Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: Artists Revisit the Nude in Shows Across New York

This spring in New York, multiple exhibitions are revisiting the nude as an artistic genre, with artists exploring themes of flesh, harm, aging, and political oppression. Notable shows include Seung Ah Paik's "Self Configuration" series at Bortolami, where she paints distorted self-portraits that recall Surrealist and feminist traditions, and Joan Semmel's self-portraits at Alexander Gray Associates, which continue her decades-long focus on the nude body. These shows are part of a broader trend that also includes the New Museum's "New Humans: Memories of the Future."

Art with Bite: Putting Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore’s Bravery on Display

An exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, 'Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: The Seeing Stone,' presents the collaborative and subversive work of the French artists and life partners. The show features over 200 objects, including photographs, photomontages, and manuscripts, focusing on their radical self-portraiture and resistance to gender and social norms.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are given a voice by New York's Metropolitan Opera

New York is experiencing a wave of Frida Kahlo-related events this spring, including a new book from Rizzoli about her childhood home museum in Mexico City and a small exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) featuring works by Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The centerpiece is the Metropolitan Opera's new production of *El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego*, with music by Gabriela Lena Frank and libretto by Nilo Cruz, both Pulitzer Prize winners. The opera, which premiered in San Diego in 2022, opens on 14 May and features set and costume design by Jon Bausor, who also co-curated the MoMA exhibition alongside curator Beverly Adams. The production imagines Kahlo's spirit rising from the underworld on the Day of the Dead to reunite with Rivera, blending Mexican musical elements with a dreamlike, visually rich aesthetic.

Think you have strong opinions about the 2026 Archibald prize? Check out the portraits that didn’t make the cut | Dee Jefferson

The article explores the annual ritual of the Archibald Prize, Australia's most famous portrait competition, through the lens of the 2026 edition. The author, Dee Jefferson, describes the predictable cycle of public enthusiasm, critical disdain, and media coverage that surrounds the prize, noting recurring trends like brown suits, oversized heads, and the dominance of male artists painting male subjects. The piece highlights specific works in this year's exhibition, including a portrait of musician Keli Holiday by Sindy Sinn that the author finds disorienting, and contrasts the main exhibition with the Salon des Refusés, the showcase of rejected entries, which includes a provocative portrait of Patricia Piccinini by Wendy Sharpe featuring exaggerated anatomy.

8 Artists to Follow If You Like Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp’s legacy continues to shape contemporary art through his pioneering use of readymades, conceptual rigor, and institutional critique. This analysis identifies eight modern and contemporary artists whose practices echo Duchamp’s subversion of traditional aesthetics, ranging from his early experiments with found objects to his later explorations of gender and mechanical desire.

Catherine Opie “To Be Seen” at National Portrait Gallery, London

The National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting "Catherine Opie: To Be Seen," the first major UK museum exhibition dedicated to the American photographer. The show brings together over 80 photographs spanning 30 years of Opie's career, exploring themes of social, political, and individual identity through studio portraiture, environmental studies, and documentary images.

Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room Coming to Cincinnati Art Museum This Summer

The Cincinnati Art Museum has announced it will host Yayoi Kusama’s immersive installation, "All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins," from July 17 through October 18, 2026. On loan from the Dallas Museum of Art, the exhibition features one of the artist's signature Infinity Mirror Rooms filled with polka-dotted acrylic pumpkins, accompanied by twelve of her pumpkin paintings created between 1990 and 2004.

Fair Week in NYC!

New York City is hosting a packed week of art fairs in May 2025, including Frieze at The Shed, Independent Art Fair at Pier 36, TEFAF New York at the Park Avenue Armory, and NADA New York at the Starrett-Lehigh Building. The fairs feature hundreds of international galleries, with Frieze emphasizing Central and South American exhibitors, Independent exploring a dystopian theme, TEFAF offering antiquities and fine art, and NADA celebrating its 12th edition with 121 galleries. The article also notes recent major exhibitions at the New Museum, Whitney Biennial, MoMA PS1, The Met, and MoMA, and includes a guide to Upstate New York art destinations.

