Rediscovering the Eternal City of the 1500s in the drawings of Maarten van Heemskerck. The exhibition in Rome

Riscoprire la Città Eterna del ‘500 nei disegni di Maarten van Heemskerck. La mostra a Roma

A major exhibition at Palazzo Poli in Rome, hosted by the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, showcases a selection of drawings by Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck (1498–1574) from his so-called 'little sketchbook,' now held at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin. The show, titled 'Maarten van Heemskerck e il fascino di Roma' and running until June 7, presents the artist's meticulous studies of Roman antiquities made during his four-year stay in the city from 1532, offering a rare visual record of Renaissance Rome's ancient collections before and after the 1527 Sack of Rome.

Interview with Wallace Chan, the artist who created a bridge between Venice and Shanghai through water

Intervista a Wallace Chan, l’artista che attraverso l’acqua ha creato un ponte tra Venezia e Shanghai

Wallace Chan, the Hong Kong-born artist turning 70, has launched a dual-exhibition project titled "Vessels of Other Worlds" between Venice and Shanghai, curated by James Putnam. In Venice, the show runs concurrently with the Biennale at the Cappella di Santa Maria della Pietà (Vivaldi's church), featuring three titanium sculptures inspired by Catholic holy oils, surrounded by smaller works evoking water droplets. In Shanghai, the same sculptures appear at the Long Museum (West Bund) starting July 18, 2026, on a monumental scale—seven, eight, and ten meters tall—with a kaleidoscopic interior accessible through a door in the central piece. The exhibitions also include sound compositions by Brian Eno and reference Chan's earlier Venice shows (Titans, Totem, Transcendence).

A Milano una grande mostra a Palazzo Reale racconta i Macchiaioli (e l’Italia del loro tempo)

A major exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan explores the Macchiaioli, the 19th-century Italian painting movement often seen as a precursor to Impressionism. The show brings together works by key figures such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Giuseppe Abbati, and Odoardo Borrani, alongside tangential artists like Giovanni Boldini, Federico Faruffini, and Gerolamo Induno. It traces the movement's origins at Florence's Caffè Michelangiolo, its epicenter at Castiglioncello under patron Diego Martelli, and its evolution from the 1850s through the 1870s, when the group's democratic ideals and en plein air techniques challenged academic conventions.

A Political Anthology of the United States: The Great Exhibition of Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince in Venice

Un’antologia politica degli Stati Uniti. La grande mostra di Arthur Jafa e Richard Prince a Venezia

Fondazione Prada presents "Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince" at Cà Corner della Regina in Venice, the 15th exhibition produced by the foundation in the city. Curated by Nancy Spector of the Brooklyn Museum, the two-person show brings together over fifty works—photographs, videos, installations, sculptures, and paintings—that explore the fractured identity of the United States through the lens of race, masculinity, popular culture, and appropriation. Both artists, though separated by more than a decade in age, share a practice of scavenging and recontextualizing images from film, comics, advertising, and social media to critique American society.

C’è un libro che racconta il sorprendente rapporto storico tra arte, biciclette e ciclismo

Antonio Colombo, the Italian entrepreneur behind Columbus and Cinelli, has published a memoir titled "A.C. Confidential. La mia vita tra arte, bicicletta e design" (Ediciclo Editore, 2026, co-written with Giacomo Pellizzari). The book traces his family's engineering legacy—his father Angelo Luigi Colombo supplied steel tubes to Bauhaus designer Marcel Breuer in 1933—and Colombo's own career fusing technical precision with artistic vision. He acquired Cinelli in 1978, collaborated with artists like Keith Haring, Alessandro Mendini, and Barry McGee, and introduced groundbreaking bicycle models including the Rampichino mountain bike (1985) and the Laser, which won the Compasso d'Oro design award in 1991. The narrative also covers his friendships with artists Mario Schifano (who designed Tour de France jerseys) and his role in the Red Hook Criterium fixed-gear race.

Semiha Berksoy: The Turkish Artist Who Made Her Life a Total Work of Art

Semiha Berksoy: l’artista turca che ha reso la sua vita un’opera totale

A major retrospective titled "Aria of All Colors" at the Istanbul Modern, running until September 6, celebrates the multifaceted Turkish artist Semiha Berksoy (1911–2004). Featuring over 200 works, the exhibition showcases her pioneering career as a painter, sculptor, opera singer, actress, costume designer, and performance artist. Berksoy became the first Turkish soprano to perform on European stages after studying in Berlin, and she helped found the Ankara State Opera. Her deeply personal paintings, often depicting her mother and cultural figures, are marked by a graphic, childlike style and a recurring "line of destiny." The show includes costumes, sketches, archival footage, and even a refrigerator door painted with her daughter's portrait.

