Treasures from the worlds of fashion and art collide at an extraordinary new exhibition in Lisbon

A new exhibition titled 'Art & Fashion' has opened at Lisbon's Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, curated by Eloy Martínez de la Pera Celada. It juxtaposes masterpieces from the museum's permanent collection—spanning ancient Egyptian artifacts to Rembrandt and Impressionist works—with historic and contemporary fashion pieces, including garments from Charles Frederick Worth, Yohji Yamamoto, Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen, and Sarah Burton's debut at Givenchy. The show is organized by regional provenance and temporarily replaces the museum's usual display while its Brutalist building undergoes renovation.

"Bertille Bak: Voices from the Earth" exhibition at the Vincenzo Vela Museum

From 26 April 2026 to 10 January 2027, the Vincenzo Vela Museum in Ligornetto, Switzerland, presents "Bertille Bak: Voices from the Earth," the first major solo exhibition in Switzerland of French artist Bertille Bak. The show brings together works from the past fifteen years that combine cinema, visual arts, and field research, focusing on marginalized communities and themes of labor, identity, and resistance. Bak, born in Arras in 1983, creates video installations and narrative devices through long immersions in communities, with her work held in collections such as the Centre Pompidou and the Collection François Pinault.

A Guillon-Lethière for Worcester

Un Guillon-Lethière pour Worcester

The Worcester Art Museum has acquired Guillaume Guillon-Lethière's painting "Lucien Bonaparte contemplant Alexandrine de Bleschamp Jouberthon" (1802), which depicts the second brother of Napoleon with his second wife. The work had been on loan to the museum from London dealers Lowell Libson and Johnny Yarker, who had purchased it at a Christie's New York auction in October 2019 after it resurfaced in a Portland sale in 2005. The painting was featured prominently in the 2024-2025 Louvre exhibition "Guillon-Lethière. Né à la Guadeloupe," where it was reunited with a portrait of its patron Lucien Bonaparte.

Artist Zineb Sedira on her love letter to African cinema

French-Algerian artist Zineb Sedira discusses her Tate Britain Commission, a new work that serves as a love letter to African cinema. The piece explores themes of resistance to nostalgia and learning from the past, drawing on Sedira's personal heritage and cinematic influences.

Notte Europea dei Musei 2026: tornano le aperture serali con biglietto a 1 euro. Il programma

The European Night of Museums returns on Saturday, May 23, 2026, with participating museums across Europe opening their doors for special evening hours. In Italy, the Ministry of Culture organizes extraordinary openings from 8 PM to midnight at the symbolic price of 1 euro, alongside events in theater, music, dance, literature, and cinema. Highlights include Rome's Notte dei Musei (16th edition) with civic museums open until 2 AM, Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este in Tivoli offering evening access and contemporary performances, and the Royal Savoy Residences in Piedmont featuring guided tours, exhibitions, and family activities.

A Rediscovered Beato Angelico Takes Center Stage at Pandolfini's Old Masters Auctions in Florence

Un Beato Angelico riscoperto protagonista alle aste di arte antica di Pandolfini a Firenze

Pandolfini auction house in Florence will auction a rediscovered fragment of Beato Angelico's *Tebaide* on May 20, 2026, after it had been missing for fifty years. The attribution was confirmed by comparison with the version held at the Museo di San Marco and formerly at the Galleria degli Uffizi. The auction house's Old Masters department, led since 2025 by young director Nicolò Pitto, has achieved strong results, including over €5 million in total revenue for the year, with top lots such as Artemisia Gentileschi's *Cleopatra* (€595,600) and a French School *Saint Catherine of Alexandria* (€620,000).

In Pol Taburet’s New Show, Being Paranoid Is the Point

French artist Pol Taburet has opened a solo exhibition titled *Paranoia as Method* at Villa Medici in Rome, on view through July 15. The show features sculptures, large-format paintings, and charcoal drawings created during his spring residency at the institution, transforming the villa’s gardens, loggias, and salons into tense psychic landscapes. Taburet’s figures drift between human and animal, evoking transformation, mortality, and spiritual tension, drawing on his Caribbean roots, voodoo traditions, contemporary culture, and classical painting.

'The Chinese Avant-Garde in Paris' at Alisan Fine Arts, Central, Hong Kong on 22 May–15 Aug 2026

Alisan Fine Arts in Central, Hong Kong, presents 'The Chinese Avant-Garde in Paris' from 22 May to 15 Aug 2026 as part of its 45th anniversary 'Then and Now' programme. The exhibition features works by Zao Wou-ki, Chu Teh-chun, T’ang Haywen, and Walasse Ting—francophone Chinese diaspora masters who blended Chinese cultural roots with post-war Parisian modernism. Highlights include previously unseen ink works by Chu Teh-chun from the 1980s and 1990s, a rare black-and-white canvas by Walasse Ting from 1959, and a major 1970s canvas by Zao Wou-ki. The show anchors the 'Then' component of the programme, with a parallel 'Now' exhibition at Alisan Atelier, both part of the French May Arts Festival Associated Projects.

