey," an exhibition opening May 3, 2026, through January 17, 2027. The show examines the lives of five lesser-known signers of the Declaration of Independence—Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton, and John Witherspoon—through over 100 historic artifacts including manuscripts, paintings, furniture, and personal objects. It confronts the paradox that these men fought for liberty while enslaving people, and also addresses the impact of American independence on New Jersey's indigenous population. Highlights include the painting "Congress Voting Independence" (1796-1817), the first known American depiction of the vote for Independence.

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article news schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 18 link 2 artists

EU imposes sanctions on Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of Russia's State Hermitage Museum

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of Russia's State Hermitage Museum, as part of its 20th sanctions package adopted on 23 April. Piotrovsky, a vocal supporter of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is cited for being a close associate of Vladimir Putin and for actively supporting the war, including justifying Russian cultural policies that incorporate Ukrainian museum items into Russia's State Museum Fund and enabling unauthorized archaeological excavations in occupied Crimea. The sanctions also target three other cultural officials involved in the Crimean digs. Meanwhile, Hermitage archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, arrested in Poland in December 2025 at Ukraine's request, was released in a prisoner exchange on 28 April.

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article news schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 13 link 2 artists

The Newest Docent at This Historic Italian Palace Is a Robot

Palazzo Madama in Turin, Italy, has introduced a four-foot-tall robot named R1 as a docent for its Baroque collection. The robot, developed by the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) under Project Convince with €4 million in EU funding, guides visitors through the former royal apartments, narrating the history of the House of Savoy and detailing paintings, tapestries, and furniture. R1 can interact with visitors via LED eyes, answer questions, and autonomously navigate the museum's first floor, though it cannot climb stairs. It has been learning on the job since 2025, completing 30 tours in December 2025, and uses corrective software to relocalize itself if lost.

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article news schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 22 link 5 artists

Israel’s foreign ministry accuses Venice Biennale's jury of ‘politicising’ exhibition

Israel’s foreign ministry has accused the Venice Biennale's jury of politicizing the exhibition after jurors announced they would not consider for prizes countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges for crimes against humanity. The jury’s statement, which did not name specific nations, is broadly understood to apply to Israel and Russia, both returning to the Biennale for the first time since the Gaza war and the Ukraine invasion, respectively. The Israeli ministry posted on X that the jury had decided to 'boycott' Israeli sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, calling it 'a contamination of the art world.' The Biennale distanced itself from the jury’s announcement, stating the jury acts autonomously, while the Russian pavilion is reportedly set to open only for a limited pre-opening period due to budget constraints amid sanctions.

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article news schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 18 link 3 artists

Russian Pavilion Will Be Closed to the Public During Venice Biennale: Report

The Russian Pavilion will be closed to the public for most of the 2025 Venice Biennale, opening only during the pre-opening vernissage (May 5–8) for live performances tied to the exhibition “The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky.” After May 9, the pavilion will remain closed, with digital documentation displayed in the windows. The compromise follows weeks of pressure from European cultural and political figures—including Italy’s culture minister—to shutter the pavilion due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Plans were confirmed via email correspondence between Biennale Foundation president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, general director Andrea Del Mercato, and Russian Pavilion commissioner Anastasia Karneeva, as reported by Italian outlets Open and La Repubblica.

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article news schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 19 link 6 artists

Mexican Cultural Workers Denounce Pedro Reyes Sculpture at LACMA

A group of nearly 80 Mexican cultural workers, including artists, critics, and academics, has signed an open letter denouncing the display of Pedro Reyes's sculpture "Tlali" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The colossal lava stone head, unveiled earlier this month at LACMA's new building, echoes a controversial 2021 public commission by Reyes that was scrapped by Mexico City's government after protests from feminist and Indigenous advocates. The signatories accuse LACMA of ignoring the previous activism against the artist's work in Mexico, calling the museum's decision to legitimize a new version of the polemic sculpture "deceiving." Reyes has not responded to requests for comment.

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article culture schedule Apr 27, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

Lee ShinJa's Handwoven Portals

Hyperallergic profiles the work of South Korean textile artist Lee ShinJa, whose handwoven artworks are described as 'portals' that bridge traditional craft and contemporary abstraction. The article highlights her use of traditional Korean weaving techniques to create layered, ethereal pieces that evoke both physical and metaphysical spaces.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 27, 2026 visibility 18 link 4 artists

From intimate still lives to shadowed saints: the many sides of Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán go on show at London’s National Gallery

The National Gallery in London is opening a major survey exhibition of Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), the first on this scale since 1987. The show expands beyond his famous austere saints to include intimate still-lifes, late private devotional works, and large-scale altarpiece reconstructions. Curator Daniel Sobrino Ralston highlights two newly discovered paintings, including *Alcarraza on a Plate*, and a rare reconstruction of the second tier of the Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera altarpiece, reuniting works from museums in Grenoble and Poznań.

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article news schedule Apr 24, 2026 visibility 20 link 1 artist

Tourist Damages Florence’s Neptune Fountain in Pre-Wedding Stunt

A 28-year-old tourist in Florence climbed the Neptune Fountain in Piazza della Signoria and caused €5,000 ($5,800) in damage while attempting to touch the statue's genitals as part of a pre-wedding challenge. Police intervened, and specialists from the Fabbrica di Palazzo Vecchio later found damage to a horse's legs and a frieze. The woman has been reported to judicial authorities but is presumed innocent until a verdict.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 23, 2026 visibility 21 link 6 artists

Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–US Border

The exhibition "Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–US Border" at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, British Columbia, brings together archival materials from the Northwest Boundary Survey (1857–62) with new works by five Indigenous artists. The show features photographs, maps, and watercolors from British and American surveyors alongside commissions by Dr. Shawn Brigman, Dr. Michelle Jack, Deb Silver, Xémóntalot Carrielynn Victor, and Dr. T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, who respond to the legacy of the border's creation through canoe culture, transboundary identity, and place-based knowledge.

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rate_review review schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 25 link 7 artists

Hans Holbein Painted the Human

A new book, 'Holbein: Renaissance Master' by Elizabeth Goldring, published by Yale University Press and the Paul Mellon Centre, offers a comprehensive scholarly examination of the 16th-century German painter Hans Holbein the Younger. The review focuses on Holbein's masterful portraiture, particularly his depictions of opposing Tudor-era figures like Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell, which are highlighted as embodying the era's complex political and religious tensions through their visual presentation at the Frick Collection in New York.

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article event schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 15 link 1 artist

The International Center of Photography Presents Photobook Fest

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is hosting its fifth annual Photobook Fest from May 8–10 at its Lower East Side campus in Manhattan. The event will feature over 80 international publishers, with a schedule of workshops, panels, and book signings.

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person people schedule May 11, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 15 link 1 artist, 1 gallery

Matthias Grolier nommé à la tête de France Muséums

Matthias Grolier, former chief of staff to Laurence des Cars at the Louvre, has been appointed director general of France Muséums, succeeding Hervé Barbaret after two consecutive three-year terms. The agency, created in 2007 from a Franco-Emirati agreement, oversees the Louvre Abu Dhabi partnership and coordinates contributions from 21 partner institutions including the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay, BNF, and Quai Branly. Grolier brings a background in international business law and government advisory roles, though he has never led a heritage institution or museum.

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