Hungary’s New Minister of Culture Vows to Restore Artistic Freedom, Turner’s Famous ‘Self-Portrait’ Called Into Doubt, and More: Morning Links for May 14, 2026

An expert claims that the iconic self-portrait of J.M.W. Turner, which hangs in Tate Britain and appears on British £20 notes, was not actually painted by Turner. James Hamilton, a Turner scholar, argues the work was misattributed when it entered the Turner Bequest and may instead be by Turner contemporary John Opie. Meanwhile, Hungary’s new Minister of Culture, Zoltán Tarr, vows to restore artistic freedom and dismantle political control over cultural institutions following the election of Prime Minister Peter Magyar. The Trump administration is proceeding with construction of a contested Triumphal Arch and a White House ballroom, and a former Louvre employee has been charged in a ticket fraud scandal.

British billionaire's £200m art collection most expensive ever offered in UK

British billionaire Joe Lewis will sell a tranche of his art collection in a standalone sale at Sotheby’s in London this June, estimated at £150m–£200m. This makes it the most valuable single-owner collection ever offered in the UK, surpassing the Pauline Karpidas collection which totalled £101m. Highlights include Gustav Klimt’s *Bildnis Gertrud Loew* (est £20m–£30m), Amedeo Modigliani’s *Homme à la pipe* (est £12m–£18m), and Francis Bacon’s *Two Studies for Self-Portrait* (est £8m–£12m). The sale follows a smaller March auction of four works from the Lewis collection that focused on School of London artists.

Zurich’s controversial Bührle Collection is rehung, including five paintings by Van Gogh—plus one forgery

The Kunsthaus Zurich has unveiled a comprehensive new display of the Emil Bührle Collection, featuring 205 works including five significant paintings by Vincent van Gogh and one acknowledged forgery. This reinstallation marks a shift from previous thematic displays focused on provenance research to a denser presentation of the collection's breadth. Notable works on view include a 1887 self-portrait and the masterpiece 'The Sower at Sunset,' though one Van Gogh remains in conservation and another has been withdrawn due to Nazi-era ownership complications.

Archibald prize 2026 finalists: Virginia Trioli, Jan Fran, Ahmed al-Ahmed and more – in pictures

The Guardian has announced the finalists for the 2026 Archibald Prize, Australia's premier portraiture award, featuring 30 works including Loribelle Spirovski's 'Fingerpainting of Daniel Johns', Vincent Namatjira's self-portrait 'The Dust Bowl', and portraits of notable sitters such as Virginia Trioli, Jan Fran, Ahmed al-Ahmed, Layne Beachley, and Governor-General Sam Mostyn. The list also includes the Packing Room Prize winner, Sean Layh's 'The tragicall historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke', and works by artists like Mitch Cairns, Marikit Santiago, and Michael Zavros, with all finalist images published in a photo gallery.

‘I was super horny when I made my early work’: Loie Hollowell’s abstract paintings of breasts and vaginas

Loie Hollowell discusses her latest painting series 'Overview Effect,' currently on view at Pace Gallery in London. The series features large-scale canvases with twin concave and convex sculpted circles, inspired by the out-of-body experience she had during the home birth of her daughter. The works continue her abstract exploration of pregnancy, birth, and the female body, following earlier series like 'Split Orb' and 'Dilation Stage' that responded to the difficult birth of her son. Hollowell cites influences including Georgia O'Keeffe, Louise Bourgeois, and Luchita Hurtado, as well as Instagram home-birth photographs and the Ina May Gaskin childbirth book.

‘I told his family he was HIV positive’: Keith Haring’s best friend on life with the artist as unseen works go on show

A collection of unseen Keith Haring works, including a crib he painted for his best friend's unborn child, is going on display at Sotheby's New York before being auctioned in May 2025. The collection belongs to Kermit Oswald, Haring's childhood friend, and features 20 works, with a 1985 self-portrait estimated at $3m-$5m and the crib valued at $250,000-$350,000. Oswald shares intimate stories of their friendship, from childhood pranks in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, to their move to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts, and Haring's later collaboration with William Burroughs.