Annette Messager's 'A Swallow Does Not Make Spring' exhibition brings her menagerie to life at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature

An exhibition titled 'A Swallow Does Not Make Spring' by French artist Annette Messager has opened at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. The show transforms the museum's spaces with a menagerie of taxidermy, drawings, and installations, blending the artist's signature surreal and feminist sensibilities with the museum's focus on hunting and nature.

‘Studio Iron’ to Launch at Saatchi Yates, Blurring the Boundaries Between Art and Design

Saatchi Yates is partnering with creative director and makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench to launch Studio Iron, a new design gallery whose inaugural exhibition opens April 30 and runs through June 7, 2026. The show presents a dense, post-industrial landscape dominated by steel and iron, featuring works by artists including Jannis Kounellis, Paul McCarthy, Jordan Wolfson, Anne Imhof, Marina Abramovic, Nico Vascellari, and others. Furniture, sculpture, installation, and painting collide in a space that resists categorization, hovering between function and non-function, utility and image.

La restitution du lit de Louis XVI

The Château de Versailles has inaugurated the restored private bedroom of King Louis XVI, featuring a fully recreated bed that was burned during the French Revolution. The project, which took forty years of research and craftsmanship, involved reconstructing the bed from sparse 18th-century archives, including a sculptor's memorandum by Babel and a fabric sample preserved by the silk manufacturer Tassinari & Chatel. The restoration also includes a commode from the Château de Compiègne, as the original is at Chantilly, and follows principles of harmony in gilding and textile motifs.

Six months after the Louvre heist, a 'Complément d'enquête' takes stock, with never-before-seen images broadcast tonight on France 2

Six mois après le casse du Louvre, un « Complément d’enquête » fait le point, avec des images inédites diffusées ce soir sur France 2

On October 19, 2025, eight historic and priceless jewels were stolen from the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre Museum in Paris in just over three minutes, using a hoist and an angle grinder. Six months later, the French investigative program "Complément d'enquête" airs a 50-minute documentary titled "Musée du Louvre : dans les coulisses du casse du siècle" on France 2, featuring exclusive surveillance footage, interviews with guards, police, experts, and ministers, and new details about the four suspects arrested within weeks.

The controversy raised by Timothée Chalamet has made us reflect on the fragility of culture

« La controverse soulevée par Timothée Chalamet a eu le mérite de nous faire réfléchir à la fragilité de la culture »

Timothée Chalamet, l'acteur franco-américain, a suscité une controverse en déclarant qu'il ne souhaitait pas travailler dans le ballet ou l'opéra, qualifiant ces disciplines de "trucs où c'est genre : 'Hé, continuez à faire tourner ça, même si plus personne n'en a rien à faire.'" Ses propos, tenus alors qu'il était en lice pour l'Oscar du meilleur acteur, ont provoqué des réactions dans le monde culturel, notamment dans le magazine Art Review, où Will Ferreira Dyke a défendu la pérennité du ballet et de l'opéra, arguant qu'ils survivraient aux attaques des "chalametistes". L'article relie cette polémique à la fragilité de la culture face aux coupes budgétaires, évoquant les demandes de Donald Trump pour augmenter le budget militaire américain au détriment de l'éducation, de la santé et de l'environnement.

Meloni takes control of Italian museums

Meloni reprend en main les musées italiens

Italy’s culture ministry under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has appointed 14 new directors for so-called “second-tier” museums, reinforcing a shift away from the international “super-director” model introduced by the 2014 Franceschini reform. All appointees are Italian except for French director Axel Hémery, who was reappointed at the Pinacoteca di Siena due to his strong performance. The move follows the earlier ousting of foreign directors at top-tier museums, with only two foreign-born directors—Eike Schmidt and Gabriel Zuchtriegel—remaining, both of whom hold Italian citizenship.

How the State Supports Provenance Research

Comment l’État soutient la recherche de provenance

The French Ministry of Culture has created two specialized missions to assist museums in researching the provenance of their collections, addressing looted artworks, human remains, colonial acquisitions, and illicit trafficking. The Mission for Research and Restitution of Looted Cultural Property (M2RS), established in 2019, focuses on Nazi-era spoliations (1933-1945) with a budget of €220,000 annually, while the newer Mission "Provenance," launched in 2024 under curator Catherine Chevillot, covers human remains, colonial-era objects, and illicit goods with a €450,000 budget. These missions provide expertise, funding, and coordination with institutions like the Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation (CIVS), though most museums still only initiate provenance checks during acquisitions or donations.

