The British Museum's proposal to redesign its forecourt with two permanent security pavilions and a Mediterranean-style garden has drawn opposition from conservation groups. The Georgian Group and the Victorian Society argue the additions would disrupt the historic symmetry and formal setting of Robert Smirke's 19th-century Greek Revival building, urging Camden Council to reject the plan.
A new biography by art historian Elizabeth Goldring, titled "Holbein: Renaissance Master," traces the journey of German painter Hans Holbein the Younger from his humble beginnings in Augsburg to becoming the official painter of King Henry VIII in Tudor England. The book, already released in the U.K. and hitting U.S. bookshops on January 6, examines how Holbein's portraits—including the iconic image of Henry VIII and rival courtiers Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell—defined the visual legacy of the Tudor dynasty. Goldring highlights Holbein's ability to confer power through paint, with his works still shaping global perceptions of the Tudors centuries later.
A British woman, Barbara de Dozsa, has voluntarily returned a stolen Renaissance painting by Antonio Solario to the Civic Museum of Belluno in Italy, more than 50 years after it was stolen in a 1973 heist. The work, a Madonna and Child, was purchased by her late ex-husband, Baron de Dozsa, shortly after the theft and later inherited by her. Although UK law allowed her to keep it legally, she was persuaded by art recovery specialist Christopher Marinello to return it on moral grounds, citing the painting's status on the Interpol database and the museum's role as a guardian of cultural heritage.
The International Center of Photography (ICP) is hosting its fifth annual Photobook Fest from May 8–10 at its Lower East Side campus in Manhattan. The event will feature over 80 international publishers, with a schedule of workshops, panels, and book signings.
Hmong-American artist Pao Houa Her is currently presenting a solo exhibition at Midway Contemporary Art in Chicago, running through May 2, 2026. The show explores themes of displacement, identity, and cultural memory through Her's photographs and installations, which blend personal narrative with broader social commentary on the Hmong diaspora experience post-Vietnam War. Born in Laos and raised in Minnesota, Her's work challenges viewers to confront the complexities of migration and belonging, using staged portraits and intimate compositions to subvert expectations of representation.
Lee Sharrock selects five must-see highlights at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in 2025. The Biennale runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the Giardini, Arsenale, and various Venetian venues. Featured highlights include Marina Abramović's historic exhibition "Transforming Energy" at the Gallerie dell'Accademia—the first major show for a living woman artist there—the Holy See Pavilion's "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul" with artists like Patti Smith and Brian Eno, and Lubaina Himid's British Pavilion presentation "Predicting History: Testing Translation."
Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert presents a focused exhibition of Patrick Heron's early works from 1950 to 1954, tracing the British modernist's decisive shift from figuration to abstraction. The show brings together pieces from the artist's estate, including several never before exhibited, alongside loans from museums and private collections, highlighting a formative moment in post-war British art. Key works such as 'Christmas Eve: 1951' and 'Black Fish on Blue Table' demonstrate Heron's evolving visual language, influenced by the School of Paris and encounters with Braque, Matisse, and Bonnard.
The Art Fund has announced the five finalists for its Museum of the Year 2026 award, all of which are located in England. The shortlist includes The National Gallery and V&A East Storehouse in London, Norwich Castle, Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, and The Box in Plymouth. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at London's Cutty Sark on June 25.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has launched "Martin Puryear: Nexus," the first comprehensive survey of the influential American sculptor’s work in nearly two decades. The exhibition features approximately 50 pieces spanning over 50 years, including sculptures in wood, rawhide, and metal, as well as rarely seen drawings and models. Co-organized with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the show highlights Puryear’s unique blend of traditional craftsmanship, global cultural influences, and abstract forms.
The Box in Plymouth has reported a record-breaking 2025/2026 season, attracting 356,000 visitors and surpassing its annual target by 18%. This surge represents a 44% increase from the previous year, contributing to a total of 1.1 million visitors since the institution opened in late 2020. The success is largely attributed to high-profile exhibitions, including a major retrospective of local artist Beryl Cook and a showcase featuring Sir Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of Mai.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing for the public debut of its $724-million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Ahead of the April 19 member opening, public discourse has intensified following a series of reports detailing the building's architecture, the reinstallation of Alexander Calder’s "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)," and the project's massive budget. Reader reactions remain deeply polarized, reflecting a two-decade-long debate over the structure's unconventional design and its impact on the urban landscape.
The Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe have launched "MORE COLORS THAN THE EYE CAN SEE," a national educational initiative based on Jeffrey Gibson’s historic solo exhibition for the U.S. Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale. Developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and a cohort of ten educators, the project introduces 14 interdisciplinary K-12 lesson plans. These resources integrate Indigenous contemporary art into subjects ranging from mathematics to social studies, utilizing Gibson’s vibrant aesthetic to explore themes of identity, representation, and creative sovereignty.
