Look Inside the Art-Filled Home of New York City's Cultural Crusaders

This profile explores the Upper West Side residence of Crystal McCrary McGuire and Raymond J. McGuire, a power couple deeply embedded in New York City’s cultural and financial sectors. Their home serves as a private gallery for a significant collection of African American art, featuring masterworks by Norman Lewis, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Elizabeth Catlett, and Romare Bearden. The couple’s shared passion for collecting began independently, sparked by their formative years studying in France, and has since evolved into a joint mission to preserve and live alongside Black artistic heritage.

'Something Borrowed, Something New' at Sarasota Art Museum features 85 works from 10 private collections

Ten art collectors from Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota have loaned 85 works from their private collections to the Sarasota Art Museum for the exhibition 'Something Borrowed, Something New.' The show features pieces by renowned artists including Kara Walker, Ai Weiwei, Alex Katz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Chuck Close, Hank Willis Thomas, and Yoko Ono, with many prints coming from Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida. The exhibition was conceived by executive director Virginia Shearer after visiting collectors' homes and was inspired by a trip to the Renwick Museum at the Smithsonian.

A Tribute to Asher Remy-Toledo

Asher Remy-Toledo, a visionary gallerist, curator, and collector, has passed away after a career spanning over three decades. He founded influential initiatives including Remy Toledo Gallery in Chelsea (2004), Hyphen Hub (2013), No Longer Empty (2009), and Yuanfen Gallery in Beijing, the first new media gallery in mainland China. Remy-Toledo was a tireless champion of women artists, supporting figures such as Carolee Schneemann, Judy Chicago, Mary Beth Edelson, and Ana Mendieta, as well as emerging international artists. He also amassed significant private collections, including works by the article's author and Schneemann's Infinity Kisses series.

A new foundation for contemporary art has been born in Spain. Collector Gabriel Calparsoro told us about it

In Spagna è nata una nuova fondazione per l’arte contemporanea. Il collezionista Gabriel Calparsoro ce l’ha raccontata

The Calparsoro Foundation, a new contemporary art foundation, has been launched in Spain by collector Gabriel Calparsoro. Its inaugural event was the presentation of Isaac Julien's video installation "Once Again … (Statues never die)" at the Museo Lazaro Galdiano in Madrid. The foundation aims to share Calparsoro's private collection of around 180 works, which focuses on North American and international artists addressing political and social issues related to ethnic and gender minorities.

The Greenport Group: Vintage art at Floyd Memorial Library’s new exhibition

The Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport, New York, has opened a new exhibition titled "Stow Wengenroth + The Flacks: The Greenport Group," featuring works by lithographer Stow Wengenroth, his wife Edith Flack Ackley, and her sister Marjorie Flack. The show includes Wengenroth's lithographs, watercolors, and drawings, alongside Ackley's handmade dolls and books, and Flack's children's books, many on loan from the private collection of Joanna Lane. The exhibition opened on April 24 and highlights the artistic legacy of these former Greenport residents.

German Expressionism at the National Gallery

The National Gallery in London will stage its first exhibition of modern German paintings, 'German Expressionism: Modern Painting 1900–1918', in spring 2027, before traveling to the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin in autumn 2027. This is the first UK and Ireland exhibition since the 1960s to cover both key Expressionist groups, Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter, featuring over fifty international loans from institutions such as Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, Brücke Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago, alongside works from private collections.

How Art Libraries Make Art Accessible

Wie Artotheken Kunst zugänglich machen

Artotheken, or art libraries, are public institutions that lend artworks to anyone with a library card, making art accessible beyond the traditional museum or gallery system. In Germany, over 100 such artotheken exist, often housed in public libraries, art associations, or museums. The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Berlin, for example, has a collection of 2,000 works, with around 300 currently on loan to homes, doctors' offices, and law firms. The lending process is informal: borrowers can eat, drink, and even touch the works, and transport by bus or bike is encouraged. A jury selects up to 15 new works annually, and the collection includes major names like Roy Lichtenstein and Niki de Saint Phalle, though most users choose pieces based on personal connection rather than prestige.

Au musée de l’Image d’Épinal, les talents multiples de Frans Masereel, entre autres inventeur du roman graphique

The Musée de l'Image d'Épinal is presenting a comprehensive exhibition on Belgian artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), widely credited as the inventor of the graphic novel in 1918 with his wordless narratives composed of black-and-white woodcuts. The show, curated by Samuel Dégardin, brings together loans from major institutions and a private collection to reveal the full breadth of Masereel's practice, which spanned drawing, animation, painting, theater, ceramics, tapestry, and satirical press illustration. It highlights his pacifist activism during World War I, his collaborations with writers such as Stefan Zweig and Romain Rolland, and his humanist vision of a unified Europe.

Un’importante collezione tedesca d’arte per la prima volta in mostra in Italia a Venezia

The Kelterborn Collection, a German private collection focused on video art and experimental installations, will be exhibited in Italy for the first time at Venice's Contemporary Forces platform from May 7 to September 27, 2026. The exhibition, titled "Who’s a good boy??," is curated by Anastasia Stravinsky and Mario von Kelterborn in collaboration with IKT – International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, and features works by twelve artists including Joseph Beuys, Gary Hill, Laure Prouvost, and Ulay. The show aligns with the theme of the 61st Venice Biennale, exploring power "in minor keys."

