'Savannah Figurative' exhibit to showcase process studies of eight artists

Arts Southeast has named Isaac McCaslin as its 2025 Incubator Artist, providing him with a studio, exhibition opportunities, and mentorship. In response to the lack of affordable live-model drawing in Savannah, McCaslin founded the Savannah Open Model Sessions. An upcoming exhibition, "Savannah Figurative," opening January 9, 2026, at Cute Tomatoes Gallery, will showcase completed works and process studies by eight artists, including McCaslin, Phil Musen, and Astoria Jellett, highlighting the importance of figure study in their practices.

Inside Dib Bangkok: Thailand’s most anticipated museum opening being watched by the global art world

Dib Bangkok, a long-anticipated contemporary art museum, opens this weekend in a former steel warehouse near Bangkok's port area. Founded from the vision of the late collector Petch Osathanugrah and realized by his son Purat 'Chang' Osathanugrah, the museum houses over 1,000 works amassed over 40 years, including pieces by James Turrell, Alicja Kwade, Pinaree Sanpitak, and Subodh Gupta. Its opening exhibition, (In)visible Presence, features 81 works by 40 international and Thai artists, positioning the museum as a major new cultural institution in Asia.

MoMA explores how African studio portraits offered a new vision of freedom

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has opened a new exhibition, 'Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination,' surveying West and Central African studio portrait photography from the 1950s and 60s. The show features works by photographers including James Barnor, Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, Jean Depara, Sanlé Sory, Kwame Brathwaite, Samuel Fosso, Silvia Rosi, and the collective Air Afrique, alongside a reading room exploring print culture. Curated by Oluremi C. Onabanjo, the exhibition presents these portraits not as documentary records but as imaginative acts of self-definition and political expression.

56 participating artists, duos and collectives revealed for 2026 Whitney Biennial

The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced the 56 artists, duos, and collectives participating in the 2026 Whitney Biennial, the 82nd edition of the landmark U.S. contemporary art survey. Co-curators Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer have chosen not to give the exhibition a thematic title, instead letting conversations with artists guide the selection. The roster includes well-known figures like Andrea Fraser, Kamrooz Aram, Precious Okoyomon, Pat Oleszko, and Julio Torres, alongside emerging talents and historical or overlooked figures such as Carmen de Monteflores, José Maceda, and Kimowan Metchewais. The exhibition opens March 8, 2026, occupying most of the Whitney's Manhattan building with performances, public events, and online programming.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (12/15—12/21)

Cosmos: The Art of Observing Space Art and Science Symposium

A symposium titled "Cosmos: The Art of Observing Space Art and Science Symposium" will take place at the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) headquarters in Burlington House, London, celebrating the major exhibition "Cosmos: The Art of Observing Space" at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol (24 January–19 April 2026). Curated by visual artist Ione Parkin RWA, the exhibition features over 30 contemporary artists alongside loan items from public collections, all inspired by astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics, and space exploration. The symposium includes talks by astronomers, archivists, and exhibiting artists, with a catalogue published by Sansom & Company featuring contributions from Professor Chris Lintott, Professor Amaury Triaud, Dr Sian Prosser, and Ione Parkin RWA.

Crocker’s new leader secures famous art for Sacramento: ‘Everyone’s looking for Frida’

Agustín Arteaga has become the new CEO of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, taking over the role on July 1 after a global career leading museums in Mexico, Argentina, and Texas. In a major early achievement, he secured Frida Kahlo's 1947 painting "Self-Portrait with Loose Hair" for the museum's exhibition "Making Moves: A Collection of Feminisms"—the first time a Kahlo original has ever been displayed at the Crocker. The painting is on loan from a private collection through May 3, 2026, and has drawn record crowds to the museum.

Top 10 art events in the Twin Cities in 2025

The article lists the top 10 art events in the Twin Cities in 2025, highlighting major exhibitions such as "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys" at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Dyani White Hawk's "Love Language" at the Walker Art Center, and a retrospective of Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk at the American Swedish Institute. Other notable shows include "Mary Sully: Native Modern" at Mia, Jonathan Thunder's "The Artist as Storyteller" at the U's Quarter Gallery, and "Queering Indigeneity" at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, along with the annual crop art display at the Minnesota State Fair.