Pace Prints, the storied New York-based print publisher and gallery, has announced it will open its first West Coast location in Hollywood this autumn. The new facility will feature a fully equipped printmaking workshop alongside a gallery space, allowing Los Angeles-based artists to produce technically ambitious works—including etching, woodcut, and large-format printing—without traveling to New York.
Montclair State University Galleries will present “Carpe Diem: Select Alumni in the Visual Arts” from February 3 to May 3, 2026, at the George Segal Gallery. The cross-generational group exhibition features 12 accomplished alumni artists whose careers span from 1943 to 2024, including internationally recognized figures such as Bisa Butler, Pope.L, and Allen Ginsberg. Curated by Art and Design Professor Sally Morgan Lehman, the show highlights a range of media—photography, poetry, quilted portraits, mixed media, and video installations—and includes both established and emerging voices.
The latest episode of The Art Newspaper's 'The Week in Art' podcast, hosted by Ben Luke, covers three major stories. It features a discussion with co-curator Kevin Dumouchelle about 'Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art,' a new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., focusing on LGBTQ+ artists from Africa and its diaspora. The episode also examines the cultural impact of the protests and brutal crackdown in Iran, with reporter Sarvy Garenpayeh, and highlights Louise Nevelson's 'Tropical Garden II (1957)' as the Work of the Week, tied to a new survey of the sculptor's work at the Centre Pompidou-Metz.
Singapore is solidifying its position as a central hub for Southeast Asian art, supported by government initiatives, established institutions like the National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum, and major events such as Art SG, the Singapore Biennale, and Singapore Art Week. While other regional hubs like Jakarta, Bangkok, and Manila are growing, Singapore uniquely fosters a pan-Southeast Asian focus, attracting collectors and artists from across the region. However, recent closures of smaller independent spaces like Sàn Art in Saigon and Your Mother Gallery in Singapore, along with the absorption of S.E.A. Focus into Art SG, have impacted the independent scene, though new venues such as Bangkok Kunst-halle and Vũ Dân Tân Museum offer fresh opportunities.
The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard)’s Hessel Museum of Art will present "Betty Parsons: An Expanded World" from June 27 to October 18, 2026. It is the first major retrospective to examine Betty Parsons (1900-1982) as both a pioneering abstract artist and a trailblazing gallerist who launched the careers of Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock. Organized by curator Kelly Taxter with artist Amy Sillman, the exhibition features approximately 80 works spanning painting, sculpture, and works on paper, alongside a new film by G. Anthony Svatek and Kaija Siirala about the Betty Parsons Gallery.
This article features an in-depth interview with artist Olafur Eliasson, who discusses his career-long focus on human perception, environmental concerns, and the concept of "we-ness" in his work. Eliasson reflects on key installations such as *Beauty* (1993) and *Your lost lighthouse* (2020), his influences from thinkers like Donna Haraway and Alva Noë, and his fascination with James Turrell and early Renaissance art. He also shares insights into his Berlin studio and answers the question "what is art for?" The piece is accompanied by details of his current exhibitions in Brisbane, Jakarta, and Singapore, as well as a new permanent public work in Oxford, UK.
Curators and museum directors from leading institutions worldwide selected their favorite exhibitions of 2025, highlighting a diverse range of shows. Standouts include Wolfgang Tillmans at Centre Pompidou, Paris, praised for its generous scope and integration of the library space; 'Encounters: Giacometti x Mona Hatoum' at Barbican Art Gallery, London, noted for its dialogue across time; and Ithell Colquhoun's retrospective at Tate St Ives, which repositions the artist from a Surrealist footnote to a major figure. Other acclaimed exhibitions include Noah Davis at Barbican Art Gallery, Linder at Hayward Gallery, Hamad Butt at Whitechapel Gallery, and Caroline Walker at Hepworth Wakefield.
Napoles Marty, a US painter and sculptor based between Connecticut and Rhode Island, has won the 2026 Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize. The award includes $25,000 and a solo stand at the fair, which opens in late February at Santa Monica Airport. Marty, whose work draws on dream imagery and his Cuban heritage, was selected by a jury including collectors Allison K. Berg and Maisha C. Clark. He will collaborate with fair organizers and Diana Nawi, curator of special projects at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on his presentation. Marty was previously a member of the sixth cohort of Nxthvn, a Connecticut-based arts incubator founded by artist Titus Kaphar and impact investor Jason Price.
The Italian parliament reduced VAT on art sales from 22% to 5%, the lowest rate in Europe, a move announced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government. The tax cut was celebrated at the 30th anniversary dinner of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, where politician Federico Mollicone noted it had been over 30 years in the making. The contemporary art fair Artissima, holding its 32nd edition in Turin, became the first Italian fair to test the new tax policy. Italian dealers reported positive effects, including easier deal closures and increased sales to both Italian and European collectors, with some galleries experiencing their best opening day ever.
