Deux ventes chez Christie's
Christie's in Paris is hosting two significant sales featuring masterpieces from the legendary Veil-Picard collection, which had been largely inaccessible to the public and scholars for decades. Highlights include a perfect Watteau drawing unseen on the market since 1900 and two major Hubert Robert paintings commissioned by the famed salonnière Madame Geoffrin, offering a rare glimpse into 18th-century Parisian interiors.
Un Degas pour Londres
The National Gallery in London has acquired a pastel by Edgar Degas through the UK's 'acceptance in lieu' scheme, which allows heirs to settle inheritance taxes by transferring important works of art to public collections. The artwork depicts ballet dancers not in performance, but in a state of exhaustion and idleness backstage, capturing a raw, unglamorous moment.
Marking the fifteenth anniversary of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the traveling exhibition ‘we refuse_d’ has opened at M HKA in Antwerp. Curated by Nadia Radwan and Vasif Kortun, the project draws on the intellectual lineage of Hannah Arendt’s reflections on displacement and the historical precedent of the Salon des Refusés. The exhibition features a constellation of works by artists including Khalil Rabah, Barış Doğrusöz, and Nour Shantout, exploring refusal not as a simple negation, but as a complex strategy for survival, dignity, and the preservation of memory.
New Zealand photographer Fiona Pardington (born 1961, Auckland) is representing Aotearoa at the 61st Venice Biennale with her exhibition *Taharaki Skyside*, on view from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion. The show features large-scale portraits of taxidermied birds from museum collections across New Zealand and Australia, focusing on endemic species including the extinct huia and whēkau. Curated by Felicity Milburn and Chloe Cull, the exhibition is presented by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
HUMANS MACHINES AND POSSIBLE FUTURES THE LAST 100 YEARS AT NEW MUSEUM
The New Museum has launched "New Humans: Memories of the Future," a massive exhibition spanning its entire building and featuring over 200 international contributors. The show traces a century of artistic, scientific, and social evolution, pairing 20th-century masters like Constantin Brâncuși and Salvador Dalí with contemporary commissions from artists such as Hito Steyerl and Wangechi Mutu. By exploring themes of automated labor, artificial intelligence, and mechanized warfare, the exhibition frames the relationship between humanity and technology as a series of cyclical leaps and reversals rather than linear progress.
Diana Campbell, Chomwan Weeraworawit, and Paris-based art advisors Samy Ghiyati and Nicolas Nahab of NG Partners organized a pizza party called Pizzalo Mundo during the Venice Biennale. Each artist contributed an ingredient from home: Rirkrit Tiravanija brought a Penang coconut base, Precious Okoyomon added flowers, Daria Kim wild honey, Tarek Atoui za'atar on hummus, Miet Warlop artichoke hearts, Tori Wrånes self-grown potatoes, and Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka fig leaf oil with yuzu salt. The event drew a crowd of curators, directors, and collectors from institutions including Tate, Musée d'Orsay, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou.
Ivy Getty, an American model and philanthropist, collaborated with Parisian designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin to create her Met Gala dress, inspired by the 1926 illustration *L’Eclat de l’Or* by Russian artist Erté. The sketch, originally for the show *The Golden Fables*, was chosen from Getty’s mood board; the pair later discovered it is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s archive, coinciding with its 100th anniversary. The final fringed gown debuted on the Met Gala red carpet, and the duo discussed the creative process in an interview.
Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula is staging "The Galeazze Project," a performance in a 16th-century shipyard complex in Venice that has been inaccessible since World War II and never open to the public. Commissioned by the nonprofit Scuola Piccola Zattere, the work will bring up to 500 people into the 32,291-square-foot open-air ruin for two nights during the 2026 Venice Biennale preview week. The rental fee from the performance will help stabilize and restore the floors of the historic Galeazze site.
