The Marcel Duchamps That Got Away: On Collecting His Work and the Sprawling MoMA Show

The article recounts the author's personal experience as a collector who passed up the opportunity to buy a complete set of Marcel Duchamp's readymades at a 2002 Phillips de Pury and Luxembourg auction. The set, editioned by dealer Arturo Schwartz in 1964, included iconic works like *Fountain* and *Bicycle Wheel*, but the sale was a financial failure, with many pieces bought-in or selling for far below expectations. The author later acquired some of the unsold works privately. The piece is framed around the concurrent Duchamp exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and Gagosian.

A tale of two Annas: Van Gogh’s favourite Whistler painting stars in Tate Britain show

Tate Britain will open a major exhibition titled *James McNeill Whistler* on 21 May, running through 27 September, before traveling to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (16 October–10 January 2027) under the subtitle *Dandy and Disrupter*. The show’s centerpiece is Whistler’s iconic *Arrangement in Grey and Black no. 1* (commonly known as *Portrait of the Painter's Mother*), on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and displayed in its original frame designed by the artist. The article explores Vincent van Gogh’s admiration for the painting—he wrote to his sister Wil in 1889 that it reminded him of their own mother—and traces the work’s connections to the Goupil gallery (later Boussod & Valadon), where both Vincent and his brother Theo worked.

10 Shows Around Venice Not to Miss During the Biennale

ARTnews has published a guide to 10 exhibitions in Venice worth seeing during the 2026 Biennale, beyond the central show "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh and the national pavilions. Highlights include a major survey of Lee Ufan at the San Marco Art Centre (SMAC Venice), organized by the Dia Art Foundation and curated by Jessica Morgan; "Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince" at Fondazione Prada, curated by Nancy Spector; and "Strange Rules" at Palazzo Diedo, conceived by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Mat Dryhurst and Holly Herndon, introducing the concept of "Protocol Art." Other venues include the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Pinault Collection, Berggruen Arts & Culture, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and a three-night-only performance at Teatro Goldoni.

The Venice Biennale Is High Stakes. James Cohan Gallery Is All In

James Cohan Gallery, a mid-sized New York gallery, is representing four artists in the 61st Venice Biennale's central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The artists are Ranti Bam, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Kennedy Yanko, and Yinka Shonibare (whose Guest Artists Space Foundation is also participating). This marks a breakthrough for the gallery, which has more artists in the central exhibition than any of the four mega-galleries—Gagosian, Pace, David Zwirner, and Hauser & Wirth—none of which have as many. The gallery is investing heavily in production, logistics, travel, and events, including a luncheon at the St. Regis Hotel co-hosted with Salon 94 and Esther Schipper, and a dinner thrown by collector Pamela Joyner for Yanko.

In Venice, 22 unmissable exhibitions on the sidelines of the biennial

À Venise, 22 expositions incontournables en marge de la biennale

The article highlights 22 must-see exhibitions happening alongside the 61st Venice Biennale, which is expected to be affected by geopolitical tensions but still promises artistic vibrancy. Notable events include Bvlgari's dual projects featuring artists Lotus L. Kang, Lara Favaretto, and Monia Ben Hamouda; the unveiling of the Asscher collection at the Ama Venezia foundation with works by Charles Ray, Jenny Saville, and Richard Serra; and the inaugural exhibition "The Only True Protest Is Beauty" at the Fondation Dries Van Noten, showcasing 200 objects across fashion, design, and art. Other highlights include a dialogue between Picasso, Morandi, and Parmiggiani at the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.

Frank Stella’s Personal Collection of Navajo Textiles Goes on View for the First Time

A selection of Navajo textiles from the personal collection of minimalist artist Frank Stella is being exhibited and sold for the first time. The 55 textiles, dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, will be on view at Arader Galleries in New York from May 15 to June 10, then travel to Peter Pap Rugs in New Hampshire in June. Priced between $6,500 and $25,000, the collection includes a large 19th-century blanket that Stella lent to a seminal 1972 exhibition at LACMA. Stella began collecting these works in the mid-1960s after being introduced to Navajo art by Donald Judd and Tony Berlant.

Biennale di Venezia 2026. Le grandi mostre da non perdere in città

The article previews major exhibitions in Venice during the 2026 Biennale, highlighting a rich lineup of shows across the city's museums and foundations. Key highlights include a retrospective for Marina Abramović at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, a Peggy Guggenheim exhibition at her former home, and dual shows at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana featuring artists like Michael Armitage, Amar Kanwar, Lorna Simpson, and Paulo Nazareth. Other notable venues include Fondazione Prada, Ca' Pesaro, and the Museo Correr, with artists ranging from Joseph Kosuth to Jenny Saville.