In the bag: Sotheby’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week finds success with Birkins and bling

Sotheby’s inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi (2-5 December) achieved a total of $133.4m across five live auctions held on a beachfront stage. The sale featured luxury items including a Hermès Birkin Voyageur owned by Jane Birkin ($2.9m), a 31.68-carat pink diamond called The Desert Rose ($8.8m), and a Patek Philippe watch set that became the second most valuable watch sold in Sotheby’s history ($11.9m). No art was offered, but the auction house sold 50 items privately, including the world’s largest fancy deep green diamond. The sell-through rate was strong, with only one piece of real estate and a couple of cars unsold, outperforming Sotheby’s earlier Saudi Arabia sale.

The spirit of the north: Oulu is about to begin its year as European Capital of Culture

Oulu, a port city in northern Finland just over 100 miles from the Arctic Circle, has been selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2026. The year-long program will feature over 3,000 events, including art exhibitions, food festivals, and performances, kicking off with an opening festival in January. Highlights include a Sámi art exhibition at the Oulu Museum of Art, a new opera by the Sámi National Theatre Beaivváš, and "Climate Clock," a trail of seven permanent public artworks by international artists such as Antti Laitinen, SUPERFLEX, Rana Begum, and Gabriel Kuri. Events will also take place across 39 adjoining municipalities.

Local Art Books to Gift This Holiday Season

Several artists with ties to Baltimore have released new art books just in time for the holiday season. The featured publications include a debut monograph on Derrick Adams from Phaidon's Monacelli imprint, a book by rising painter Jerrell Gibbs titled 'No Solace in the Shade' published by Rizzoli, the exhibition catalogue for Amy Sherald's retrospective 'American Sublime' at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Jackie Milad's debut art book 'Shabtis Gather' produced in partnership with BmoreArt. The article also recommends gifting a subscription to BmoreArt magazine.

Mysterious woman captivates in "The Clouds are Luminous" exhibit at Allentown Art Museum

The Allentown Art Museum is hosting a new exhibition titled "The Clouds are Luminous," which centers on a mysterious woman as its subject. The show features works that explore themes of luminosity, atmosphere, and enigmatic female presence, drawing visitors into a contemplative visual experience.

Museum Friends Tour of Pissarro's Impressionism

The Denver Art Museum and the Museum Barberini in Potsdam have co-organized "The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro's Impressionism," an exhibition dedicated to the work of the pioneering Impressionist painter. The show is presented by a wide array of donors including Jana and Fred Bartlit, Barbara Bridges, Bridget and John Grier, the Kristin and Charles Lohmiller Exhibitions Fund, and Craig Ponzio, with additional support from foundations, corporate sponsors, and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).

Art Basel Miami Beach aims to ‘end the year on a high note’

Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) opens amid a still-sluggish global art market, with sales at live events yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Director Bridget Finn expresses optimism following strong sales at Art Basel Paris in October, noting that gallerists and collectors were energized. The fair introduces structural changes, including relocating the Nova and Positions sections to the east entrance to spotlight emerging galleries, and launching Zero 10, a platform for digital art. Seven local Miami galleries are participating, with Nina Johnson making her ABMB debut. Despite a few longtime exhibitors withdrawing, Finn attributes this to galleries being more selective across Art Basel's five global fairs, including a new Qatar edition in 2026.

Despite Putin’s repressive regime, a new private museum opens in Moscow

A new private museum called Zilart is set to open in Moscow on December 2, founded by billionaire couple Andrey and Yelizaveta Molchanov. The museum will showcase their collection of roughly 10,000 works, spanning Russian avant-garde, Soviet nonconformist art, international contemporary art, photography, and African art. Originally conceived in 2015 as a modern art branch of the State Hermitage Museum, the project underwent significant changes: architect Hani Rashid was replaced by Sergei Tchoban in 2021, and the Hermitage withdrew in 2023. The museum is entirely funded by the Molchanovs' LSR Group and receives no state support.

The Big Review | Fra Angelico at Palazzo Strozzi and Museo di San Marco, Florence ★★★★★

A major two-venue exhibition dedicated to early Renaissance master Fra Angelico (c. 1395-1455) has opened at Palazzo Strozzi and Museo di San Marco in Florence. The show, four years in the making, features unprecedented loans from over 70 museums and 28 newly conserved works, including the Fiesole Altarpiece (c. 1420-23) and the San Marco Altarpiece (1438-43). It reunites dispersed predella panels and decorative components looted during the Napoleonic era, presenting the most complete picture of Fra Angelico to date while challenging the notion that his work was archaic.

