Carole A. Feuerman | Miniature Serena (with Blue-Green Tube) (2021) | For Sale

Carole A. Feuerman's sculpture "Miniature Serena (with Blue-Green Tube)" (2021) is being offered for sale. The work is an oil on resin piece with 24K gold leaf cap, table-top scale, measuring 10 x 17 x 8 inches, from a variant of 10. Feuerman, born in 1945, is an American sculptor and author credited with co-founding the Hyperrealist movement in the late 1970s, known for figurative works of swimmers and dancers. Her public sculptures have been displayed globally, including at Central Park, the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Venice Biennale, and the State Hermitage Museum. She has received multiple awards, including the Medici Award, and her works are in the permanent collections of 31 museums and owned by notable figures such as Steven A. Cohen, former President Bill Clinton, and Dr. Henry Kissinger.

Studio Visit: Ding Yi on his major Venice exhibition ‘Cosmotechnics’

Artist Ding Yi, known for his decades-long dedication to the cross motif in abstraction, is preparing for his major Venice exhibition 'Cosmotechnics' at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia. The show, running from 9 May to 22 November 2026, features key archival works alongside a new series of twelve black-and-white basswood relief paintings and two stone steles carved with his signature cross pattern. Ding Yi reflects on his artistic journey, which began in 1988 at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, and his shift from strict geometric grids to more intuitive, cosmic-inspired compositions.

Gala Porras-Kim: Future spaces replicate earlier spaces

Gala Porras-Kim presents her first exhibition at kurimanzutto in Mexico City, titled "Future spaces replicate earlier spaces," running from April 11 to June 13, 2026. The show brings together works that examine how museums and conservation institutions reclassify objects removed from their original contexts, using reconstruction and resituating to explore their spatial, material, and temporal conditions. Central to the exhibition is the installation "The motion of an alluvial record" (2024), which recreates the humid marshland atmosphere of the Yucatán Peninsula inside the gallery, contrasting with the controlled climates of museums. Other works include drawings replicating wall decorations from the Techinantitla complex in Teotihuacan, which were fragmented and sold on the black market, and graphite drawings of objects by artist Brígido Lara, whose "original interpretations" of Totonac ritual clay objects were mistakenly catalogued as Pre-Hispanic artifacts in major museums.

Bridges of Belonging: Cinco de Mayo Art Reception

A free reception for the exhibition “Bridges of Belonging: Cinco de Mayo, Bi-National Identity, and the Spirit of Chignahuapan” will be held on May 1 at the Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery in Las Vegas. The event, themed “Puentes de Pertenencia,” features live music, cultural performances, visual arts, and food, with the exhibit on display through May 28.

Hotel Room Transforms into Media Art Exhibition Space

South Korea's only media art fair, Loop Plus, was held from April 23 to 26 at the Grand Josun Busan Hotel in Haeundae, Busan. The fair transformed 26 hotel rooms on the 13th floor into exhibition spaces, featuring media artworks from 19 international galleries including Tang Contemporary Art, Esther Schipper, Chiwen Gallery, and Baek Art. Highlights included a 38-minute video installation by Russian artist group AES+F titled *‘Inverso Mundus’*, presented by Tang Contemporary Art, which humorously subverts societal absurdities. The event also included artist booths for Kang Lee-yeon and Lucia Levolino, and institutional booths for the Justice Foundation and Gwangju Media Art Platform. A related festival, Loop Lab Busan 2026, runs until June 28 across multiple venues in Busan.

A Rosso for the Metropolitan

Un Rosso pour le Metropolitan

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has acquired a painting by Rosso Fiorentino, a master of Italian and French Mannerism, after restoration revealed an earlier overpaint that had obscured the composition. The work, a Virgin and Child, now shows Saint John the Evangelist in the foreground at right, confirming it as an original by the artist.

Where Thoughts Provoke and Truths Take Form.

Henry Taylor's major exhibition 'Where Thoughts Provoke' has opened at the Musée national Picasso-Paris. The show is a survey of nearly four decades of his work, featuring paintings, sculpture, and installation that focus on portraiture, observation, and the politics of looking.