Collateral Events Not to Miss at 61st Venice Biennale

The article highlights several collateral events not to miss at the 61st Venice Biennale, including "The Spirits of Maritime Crossing 2026" at Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfù, featuring 20 artists from Southeast Asia, Ireland, and Serbia, anchored by Marina Abramović's performance piece "Sea Punishing" (2006). Other notable exhibitions include a seven-decade survey of Korean artist Lee Ufan at San Marco Art Centre, "TURANDOT: To the Daughters of the East" at ACP Palazzo Franchetti featuring 11 female artists from Central Asia, Li Yi-Fan's "Screen Melancholy" at Palazzo delle Prigioni, and Nalini Malani's "Of Woman Born" at Magazzini del Sale.

Iván Argote brings roving public art project to Chicago streets

Paris-based artist Iván Argote launches a new mobile sculpture titled DIGNIDAD in Chicago on June 12, installed on a flatbed truck that will travel through the city. The project, organized by the Floating Museum as part of its Floating Monuments series, begins in Humboldt Park—a neighborhood central to Chicago's Puerto Rican community—and will also visit Pilsen, Little Village, and potentially other cities like Dallas and Minneapolis. Argote, known for his giant pigeon sculpture Dinosaur on the High Line, worked with curator Carla Acevedo-Yates and local communities to create a work that responds to current political tensions around immigration and dignity.

‘Common ground for me is everywhere I step’: Mohammad Omer Khalil on his five-institution show

Mohammad Omer Khalil, a 90-year-old Sudanese artist and master printmaker, is the subject of a five-institution exhibition titled "Common Ground" spanning New York, Philadelphia, and Michigan. The show brings together six decades of his prints and paintings, along with ephemera from his travels, oral histories, and cultural influences. Khalil, who has lived in the US since 1967, learned printmaking at the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and has taught at Pratt Institute, the New School, Columbia University, and New York University. He also produces editions with notable artists and has maintained a long connection to the Asilah Cultural Moussem in Morocco.

Radiohead Brings Its Strange Visual Universe to Life in an Immersive Spectacle

Radiohead has launched "Motion Picture House," an immersive audiovisual installation at Brooklyn Navy Yards in New York, on view through June. The exhibition draws from the band's albums *Kid A* (2000) and *Amnesiac* (2001), featuring glitching televisions, cryptic posters, stick-figure sculptures, and alien landscapes. It culminates in a 75-minute film, *KID A MNESIA*, directed by Sean Evans, originally released in 2021. The show debuted at Coachella Festival and will travel to Chicago, Mexico City, and San Francisco through early 2027.

The Permanence of Refusal: Interview with Ding Yi

Chinese artist Ding Yi, who first appeared at the Venice Biennale in 1993 as part of the inaugural Chinese contemporary art exhibition, has returned to Venice with his first solo show in the city, titled “Cosmotechnics: Ding Yi as a Planetary Code” at Fondazione Querini Stampalia. The exhibition, referencing philosopher Yuk Hui's concept of cosmotechnics, traces Ding Yi's abstract visual language from the 1980s to the present, featuring new and historic works that engage with the modernist architecture of Carlo Scarpa. In an interview with ArtAsiaPacific during the 61st Venice Biennale preview week, Ding Yi reflects on the evolution of his practice, his travels, and the deep perceptual frameworks of ancient civilizations.

Ed Ruscha | Billy (1968) | Art & Prints

Ed Ruscha's 1968 exhibition catalogue 'Billy', designed for a show of works by his friend Billy Al Bengston, is being offered for sale. The catalogue features a flocked sandpaper cover, satin ribbon bookmark, and machine screw and hex nut binding, and was published by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for an exhibition that traveled to the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Vancouver Art Gallery. The work is listed on an art marketplace platform with a price of €62,600, and the listing includes details about its condition, provenance, and the artist's broader career.

Esther fair goes out on top

The Esther art fair, a satellite of Frieze New York, opened its third and final iteration at Estonian House on East 34th Street. Founded by Estonian gallerists Olga Temnikova and Margot Samel, the fair eschews conventional stands, instead arranging 22 participating galleries and three bespoke projects throughout the historic Beaux-Arts building’s basement, salons, and upper floors. Highlights include sold-out presentations at Adams and Ollman and Management, works by Katja Novitskova, Jill Goldstein, and Elīna Vītola, and a special project by Darja Popolitova and Madlen Hirtentreu turning beauty-industry equipment into installations. Gallerists praised the cooperative atmosphere, contrasting it with larger, more institutionalized fairs.