Spring 2026 Exhibitions Opening Celebration

The Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University has announced its Spring 2026 exhibitions lineup, featuring works by Vitória Cribb, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Eric N. Mack, Hew Locke, and Naeem Mohaiemen. Highlights include Cribb's 'echoes of a wet finger,' commissioned by Sharjah Art Biennial 16 and Mercosul Biennial 14, and solo presentations by Garrido-Lecca, Mack, and Locke, as well as Mohaiemen's film and video works. The season is supported by a range of funders including the American Electric Power Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

These 16 Miami Art Week 2025 Exhibitions Are Already Creating Buzz Among Collectors

Miami Art Week 2025 is set to take place December 3–7, headlined by Art Basel Miami Beach (public days December 5–7) and concurrent fairs including Design Miami (20th anniversary) and NADA Miami. The article highlights 16 must-see exhibitions across venues such as the Miami Beach Convention Center, Wynwood, and the Miami Design District. Featured galleries include Pace Gallery (presenting Alexander Calder, Elmgreen & Dragset, James Turrell), Locks Gallery (Louise Bourgeois, Isamu Noguchi), Southern Guild (debuting at Art Basel with Zizipho Poswa and others), and Leon Tovar Gallery (focusing on Latin American women modernists).

Making fashion out of art: Students hit the runway with designs inspired by BYU Museum of Art exhibit

BYU students staged a runway show at the BYU Museum of Art, presenting fashion and makeup designs inspired by paintings from the exhibition "The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce." Students in a sewing class taught by Amber Williams created looks based on specific artworks, such as a dress evoking Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "The Roman Widow" and a contemporary two-piece inspired by Frederic, Lord Leighton's "Flaming June." Hair and makeup were done in collaboration with Theater and Media Arts students led by Jennine Hollingshaus. The exhibition, on view until Jan. 3, features works from the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.

Theaster Gates redeems discarded materials in Smart Museum’s ‘Unto Thee’

Theaster Gates's first solo exhibition in his hometown of Chicago, 'Unto Thee,' opens at the Smart Museum of Art, featuring materials collected over his career that are tied to the University of Chicago. The show includes slate from Rockefeller Chapel, glass lantern slides from the art history department, and the 4,500-volume archive of a late colleague, all transformed into sculptural installations that explore the changing meaning of objects.

France's Bonnat-Helleu museum reopens after 14-year renovation with new discoveries and 2,500 loans from the Louvre

The Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne, France, reopens on November 26 after a 14-year renovation and expansion. The project, led by French architecture firm BLP, doubled the display area to 3,000 square meters, restored the original building's glass roof and a mosaic by Giandomenico Facchina, and converted an adjacent school into a wing with a café, shop, research center, and study room. The museum now houses 7,000 works, including 2,500 long-term loans from the Louvre, and features discoveries such as autographs in El Greco paintings and pentimenti in Simon Vouet's work.

Phillips Collection sells O’Keeffe and other masterpieces amid outcry from supporters

The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., sold three masterworks from its permanent collection at auction on Thursday evening for a combined $13,413,000. The deaccessioned works were by Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, and Georges Seurat. The sale proceeded despite strong outcry from some of the museum's influential supporters, who viewed the decision as a betrayal of the founders' vision and accused the director and board of prioritizing financial gain over the institution's mission.

Inside the 19th-century Parisian club that became a safe haven for female artists

Art historian Jennifer Dasal's new book "The Club" tells the story of the American Girls' Club, a Parisian safe haven founded in 1893 by Elisabeth Mills Reid at 4 Rue de Chevreuse in Montparnasse. The club provided affordable housing and meals for aspiring female American artists who faced obstacles their male counterparts did not, including societal pressure toward marriage, financial constraints, and safety concerns. Notable residents and participants included painters Anne Goldthwaite, Florence Lundborg, and sculptors Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and Alice Morgan Wright, whose works and lives are chronicled in Dasal's account.