All the complexity of Cézanne on display at the legendary Fondation Beyeler in Basel

Tutta la complessità di Cézanne in mostra alla mitica Fondation Beyeler di Basilea

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel has opened a major exhibition dedicated to Paul Cézanne, marking the 120th anniversary of his death. Curated by senior curator Ulf Küster, the show features 80 works—58 paintings and 21 watercolors—drawn from public and private collections across Switzerland, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, and the United States. Highlights include nine versions of Mont Sainte-Victoire, rare comparisons of two watercolor versions of "Boy in a Red Waistcoat," and two versions of "The Card Players" from the Courtauld Gallery and the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibition runs until May 25, 2026, and is accompanied by a catalog published by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

The End-of-Term Grand Interview with Stefano Boeri After 8 Years as President of Triennale di Milano

La grande intervista di fine mandato a Stefano Boeri dopo 8 anni da presidente della Triennale di Milano

Stefano Boeri reflects on his eight-year tenure as president of Triennale Milano in a wide-ranging exit interview. He discusses the institution's transformation into a more international and accessible cultural hub, highlighting key achievements such as the three major International Exhibitions—"Broken Nature" (2019), "Unknown Unknowns" (2022), and "Inequalities" (2025)—and the physical reclamation of spaces like the "Cuore" hall and the garden-level floor, which were opened free to the public. Boeri also touches on financial management, governance challenges, and his hopes for the future leadership.

In Genoa, an exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Korompay, the Futurist who loved Pink Floyd

A Genova una mostra dedicata a Giovanni Korompay, il futurista che amava i Pink Floyd

A major retrospective exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Korompay, a Venetian painter, sculptor, and illustrator associated with the second wave of Futurism, has opened at the Wolfsoniana in Genoa Nervi. Titled "Korompay, un’antologica," the show runs until November 1st and features around sixty works, including paintings, sculptures, graphic works, photographs, and documents. It explores Korompay's evolution from traditional training under Ettore Tito to his embrace of Futurist aeropainting, exemplified by works such as "Alta velocità" (High Speed), which celebrates a 1934 world speed record set by a Macchi-Castoldi MC 72 seaplane. The exhibition is curated by Alex Casagrande, Matteo Fochessati, Franco Tagliapietra, and Anna Vyazemtseva, with loans from public museums (Mart, Mambo), private collections, and the Fondazione Korompay.

Basquiat's intense works on paper are at the center of his first exhibition in Denmark

Le intense opere su carta di Basquiat sono al centro della sua prima mostra in Danimarca

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, is hosting "Headstrong," a retrospective of 50 works on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat, running until May 17. The exhibition focuses on Basquiat's depictions of the human head and body, created between 1981 and 1983, and first shown posthumously in 1990. It is the first solo museum presentation of Basquiat in Scandinavia, featuring loans from private collections and international museums, highlighting a lesser-known aspect of the artist's practice.

Arte contemporanea, fiabe e favole nel racconto di Artbox su Sky Arte

The article previews an upcoming episode of the Italian television program "Artbox" airing on Sky Arte on Tuesday, May 12. The episode visits Castello di Miradolo in Piedmont, where the exhibition "C'è oggi una fiaba" (There Is a Fairy Tale Today) runs until June 21, blending art, literature, and music around childhood themes. Curator Roberto Galimberti and Fondazione Cosso director Paola Eynard discuss the show. The episode also features art historian Maria Vittoria Baravelli's segment "Invito al viaggio," reinterpreting fairy tales as dynamic spaces for growth, referencing artists Luigi Serafini and Luigi Ontani. Additionally, curator Gražina Subelytė discusses the exhibition "Peggy Guggenheim a Londra. Nascita di una collezionista" in Venice, and curators Stefania Bossi, Michele Tavola, and Valentina Cane present the show "Regina. Sperimentatrice geniale" about a prolific sculptor. The program includes a book segment on Orsina Simona Pierini's "I colori delle case. Milan Interiors 1923-1978."