Sébastien Allard à la tête du département des Peintures du Louvre

Sébastien Allard has been appointed interim head of the Paintings Department at the Musée du Louvre, effective April 14. The 47-year-old specialist in 19th-century art previously served as deputy to Vincent Pomarède, who moved to a new role overseeing museum mediation. Allard's permanent appointment awaits confirmation by Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti, on the recommendation of Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez. Meanwhile, the search for a director of the Research and Collections Support division continues, with recruitment expected to be external.

In love with trees, sculptor Lélia Demoisy elevates nature through hybridization

Amoureuse des arbres, la sculptrice Lélia Demoisy sublime la nature par l’hybridation

Lélia Demoisy, a French sculptor born in 1991, creates hybrid works that blend wood with animal elements, such as a yew wood sculpture covered in fox fur or a suspended skeleton made from naturally curved thuya branches. She lives in a small village in the Yvelines region, where she works with wood and metal herself, often sourcing materials locally, and recently participated in the Maif pour le vivant committee as the only artist on the jury.

Required Reading

This week's Required Reading roundup from Hyperallergic covers a diverse range of art-world stories. French photographer JR has unveiled "La Caverne du Pont Neuf Paris" (2026), an optical illusion installation that transforms the pathway across the Seine into a black-and-white mountain range cave, paying homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 1985 wrapping of the same bridge. Other highlights include architecture scholar Karrie Jacobs investigating a New York waterfront walking initiative for The Nation, curator Tara Contractor writing in Apollo about James McNeill Whistler's use of metallic pigments influenced by Japanese traditions, and Rob Corsini interviewing Amelia Abraham about their new book celebrating photography of queer nightlife for Dazed.

Yosra Mojtahedi, Iranian artist who moved from painting to astonishing living sculptures

Yosra Mojtahedi, artiste iranienne passée de la peinture à de stupéfiantes sculptures vivantes

Yosra Mojtahedi, an Iranian artist born in 1986, has transitioned from painting to creating stunning living sculptures. Her work, characterized by black and white contrasts, features sculptures that breathe, have hair, and incorporate torn tights and synthetic locks, evoking themes of identity, censorship, and bodily autonomy. She recently presented a spectacular installation titled "Isthme noir" at the Espace Monte-Cristo in Paris and an exhibition at the Abbaye de Maubuisson, where her spiritual universe unfolds across multiple rooms. Mojtahedi's practice includes sound elements in Persian or Kurdish, and she views her sculptures as "bodies" that are both intimate and political.

Dans les ateliers de la Maison du vitrail, où création et restauration conjuguent au présent cet art du verre et de la couleur

The article visits the Maison du vitrail, a French stained-glass workshop founded in 1973 by Christiane and Philippe Andrieux and now run by their daughter Emmanuelle. Located in a historic courtyard, the studio employs fourteen artisans who cut, paint, and assemble colored glass for both restoration and original creations. The workshop has evolved from a small space in Châtillon to a thriving enterprise that handles everything from church windows and Parisian staircases to trophies, jewelry, and commercial projects for clients like Truffaut and the Casino de Paris.

Biennale de Venise 2026 : les saturnales éblouissantes d’Yto Barrada pour le pavillon français

Yto Barrada has been selected to represent France at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with her exhibition "Comme Saturne" (Like Saturn) in the French Pavilion. The installation features rebellious stage curtains hiding wasp nests and a copper daguerreotype plate of a planet, a large rock, a Wheel of Fortune, and a nostalgic vanitas arrangement around a missing mirror frame. Curated by Myriam Ben Salah, the show explores textile and natural dyeing, with three cabinets addressing the transmission of know-how, migration of plants and people, postcolonial history, and Enlightenment imperialism. A central room displays 70 pieces forming a symmetrical frieze of red natural dyes, while a black monochrome patchwork highlights the difficulty of achieving black in dyeing. Barrada is the fifth woman to represent France at the Biennale.

On ARTE, the Ruffini Affair or the Autopsy of an Extraordinary Scandal in the Art World

Sur Arte, l’affaire Ruffini ou l’autopsie d’un scandale hors norme dans le monde de l’art

The documentary series "Le Peintre, la Pizza et le Corbeau" (The Painter, the Pizza and the Crow), available on ARTE, investigates a sprawling art forgery scandal centered on discreet dealer Giuliano Ruffini. Beginning in spring 2014 with an anonymous letter, the case led to a judicial inquiry by judge Aude Burési and France's Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC). The series follows multiple suspicious artworks—including a Lucas Cranach Venus seized from an exhibition at the Hôtel de Caumont, a David and Goliath by Artemisia Gentileschi, and a Frans Hals portrait—each raising questions of authenticity. Ruffini, a former painter turned collector, remains an enigmatic figure, portrayed as both intuitive genius and possible cog in an opaque system.