The Met Presents First Exhibition of Works by Finnish Painter Helene Schjerfbeck in a Major U.S. Museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will present "Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck," the first major U.S. museum exhibition dedicated to the Finnish painter (1862–1946). Featuring nearly 60 works on canvas, including loans from the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum and private collections, the exhibition runs from December 5, 2025, to April 5, 2026. It traces Schjerfbeck's artistic evolution from early naturalist works to her spare, experimental style, highlighting her resilience amid civil war, world wars, and Finland's independence.

Rediscovering Roger Fry, the overlooked Bloomsbury artist who helped bring Cézanne and Van Gogh to the world

The Charleston museum in Firle, East Sussex, will mount a major solo exhibition of paintings by Roger Fry (1866-1934) from 15 November 2025 to 15 March 2026. Fry, a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group, was a polymath who introduced Post-Impressionists like Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin to British and American audiences, co-founded the Omega Workshops and the Burlington Magazine, taught at Cambridge, and curated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The show brings together nearly 80 works, over 60 from private collections, including portraits of friends like E.M. Forster and Vanessa Bell, and landscapes that reveal his experimental range from Gauguin-esque outlines to Cubism.

World Economic Forum and J. Paul Getty Trust bring art world leaders together to find ‘Connection in Times of Division’

The World Economic Forum and the J. Paul Getty Trust co-hosted a "cultural table" dinner for art world leaders on 23 October at the Hotel Le Meurice in Paris, themed "Bridging Worlds: Culture as a Force for Connection in Times of Division." The event, held in the Pompadour Room—where Pablo Picasso celebrated his 1918 wedding—was co-hosted by Getty president Katherine Fleming and WEF arts head Joseph Fowler, and marked the first collaboration between the two organizations. Fowler described the initiative as a global movement to place culture at the heart of systemic change, while Fleming emphasized art's unifying power and its measurable health benefits.

59th Carnegie International's inaugural artist commissions revealed

Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has announced the first 14 artists for its 59th Carnegie International, running from May 2026 to January 2027. Participants include Torkwase Dyson, Alia Farid, Sanchayan Ghosh, Jonathan González, Abraham González Pacheco, Eric Gyamfi, G. Peter Jemison, Liz Johnson Artur, Arturo Kameya, Claudia Martínez Garay, Cinthia Marcelle, Shala Miller, Brooke O’Harra, Sofu Teshigahara, and Ginger Brooks Takahashi. The exhibition, curated by Ryan Inouye, Liz Park, and Danielle A. Jackson, will feature commissions across multiple disciplines, including a planetarium animation, sound installations, photography, performance, and public outdoor works. Venues include the Carnegie Museum of Art, Children’s Museum, Kamin Science Center, Mattress Factory, and Thelma Lovette YMCA.

A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle

The Royal Academy of Arts in London presents "A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle," a visually thrilling exhibition running from 31 October 2025 to 24 February 2026. Curated by Tarini Malik, the show pivots around the work of Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949-2015), placing her in dialogue with key figures of the Indian cultural scene, including her parents Benode Behari Mukherjee and Leela Mukherjee, as well as artists Gulammohammed Sheikh and Nilima Sheikh. The exhibition highlights Mukherjee's hemp sculptures like 'Adi Pushp II' (1998-99) and bronze works such as 'Forest Flame IV' (2009), and emphasizes the importance of art schools and places—Santiniketan, Baroda (Vadodara), and New Delhi—in shaping her practice.

MFA Boston returns work by enslaved artist David Drake to his heirs, Wifredo Lam, Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Magi—podcast

The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston has agreed to return two 1857 works by the enslaved potter David Drake to his descendants. One vessel will remain on loan to the museum for at least two years, while the other, known as the "Poem Jar," has been purchased back by the museum for an undisclosed sum, now carrying a certificate of ethical ownership. The episode also covers the opening of the exhibition "Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, featuring the modernist painter of African and Chinese descent, and discusses Domenico Ghirlandaio's "Adoration of the Magi" (1488) in the context of a new book on Renaissance foundlings.

‘Truly inspiring’: New Princeton University Art Museum opens its doors to all

The new Princeton University Art Museum opened its doors to the public on Oct. 31, 2025, with a 24-hour open house that drew 21,763 visitors. The event featured dancing, stargazing, artmaking, live performances, film screenings, and a trivia contest, with highlights including Claude Monet's "Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge" and Nick Cave's mosaic. Director James Steward welcomed the crowd, and the museum also hosted previews for students, faculty, staff, and tradespeople, attracting thousands more.