Teresinha Soares, Brazilian Artist Behind Erotic-Inflected Works That Slyly Defied Taboos, Dies at 99

Teresinha Soares, a pioneering Brazilian artist known for her bold, erotic-inflected paintings and installations that challenged societal taboos and gender conventions, died on March 31 in Belo Horizonte at age 99. Her career, though concentrated between 1965 and 1976, was defined by works featuring pared-down, full-figured female silhouettes in vibrant colors that directly addressed women's sexuality and oppression.

Caravaggio Documentary Will Premiere on Marquee TV Next Week

A feature-length documentary about Baroque painter Caravaggio, directed by Phil Grabsky and David Bickerstaff, will premiere on the streaming platform Marquee TV on April 6. The film, part of the "Exhibition on Screen" series, was previously released in theaters last fall and focuses on the artist's innovative painting style rather than his notorious personal life.

Tracey Emin’s Cult of the Self

A major retrospective of Tracey Emin's work, "A Second Life," is on view at Tate Modern in London. The exhibition presents the artist's deeply personal and confessional body of work, including iconic pieces like "My Bed" and "Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made," which chronicle intimate experiences of love, trauma, and self-exploration through text, objects, and raw imagery.

Hauser & Wirth Partner Cristopher Canizares Departs to Start Artist Agency

Cristopher Canizares, a longtime partner at mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth, is departing after 16 years to launch his own venture, the Artist Legacy Bureau. This new agency will function as an artist management firm, with Canizares working directly for and being paid by a select group of five or six artists to advise on long-term career strategy across their gallery, institutional, and collector relationships.

Monumental Bellini Altarpiece Undergoes Major Restoration in Public View

Giovanni Bellini's monumental 15th-century altarpiece, the San Giobbe altarpiece, is undergoing its most extensive restoration in over 500 years at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. Deemed too fragile to move, the two-year, €500,000 project will stabilize the cracked wood panel and analyze pigments using advanced imaging, all performed behind glass in full public view.

Met Museum to Acquire Rediscovered Renaissance Painting Admired by Vasari

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has acquired a recently rediscovered Renaissance painting, 'Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist,' by Rosso Fiorentino. The work, believed lost for centuries, was identified after conservation removed layers of overpaint, revealing the figure of Saint John. The Met has already placed the painting on view in its European painting galleries.

Dealers express concern over Singapore fair merger

During Singapore Art Week, the merger of the boutique fair S.E.A. Focus into the larger Art SG fair sparked quiet concern among some participants. Dealers worry the move is a precursor to S.E.A. Focus being absorbed entirely, potentially sidelining its regional focus and making participation more expensive for Southeast Asian galleries. The future of the Singapore Biennale was also debated after a local newspaper article called for its termination.

Pedro Friedeberg, key figure in Mexican art renowned for hand-shaped chair, has died at age 90

Pedro Friedeberg, the Mexico-based artist and designer famed for his iconic Mano Silla (Hand Chair) created in 1962, has died at age 90. A key figure in 20th-century Mexican art, his singular work blended intricate, fantastical architecture with ornament and irony, creating a unique visual universe that defied easy categorization within movements like Surrealism or geometric abstraction.

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Jean-Michel Basquiat’s monumental 1983 painting, 'Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)', is set to headline Sotheby’s marquee contemporary evening auction this May with an estimate of $45 million. The seven-foot canvas was created during the artist's pivotal year in Los Angeles and features his signature blend of text and symbols, including wry commentaries on the institutionalization and commercial value of art. The work previously sold at Christie’s in 2013 for $14.5 million.

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The article recounts the author's experience at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, beginning with a moment of reflection on the beach before the fair week's chaos. Three veteran attendees—an artist, an advisor, and a gallery owner—chose to skip the event this year, citing lackluster parties, declining collector interest in Miami compared to Paris, and poor sales attrition. Despite these doubts, the fair saw strong sales, with Hauser & Wirth reporting a 40% increase in the first three hours, and a new digital art sector boosting optimism. Pop-up exhibitions, like "The Body is The Body" at the Rice Hotel, were highlights, while Vanity Fair's party remained the most coveted invite.

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The Gardiner Museum in Toronto has reopened after a 15-month, CA$15.5 million renovation of its ground floor spaces. The overhaul, led by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Andrew Jones Design with studio:indigenous, includes new collection galleries, a reworked entrance hall, a ceramics studio, and a community learning center. The renovation was funded by public and private gifts, including a CA$9 million donation from the Radlett Foundation that also added over 250 ceramic objects. A key addition is "Indigenous Immemorial," a permanent gallery dedicated to Indigenous clay art, developed by the museum's first curator of Indigenous ceramics, Franchesca Hebert-Spence, in collaboration with Indigenous artists and advisors.

