An exhibition titled "Homage to the Virtuosos: From Leonardo da Vinci to Caravaggio -- Masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance" opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing on May 5, 2026. The show features 36 masterpieces by more than 20 renowned Italian artists from the 15th to the 17th centuries, spanning the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art will open a new exhibition titled "A Museum in the Making" on June 27, 2026, running through August 8, 2027. The show explores the origin story of the Freer Gallery of Art, America's first national art museum, by examining how collector Charles Lang Freer used his Detroit home as a living laboratory for museum design. It highlights collaborations with artists and architects, including James McNeill Whistler, Stanford White, and Mary Chase Perry Stratton, and features a video walkthrough of the Freer House. The exhibition is part of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations and the Smithsonian's broader "Our Shared Future" initiative.
An exhibition titled 'Homage to the Virtuosos: From Leonardo da Vinci to Caravaggio - Masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance' has opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, featuring 36 Renaissance masterpieces from Italy's Uffizi Galleries. The show includes works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio, with many pieces traveling to China for the first time. The exhibition is jointly curated by the National Art Museum of China and the Uffizi Galleries, and is divided into three thematic sections tracing the evolution of Renaissance painting, from early Florentine masters through Mannerism to Venetian and Caravaggio's revolutionary works.
An exhibition titled "Homage to the Virtuosos: From Leonardo da Vinci to Caravaggio -- Masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance" has opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. The show features 36 masterpieces by more than 20 renowned Italian artists from the 15th to the 17th centuries, including Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, with most works on display in China for the first time. Chinese painter Jin Shangyi was present to introduce Bronzino's "The Portrait of Lorenzo the Magnificent" to visitors.
An exhibition titled "The Charm of Flowers" will open at Rundāle Palace in Latvia to mark the palace's 290th anniversary. It explores the history of exotic garden flowers in Europe, their popularity in the Duchy of Courland-Semigallia, and the symbolic meaning of flowers in 17th- and 18th-century art. The show features works from major European museums including the National Art Gallery named after Boris Voznyatsky in Lviv, Het Loo Palace Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the National Art Museum named after M. K. Čiurlionis. A key highlight is the multimedia installation "Tulipomania" by Dutch artist Joost Agassi, which offers a contemporary take on the 17th-century Dutch tulip mania.
On May 16, 2026, Museum Night celebrations will take place across Belarus and beyond, with cultural institutions offering extended hours and special programs. Highlights include the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Minsk hosting lectures, artist talks, and exhibitions such as “Forms and Shadows: Feminine” and “Difficulties of Translation,” while the National Art Museum explores the color blue through its program “Blue of Blue.” Literary museums dedicated to Maksim Bahdanovich, Yakub Kolas, and Yanka Kupala will feature space-themed activities, reenactments, and fashion shows, and the “Sula” History Park will offer an interactive journey called “Hunting the Dragon.”
At the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Shirin Malikova, director of the Azerbaijan National Art Museum, gave an interview discussing how art reflects and shapes urban development. She cited historical examples such as Bernardo Bellotto's 18th-century vedute paintings, which were used to reconstruct Warsaw's historic center after WWII, and the Eiffel Tower, originally a temporary installation that became a permanent symbol of Paris. The museum also presented an exhibition at the forum focusing on Baku's transformation across different eras, highlighting how art captures the multilayered history and cultural identity of cities.
The Catalan government has formally demanded €791,000 (approximately $920,000) from the Aragonese government to recoup costs related to the value and upkeep of 56 artworks from the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sigena. The works were removed from the monastery in 1936 for safekeeping during the Spanish Civil War, and Spain's Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that they must be returned to Aragón. Of the 56 pieces, 12 were held at the National Art Museum of Catalonia and 44 at the Diocesan Museum of Lleida. The Catalan government has given Aragón 30 days to negotiate a settlement before returning to court.
The National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) in Minsk, Belarus, has announced that its venue on Niakrasava Street will cease exhibition activities from June 22, 2026. The institution is set to be liquidated, with its premises and collections transferred to the National Art Museum, while the Niakrasava Street space will be taken over by the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. The closure is linked to the newly appointed chairman of the Union of Artists, Andrei Vasileuski, and reportedly supported by the Culture Ministry.
Between the night of May 23 and the early hours of May 24, 2026, Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine using 600 drones and 90 missiles. The National Art Museum of Ukraine (NAMU) in Kyiv suffered severe structural damage, along with government buildings. The attack was reportedly a response to a Ukrainian bombing of a dormitory in Russian-occupied Starobilsk. The museum, founded in the late 19th century and housed in a neoclassical building opened in 1904, holds nearly 40,000 works spanning over a thousand years of Ukrainian art, including medieval icons, Baroque masterpieces, and avant-garde pieces.
The Azerbaijan National Art Museum has opened an exhibition titled 'Chronicle of the City of Winds: Baku in the Works of Artists from the 19th to 21st Centuries,' organized jointly by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the museum. Featuring over 80 works of painting, graphic art, and sculpture, the show traces Baku's historical, architectural, and cultural evolution from the 19th century to the present day. It includes pieces from the museum's collection alongside contemporary works, and is part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), held within the Year of Urban Planning and Architecture in Azerbaijan. The opening ceremony featured speeches by Deputy Culture Minister Saadat Yusifova, museum director Shirin Malikova, and People's Artist Salhab Mammadov, as well as a musical performance by Honored Artist Nargiz Karimova and Zumrud Alizade.
An exhibition of works by Mykhailo Riasnianskyi, People’s Artist of Ukraine, is currently on display at the V. Vereshchahin Art Museum in Mykolaiv, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth. The show features paintings from the museum’s collection and opened with speeches from local officials and artists, including Yevhen Horburov and Dmytro Artym. Riasnianskyi, who died in 2001, was a veteran of World War II, a longtime teacher, and the first artist from the Mykolaiv region to receive the title of People’s Artist of Ukraine.
On May 7, the National Art Museum of Belarus opened the exhibition "Harmony of the World of Niehliubka Weavers," showcasing traditional weaving from the village of Niehliubka in the Vetka District. The display features about 50 textile works from the museum's collection, along with tools, rare costume elements, and photographs provided by the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life and the Vetka Museum of Old Believer and Belarusian Traditions named after Shklyarau. This tradition, which originated in the 17th century, includes towels, clothing, and interior items made with original weaving and embroidery techniques.
An exhibition titled 'Our History Living in Stitches' has opened at the Azerbaijan National Art Museum, dedicated to the Goycha and Garagoyunlu regions of Western Azerbaijan. The show features carpets woven by Azerbaijani women from those areas, preserved as treasured belongings during deportations between 1987 and 1991 and brought to Azerbaijan. The opening ceremony included speeches by museum director Shirin Malikova, community leaders, and a member of parliament, alongside musical performances by the 'Khazri' dance ensemble.