On Monday evening, the New Museum held its 2026 gala at Cipriani South Street, honoring outgoing Director Lisa Phillips, who led the institution for over three decades. The event featured a performance by Blondie's Debbie Harry, a live auction with works by Jack Pierson, Billy Sullivan, Rashid Johnson, and Cindy Sherman, and remarks from John Waters, Maya Lin, and Whitney Museum director Adam Weinberg. Notable attendees included artists Hank Willis Thomas, Derrick Adams, Marilyn Minter, and Anne Imhof, as well as arts leaders Thelma Golden, Yvonne Force Villareal, and Noah Horowitz.
Since 2024, the nonprofit organization Artists & Mothers has been addressing a critical gap in the art world by offering grants for nine months of childcare to New York-based artists with children under three. The organization was founded by Julia Trotta and Maria De Victoria, with board members including Camille Henrot, Bridget Donahue, Maia Ruth Lee, Sarah Goulet, and Elizabeth Karp-Evans. In a Q&A format, the group discusses their motivations, influences, and hopes for a more equitable art world, highlighting works such as Lea Lublin's 1968 performance "Mon fils" and anticipating Ei Arakawa-Nash's Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Ebony L. Haynes, the influential curator behind 52 Walker—the downtown David Zwirner spinoff that helped transform Tribeca into New York's premier gallery district—has been promoted to global head of curatorial projects for the mega-gallery's entire network. In a candid Q&A, she discusses her insomnia, her early dream of being an A&R executive for a record label, and her commitment to ambitious, often impractical shows. She also names Koyo Kouoh's upcoming Venice Biennale as a highlight she's looking forward to.
Cultured magazine profiles legendary 80-year-old artist Paul McCarthy during his Paris exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, titled “SS EE Saint Santa Eva Elf.” The article follows the journalist's three-day pursuit of McCarthy, covering a screening of his films *A&E Adolf & Eva/ Adam & Eve Cooking Show* (2022/2023) and *A&E Adolf & Eva/Adam & Eve Mother* (2022/2025), which feature psychosexual themes referencing Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun alongside Adam and Eve, co-starring actor Lilith Stangenberg. The exhibition includes large raw drawings created during improvised, multi-camera performances with Stangenberg, where they play twisted Santa and elf characters. McCarthy also has concurrent shows at The Journal Gallery in Los Angeles and SOLO contemporary art space in Madrid.
CULTURED magazine asked art collectors to share their strangest negotiation experiences with artists or dealers. Responses range from a late-night studio sale in a dark East Atlanta alleyway to accidentally bidding on a second impression of a Picasso etching at auction. Other tales include haggling over a borrowed frame after a Christie's purchase, a dealer insisting the artwork be displayed in a specific room, and acquiring a Rick Lowe painting sight unseen from Gagosian after seeing it at the Venice Biennale. The survey reveals the quirky, human side of art transactions often hidden behind market mythology.
Kenturah Davis, a Los Angeles- and Accra-based artist known for large-scale drawings and carbon pencil rubbings that incorporate text, lost her Altadena home and studio in the Eaton fire last year. In response, she helped organize “Ode to ‘Dena,” a group show at the California African American Museum honoring the neighborhood, and is now launching Rest Stops, a restorative public art project and community garden aiming to establish 10 green spaces by 2027. She has also taken up pottery classes and rebuilt her studio practice in a new Altadena sanctuary.
Cultured magazine has published a winter exhibition guide for New York museums, highlighting six major shows running through early 2026. Featured exhibitions include Ayoung Kim's "Delivery Dancer Codex" at MoMA PS1, a survey of UFO-themed works at The Drawing Center, a Ruth Asawa retrospective at MoMA, Renoir drawings at the Morgan Library & Museum, Robert Rauschenberg's photography at the Museum of the City of New York, and Alexander Calder's circus at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Each entry provides dates, curatorial context, and visitor tips.
Cultured magazine profiles Cherrie Yu, a 30-year-old artist based in New York who grew up in Xi'an and Wuxi, China. Yu creates videos, performances, and prints that examine the relationship between everyday movement, dance, labor, and play. Notable works include 'Trisha and Homer' (2018), which juxtaposes a 1986 solo by choreographer Trisha Brown with the movements of a mopping maintenance worker, and 'Wrestling Study' (2017), a video reenacting a wrestling match in Chicago traffic. Yu cites mentor Bryan Saner, a woodworker and performer, as a key influence on their understanding of the laboring body as the dancing body.
