Remembering Pat Steir, one of the 20th century’s late-blooming great artists

Pat Steir, the acclaimed American painter known for her Waterfall series, died in Manhattan on 25 March at age 87. The article traces her career from early struggles as a freelance illustrator and art director, through her transformative encounter with Sol LeWitt in the early 1970s, to her eventual emergence as a major figure in contemporary painting. It highlights her teaching at CalArts and Parsons, her involvement with feminist and artist-run institutions like Heresies and Printed Matter, and the pivotal moment in the early 1980s when she cut up a reproduction of a Jan Brueghel the Elder flower painting into 64 panels, repainting each in a different historical style.

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Painter Who Defied the Bounds of Abstraction, Dies at 84

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, the American painter known for her large-scale abstract works that defied easy categorization, died in Mérida, Mexico, on May 10 at age 84. Her death was confirmed by her galleries, Jenkins Johnson and Marianne Boesky, on May 13. Active in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, O’Neal developed a distinctive practice that blended Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism, and figurative elements, most notably through her Lampblack series and later the "Whales Fucking" series. Her work gained renewed attention in the 21st century, with exhibitions at Mnuchin Gallery and the Museum of the African Diaspora, and her painting *Blue Whale a.k.a. #12* (1983) was selected for the 2024 Whitney Biennial.

Overlooked Artist Louisa Chase Returns to the Spotlight

Artnet News reports on a solo exhibition at Berry Campbell, New York, dedicated to overlooked American painter Louisa Chase (1951–2016). Titled "Louisa Chase: The Eighties," the show is the largest and most comprehensive survey of her work in 25 years and the first since the gallery began representing her estate. It features a curated selection of works on paper from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, highlighting Chase's unique synthesis of abstraction and representation that positioned her between Neo-Expressionism and the New Image movement. Chase, who studied under Philip Guston at Yale, had major early success including solo shows at Robert Miller Gallery, appearances at the Whitney Biennial (1981, 1983), and inclusion in the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1984), with works held by MoMA, the Met, the National Gallery of Art, and the Walker Art Center.

Edward Hopper Exhibition in Seoul Breaks Attendance Record

An exhibition of Edward Hopper's work at the Seoul Museum of Art has broken attendance records, drawing 330,000 visitors—the highest for any exhibition that year. The show marks the first solo exhibition of the American painter in South Korea, where Hopper was virtually unknown until the 1990s. The article traces Hopper's growing recognition in the country, from his first appearance in Korean media in 2002 to the 2011 co-hosted exhibition 'This Is American Art' at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, which introduced his work 'Railroad Sunset' (1929) to local audiences.

Anyone who never feels uncomfortable as a tourist is not a good tourist

"Wer sich als Tourist nie unbehaglich fühlt, ist kein guter Tourist"

American painter Hernan Bas has created a new series of paintings inspired by Venice and its tourists, drawing from his long-standing relationship with the city. His first encounter with Venice came through an invitation to exhibit at Bruna Aickelin's renowned gallery Il Capricorno, and he has since shown there multiple times, considering Aickelin his Italian connection.

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, painter and activist, 1942–2026

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, the American painter, professor, and civil rights activist, has died at age 84. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, she was a co-founder of the Non-Violent Action Group while a student at Howard University, later earning an MFA from Columbia University. Known for monumental abstract works on soot-black surfaces, she developed her signature technique through the Lampblack series (1960s–70s) and continued evolving her practice through series such as Whales Fucking (1970s–80s) and Panthers In My Father’s Palace (1980s–90s). In 1985, she became the first African American woman to receive tenure in the Department of Art Practice at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught for nearly three decades and served as chair from 1999 until her retirement in 2006.

Amy Sherald is branching out. But don’t worry. She’s still painting.

Amy Sherald, the acclaimed portraitist known for her official portrait of Michelle Obama, is expanding her practice beyond painting. The article reports that she is branching out into new creative territories, though she reassures audiences that painting remains central to her work. Details of her new projects or media are not specified in the provided text, but the headline signals a shift in her artistic output.