Ghosts, nudes and lesbian pageant queens: highlights from NYC’s Photography Show – in pictures

Aipad: The Photography Show is taking place at the Park Avenue Armory in New York from April 22-26, 2026, featuring works from over 70 galleries. The exhibition highlights include Bill Brandt's 1952 nude, Rania Matar's portrait of a young woman in Lebanon, and Zanele Muholi's 2009 portrait of a lesbian pageant queen, alongside works by Tania Franco Klein, Ruth Thorne-Thomsen, and others that explore themes of identity, anxiety, and alternative realities.

Andy Warhol | Original Exhibition Poster (2021) | For Sale

An original Andy Warhol exhibition poster from 2021 is being offered for sale by Baldwin gallery, with locations in London, Miami, and Dubai. The offset lithograph on paper measures 19.7 × 27.6 inches, is in mint condition, unsigned, and includes a Certificate of Authenticity. Priced at £650, the work ships from London with domestic shipping at £45 and international at £55, and is covered by the Artsy Guarantee.

2 exhibits at Portland Museum of Art show off photography, decorative arts

The Portland Museum of Art (PMA) is presenting two concurrent exhibitions: "Ming Smith: Jazz Requiem — Notations in Blue" (through June 7) and "Precious: The Value of Ornament" (through July 19). The Ming Smith exhibition showcases the pioneering Black photographer's emotive, manipulated images, including jazz club scenes and portraits, drawn from the museum's collection and loans from The Gund at Kenyon College. The decorative arts exhibition highlights the value of ornament in applied arts.

The Top 10 Exhibitions to See Around the World This May

Ocula's global team of editors has curated a list of the top 10 exhibitions to see worldwide in May, highlighting diverse shows from Rio de Janeiro to New York. Featured exhibitions include Jungjin Lee's photographic works blending Icelandic landscapes and intimate objects on traditional Korean paper, a millennial-themed group show titled "Genuine Premium Fake Economy" examining precarity through artists like Jasmine Gregory and Buck Ellis, Joan Semmel's solo exhibition "Continuities" at Xavier Hufkens and Alexander Gray Associates showcasing her erotic self-portraiture at age 93, and Wynnie Mynerva's Berlin Gallery Weekend show addressing colonial violence and Andean mythology.

Sophia Rivera’s Mythology of Everyday New York

The article reviews "Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures" at El Museo del Barrio, the first survey of the late Nuyorican photographer Sophie Rivera, who died in 2021. The exhibition spans her career, including her feminist conceptual series "Rouge et Noir" and "Bowl Study" (c. 1976–78), which depict intimate bodily waste like used tampons and feces, and her socially engaged "Latino Portraits" series from the late 1970s, which countered negative media stereotypes of Puerto Ricans with affectionate, mythologizing portraits. The review highlights a moment where the critic misidentifies abstract toilet photographs as pinhole or double exposures before learning their true subject.

Rare Keith Haring Self-Portrait and Other Intimate Works Go on View in NYC

A collection of intimate works by Keith Haring, including a rare self-portrait, a painted crib, and personal letters, has gone on view at Sotheby's Breuer building in New York City. The works were gifted by Haring to his childhood best friend and fellow artist, Kermit Oswald, over the course of their friendship from 1977 to 1989. The free public exhibition precedes a series of three auctions beginning May 14, with highlights including the self-portrait estimated at $3–5 million and a crib-and-dresser set expected to fetch $250,000–350,000.

Reclaiming the Self-Taught Artist’s Creative Identity

The American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) in New York will present "Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists" this spring, a major exhibition examining the historical definition of the "self-taught artist" through authorship, agency, and self-representation. Featuring over 90 works spanning the early 20th century to today, the show is organized around three strategies—self-portraiture, alter egos, and autobiography—and includes pieces by Henry Darger, Clémentine Hunter, Martín Ramírez, Aloïse Corbaz, Adolf Wölfli, Nicole Appel, Susan Janow, and Joe Coleman, many on view for the first time.

