mel leipzig painter dead 1234761568

Mel Leipzig, a painter known for his intensely detailed, realistic portraits of everyday people and places, died on November 1 at age 90. Over a career spanning more than five decades, the Brooklyn-born artist taught at Mercer County Community College from 1968 to 2013, founded the Trenton Artist Workshop Association (TAWA) in 1979, and never painted from photographs, instead practicing what he called 'designing with reality.' His work is held by major institutions including the Whitney Museum, the National Academy Museum, and the New Jersey State Museum.

columbia museum new collection galleries renovation 1234769385

The Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina, is unveiling newly reconfigured collection galleries to cap its 75th anniversary and culminate a yearlong renovation. The museum will reopen its collection galleries following a gala on January 16, presenting a newly conceived display across 20 galleries. The reinstalled galleries draw from the museum’s American, Asian, European, and modern and contemporary holdings, including Italian Renaissance works from the Kress Collection, an Asian gallery anchored by Chinese art from the Tang dynasty, and thematic galleries focused on landscape, still life, and art and architecture. The renovation, which began in January 2025, included new lighting and ceilings, reinforced walls, and conservation work on pieces by Sam Gilliam, Teiji Takai, and Benjamin Wilson.

jackson pollock manganese blue 1234752350

A scientific paper published in PNAS reveals that Jackson Pollock's 1948 masterpiece *Number 1A* contains an extinct variety of manganese blue paint. Using Raman spectroscopy, researchers from Stanford University, City College of New York, and MoMA's conservation department identified the synthetic pigment, which was popular in the 20th century but phased out in the 1990s due to environmental concerns.

They Painted the American West. History Painted Them Out

The exhibition "Women Artists of the American West: Colorado and Utah: 1885–1935" at History Jackson Hole spotlights seven forgotten female artists, including the adventurous mountaineer and painter Helen Henderson Chain. Curated by the founders of the Paris-based nonprofit AWARE, the show uncovers the lives of women who documented the Rocky Mountains and local communities while navigating the restrictive social norms of the late 19th century. Through paintings and photographs, the exhibition challenges the traditional, male-dominated "heroic" narrative of Western expansion.

esphyr slobodkina louise nevelson arkansas museum 2733735

The Arkansas Museum of Art in Little Rock is presenting "Architects of Being," an exhibition pairing the work of Esphyr Slobodkina and Louise Nevelson through January 11, 2026. Slobodkina, a Russian-born Jewish immigrant and founding member of the American Abstract Artists, was a painter, sculptor, writer, and fashion designer who also authored the classic children's book *Caps for Sale*. Nevelson, also an Eastern European Jewish immigrant, is renowned for her monochromatic wood assemblages. The show juxtaposes their geometric abstractions, collages, sculptures, and personal fashion, curated as a hypothetical dialogue between two kindred spirits who never met. The exhibition will travel to the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, and the New Britain Museum of American Art.

alejandro pineiro bello neuendorf residency 2634572

Cuban-born, Miami-based artist Alejandro Piñeiro Bello arrived at the Neuendorf Residency in Mallorca with plans to use art supplies shipped from mainland Spain, but they never arrived. Undeterred, he worked with only watercolors and paper he had packed, drawing inspiration from the surrounding cliffs, sea, and plant life. The residency, housed in a minimalist building designed by John Pawson and Claudio Silvestrin and commissioned by Artnet founder Hans Neuendorf, offered him solitude to create memory-based paintings of swimmers and landscapes.

emily cole museum show 2626354

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, New York, is hosting the largest exhibition of Emily Cole's work since the 19th century. Emily Cole (1843–1913), the daughter of Hudson River School founder Thomas Cole, took up painting in his studio as an adult, creating delicate botanical studies on porcelain ceramics. The show features over 100 pieces from the museum's collection, including works on paper and painted china, alongside contemporary responses from eight women artists such as Ann Agee, Jacqueline Bishop, and Francesca DiMattio.

ACA Galleries Presents 100 Years of Black Art

aca galleries 100 years of black art 2747885

ACA Galleries in New York is hosting "Continuum: Over 100 Years of Black Art," an expansive group exhibition running through March 7, 2026. The show features a diverse array of media—including painting, sculpture, textiles, and collage—by more than a dozen pioneering Black artists. Spanning from the 19th century to the present day, the exhibition highlights key figures such as still-life painter Charles Ethan Porter, collagist Romare Bearden, and contemporary textile artist Helen McBride Richter.

May 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

Colossal's May 2026 opportunities roundup lists multiple open calls, residencies, and grants for artists worldwide. Featured opportunities include the Scenerium 2026 Art Award (deadline May 7), the Hopper Prize offering $4,500 and $1,000 artist grants (deadline May 12), and the SaveArtSpace Billboard Art Open Call curated by Gigi Chen (deadline May 7). Other listings include the YICCA Art Prize, CIFRA Award, Cass Art Prize for the U.K. and Ireland, Sunshine Coast National Art Prize in Australia, an opportunity to get published in Artistonish magazine, and the Abbey Mural Prize.

At the Venice Biennale, the Cuba Pavilion presents "Hombres Libres" by Roberto Diago

The Republic of Cuba has announced its participation in the 61st Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition by artist Roberto Diago titled "Hombres Libres" (Free Man). Curated by Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde and located at Il Giardino Bianco, the installation features a series of sculptural heads crafted from salvaged materials like oxidized metal, wood, and plastic. These works, characterized by prominent surface scars, are designed to confront viewers and provoke a dialogue about the enduring nature of memory and dignity.

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.

