The Forgotten of Art: The Story of Architect and Sculptor Pietro De Laurentiis

I dimenticati dell’arte. La storia dell’architetto e scultore Pietro De Laurentiis

The life and legacy of Pietro De Laurentiis, a multifaceted Italian architect, sculptor, and cultural activist, are being rediscovered through a retrospective look at his prolific career. Born into a peasant family in Abruzzo, De Laurentiis rose to prominence in Rome's mid-century art scene, balancing a forty-year teaching career at the Faculty of Architecture with significant public commissions, including bronze panels for the ACEA headquarters and marble works for INPS. His artistic style evolved from rural-inspired figuration to a unique geometric abstraction that blended Cubism with folk traditions.

art basel qatar strategic partner plans fine art storage logistics hub

Qatar is planning to build the Gulf region's largest full-service fine art storage and logistics facility, developed by QC+ (a strategic partner of Art Basel Qatar and Qatar Sports Investments) in collaboration with Gulf Warehousing Company Q.P.S.C. The facility, located near Hamad International Airport in a designated free zone, will offer art preservation, storage, conservation, and viewing rooms, allowing artworks to be stored and traded outside customs territory. The announcement follows Qatar's broader art infrastructure expansion, including a planned museum of international modern and contemporary art and the upcoming Art Basel Qatar fair.

This upcoming art exhibition at Joo Chiat celebrates the joy of doing absolutely nothing

Irish comic artist and illustrator Niall Breen is debuting his Dog & Frog comic series in Singapore with a solo exhibition titled "Lazy Days with Dog & Frog" at Heartware Store & Gallery in Joo Chiat. Running from May 29 to July 26, 2026, the show features original artworks, merchandise such as blankets and picnic mats, and a special artist talk on May 30 where Breen will discuss his creative process and the global following his tender, everyday-life comics have attracted since 2018.

Australian Indigenous Art Speaks to Contemporary Concerns

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne, in collaboration with the National Gallery (NGA) in Washington, D.C., has organized 'The Stars We Do Not See,' the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Australian Indigenous art ever shown outside Australia. Opening in Washington on October 25 and running through March 1, 2026, the show features over 200 works from the 19th century to the present, including 130 of the NGV's most prized pieces by revered artists from across Australia. The title is inspired by late Yolŋu artist Gulumbu Yunupiŋu, known for her celestial mappings, and the exhibition will travel to several U.S. cities and Toronto over two and a half years.

Art After Hours exhibition with artist Melinda Buie

The J House Greenwich's J Gallery will host an Art After Hours exhibition on May 5, featuring Port Chester-based artist Melinda Buie. The event showcases Buie's large-scale oil paintings, which range from pastoral scenes inspired by her East Texas roots to portraits and architectural works. Guests can purchase tickets for $15, which include wine and hors d'oeuvres, and enjoy a boutique shopping experience with partners including The Bruce Museum and Gems by Christine Jewelry & Accessories.

Sachsen-Anhalt schützt Kunst und Kultur per neuem Gesetz

Sachsen-Anhalt has enshrined support for art and culture as a state objective in a new law, passed by the state parliament in Magdeburg with the exception of the AfD faction, which abstained. Culture Minister Rainer Robra (CDU) framed the law as fulfilling a promise from 1989, defining what constitutes art and culture in the state, including their roles in education and as an economic factor, and aiming to make cultural structures resilient against future attacks on artistic freedom.

Venice Biennale chief under pressure

Venedig-Biennale-Chef unter Druck

Just before the opening of the Venice Art Biennale, its president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco is facing mounting criticism after the entire jury resigned. Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli accused Buttafuoco of pursuing a form of "parallel foreign policy" by readmitting Russia to the six-month exhibition, calling him a "victim of a pacifist fantasy." The opening ceremony and the traditional Golden Lion awards have been canceled; prizes will now be decided by visitor vote at the end of the Biennale in November.