The best and worst we saw at the Venice Art Biennale 2026. Artribune's hits and flops

Il meglio e il peggio che abbiamo visto alla Biennale d’Arte di Venezia 2026. Top e flop di Artribune

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and directed by Koyo Kouoh, opened amid significant turmoil: the death of a newly appointed curator, diplomatic tensions over the presence of Russia and Israel, political protests, and the unprecedented collective resignation of the jury, which led to the Golden Lions being awarded by public vote for the first time. Despite this chaotic backdrop, the exhibition—featuring a record 100 national pavilions—has been widely praised for avoiding moralistic pedagogy and instead embracing visual seduction, formal quality, and sensory joy while addressing themes of identity, memory, colonialism, ecological crisis, and violence. The article highlights top and flop moments from the opening week, including strong showings by Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and a standout exhibition at Fondazione Prada.

Performance, gioco, rischio. Il grande Paul McCarthy è in mostra a Madrid: l’intervista

Paul McCarthy's latest exhibition, titled "A&E," is on view at Bowman Hal gallery in Madrid, part of the SOLO CONTEMPORARY initiative founded by a Spanish collector couple. The show features large-scale works on paper and videos created in collaboration with German actress Lilith Stangenberg, exploring role-play, performance, and the blurred lines between art and entertainment. The acronym "A&E" alludes to historical pairs like Adam and Eve or Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, as well as "Arts & Entertainment." The works stem from private encounters between McCarthy and Stangenberg, with drawings serving as storyboards for videos that capture their improvisational, trance-like interactions.

It's full of artworks behind the looks seen on the Met Gala 2026 red carpet

È pieno di opere d’arte dietro ai look visti sul red carpet del Met Gala 2026

The Met Gala 2026, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, adopted the dress code "Fashion Is Art," prompting designers and celebrities to transform their bodies into living canvases and sculptures. Notable looks included Emma Chamberlain in custom Mugler evoking Vincent van Gogh, Anne Hathaway wearing a Michael Kors Collection dress hand-painted by artist Peter McGough with ancient Greek iconography, and Madonna in a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello ensemble inspired by Leonora Carrington's surrealist work. Other celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner referenced classical sculptures such as the Nike of Samothrace and Venus de Milo, while Anok Yai, in collaboration with Pierpaolo Piccioli for Balenciaga, created a metallic bronze effect honoring the Black Madonna.

There is a major Paulo Nazareth exhibition to see in Venice (but the artist himself hasn't seen it)

C’è una grande mostra di Paulo Nazareth da vedere a Venezia (ma l’artista stesso non l’ha vista)

A major exhibition of Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth, titled "Algebra," has opened at Punta della Dogana in Venice, but the artist himself is absent. Nazareth has kept a promise not to set foot in Europe until he has crossed African territories on foot, as they existed before the arbitrary divisions imposed by the 1884 Berlin Conference. He did not participate in the installation or opening, instead staging a simultaneous event in Veneza, a working-class district of Ribeirão das Neves, Brazil—a gesture he also made when invited to the 2013 Venice Biennale. The exhibition centers on structural violence and uses attention and care as strategies for healing, with the word "algebra" referring to the act of recomposing what was broken.

In Piedmont, Langhe, Roero and Monferrato increasingly focus on contemporary art and cultural tourism

In Piemonte le Langhe, il Roero e il Monferrato puntano sempre di più sull’arte contemporanea e il turismo culturale

The Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato regions of Piedmont, Italy, have consolidated their cultural alliance under the name Orma, a unified system launched in 2025 that brings together four existing festivals—Creativamente Roero, Resté, Germinale Monferrato Art Fest, and La collina sale sempre—to offer a widespread contemporary art program across the UNESCO World Heritage territory. In 2026, Orma expands its activities from May to November, involving over 60 municipalities, with new entries like Canelli hosting a site-specific work by Brazilian artist Maria Theresa Alves in partnership with Castello di Rivoli, and projects such as Prospettive / Perspectives with Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and Villa Arson. The program includes artist residencies, permanent interventions, and exhibitions, with Resté already underway in the Langhe towns of Diano d'Alba, Montelupo Albese, Rodello, and Cerretto Langhe.