A View From the Easel With Celia Paul

British painter Celia Paul provides an intimate look at her long-term studio and residence in London's Bloomsbury neighborhood, where she has lived and worked for 44 years. The artist describes a disciplined routine starting at 5am, emphasizing a need for silence and a pared-down environment to foster the introspection found in her seascapes and self-portraits.

Michaelina Wautier’s Overdue Triumph

Flemish Baroque painter Michaelina Wautier is receiving renewed critical attention as scholars work to correct centuries of misattributions. Despite achieving significant success and recognition during her lifetime, her oeuvre was largely subsumed into the names of male contemporaries until recent research restored her identity to her masterpieces.

American Rousseaus Return to Paris

Les Rousseau américains de retour à Paris

The Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris is hosting a landmark exhibition titled "Henri Rousseau, l’ambition de la peinture," featuring 50 works by the self-taught master. The show is distinguished by a historic loan from the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, which has sent nine paintings to France for the first time since they were acquired a century ago by Albert Barnes. A highlight of the exhibition is the rare gathering of three "manifesto paintings"—The Sleeping Gypsy, Unpleasant Surprise, and The Snake Charmer—displayed together in a dedicated gallery.

Beatriz González at Barbican Art Gallery, London

The Barbican Art Gallery in London is presenting a major retrospective of Colombian artist Beatriz González, marking her first solo show in the UK and her largest-ever exhibition in Europe. The exhibition spans six decades of her work, from the 1960s to the present, showcasing her roles as an artist, curator, art historian, and educator.

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.

Most famous image of JMW Turner not a self-portrait, says expert

Dr James Hamilton, a leading Turner expert, has claimed that the most famous portrait of JMW Turner—long believed to be a self-portrait and featured on the UK £20 banknote—is actually by the painter John Opie. Hamilton argues that the work, dated around 1799, was mistakenly included in the Turner Bequest after the artist's death in 1851, when his studio was in disarray and the attribution was never properly verified. He points to stylistic evidence, including Opie's characteristic use of dramatic light and shadow, and calls on Tate Britain to reattribute the painting.

Sue Webster: Fandoms and Icons

Sue Webster's solo exhibition 'Birth of an Icon' at Firstsite in Colchester traces her lifelong obsession with pop culture, from teenage fandom of Siouxsie Sioux to her evolution as an artist. The show features a sprawling installation 'The Crime Scene' (2017–) that maps her personal history through albums, newspaper clippings, and objects, alongside painted jackets and self-portraits. It marks a departure from her earlier work as half of the duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster, embracing a more personal, amateurish style that reflects her journey through adolescence, marriage dissolution, and motherhood.

렘브란트 등 거장들의 뉴암스테르담(구 뉴욕) 풍경전 'Old Masters, New Amsterdam" 뉴욕역사협회(5/1-8/30)

The New York Historical will present 'Old Masters, New Amsterdam' from May 1 to August 30, 2026, a first-of-its-kind exhibition using 17th-century Dutch paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, and their contemporaries to envision life in the Dutch settlement that became New York. Featuring over 60 paintings, including works from the Leiden Collection and loans from institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, National Gallery of Art, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam's founding and the U.S. 250th anniversary.

Nahmad Seeks to Reopen Modigliani Restitution Case With New Witnesses

David Nahmad's lawyers are asking a New York court to reconsider its April 3 decision in the restitution case over Amedeo Modigliani's *Seated Man with a Cane* (1918), which awarded the painting to the estate of dealer Oscar Stettiner. They cite new eyewitness testimony from Frédéric Allain, who recalls a different Modigliani—smaller, darker, and without a seated man or cane—hidden by the Van der Klip family in Paris during World War II, suggesting the wrong painting may have been the focus of the case. The filing also references a 1946 report describing the missing work as a self-portrait and a new catalogue raisonné by Marc Restellini that finds no link between the painting and Stettiner. Mondex, representing Stettiner's heirs, rejects the claims, asserting that *Seated Man with a Cane* bears Stettiner's name and was in the family's possession from 1944 to 1996.