Jury of the Venice Biennale Resigns

Jury der Venedig-Biennale tritt zurück

The entire jury of the Venice Biennale, appointed by artistic director Koyo Kouoh, has resigned with immediate effect. In a statement released on Thursday, the jury members—including chair Solange Oliveira Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—cited a prior declaration from April 22 in which they announced they would not award Golden or Silver Lions to artists from countries whose political leadership is currently indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. Although no specific countries were named, the move implicitly targets Russia (President Vladimir Putin) and Israel (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), both subject to ICC arrest warrants. The resignation comes amid escalating tensions over Russia's participation in the Biennale despite EU sanctions, which had already led to a freeze of EU funding and widespread protests.

GDR Women Without Filter

DDR-Frauen ohne Filter

The Kunsthaus Apolda in Thuringia is presenting a posthumous retrospective of Günter Rössler, the East German photographer who defined nude and fashion photography in the GDR, on what would have been his 100th birthday. The exhibition features 130 works spanning six decades, including fashion assignments, reportage from his travels abroad, and large-format black-and-white nudes. It is curated by his widow and estate manager Kirsten Schlegel, and complemented by an audio guide in which Rössler's models reflect on their collaboration with him.

Museum Sculptures in Park Sanssouci Return Restored

Musen-Skulpturen im Park Sanssouci kehren restauriert zurück

Eight 18th-century marble sculptures depicting Greek muses have been reinstalled in the western pleasure garden of Park Sanssouci in Potsdam following a six-month restoration project. The works, created by Berlin sculptor Friedrich Christian Glume, represent figures like Melpomene (Tragedy), Klio (History), and Thalia (Comedy) and have been cleaned, repaired, and given a protective coating.

Artist Isaac Spellman on creating spaces for the misunderstood through art

Artist Isaac Spellman discusses his creative practice and upcoming presentation at the Affordable Art Fair 2026 in an interview. Spellman, whose style blends Art Deco graphic posters with elements of Chinese gongbi silk painting, has attracted commercial clients including Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Bang & Olufsen. For the fair, he will debut two original series: "Red, White, Bright and Young," inspired by London's Bright Young Things of the 1920s and their queer-inclusive social scene, and "Pretty Monster," which portrays whimsical monsters embracing their differences.

Serakai Studio unveils dreamedcore, a multi-sensorial exhibition exploring digital nostalgia in Hong Kong

Serakai Studio presents 'dreamedcore', its second exhibition at GOLD in Hong Kong's Wong Chuk Hang district, running from June 6 to August 1. Curated by Shirley Lau and Tobias Berge, the show blends an art exhibition, concept store, and runway format to explore digital-age nostalgia through the lens of 'dreamcore' aesthetics—drawing on 1990s and early 2000s visual textures. Featuring 22 emerging multi-disciplinary artists and creative practitioners from across Asia, including Li Shuang, Wong Ping, and Peng Ke, the exhibition is divided into two chapters: 'The Lure' and 'The Twist', with a central runway stage, ambient lighting, and a mini cinema screening a video by Wong Ping.

Reggie Burrows Hodges Debuts First European Solo Exhibition at Malta’s MICAS

The Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS) has opened "Mela," the first European solo exhibition by American artist Reggie Burrows Hodges. Running from May 9 to August 30, the show features 30 newly created works inspired by Malta, including the monumental painting "Mamajamma" (over 14 feet high and 26 feet wide), which responds to Caravaggio's "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist." Hodges relocated his studio to Malta to develop the exhibition, engaging with the island's coastline, architecture, labor traditions, and communities.

Gallery: New Tallinn art show explores illusions of safety and control

A new international group exhibition titled "Safe Traps" opened at Tütar Gallery in Tallinn, exploring the dual nature of control as both a source of safety and a restrictive cage. Curated by Maria Helen Känd, the show features works by French artist Anaïs Goupy, Latvian artist Līga Spunde, and Estonian artists Ruudu Ulas and Madlen Hirtentreu, examining how contemporary Western society's pursuit of control can become a trap that confines rather than liberates.