Accumulations: A Conversation

On March 16, 2026, e-flux Screening Room presented “Viscosities,” a program of moving-image works by artist Lucy Beech, followed by a conversation between Beech, Lukas Brasiskis, and the audience. The discussion, edited for publication, explores Beech's concepts of accumulation and viscosity, drawing from Trisha Brown's 1971 performance *Accumulation* to describe how her work builds complex sequences through additive materials. Beech discusses her film *Flush*, which examines freemartin cows studied by eugenics-linked scientists, and its connection to endocrinology and IVF. She also addresses her reuse of materials, collaboration with James Richards on *A Map of the Pit*, and her film *Out of Body*, which uses imaging technologies to trace hidden industrial and biological flows, including urine-derived hormones from the Dutch program Moeders voor Moeders.

Amy Sherald Dresses As Her Own Award-Winning Painting for Met Gala

Amy Sherald attended the 2025 Met Gala dressed as the subject of her own award-winning painting, *Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)* (2014). The work, which won the Outwin Boochever Prize at the National Portrait Gallery and appeared on a *New Yorker* cover, depicts a young girl holding an oversized teacup. Sherald collaborated with designer Thom Browne to recreate the painting's look, including a red fascinator, as part of the gala's theme “Fashion Is Art,” which also aligns with the Costume Institute's exhibition “Costume Art.” Sherald served on the gala's committee alongside artists Anna Weyant and Tschabalala Self.

Rothko from Robert Mnuchin collection fetches US$85.8m, becoming artist’s second-priciest work at auction

A red-and-black Mark Rothko painting, *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (1957), sold for US$85.8 million at Sotheby’s New York on May 14, becoming the artist’s second-most expensive work at auction. The canvas came from the collection of Robert Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner turned gallerist, and was the star lot of a dedicated 11-lot evening sale that totaled US$166.3 million. The winning bid was placed by Sotheby’s chairman Helena Newman on behalf of a telephone client, with the hammer falling at US$74 million against an estimate of US$70–100 million. The painting was originally owned by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons and hung in the lobby of the Seagram Building, a landmark of corporate modernism designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson.

Dutch Designer Iris van Herpen’s High-Tech Garments Are On View in a Mid-Career Retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum is opening a mid-career retrospective titled “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses,” showcasing the Dutch designer’s high-tech garments. The exhibition features over a decade of van Herpen’s work, including the first 3D-printed garment sent down a runway in 2010, pieces worn by celebrities like Lady Gaga, Björk, and Beyoncé, and new collaborations such as an algae dress grown from living microorganisms. Organized by senior curator Matthew Yokobosky, the show originated at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and has traveled internationally before arriving in Brooklyn, where it is augmented with objects from the museum’s collections in art, science, and natural history.

Two Museums Take on Performative Masculinity, Looksmaxxing, Incels, and Other Macho Buzzwords That Don’t Belong There.

The Stedelijk Museum and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen have co-organized an exhibition titled "Beyond the Manosphere: Masculinities Today," which aims to critically examine contemporary masculinity and its online manifestations such as incels, looksmaxxing, and pickup artists. The show features works by artists including Reba Maybury and Richard Serra, and is curated by Melanie Bühler, with directors Rein Wolfs and Gianni Jetzer overseeing the project. The exhibition will travel from the Stedelijk to the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen later this year.

Luca De Michelis, chief executive of Marsilio Arte, on his favourite spots in Venice beyond the Biennale

Luca De Michelis, CEO of Marsilio Arte, shares his personal guide to Venice beyond the Biennale, highlighting historic sites, shopping, dining, and cultural venues. His recommendations include Palazzo Grimani, Micheluzzi Glass, the Gardens of the Church of the Redeemer on Giudecca, Antiche Carampane restaurant, the newly opened Dries Van Noten Foundation, San Giorgio Maggiore island, Codroma for spritz, and the upcoming exhibition 'Strange Rules' at Palazzo Diedo’s Berggruen Arts & Culture.

Buffalo AKG Art Museum Director Janne Sirén to Depart After 13 Years

Janne Sirén, director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Upstate New York, will step down in October after 13 years. His tenure included a major $230 million expansion in 2023 that doubled the museum's square footage and drew a record 340,000 visitors in the following year. However, his departure follows local media reports that he used a museum loan to help finance his $710,000 home, with the Erie County Comptroller’s Office alleging he failed to repay it and that the loan may violate state nonprofit laws. The museum defended the loan as common in executive recruitment and stated it operates in full compliance with the law.

Two Brazilian curators selected to organise 2027 Bienal de São Paulo

The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has appointed Brazilian curators Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca as chief curators for the 2027 Bienal de São Paulo, Latin America's largest and longest-running visual arts event. Carneiro, a curator at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) since 2018, also organized the main exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Fonseca, based in Lisbon, works at Culturgest, serves as curator-at-large for Latin American art at the Denver Art Museum, and is curating the Taiwan Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. The event will take place at the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo in Ibirapuera Park, with further details expected in coming months.