Château-Chinon unveils the astonishing gifts of President François Mitterrand

Château-Chinon déballe les étonnants cadeaux du président François Mitterrand

The Cité des présents-François Mitterrand, formerly the Musée du Septennat, has reopened in Château-Chinon, France, after a renovation. The museum displays thousands of diplomatic gifts received by President François Mitterrand during his 14-year tenure (1981–1995), including a portrait of Prince Charles, a vermeil oasis from the king of Saudi Arabia, and taxidermy lions from the Central African Republic. The collection of 4,800 objects spans 80 countries, with one-third donated by French citizens. The site also houses a fashion museum featuring 5,000 pieces from the 17th century to contemporary designers like Alexis Mabille and Yves Saint Laurent.

Victorien Bornéat : « De l’échec de la démocratisation culturelle est né un sentiment d’exclusion »

Victorien Bornéat has published a manifesto arguing that French cultural democratization policy, rooted in André Malraux's vision of making masterworks accessible to all, has failed. He cites budget cuts by regional presidents Laurent Wauquiez and Christelle Morançais, police raids on bookshops like Violette and Co, and statistical studies showing that working-class audiences still do not spontaneously attend theaters, museums, or opera. Bornéat contends that the policy's emphasis on direct confrontation with canonical works ignored the need for cultural codes and institutional literacy, creating an exclusion that politicians now exploit for electoral gain.

À Annecy, le cinéma d’animation célébré toute l’année grâce à l’ouverture d’un lieu hybride et ambitieux en juin

A new permanent home for animation cinema, the Cité internationale du cinéma d'animation, will open in Annecy, France, on June 19, 2025, just before the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Housed in a restored 19th-century horse stable (haras) listed as a historic monument, the 54-million-euro project includes a 450 m² permanent museum, a 332-seat cinema, temporary exhibition spaces, educational workshops, artist residencies, and image-education facilities. The city of Annecy contributes 30 million euros, with additional funding from the Haute-Savoie department, the state, and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Designed by architecture firm dd.a and landscape architect Philippe Deliau, the center aims to be a hybrid, year-round hub for animation, blending heritage, creation, and transmission.

$33.5 million set of mirrors by Claude Lalanne sets a new record for a work of design

A set of bronze mirrors by French sculptor Claude Lalanne sold for $33.5 million with fees at Sotheby’s in New York, smashing multiple auction records. The Ensemble of Fifteen Mirrors from 1974 more than doubled its high estimate of $15 million after a 10-minute bidding war between five collectors.

“Clean / Clear / Cut” Malta Biennale 2026

The Malta Biennale 2026, titled "Clean / Clear / Cut," launched on March 11 and runs through May 29, transforming historical sites and cultural landmarks across Malta and Gozo into venues for contemporary art and critical dialogue. The biennale is under the artistic direction of international curator Rosa Martínez.

Walter Pfeiffer “In Good Company” at Pinacoteca Agnelli, Turin

Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin will present "Walter Pfeiffer: In Good Company," the first institutional survey in Italy dedicated to the Swiss artist's photographic work, running from April 30 to September 13, 2026. The exhibition features over one hundred photographs spanning from the 1970s to the present, exploring themes of artifice, desire, and the everyday.

Open Letter on Auction of “Tributes” to the Russian Avant-Garde

An open letter signed by art historians, curators, and researchers protests an upcoming auction at Stanley's Auction House in Zaventem, Belgium, scheduled for April 23, titled “Tributes to the Russian Avant-Garde & Constructivists.” The second sale is organized in cooperation with Drouot, a major French auction platform, and offers approximately one hundred works from the so-called Toporovsky collection, which has been linked to a scandal involving forged Russian modernist paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent. The alleged suppliers, Igor Toporovsky and Olga Toporovsky, face criminal charges including the sale of 171 forged works for about €20 million, with court proceedings beginning in May in Ghent. The signatories argue that the auction, with works priced around €300 each, is deeply troubling given the pending legal case and the undisclosed consignor identity.

The Founders of Open Restitution Africa (ORA) on Their New Open Data Platform

On March 31, the research initiative Open Restitution Africa (ORA) launched the ORA Open Data Platform, a database providing information on the restitution of African artifacts and ancestral remains. Developed over six years by ORA’s all-woman, pan-African team, the site uses case histories and AI-powered tools to offer practical insights into the return process, available in French and English. It presents 25 case histories spanning 200 years, using data visualizations, essays, and interactive tools to help individuals and communities develop their own restitution strategies. ARTnews interviewed founders Chao Tayiana Maina and Molemo Moiloa about the project's origins and goals.