Maine Gallery Adds New Artists For 2026 Season

Maine Art Collective's (MAC) Gallery in Portland, Maine, has added five new artists to its roster for the 2026 season: Ann Tracy, Bill Elinoff, Sheri Oliva, donnersmith, and Tracy Hehmeyer. The gallery, which transitioned from a pop-up to a full-time space about a year ago, now features 17 artists total. Founder Susan Vittner, an artist herself, emphasizes the gallery's mission to support emerging artists through a cooperative model where artists retain most of their profits.

Signs of Life: Kunel Gaur’s Immersive Solo Exhibition at Method Delhi

Artist Kunel Gaur presents his solo exhibition "Signs of Life" at Method Delhi, running from December 11, 2025 to January 25, 2026. The show features immersive works that explore contemporary life through architectural materials like wood, concrete, metal, and acrylic, with series including "Colour Field Studies," "Interface Portraits," "KUMI," and "Tile Assemblies." Gaur's practice draws on graphic design, architecture, and brutalist influences to examine how identity, memory, and emotion are filtered through technology and industrial systems.

Exhibitions on view in July at Southwest Florida art centers

Southwest Florida is home to over a dozen art centers, and in July 2025, 24 exhibitions are on view across venues from Sarasota to Marco Island. Highlights include Art Center Sarasota's 'Vice and Virtue: Annual Juried Regional Show,' juried by curator Jessica Todd, exploring morality and duality; Venice Art Center's solo shows by Karen Weih and Cosette Kosiba; the 'Over the Bridge' exhibition at Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda featuring B.A. Wikoff and Lily Obsitnik; and the 'Member’s Showcase Exhibit' at the same venue. Satellite shows and the DeSoto Arts Center's annual art show round out the month's offerings.

Les États-Unis restituent près de 300 biens culturels à l’Italie

Italy presented 337 cultural artifacts repatriated from the United States at the Caserma "La Marmora" in Rome, following operations between December 2025 and April 2026. The objects span from the 5th century BCE to the 3rd century CE, including Roman sculptures, bronze works, pottery, jewelry, coins, and architectural fragments. Among the notable pieces is a marble head attributed to Alexander the Great, stolen from a Roman museum in 1960, and a bronze sculpture looted from Herculaneum. The recovery involved the Manhattan District Attorney's office, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and Christie's New York, with 221 items seized through the DA's collaboration and 116 returned in April.

The Textile Museum: A Frayed Project

Le Musée des tissus, un projet décousu

The renovation and expansion of the Musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon has stalled despite being acquired by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region seven years ago. Although architect Rudy Ricciotti revised his initial designs to satisfy local urban planning requirements and resident concerns, the project faces significant delays, with no building permit filed and a fluctuating budget that recently dropped from 60 million to 32 million euros. Tensions between the regional leadership and the City of Lyon have further complicated the timeline, leaving the museum closed to the public for four years.

Ella Maillart, intrepid photographer of the 1930s, highlighted in an exhibition in Lausanne

Ella Maillart, photographe baroudeuse des années 30 mise en lumière dans une exposition à Lausanne

Ella Maillart, a Swiss photographer and adventurer from the 1930s, is the subject of a new exhibition in Lausanne. Born in Geneva in 1903, Maillart was an Olympic sailor and champion skier before turning to travel and photography. She journeyed across the Soviet Union, Central Asia, and China, often by train, ski, or camel, documenting remote cultures and political landscapes. Her travels included a 6,000-kilometer trek from Beijing to Kashmir with British writer Peter Fleming, and a road trip from Geneva to Kabul with friend Annemarie Schwarzenbach. The exhibition highlights her photographs and writings, which blend geographical exploration, political chronicle, and personal meditation.

Annette Barcelo “Bestie, Bellezze e altre Compagne” at Haus für Kunst Uri

Annette Barcelo's exhibition "Bestie, Bellezze e altre Compagne" (Beasts, Beauties, and Other Companions) is on view at Haus für Kunst Uri in Altdorf, Switzerland. The show explores the creaturely as something emerging between bodies, images, and acts of imagination, where human, animal, mask, and ornament merge into hybrid figures that feel both familiar and elusive.