Mei Lanfang Was Famous for His Masterful Performances as Female Leads. In the 1930s, He Introduced American Audiences to the World of Chinese Opera

Mei Lanfang Was Famous for His Masterful Performances as Female Leads. In the 1930s, He Introduced American Audiences to the World of Chinese Opera

Mei Lanfang, one of China's most celebrated Peking opera stars famed for his masterful performances of female *dan* roles, embarked on a groundbreaking seven-month tour of the United States in 1930. His performances, which introduced American audiences to the elaborate art of Chinese opera for the first time, were met with critical acclaim and packed houses, earning him honorary doctorates from American universities and adulation from both Chinese American communities and the wider public.

Cecilia Vicuña: Minga for the Sea

Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo presents 'Minga for the Sea,' a major new commission by Chilean artist, poet, and activist Cecilia Vicuña, running from May 29 to August 9, 2026. This is Vicuña's first major presentation in Scandinavia, featuring two large horizontal quipus made from locally sourced raw wool, one dedicated to the Southern Hemisphere/Chile and the other to the Northern Hemisphere/Sápmi. The quipus incorporate contributions from Indigenous and environmental defenders, including poems, drawings, and videos, forming a polyphonic archive of cultural resistance against destructive resource extraction and pollution of marine environments.

Black Artists Featured in Monet to Matisse Exhibition at Birmingham Museum of Art

The Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) has opened its presentation of the traveling exhibition "Monet to Matisse: French Moderns, 1850–1950," which features over 100 masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum. Uniquely, the BMA version includes more than 40 additional works from its own collection, among them paintings by two Black American artists—Henry Ossawa Tanner and Charles Ethan Porter—who lived and worked in France during the period. Curator Dr. Maggie Crosland emphasized the importance of including these artists to highlight the contributions of Black Americans to French modernism, especially given the political climate that drove many to Paris between 1850 and 1950.

Koray Duman is Architecting Engagement from the Venice Biennale to Carnegie International

Architect Koray Duman and his studio Büro Koray Duman (B-KD) have unveiled five major international projects, including designs for the UAE National Pavilion and Denniston Hill's special project at the 61st Venice Biennale, the 59th Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, the National Academy's "Future Schools" exhibition in New York, and a multi-generational upstate residential project. Duman's work emphasizes inclusivity, cultural exchange, and architecture as a social tool, with installations like "Chimera" for Denniston Hill and a sound-and-memory-focused pavilion for the UAE.

Reaching for the stars: enduring symbols of Soviet science – in pictures

Photographer Eric Lusito documents Soviet-era scientific institutes across former USSR states in his book "Soviet Scientific Institutes," published by FUEL. The photo essay captures decaying facilities and enduring equipment at locations including the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Kharkiv, Ukraine; the Byurakan astrophysical observatory in Armenia; the Andronikashvili Institute of Physics in Tbilisi, Georgia; and the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute in Kazakhstan, among others.

parties national academy of design morgan library

The National Academy of Design celebrated its 200th anniversary with a gala at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. The event honored the 2025 class of Academicians, including artists Tacita Dean, Nanette Carter, Sheila Hicks, and Nina Yankowitz, as well as architects Trey Trahan, Julie Snow, and Kim Yao. The evening featured an induction ceremony where new members were invited to contribute works to the Academy’s ongoing collection.

Retrospective exhibition honors artist Luo Yi - China Daily

A retrospective exhibition titled "Imprints of History — A Retrospective Exhibition of Luo Yi's Works" opened on Thursday at the art museum of Minzu University of China in Beijing. The show features over 100 paintings by Luo Yi, a veteran fine arts professor at the university and a pioneer of higher education in ethnic groups' fine arts in China. The exhibition systematically presents his artistic achievements and academic lineage, including works in oil, gouache, ink, and color, spanning his 70-plus-year career.

Art of Manga

The Brooklyn Museum is presenting an exhibition titled "Art of Manga," showcasing the artistic and cultural significance of manga as a visual art form. The show explores the history, techniques, and global influence of manga, featuring original drawings, printed works, and immersive installations.

The Mykolaiv Regional Art Museum has shown how it operates during the war

The Mykolaiv Regional Art Museum in Ukraine has adapted to wartime conditions by evacuating part of its collection and packing remaining exhibits with available materials. A research tour offered a behind-the-scenes look at these efforts, as reported by NikVesti. The MyART platform is creating a digital collection of Mykolaiv's cultural heritage, involving the art museum, local history museum, naval museum, central library, observatory, and shipyard museum. The museum, founded in 1914 by Prince Mykola Hedroits, now operates from a building on Velyka Morska Street built in 1904, and staff continue to research its founder's history.

Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Art Gallery’s exhibition to open Jan. 22

A new student-curated exhibition titled “Through Different Eyes: Industrial Worlds by Women Artists” will open on January 22 at the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Art Gallery at Penn State University Park. The exhibit, curated by undergraduates Alexis Woodring and Gabriella Heidorn, features works from the EMS Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art, highlighting women artists in 20th-century industrial Pennsylvania. The opening reception runs from 4 to 6 p.m. and is free to the public.

Exhibition of Chebykin’s work has opened in Kyiv: from intimate drawings to images of war and nation

The National Museum “Kyiv Art Gallery” has launched a major exhibition titled “Andriy Chebykin. MASTER AND WORKSHOP” to celebrate the 80th birthday of the renowned Ukrainian graphic artist and educator. The show features a comprehensive range of Chebykin’s work, from his classic 1970s etchings and 1990s nudes to recent pieces created during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, such as “The Enemy Was Shot Down Over Tatarka.” Uniquely, the exhibition also includes works by his former students, highlighting his 55-year legacy at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.