Robert Crumb and George DiCaprio, two figures from the 1970s underground comics scene, reunite for a conversation moderated by cartoonist Sammy Harkham on the rooftop of David Zwirner in Los Angeles. The discussion, published in Cultured, traces their serendipitous meeting in New York—DiCaprio offered his illegal loft to Crumb's band—and DiCaprio's subsequent move to Los Angeles after Crumb recommended him for an animation job on Ralph Bakshi's film *Heavy Traffic*. The interview coincides with the release of Crumb's first solo comic in 23 years, *Tales of Paranoia* (2025), published by Fantagraphics, and an exhibition of his new drawings and prints at David Zwirner, on view through January 10. Topics range from conspiracy theories and the economics of comics to DiCaprio's collection of underground art, including a letter from cartoonist Vaughn Bode to his unborn son Leonardo DiCaprio.
David and Sybil Yurman, the couple behind the iconic David Yurman jewelry empire, reflect on their origins as artists in New York in a new book, *Sybil and David Yurman: Artists and Jewelers*, published last month. The book draws from their personal archive of paintings, sculptures, photos, and jewelry, tracing their journey from working under sculptor Jacques Lipchitz and ceramicist Shōji Hamada to building a global brand. In an interview with CULTURED, the Yurmans share stories of their first date, Sybil's early career as a ceramicist and painter, and how their partnership evolved from art to jewelry.
The article surveys current Chelsea gallery exhibitions, highlighting two major shows: "Louise Bourgeois. Gathering Wool" at Hauser & Wirth (through April 2026) and "Milton Avery: The Figure" at Karma (through December 2025). The Bourgeois exhibition features rarely seen works from the artist's last three decades, including the motorized sculpture "Twosome" (1991) and the fountain "Mamelles" (1991/2005), curated by Philip Larratt-Smith. The Avery show presents a survey of his figure paintings from the 1920s to 1964, emphasizing his flat, interlocking forms and unexpected color palettes.
The 14th LACMA Art+Film Gala took place this weekend, co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The event honored artist Mary Corse and filmmaker Ryan Coogler for their contributions to art and cinema, and raised a record $6.5 million to support LACMA's mission and film initiatives. The gala was held beneath Chris Burden's Urban Light and Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass, with dinner by chef David Shim of COTE, and featured a performance by Doja Cat introduced by SZA. Attendees included a constellation of Hollywood stars, models, musicians, and designers.
Psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster launches a new column for CULTURED titled "Neurotica," exploring the intersection of psychoanalysis, technology, and sexuality. In the debut installment, she interviews artist and theorist Mindy Seu about her work "A SEXUAL HISTORY OF THE INTERNET," which traces how sex workers were integral to developing digital platforms like chat rooms, e-commerce, and webcams, only to have their innovations co-opted by Big Tech. Webster reflects on how AI, chatbots, and online intimacy are reshaping human desire, pleasure, and relationships, drawing on Freud's pleasure-principle and contemporary anxieties about AI psychosis and digital dependency.
The Yale Center for British Art opens "Passages," the most comprehensive exhibition of Hew Locke's work to date, featuring nearly 50 works spanning three decades. Central to the show is a site-specific installation of Locke's ship sculptures, three of which are suspended in the foyer of the museum's Louis I. Kahn building. The exhibition will travel to the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In an interview, Locke discusses his studio practice, his ongoing exploration of imperialism's symbolism, and his plans for new bronzes and prints.