Gabriel Abrantes “Bardo Loops” at Gasworks, London

Gasworks in London is presenting "Bardo Loops," the first UK solo exhibition by artist and filmmaker Gabriel Abrantes. The installation spans four screens and features two animated ghosts who argue, reconcile, and sing laments, blending ironic humor with melodrama. The dialogue incorporates autobiographical elements from Abrantes's life alongside broader themes like climate change.

Daniel Hopp “Fictional Healing” at Kunsthaus Hamburg

Daniel Hopp's exhibition "Fictional Healing" at Kunsthaus Hamburg explores how transit spaces like train stations and public squares reveal social divisions, focusing on sites such as Berlin's Leopoldplatz and Hamburg's Drob Inn, a drug consumption counseling center. The show examines the collision of addiction, homelessness, and survival strategies in these urban environments.

“Show d’Houdini” at CAC Brétigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge

The article reviews the group exhibition "Show d’Houdini" at CAC Brétigny in Brétigny-sur-Orge, which explores the figure of the magician as a cultural archetype. Drawing on the legacy of Harry Houdini and the historical context of late 19th- and early 20th-century illusionism and spiritualism, the show presents works that examine the magician's dual nature—oscillating between charlatanism and miracle, deception and wonder.

Navid Baraty’s Atmospheric Photos Explore Contrasting Scales of Time

Navid Baraty's series "The Time Between" combines digital photographs of urban skylines like Manhattan and Chicago with dramatic natural landscapes such as desert dunes and snow-capped mountains. Using a double-exposure technique, the artist blends city lights and skyscraper outlines with geological features to explore contrasts between contemporary urban life and ancient, timeless terrains.

12,000 Years Ago, Native Americans Were Playing Games of Chance with Handmade Dice

Archaeologists have discovered that Native Americans were engaging in games of chance using handmade dice as far back as 12,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene. A new study by researcher Robert Madden reveals that these artifacts, found in sites across Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, predate the previously oldest known dice from Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley by over 6,000 years. These early dice, often made of bone and decorated with pigments, were used by the hunter-gatherer Folsom culture.

Frank Relle’s Photos Revel in Louisiana’s Otherworldly Swampland

Photographer Frank Relle continues his long-term artistic exploration of Louisiana's swamps, capturing the ethereal transition between day and night in his series 'Until the Water'. Based in New Orleans, Relle uses submerged lights to illuminate cypress trees and Spanish moss, creating serene, otherworldly images that convey a sense of timelessness and connection to a primordial landscape.

Even More Drawings for Versailles

Encore d'autres dessins pour Versailles

The Palace of Versailles has acquired several drawings during the Paris Drawing Week sales in March 2026, including a rare study by Charles de La Fosse for the royal chapel's dome decoration. The drawing, depicting a reclining nude man for "The Resurrection of Christ," was purchased at the Rossini auction of Paul and Florence Vercier's collection for €3,800. This acquisition adds to Versailles' growing collection of La Fosse works, following earlier purchases of an angel study in 2016 and a ceiling project in 2023.

Children and Satyr: Two Artcurial Sales in Paris

Enfants et satyre : deux ventes Artcurial à Paris

Artcurial in Paris is holding two upcoming sales on March 25, featuring a diverse collection of works on paper. The sales include a drawing of a camel by Jean-Pierre Houël, a preparatory sketch of a plucked chicken by Jean-François Tourcaty, a study of a man wearing a satyr mask by Parmigianino, and a drawing by Thomas Couture depicting a scene from his painting 'Pierrot en correctionnelle.'

Urban Reflections, Daniel Melim on the City as Studio, Archive and Collective Space

Brazilian artist Daniel Melim discusses his exhibition "Urban Reflections" at São Bernardo do Campo in an interview with Brendon Bell-Roberts. Melim, who emerged from the graffiti and stencil cultures of ABC Paulista, describes how the city functions as an active collaborator in his practice, transforming the gallery into an expanded studio where boundaries between street, studio, and institution dissolve. The exhibition juxtaposes pivotal and previously unseen works, tracing his artistic evolution and layered urban memory.