Metropolitan Museum receives $23m to endow internship programme

On 30 April, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a $23m pledge from the Rubio Butterfield Foundation, led by newly elected trustee Jennifer Rubio and her husband Stewart Butterfield, to permanently endow the museum's internship program. The internships, offered for nearly 30 years with 100 participants annually, have only been paid since 2021. The article also explores broader trends in museum philanthropy, featuring insights from former directors Gary Vikan, Gary Tinterow, and Maxwell Anderson on how donors are often guided to fund endowments for curatorial positions, operations, or awards rather than art acquisitions.

US National Gallery of Art receives $116m gift to continue nationwide lending programme

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, has received a landmark $116 million donation from the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation to permanently endow its Across the Nation lending programme. Launched in spring 2025, the initiative has already reached around 900,000 visitors at ten partner institutions, including the Anchorage Museum and the Mint Museum, by loaning works from the NGA's collection at no cost—covering transport, installation, insurance, and marketing. The next cycle will run from autumn 2027 to 2029, with new partners to be announced.

From intimate still lives to shadowed saints: the many sides of Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán go on show at London’s National Gallery

The National Gallery in London is opening a major survey exhibition of Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), the first on this scale since 1987. The show expands beyond his famous austere saints to include intimate still-lifes, late private devotional works, and large-scale altarpiece reconstructions. Curator Daniel Sobrino Ralston highlights two newly discovered paintings, including *Alcarraza on a Plate*, and a rare reconstruction of the second tier of the Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera altarpiece, reuniting works from museums in Grenoble and Poznań.

Hans Holbein Painted the Human

A new book, 'Holbein: Renaissance Master' by Elizabeth Goldring, published by Yale University Press and the Paul Mellon Centre, offers a comprehensive scholarly examination of the 16th-century German painter Hans Holbein the Younger. The review focuses on Holbein's masterful portraiture, particularly his depictions of opposing Tudor-era figures like Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell, which are highlighted as embodying the era's complex political and religious tensions through their visual presentation at the Frick Collection in New York.

Smithsonian’s American Art Museum Appoints New Director Amid Turbulent Moment

The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) has appointed Lynda Roscoe Hartigan as its new director, concluding a 17-month search. Hartigan, who is leaving her position as executive director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum, will begin her role in September, succeeding acting director Jane Carpenter-Rock. She previously worked at SAAM as a curator in the 1970s and has held senior leadership roles at the Peabody Essex Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum.

LATIN AMERICA AT THE VENICE BIENNALE: A VISUAL TOUR OF THE CENTRAL EXHIBITION

LATINOAMÉRICA EN LA BIENAL DE VENECIA: UN RECORRIDO VISUAL POR LA MUESTRA CENTRAL

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened its preview days on May 8, 2025, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025). The central exhibition, realized by a team she selected before her death, features 110 participants from around the world, with a strong Latin American presence of 15 artists, collectives, and organizations. The show explores themes of colonial history, plantation economies, geological memory, and environmental crisis through works that emphasize shared materials, politics, and poetics across geographies from Dakar to San Juan.

GEORGE FEBRES: TRANSLATION, IRONY, AND LIBERATION. AN ECUADORIAN ARTIST IN THE DIASPORA

The article examines the life and work of George Febres (1943–1996), an Ecuadorian artist who spent most of his career in the United States, primarily in New Orleans. Febres’s practice blends Pop Art, Neo-Surrealism, and Southern US culture with his experiences as a migrant and queer subject, using bilingualism and ironic tropical imagery to create a hybrid, irreverent body of work. Despite his significance, no works by Febres exist in Ecuadorian public collections, and no major retrospective has been held in his home country, reflecting a broader erasure of queer narratives from national art history.

Andrew Cranston’s Paintings of Dreamlike Domesticity

Scottish artist Andrew Cranston has opened a new solo exhibition titled 'I’m going in a field' at Modern Art gallery in London. The show features eleven paintings that blend landscape, memory, and domestic scenes, drawing inspiration from the artist's childhood in Hawick, Scotland, and his reflections on activities like golf, which he views as a form of landscape experience.