The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) has opened a new exhibition titled "The Bradley Collection of Modern Art: A Bold Vision for Milwaukee" in the Baker/Rowland Galleries, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Peg Bradley's donation of nearly 400 works to the museum. The show features highlights from the collection, including pieces by Wassily Kandinsky, Raoul Dufy, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, alongside works by American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Andy Warhol. The exhibition offers visitors a chance to see these works in a new setting and learn more about Bradley as a collector and philanthropist.
Edward Burtynsky, the renowned Canadian photographer known for his large-scale depictions of industrial landscapes, is the subject of a feature titled "Edward Burtynsky: Taking Place." The article highlights his 40-year career documenting humanity's impact on the planet, from his early influences in St. Catharines, Ontario, to his recent exhibition "BURTYNSKY: Extraction/Abstraction," which premiered at London's Saatchi Gallery in February 2024 before traveling to M9 in Mestre, Italy. It also notes his founding of Toronto Image Works and his ongoing solo and group exhibitions worldwide.
The Teiger Foundation, a US-based nonprofit supporting art curators, has announced its 2025 grantees, awarding a total of $7 million to 85 curators at institutions across the country. This nearly doubles last year’s grants as the foundation transitions to a biennial model, with individual grants ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 for exhibitions, research, touring shows, and three years of programming. Notable projects include a major survey of the late artist L.V. Hull organized by curators Ryan N. Dennis, Annalise Flynn, and Yaphet Smith, and a Theresa Hak Kyung Cha retrospective curated by Victoria Sung and Tausif Noor.
Washington and Lee University's Art Museum and Galleries announced its Fall 2025 programs under the theme "Materiality & Transformation," featuring two concurrent exhibitions: "Taking Place," a solo show of large-format aerial photographs by Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky, and "Recoded Memories," an immersive installation by Zimbabwean artist Moffat Takadiwa that repurposes discarded materials like computer keys and VHS tapes. Burtynsky's exhibition runs from September 3, 2025, to April 18, 2026, at the Reeves Museum of Ceramics, with a keynote lecture on September 11; Takadiwa's installation is on view from October 24, 2025, to May 31, 2026, at the Watson Galleries, with an artist talk on October 23.
Frieze has announced the collaborations, funds, and prizes for Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2025, working with arts organizations, foundations, British brands, and public institutions. Key initiatives include the Frieze Masters Art Fund Curator Programme, offering fully funded places to 18 international and UK curators in partnership with Art Fund and The National Gallery; the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship, now in its fifth year, hosted by MIMA in Middlesbrough; and the return of the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize, won last year by Nat Faulkner. The fairs will also feature curatorial conversations, private tours, and offsite activations by former fellows.
Jane and Louise Wilson, identical twin artists born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1967, are featured in a podcast interview where they discuss their collaborative practice since the late 1980s. Working primarily in video installation, photography, and sound, they explore duality and selfhood through loaded sites like abandoned military bases and borderlands. The podcast covers their early inspirations, including John Martin and Cindy Sherman, and the influence of filmmakers such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean Cocteau, and Stanley Kubrick. Their current exhibitions include 'Performance of Entrapment' at London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE (until 10 January 2026) and 'Dendrophiles' at Leadenhall Building as part of Sculpture in the City, London (until spring 2026).
Museums are rethinking decades-old climate control standards that dictate strict temperature and humidity ranges for preserving collections. These guidelines, originally based on 1970s research for paintings in London, have been widely adopted globally despite being designed for temperate climates. Conservator Caitlin Southwick of Ki Culture argues this is a "big misunderstanding," as the standards were never intended for diverse collections like stone in Brazil or tapestries in Italy. Climate control systems now account for 60-70% of a typical museum's energy consumption, creating high costs and carbon footprints.
Two concurrent exhibitions in central London this summer—'Art & the Book' at the Warburg Institute and 'Spineless Wonders: The Power of Print Unbound' at Senate House Library—celebrate the contemporary and historical impact of print and small-press publishing. The shows feature a spectrum of materials from socialist pamphlets and activist flyers to artists' books and ephemera, drawn from special collections to highlight the deep history of paper and print as a medium for autonomous production. The Warburg exhibition, curated by Matthew Harle with guest curators Arnaud Desjardin and Hlib Velyhorskyi, centers on artists' books and includes residencies, talks, and an art bookfair, all open to the public.
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon, has opened 'C.S. Price: A Portrait,' a retrospective exhibition of more than 40 works by Clayton Sumner Price, a Modernist painter who helped shape America’s view of the West. The show was organized by Roger Saydack, a retired attorney and self-taught scholar who first encountered Price’s painting 'The Fisherman' as a boy at the Detroit Institute of Arts and spent decades researching the artist. It runs through August 30 and is the first solo exhibition of Price’s work in over 25 years, accompanied by a 312-page catalog.