Fotografia Europea returns to Reggio Emilia. Program, appointments, hundreds of widespread exhibitions

A Reggio Emilia torna la grande rassegna Fotografia Europea. Programma, appuntamenti, centinaia di mostre diffuse

Fotografia Europea, the major photography festival in Reggio Emilia, returns for its 21st edition from April 30 to June 14, 2026, under the theme "Fantasmi del quotidiano" (Ghosts of the Everyday). The official circuit features twenty exhibitions across historic venues such as Chiostri di San Pietro, Palazzo da Mosto, and Palazzo dei Musei, as well as modern spaces like Spazio Gerra and Collezione Maramotti. Highlights include works by Felipe Romero Beltrán (winner of the KBr Photo Award 2025), Mohamed Hassan, Salvatore Vitale, Marine Lanier, Ola Rindal, Tania Franco Klein, Giulia Vanelli, Frédéric D. Oberland, and Simona Ghizzoni, with curatorial contributions from Tim Clark and Luce Lebart. Over three hundred off-circuit exhibitions will also be held throughout the city.

The New Exhibitions of the Pinacoteca Agnelli and the New Public Works on the Lingotto Park-Track: The Photos

Le nuove mostre della Pinacoteca Agnelli e le nuove opere pubbliche sulla pista-parco del Lingotto: le foto

The Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin has launched a new exhibition program that includes the first major institutional retrospective in Italy dedicated to Swiss photographer Walter Pfeiffer, titled "In Good Company," running until September 13, 2026. Curated by Nicola Trezzi and Simon Castets, the show features over 100 photographs from the 1970s to today, blending iconic and unseen works that explore queer eroticism, everyday artifice, and collaborative image-making. Concurrently, the museum presents "Modigliani sottopelle. Quattro capolavori" as part of its "Beyond the Collection" series, placing four masterpieces by Amedeo Modigliani—including a loan from the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and works from the Centre Pompidou—in dialogue with the permanent collection. Curated by Pietro Rigolo and Beatrice Zanelli, the exhibition takes an interdisciplinary approach combining art history, diagnostics, and scientific research, using an algorithm to analyze canvas weaves and propose a new dating for the iconic "Nu couché" acquired by Giovanni and Marella Agnelli in 1960.

Pussy Riot Shows Art by Russia’s Prisoners in New Protest Exhibition

Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova co-curated "Resistance Imprisoned," a protest exhibition at Ritsch-Fisch Galerie in Strasbourg, France, featuring artwork created by people currently or formerly imprisoned in Russia, including Ukrainian civilians. The show opened April 19 and runs through May 31, timed to coincide with the first month of the Venice Biennale, which opens May 9. Works include a pen sketch by Lyudmila Razumova, a photojournalist arrested for anti-war graffiti in 2022 and serving a seven-year sentence, alongside pieces by other political prisoners and Ukrainian POWs. The exhibition aims to highlight the human cost of Russia's war and its participation in international cultural events.

Roma accoglie all’Ara Pacis 52 importanti opere dell’Impressionismo provenienti da Detroit

The Museo dell'Ara Pacis in Rome is hosting an exhibition titled 'Impressionismo e oltre' (Impressionism and Beyond), featuring 52 masterpieces on loan from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Curated by Ilaria Miarelli Mariani and Claudio Zambianchi, the show spans from the 1840s to the early 20th century, tracing the evolution of European painting through Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and the avant-garde. Works by Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and others are displayed across thematic sections that explore the shift from academic tradition to modern visual language.

"There are no minor or feminine arts." Domitilla Dardi explains this in her new book

“Non esistono arti minori o femminili”. Ce lo spiega Domitilla Dardi nel suo nuovo libro

Domitilla Dardi's new book "Cucire Universi" (published by Einaudi) presents a counter-history of design, focusing on techniques traditionally dismissed as "feminine" and "minor"—such as sewing, ceramics, cooking, and knitting. The book argues that these practices have been systematically undervalued by official art histories, yet have contributed significantly to technologically advanced research fields. Dardi uses real historical figures like Emily Dickinson to illustrate how women's creative and scientific talents were channeled into these marginalized domains, and she calls for overcoming the dualistic view that separates art from craft.

Jule Korneffel Finds Meaning at the End of Light

Artist Jule Korneffel's solo exhibition 'In Search of Lost Light' is on view at Spencer Brownstone Gallery through May 2. The show features seven paintings from 2023 to the present, including a site-specific wall work, that explore themes of fading light, memory, and melancholia through a nuanced palette of grays and blues.