A New Show Explores the Cutting-Edge Designs of Fashion’s Mad Scientist, Iris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen's mid-career retrospective "Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" has opened at the Brooklyn Museum, marking the designer's first major museum presentation in the United States. Originally mounted at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2023, the exhibition features over 140 haute couture looks alongside artworks, design objects, fossils, videos, and natural specimens. The show begins with a water-themed section and includes garments made from materials such as glass bubbles, bioluminescent algae, and 3D-printed polyamide, exploring themes of skeletal structures, primordial fear, and cosmic movements. A centerpiece room, the Atelier, displays swatches, prototypes, and experimental materials, highlighting van Herpen's scientific approach to fashion design.

Francisco de Zurbarán: Paintings So Real, You Can Hardly Resist Believing

An exhibition of works by Spanish Baroque painter Francisco de Zurbarán has opened at London’s National Gallery, showcasing his strikingly realistic still lifes and religious scenes. The show highlights Zurbarán’s masterful use of light, texture, and dramatic composition to create paintings that feel almost tangible, drawing viewers into their intimate, contemplative worlds.

art diya vij commissioner zohran mamdani new york

Diya Vij has been appointed as the new commissioner of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, the largest municipal funder of culture in the United States. Vij, a 40-year-old arts administrator with experience at Powerhouse Arts, the High Line, Creative Time, and the Queens Museum, previously worked for the department from 2014 to 2018 under former commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. She now oversees a $300 million annual budget and a 50-person staff, tasked with sustaining artistic communities across the five boroughs amid federal funding cuts to the NEA and NEH.

Au Louvre, des directeurs de département entre responsabilités internes et rôle national

Maximilien Durand has been reappointed as head of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Arts at the Louvre Museum, a role that carries both internal museum responsibilities and national duties on behalf of the French state. Two decrees signed by Culture Minister Catherine Pégard formalize his renewal: one as head of the museum department, and another as head of the corresponding major heritage department, a status held by only nine of the Louvre's departments.

Exhibition catalogs printed in China

Les catalogues d’expositions imprimés en Chine

Le Journal des Arts reports on several developments in the art world: the return of American Rousseau works to Paris, the growing trend of outsourcing museum reception services, the New Museum's expansion, challenges facing the Musée des tissus, and Art Brussels adapting to contemporary trends. These stories cover a range of topics from exhibition logistics to institutional change.

Centenary of Elizabeth II: Two colossal statues of the queen to be erected in London's St James's Park

Centenaire d’Elizabeth II : deux statues colossales de la reine seront érigées à Londres, dans St James’s Park

London has unveiled the final design and models for a colossal memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in St James's Park, to be completed by 2028. The centerpiece is a seven-meter bronze statue of the queen at age 28, inspired by a Pietro Annigoni portrait and created by sculptor Martin Jennings. It will be accompanied by a statue of Prince Philip by Jennings and a second, more intimate statue of the queen in old age by Karen Newman. The project marks the centenary of Elizabeth II's birth (1926–2022) and is designed by Foster + Partners. Models are on display at the British Museum until June 21.

First Indigenous Representative of Peru at the Venice Biennale, Sara Flores Opens the Doors of Her Studio in the Heart of the Amazon

Première représentante autochtone du Pérou à la Biennale de Venise, Sara Flores ouvre les portes de son atelier au cœur de l’Amazonie

Sara Flores, a 76-year-old artist from the Shipibo-Konibo Indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon, has been selected as the first Indigenous artist to represent Peru at the Venice Biennale. In her open-air studio deep in the rainforest, she creates large-scale geometric compositions in the kené ("true drawing") tradition, using natural dyes from local plants. She is also co-founder of the Bakish Mai Multiversity, an educational institution dedicated to Indigenous knowledge and artist residencies, alongside Matteo Norzi, one of the two curators of the Peruvian pavilion. The article offers an intimate portrait of her life, her matriarchal family, and her creative process.

LILIA CARRILLO IN NEW YORK THE MEXICAN PAINTER WHO WAS AHEAD OF HER TIME

Americas Society in New York has opened "Lilia Carrillo: Ruptures and Premonitions," curated by Tobias Ostrander. The exhibition presents 24 paintings by Mexican artist Lilia Carrillo (1930–1974), created between 1961 and 1974, alongside archival materials. It introduces Carrillo to New York audiences as a key figure of the Generación de la Ruptura, a postwar movement that broke with Mexican muralism in favor of abstraction. The show highlights her experimental techniques—carving and scraping paint, embedding fabric and paper—and her engagement with mortality, Surrealism, and political turmoil, including the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre.