The Multibillion-Dollar Maneuvers Behind the Met’s Raphael Show

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened “Raphael: Sublime Poetry,” the largest survey dedicated to the Renaissance master in the U.S., featuring 33 paintings and 142 works on paper. The exhibition includes loans from 60 public institutions across 11 countries, as well as private loans from billionaire Leon Black, and the estimated aggregate value of the art on view is in the billions of dollars. Curated by Carmen Bambach, the show took eight years to organize and follows her previous triumphs on Leonardo and Michelangelo.

Winston Churchill: The Painter review – We will daub them on the beaches

The Guardian reviews "Winston Churchill: The Painter," an exhibition of nearly 60 paintings by the former British prime minister, curated by Xavier Bray and Lucy Davis. The show assembles works from across the UK and private collections, depicting scenes from Churchill's travels, stately homes, and leisure moments, painted as an amateur Sunday painter for stress relief rather than artistic acclaim. The review notes Churchill's use of techniques borrowed from Walter Sickert, including projectors and monochrome underlayers, and describes his style as charmingly amateurish with a vivacity in seascapes but weakness in figures and architectural luminosity.

Buzkashi horsemen battling for a headless goat: Todd Antony’s best photograph

Photographer Todd Antony discusses his black-and-white series capturing the Central Asian sport of buzkashi, in which horsemen compete to grab and control a headless goat carcass. He traveled to Tajikistan to document matches involving up to 300 riders, shooting from a pickup truck and later taking portraits of riders on farms. One striking image shows three horses and their riders against a snowy mountain backdrop, with fog rolling in—a moment that inspired him to channel Richard Avedon's style using artificial lighting.

Picasso’s Guernica is the ultimate emblem of the horrors of war. It has no place in Spain's partisan squabbles | María Ramírez

A political dispute has erupted in Spain over the potential temporary relocation of Pablo Picasso's iconic anti-war painting *Guernica*. The president of the Basque Country, Imanol Pradales, has formally requested the work be moved from Madrid's Reina Sofía museum to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for several months in 2027, framing it as a form of "reparation" for the Basque people. The Spanish government has rejected the request on conservation grounds, while conservative politicians have used the proposal to attack Basque nationalism.

7 unique hotel experiences around the world for inspired travelers

7 expériences hôtelières inédites à travers le monde pour voyageurs inspirés

Beaux Arts Magazine presents a curated selection of seven unique hotel experiences worldwide, designed for art-loving travelers. The featured properties include a converted convent in Nice (Hôtel du Couvent, opened summer 2024), a Louis XIII-era castle near Fontainebleau (Domaine de Fleury), a five-star hotel in Amboise (Relais d'Amboise) with artworks by Bernar Venet, and a mountain inn in Sils-Maria, Switzerland (Chesa Marchetta) operated by art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Each destination blends historic architecture, exceptional landscapes, and artistic elements to offer immersive stays.

Rare Early Basquiat Works Return to Brooklyn After HBCU Tour

An intimate collection of early Jean-Michel Basquiat works and ephemera, titled "Our Friend, Jean," is returning to Brooklyn's The Bishop Gallery starting May 16, 2026. The exhibition draws primarily from the archive of Alexis Adler, Basquiat's former roommate and partner from 1979–80, and includes paintings on sweatshirts, postcards, writings, and photographs Adler took of the artist. Originally presented in 2019, the show traveled to six historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) between 2022 and 2024, attracting 10,000 visitors and involving students in the installation process.

M+ in Hong Kong and Centre Pompidou in Paris Plan New Five-Year Partnership

M+ in Hong Kong and the Centre Pompidou in Paris have announced a new five-year partnership beginning next year. The agreement, announced at M+ on May 15, includes lending artworks for exhibitions, collaborative research and commissions, curator exchanges, and a four-year postdoctoral fellowship. A major exhibition focusing on visual culture in France and Greater China will debut at the Pompidou when it reopens in 2029 or 2030, then travel to M+.

At TEFAF New York, the Masterpiece Market Had Plenty to Celebrate

TEFAF New York returned to the Park Avenue Armory with record attendance on its Collector Preview day, May 14, featuring 90 exhibitors showcasing modern and contemporary masterpieces, antiques, decorative arts, and jewelry. Dealers reported strong sales across price tiers, including an Andy Warhol Mao sold by ML Fine Art within the first hour, a Lucio Fontana *Concetto Spaziale* for $2.3 million at Mennour, and works by Giorgio Morandi, Giosetta Fioroni, and Meret Oppenheim sold by Galleria d’Arte Maggiore g.a.m. A new secondary-market partnership, Pace Di Donna Schrader Galleries, debuted with a booth anchored by a 1956 Rothko, signaling renewed confidence in the market.