The Synthesis of Poetry and Violence: Inside the New Exhibitions at the Pinault Collection in Venice

La sintesi tra poesia e violenza. Ecco come sono le mostre alla Pinault Collection di Venezia

The Pinault Collection has unveiled its 2025 exhibition program across its two Venice venues, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. This year, the institution opts for a multi-artist approach rather than a single-artist takeover, featuring Michael Armitage and Amar Kanwar at Palazzo Grassi, alongside Lorna Simpson and Paulo Nazareth at Punta della Dogana. The exhibitions focus heavily on global perspectives, spanning from Kenya and India to Brazil and the United States, addressing contemporary social tensions through diverse media.

ArtReview Asia Spring 2026 Issue Out Now

The Spring 2026 issue of ArtReview Asia has been published, featuring a cover profile of artist Li Yi-Fan. The issue includes an in-depth look at Li's work, which explores the relationship between humans and machines through video installations and performance lectures, ahead of his representation of Taiwan at the Venice Biennale. Other articles examine the contemporary art scene in Bangkok, urban redevelopment in Colombo, a colonial-era plant hunting exhibition in London, and Taiwan's museum boom.

Everything to know about David Geffen Galleries as a new LACMA emerges

The Los Angeles Times reports on the upcoming David Geffen Galleries, a new building that will become the centerpiece of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as it undergoes a major transformation. Designed by architect Peter Zumthor, the structure is part of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar renovation project that aims to modernize the museum's campus and consolidate its collection under one roof. The article details the timeline, design features, and the controversies surrounding the project's cost and scope.

The best museums in the U.S. for art, history and culture

The article presents a curated list of the 10 best museums in the United States, as compiled by U.S. News & World Report, covering art, history, science, and cultural heritage. It begins with a philosophical reflection on the unique power of museums to provide direct, physical encounters with objects that cannot be replicated by digital media. The first museum profiled is The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, highlighting its 5,000-year collection, 5 million annual visitors, and its two distinct locations: The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters.

Anish Kapoor Returns to the Hayward Gallery with Monumental New Works

Anish Kapoor will return to the Hayward Gallery in London in 2026 with a major exhibition of new and celebrated works, running from 16 June to 18 October. Curated by Ralph Rugoff, the show will fill the gallery and its outdoor terraces with monumental installations, including a vast inflated PVC membrane, a dark mountainous threshold, and the suspended sculpture 'Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto' (2022). The exhibition also features Vantablack-coated works, mirrored steel sculptures, and recent paintings and sculptures in silicone, resin, and pigment, marking Kapoor's first major return to the Hayward since 1998.

‘Street Nihonga: The Art of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani’

The Spencer Museum of Art has opened 'Street Nihonga: The Art of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani,' a major spring exhibition featuring 170 works by the Japanese American artist, many never before displayed. The show traces Mirikitani's extraordinary life from his birth in Sacramento in 1920, his childhood in Hiroshima, formal training in traditional Nihonga under masters Kawai Gyokudō and Kimura Buzan, to his forced incarceration at Tule Lake during World War II after refusing to sign a loyalty oath. After years of statelessness and homelessness in New York City, Mirikitani developed a deeply personal, politically charged mixed-media practice that blended Japanese techniques with American street art.

Adelaide’s Tarnanthi is going on tour

Tarnanthi, the Art Gallery of South Australia's annual exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, is launching a national tour titled 'Tarnanthi on Tour: Too Deadly' starting July. The touring exhibition features over 30 works from the past decade of the festival, many conceived for Tarnanthi and never seen outside Adelaide. It will visit six regional galleries across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia over the next two years, including Rockhampton Museum of Art, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Ngununggula, Caboolture Art Gallery, Geelong Gallery, and Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.

L.A. County Fair 2026: Playful art exhibit was curated in a mad rush

Two local artists, Keith Ballard and Rebecca Ustrell of the collective Claremont Temporary, were invited by L.A. County Fair officials in late January to curate an art exhibit at the Millard Sheets Art Center. With only two months to organize, they assembled "Play Pavilion," a community-driven show featuring 63 artists from the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley, including notable names like Chicano graffiti pioneer Chaz Bojórquez and album cover designer John Van Hamersveld. The exhibit runs through May 31 at the fair, which has the theme "Play Your Way."