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Gagosian has secured special permission from Art Basel Paris to exhibit a rediscovered Old Master painting by Peter Paul Rubens, titled "The Virgin and Christ Child, with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist" (c. 1611–14), at a fair that typically restricts its main sector to works created between 1900 and 2025. The painting, last sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2020 for just over $7 million, will be shown alongside modern and contemporary works by artists such as John Currin, Jenny Saville, and Pablo Picasso. The exception was granted by Art Basel’s management and Selection Committee due to the work's exceptional quality and its resonance with the gallery's booth.

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Martin Scorsese will moderate a panel at New York Comic Con on Sunday, organized by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The panel features street artist JR and fantasy painters Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, offering a preview of the museum's renderings, artworks, and a prerecorded interview with founders George Lucas and Mellody Hobson. The museum, originally slated to open in 2023, has faced delays and is now expected to open in 2026, following a tumultuous year that included the departure of director Sandra Jackson-Dumont and staff layoffs.

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An exhibition titled "Before the Americas," originally scheduled to open at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C., was canceled after the Trump administration deemed it a DEI program and cut its funding. The show, which surveys work by Afro-Latino, Caribbean, and African American artists from the Greater Washington area, has now opened at Gillespie Gallery at George Mason University School of Art in Fairfax, Virginia, thanks to about 50 to 60 private donors who stepped in to fund it. Curated by Cheryl Edwards, the exhibition features 39 artists from 17 countries, including Amy Sherald, Renee Stout, Alma Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, and Alonzo Davis, and runs through November 15 before traveling to the University of Maryland Global Campus.

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The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has announced a new exhibition titled “RM x SFMOMA,” featuring around 200 works from both the museum’s permanent collection and the personal collection of K-pop star RM, a member of BTS. RM will serve as lead curator, alongside assistant curator Hyoeun Kim and curatorial project manager América Castillo. The exhibition, running from October 2026 to February 2027, will pair Korean artists—including historical figures like Yun Hyong-keun, Park Rehyun, Chang Ucchin, and Kwon Okyon, as well as contemporary artists such as To Sangbong and Kim Yun Shin—with Western masters like Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Paul Klee. A key highlight is Kim Whanki’s 26-I-70 (1979), owned by SFMOMA.

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A new museum dedicated to M. F. Husain, one of India's most important modernist artists, will open in Doha, Qatar, on November 28, 2025. Officially named Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum, it is operated under the Qatar Foundation and will be the first museum devoted solely to Husain. The 32,300-square-foot institution, designed based on a 2008 sketch by the artist, will house a newly formed permanent collection spanning paintings, tapestries, photographs, films, installations, and poetry. Highlights include a series of paintings on Arab civilization commissioned by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and Husain's final work, *Seeroo fi al ardh* (2009), which will have its own gallery. The museum is located in Doha's Education City, home to several US university outposts.

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Protests erupted outside White Cube's London gallery last Thursday over a fireworks piece by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. The artwork, titled *The Rising Dragon*, was staged on September 19 at a high-altitude plateau in Shigatse, Tibet, and sparked online backlash over environmental concerns. Two UK-based groups, Tibetan Community in Britain and Free Tibet, led the protest, accusing Cai of committing "cultural violence." White Cube acknowledged the groups' concerns but continues to host Cai's exhibition, which opened in June and runs through early November.

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Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is closing its Los Angeles location after seven years, with the final exhibition being a solo show for Ben Hyunjin that ends on August 29. The gallery, which opened on Highland Avenue in 2018, decided not to renew its lease, citing a natural pause to assess its accomplishments in the city. The closure follows recent shutdowns of other LA galleries, including Blum and Clearing.

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Shared Crafting, Touching, and Lying Down

"Gemeinsames Basteln, Anfassen und Hinlegen"

Christie's in New York achieved record auction results, with Jackson Pollock's "Number 7A, 1948" selling for $181.2 million and Constantin Brâncuși's bronze sculpture "Danaïde" reaching $107.6 million, both from the S. I. Newhouse collection. Meanwhile, critic Gesine Borcherdt published a scathing review of the Marina Abramović exhibition "Balkan Erotic Epic" at Gropius Bau Berlin, arguing that museums increasingly demand audience participation—crafting, touching, lying down—under the guise of democracy, which she likens to group therapy and warns carries authoritarian tendencies. In London, makeup artist and designer Isamaya Ffrench opened a hybrid gallery and concept store called Studio Iron, featuring works by Abramović, Paul McCarthy, Kelly Wearstler, and Anne Imhof, aiming to blur boundaries between art, design, and function.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

This photo essay from The Guardian presents 20 images capturing global events from the past week, including a protest by Femen and Pussy Riot activists against Russia's participation at the Venice Biennale art show, Israeli strikes in Gaza, the hantavirus outbreak, and Emma Chamberlain at the Met Gala. Other images document the war in Ukraine, with scenes of Russian military rehearsals in Moscow, damaged monuments, and drone strike aftermath, as well as a political protest in Nashville where Democratic state representative Justin J Pearson was removed from the house gallery during a redistricting protest.