The Hammer Museum has announced the lineup for the seventh edition of its biennial survey "Made in L.A.," curated by Essence Harden and Paulina Pobocha. Starting with a list of over 1,000 artists and no predetermined theme, the curators visited numerous studios over six months to select 28 participants. The exhibition includes artists working beyond traditional definitions, such as online archivist Jerald Cooper and DJ programmer Michael Donte, alongside experimental filmmakers, choreography, ceramics, and installations. The show features works by Pat O'Neill, Carl Cheng, Greg Breda, and others, reflecting Los Angeles's car culture, light, and evolving landscape.
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta honored artist Alison Saar with the 2025 David C. Driskell Prize, a national award celebrating contributions to African American art. The gala featured a live performance by musician John Legend, a bespoke award designed by David Yurman, and drew Atlanta tastemakers, arts leaders, and cultural figures. Saar joins past recipients including Amy Sherald, Mark Bradford, and Rashid Johnson.
Daniel Humm, the chef behind Eleven Madison Park, has curated a selection of artworks for Sotheby's Contemporary Curated sale, drawing parallels between composing a meal and assembling an exhibition. In an interview with CULTURED, Humm discusses his approach, which was influenced by a transformative encounter with Claude Monet's Water Lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, and his selections include works by Roni Horn, Alex Katz, Keith Haring, and Sarah Crowner.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening "When Objects Dream," the first exhibition to examine Man Ray's rayographs in the context of his broader oeuvre. Opening September 14, the show features over 60 rayographs alongside 100 paintings, objects, drawings, and films spanning the artist's career. The exhibition is supported by the haute couture house Schiaparelli, whose founder Elsa Schiaparelli was a close friend and collaborator of Ray's, both central figures in the 1920s Parisian avant-garde.
James Frey, the controversial author of "A Million Little Pieces" and "Bright Shiny Morning," opens his home in Pound Ridge, New York, to discuss his personal art collection. The collection includes works by Rashid Johnson, Robert Colescott, Nate Lowman, Richard Prince, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Auguste Rodin, among others. Frey describes his art-buying philosophy as driven by emotion rather than market trends, and recounts purchasing his first pieces—a Picasso drawing and a Matisse drawing—for cash in 1994.
Site Santa Fe has announced its 12th International exhibition, titled "Once Within a Time," opening June 27 and running through January 2026. Curated by Cecilia Alemani, who previously curated the 59th Venice Biennale, the show draws its name and dreamlike logic from a 2022 film by Santa Fe artist Godfrey Reggio. Featuring over 70 artists and more than 300 works—including new commissions, archival interventions, and contemporary selections—the exhibition uses 20 figures with ties to New Mexico as narrative catalysts, among them Navajo code talker Chester Nez, novelist Willa Cather, and the Fire Spirit from local folklore. For the first time, the International will be fully embedded within Santa Fe's urban fabric, activating sites such as a historic foundry, a toy store, and a dispensary alongside traditional cultural partners. Participating artists include Simone Leigh, David Horvitz, and Dominique Knowles, with contributions from writers Tommy Orange, Lucy R. Lippard, and Estevan Rael-Gálvez.
The Guggenheim Young Collectors Council (YCC) hosted its 2025 party at the museum's New York rotunda, honoring Korean artist Ayoung Kim as the recipient of the LG Guggenheim Award. The event featured a multisensory experience with tarot readings, motion-capture avatars, a performance by YCC Artist Collaborator LaJuné McMillian using LG OLED technology, and a DJ set by Kito, drawing a crowd of artists, curators, and collectors including Naomi Beckwith, Ella Emhoff, Tschabalala Self, and Moses Sumney.
The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) opened "Tough Stuff: Women in the American Glass Studio" on May 16, 2026, as part of its 75th anniversary celebration. This is the first survey exhibition dedicated to women artists who shaped the American Studio Glass Movement from the 1960s onward, featuring over 200 works by artists including Claire Falkenstein, Audrey Handler, Margie Jervis, Susie Krasnican, Kathleen Mulcahy, Ginny Ruffner, Ruth Tamura, and Toots Zynsky. The exhibition draws from CMoG’s permanent collection, the Rakow Research Library, and loans from the artists, and is complemented by an oral history initiative preserving first-person accounts.