Art Leven First Nations And Australian Fine Art Auction Opens This Week - Scoop

Art Leven, a Sydney-based gallery focused on First Nations art, is opening its First Nations and Australian Fine Art Auction and Exhibition, headlined by the private collection of the late Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO and Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE. The exhibition runs from 15–19 May 2026 at Art Leven's new Woolloomooloo gallery, with the live auction on 19 May at Artspace. The sale includes approximately 115 artworks, with 79 from the Bashir-Shehadie collection, featuring works by Balang John Mawurndjul AM, Arthur Boyd, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Albert Namatjira, and others. The collection reflects decades of travel to remote art centres and close relationships with artists, supported by archival material like handwritten notes and early catalogues.

Billionaire Collector Ken Griffin Buys Second Rare Constitution Printing

Billionaire collector Ken Griffin has quietly acquired a second rare first printing of the US Constitution, known as the Van Sinderen copy, through a private deal after it was pulled from a planned Sotheby’s auction in 2022. Griffin, who previously paid $43.2 million at Sotheby’s in 2021 for another copy, now holds the only two copies of the 1787 document still in private hands. The newly acquired document will go on public display starting May 27 at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York, headlining an exhibition titled “The Promise of Liberty” that includes other foundational texts.

A Landmark Benjamin Franklin Collection Is Hitting the Auction Block

A landmark collection of Benjamin Franklin memorabilia assembled by sports and entertainment mogul Jay Snider is heading to Sotheby’s New York on June 24. The collection includes over 150 items—books, broadsides, letters, and manuscripts—tracing Franklin’s career from printer to scientist to diplomat. Highlights include a 1758 letter to Joseph Galloway (estimated $70,000–$100,000), a 1778 letter from George Washington introducing the Marquis de Lafayette (which sold for over $1 million in January), and a bound volume of Franklin’s electrical experiments ($75,000–$125,000). The full catalogue is valued at $3 million to $4.5 million, and 40 artifacts will be displayed at the Library Company of Philadelphia from May 5 to 7.

From galleries to guest rooms: The best art-inspired stays in Europe

A number of European hotels are integrating art collections and museum-quality experiences into their accommodations, offering travelers the chance to stay within or adjacent to art spaces. Notable examples include MACAM in Lisbon, Portugal, which combines a contemporary art museum with a hotel featuring the private collection of founder Armando Martins, including works by Marina Abramović and Paula Rego; the Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amistà in Verona, Italy, blending Renaissance architecture with avant-garde art; and the Elizabeth Arthotel in Ischgl, Austria, which has showcased art and sculpture since 1976 and recently added a rooftop commission by the artist duo NONOS.

‘Broadening access to contemporary art’: The best art-inspired stays in Europe

A Euronews Travel article highlights several European hotels that integrate contemporary art into the guest experience, positioning themselves as destinations for cultured travelers. Featured properties include the MACAM Hotel in Lisbon, which opened in March 2025 and shares a building with the Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins, offering guests access to a private collection spanning Portuguese and international art from the 19th century to the present. Other hotels mentioned are the Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amistà in Verona, blending Renaissance architecture with avant-garde works by artists like Andy Warhol, and the Elizabeth Arthotel in Ischgl, Austria, which has showcased art and sculpture since 1976 and recently added a rooftop commission by the artist duo NONOS.

The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho opens up new art exhibition this Friday

The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho in Rexburg will open a new exhibition titled "Sacred Spaces: Visions of the West from the Prosaic to the Sublime" this Friday. The show features works by six contemporary artists from Idaho and Utah—David Dibble, Bryan Mark Taylor, Josh Clare, Allie Zeyer, Louisa Lorenz, and Carson Thompson—primarily in oil paintings, alongside historic farm photographs from the Museum of Idaho and private collection photos from executive director Alexa Stanger. Free public events include an Art Walk on Thursday, an opening reception on Friday with an audio tour featuring artists' voices, and art demos with a Q&A on Saturday.

Uncertainty, But Also Optimism, Mark New York Art Week

New York Art Week in May will feature high-value auction items and several major private collections going to market, serving as a key indicator of the art market's health amid current economic and political uncertainty. The event brings together galleries, auction houses, and collectors for a concentrated period of sales and exhibitions.

Basquiat's intense works on paper are at the center of his first exhibition in Denmark

Le intense opere su carta di Basquiat sono al centro della sua prima mostra in Danimarca

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, is hosting "Headstrong," a retrospective of 50 works on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat, running until May 17. The exhibition focuses on Basquiat's depictions of the human head and body, created between 1981 and 1983, and first shown posthumously in 1990. It is the first solo museum presentation of Basquiat in Scandinavia, featuring loans from private collections and international museums, highlighting a lesser-known aspect of the artist's practice.

Art Detective Discovers Nazi-Looted Painting in SS Collaborator’s Family Home, Bruno Bischofberger Dies, and More: Morning Links for May 11, 2026

The article reports the death of legendary Swiss art dealer Bruno Bischofberger at age 86, who through his eponymous gallery founded in 1963 brought American artists like Andy Warhol to European audiences and championed figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Gerhard Richter. It also details art detective Arthur Brand's discovery of a Nazi-looted painting by Toon Kelder, from the collection of Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, hanging in the family home of Dutch SS collaborator Hendrik Seyffardt; a relative tipped off Brand, but legal avenues are blocked by statute of limitations and the Dutch Restitutions Committee's jurisdiction.