Malaysia Showcases Recovered 1MDB Artworks, From Picasso to Miró

Four artworks recovered from the 1MDB scandal—by Picasso, Miró, Balthus, and Maurice Utrillo—have gone on public display for the first time at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Putrajaya. The paintings were repatriated from New York after being traced through Sotheby’s and shipped back to Malaysia on April 14. They are part of a broader art trail linked to the massive financial fraud, with Malaysian officials framing the display as an act of restitution rather than an art event.

Major protests take place at Venice Biennale previews

Major protests erupted during the preview days of the Venice Biennale, with multiple demonstrations targeting the Israeli and Russian pavilions. On Wednesday, the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) held a large protest outside the temporary Israeli pavilion in the Arsenale, attended by over 200 people calling for its closure. Separately, the Solidarity Drone Chorus performed a sound composition by Gazan artist Ahmed Muin, with 60 artists wearing T-shirts bearing names of artists from Gaza. Meanwhile, Pussy Riot and FEMEN protested Russian participation, forcing the Russian pavilion to shut its doors. These actions follow the resignation of the entire Golden Lion jury days before the opening, after they stated they would not consider pavilions from countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC—widely seen as a reference to Russia and Israel.

In Protest of Israeli Pavilion, Activists and Unions Plan Strike on Venice Biennale’s Opening Day

The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) has announced a 24-hour strike and rally on May 8, the day before the 2026 Venice Biennale opens to the public, in protest of the Israeli Pavilion. ANGA, formed in opposition to Israel's inclusion in the 2024 Biennale, refers to the current Israeli presentation—featuring Haifa-based artist Belu-Simion Fainaru—as the "Genocide Pavilion." Over 200 artists, curators, and culture workers have signed an open letter demanding Israel's exclusion, and a separate action called Solidarity Drone Chorus involved 60 artists. ANGA is collaborating with local labor and culture organizations including Biennalocene, Vogliamo Tutt'altro, S.a.L.E. Docks, and Mi Riconosci.

After His Untimely Death, Rutherford Chang’s Survey Rewrites What a Square Can Do

Rutherford Chang, who died last year at age 45, is the subject of a posthumous survey at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art Beijing titled "Hundreds and Thousands." The exhibition centers on Chang's socially engaged works that explore value, circulation, and systems through the deceptively simple form of the square. His best-known piece, "We Buy White Albums" (2013–25), involved amassing roughly one percent of the first pressing of the Beatles' "White Album," highlighting how objects accrue personal and economic worth through use and history. Other works include melting 10,000 copper pennies into a cube and assembling Wall Street Journal portraits from 2008 into a grid that captures a year of crisis and change.

Lucas Museum Aims to Tell the History of Storytelling via 1,200 Objects

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles has announced details of its inaugural exhibitions, set to open on September 22, 2026. Founded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, the museum will feature over 1,200 objects across 30 galleries, tracing the history of visual storytelling from ancient sculptures to Renaissance paintings, photography, comics, and manga. The collection draws from Lucas's personal trove of more than 40,000 works of illustrator art, including pieces by N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Beatrix Potter, and Jack Kirby, as well as large-scale murals and photography by artists like Judy Baca and Dorothea Lange. The museum, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, also includes archives of Lucas's film sets, props, and costumes.

New biography of Chaïm Soutine pieces together illusive artist's life and works

A new biography of Chaïm Soutine, the early 20th-century painter, has been published. The book, written by Celeste Marcus, attempts to piece together the life of the notoriously private and illusive artist, examining his journey from a Belarusian shtetl to the studios of Montparnasse, his complex relationships, and the myths that have grown around his work and persona.

Seen a ghost? The eeriest images from Fotografia Europea – in pictures

Fotografia Europea, the international photography festival in Reggio Emilia, Italy, has opened with 20 exhibitions and related events under the theme 'ghosts of the moment'. The festival features works by artists including Tania Franco Klein, Giulia Vanelli, Felipe Romero Beltrán, and Salvatore Vitale, exploring themes of memory, migration, identity, and the unseen forces shaping contemporary life. The festival runs until 14 June 2026.