Our 5 Favorite Gallery Exhibitions to See This Spring in Paris

Nos 5 expos coups de cœur à voir en galeries ce printemps à Paris

Paris is experiencing a vibrant gallery season this spring, marked by the arrival of major international players and the rediscovery of overlooked artists. Highlights include the opening of Singapore’s Cuturi Gallery at the Palais-Royal with a cross-disciplinary show on decadence, and the London-based Waddington Custot establishing a new space in Saint-Germain-des-Prés with an exhibition bridging Nabis masters and contemporary painters. Other notable shows include a first-ever public look at the surrealist collages of Roland Sig and a dialogue between neo-impressionism and contemporary art at Galerie Pavec.

Gainsborough’s Powdered Wig Portraits Are Suddenly Hot in New York

A new exhibition at the Frick Collection in New York has assembled 25 portraits by the 18th-century British painter Thomas Gainsborough. The show focuses on his depictions of the era's elite, showcasing the powdered wigs, lavish fabrics, and social stature of his sitters.

A Painter Faces His Biggest Show, and the Truth About Success

Hurvin Anderson is preparing for a major retrospective of his work at Tate Britain, a significant milestone in his career. Despite this achievement, the artist expresses a complex and uncertain relationship with his own success, reflecting on his journey and the meaning of recognition.

Edgar Calel wins 2026 Sam Gilliam Award

Edgar Calel, a Maya Kaqchikel artist from Chi Xot, Guatemala, has been awarded the 2026 Sam Gilliam Award, as announced by the Dia Art Foundation and the Sam Gilliam Foundation. The prize includes $75,000 and a public programme at a Dia Foundation location this autumn. Calel’s multidisciplinary practice—spanning drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance—centers on ancestral knowledge, Indigenous experience, and the legacies of colonialism. He was selected by a jury of curators and foundation leaders, including Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation.

16th Gwangju Biennale announces theme

The 16th Gwangju Biennale has revealed its theme, 'You must change your life,' a line from Rainer Maria Rilke's poem 'Archaic Torso of Apollo.' Artistic director Ho Tzu Nyen and curators Che Kyongfa, Park Gahee, and Brian Kuan Wood will lead an edition focused on art's transformative power during a time of multiple crises. The exhibition, running from September 5 to November 15, will feature the smallest number of artists in the biennale's history, emphasizing intensity over accumulation and tracking the evolution of individual artistic practices.

Toleen Touq to curate next MOMENTA Biennale

MOMENTA Biennale d’art contemporain in Montreal has appointed curator and educator Toleen Touq to organize its 20th edition, scheduled for 2027. The biennial will be titled 'The Long Now' and will focus on interrogating concepts of time and duration.

Jeamin Cha wins Hermès Foundation Missulsang

Jeamin Cha wins Hermès Foundation Missulsang

Korean media artist Jeamin Cha has been awarded the 21st Missulsang prize by the Hermès Foundation. She will receive KRW 30 million and production support for a solo exhibition at Atelier Hermès in Seoul, opening in May 2027.

At the Tate Modern, the Moving Renaissance of Tracey Emin

À la Tate Modern, la bouleversante renaissance de Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin has returned to the Tate Modern for a major retrospective titled "A Second Life," marking a poignant milestone in her career. The exhibition features over a hundred works, including the iconic and once-scandalous "My Bed," which first catapulted her to international fame during the 1999 Turner Prize. This survey explores her evolution from the "enfant terrible" of the Young British Artists to a Dame of the British Empire, showcasing her multidisciplinary practice across painting, sculpture, and installation.

LACMA, Lucas Museum, Dataland… Los Angeles engaged in a crazy race for culture

LACMA, Lucas Museum, Dataland… Los Angeles engagée dans une folle course à la culture

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries building, a massive, controversial structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. The $835 million project, funded in part by philanthropist David Geffen, spans Wilshire Boulevard and replaces four older modernist pavilions, sparking a decade-long debate over its design, cost, and the loss of the previous buildings.