April 24, 2025

Sargent and Paris at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 27 – August 3, 2025  

“Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 27, 2025, Sargent and Paris will explore the early career of John Singer Sargent (born 1856, Florence; died 1925, London), from his arrival in Paris in 1874 as a talented 18-year-old art student through the mid-1880s, when his infamous portrait Madame X (1883–84), now part of The Met collection, was a scandalous success at the Paris Salon. Featuring paintings, watercolors, and drawings, the exhibition will also include select portraits by Sargent’s contemporaries. The exhibition is the largest international exhibition of Sargent’s work since 1998 and the first ever monographic exhibition of Sargent’s art in France.”
— The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

“This magnificent exhibition will shed new light on a transformative period in the life and career of one of America’s most important painters,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “By situating Sargent’s work within the context of the city that formed and inspired him, Sargent and Paris will illuminate this influential artist’s meteoric rise, providing new insights into his unique talent and skill in capturing the vibrant society he inhabited.”

Installation views of Sargent and Paris, on view April 27–August 3, 2025 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos by Hyla Skopitz, courtesy of The Met. 

Stephanie L. Herdrich, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Painting and Drawing at The Met, said: “Sargent’s career was indelibly shaped by the time he spent in Paris. Over the course of one remarkable decade, he created the boldest and most daring paintings of his oeuvre. Sargent and Paris will showcase these visually stunning and ambitious works, shedding new light on his distinctive artistic vision. We are thrilled to partner with the Musée d’Orsay to reunite this collection of great works in New York and Paris.”

Sargent and Paris is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. 

Sargent and Paris is curated by Stephanie L. Herdrich, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Painting and Drawing, at The Met; and Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, Curator of Drawings and Paintings, and Paul Perrin, Head of Curatorial and Director of Collections, at the Musée d’Orsay. They were helped by Caroline Elenowitz-Hess, Research Assistant at The Met.

Title image: John Singer Sargent, American, Florence 1856–1925 London. Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), 1883–84. Oil on canvas, 82 1/8 x 43 1/4in. (208.6 x 109.9cm). Framed: 95 3/4 x 56 5/8 x 5 in. (243.2 x 143.8 x 12.7 cm). Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916. 16.53. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

April 23, 2025

Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers at Guggenheim New York, April 18, 2025 through January 18, 2026

“The Guggenheim New York presents a major solo exhibition of work by Rashid Johnson, opening April 18, 2025, and remaining on view through January 18, 2026. Encompassing the entirety of the museum’s rotunda, the show is Johnson’s first solo presentation at the Guggenheim, his largest exhibition to date, and the first expansive museum survey of his work in over a decade. Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers brings together more than ninety artworks, including an outdoor sculpture and new pieces made specifically for the exhibition—two of which will be activated through ongoing performances. — Guggenheim New York

Explains Johnson, “This exhibition continues the conversation I’ve always been invested in: one that allows for freedom of expression and an awareness of artistic possibilities. I’ve always embraced the fluidity between mediums. For me, medium specificity has never been the goal—it’s about how the project can move freely between different forms, creating space for a broader conversation that goes beyond the limitations of any one medium.”

Rashid Johnson, Self Portrait laying on Jack Johnson’s Grave, 2006. Chromogenic print mounted on panel, 40.5 × 49.62 in. (102.87 × 126.03 cm). edition 1/3, 2 A.P. Collection of Dr. Daniel S. Berger X.2025.43 © Rashid Johnson, 2025
Rashid Johnson, Untitled Anxious Audience, 2019. Ceramic tile, black soap, wax, 159 × 180 × 3 in. (403.86 cm x 457.2 cm x 7.62 cm). Collection of Clara Wu Tsai X.2025.50 © Rashid Johnson, 2025. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, Untitled Escape Collage, 2018. Ceramic tile, mirror tile, branded red oak flooring, vinyl, spray enamel, oil stick, black soap, wax, 97 × 121 × 2.25 in. (246.38 × 307.34 × 5.72 cm). Collection of Kathy and Mitchell Jacobson X.2025.88 © Rashid Johnson, 2025. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual (The Power of Healing), 2008. Wax, black
soap, shea butter, candles, and mixed media, 96 × 96 × 12 in. (243.84 × 243.84 x 30.48 cm). Rubell Museum, Miami and Washington, DC X.2025.59 © Rashid Johnson, 2025. Photo:
Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, The Broken Five, 2019. Ceramic tile, mirror tile, branded red oak flooring, vinyl, spray enamel, oil stick, black soap, wax, 97 1/4 × 156 1/2 × 2 1/8 in. (247 × 397.5 × 5.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Sun Hung Kai & Co. Foundation, Janis and Dina Zuzans (Riga, Latvia), Laura and James DeMare, Susan and Leonard Feinstein Foundation, and Anonymous Gifts X.2025.74 © Rashid Johnson, 2025. Photo:
Martin Parsekian

“The Guggenheim could not be more thrilled to host this timely exhibition. Rashid Johnson is a master at synthesizing the key tendencies of twenty-first century art: the ability to move freely between different modes—painting, video, sculpture, performance—each a refined tool for forging a relationship between his own life history and art history. Above all, Johnson well understands that the vocation of the artist entails more than looking inwardly, it is also an opportunity to create, quite literally, platforms for the creative expression and self-care of others.” — Naomi Beckwith

The exhibition is organized by Naomi Beckwith, the Guggenheim’s Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator, and Andrea Karnes, Chief Curator, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, with additional support from Faith Hunter, Guggenheim Curatorial Assistant.

Title image: Installation view, Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers, April 18, 2025–January 18, 2026, Solomon. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

April 18, 2025

The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble at The Met Fifth Avenue, April 15 through October 19, 2025     

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newest Roof Garden Commission is on view April 15 through October 19, 2025, and features a dynamic work by artist Jennie C. Jones (born 1968, Cincinnati, Ohio). Titled Ensemble, the site-responsive installation is composed of three large sculptural forms based on string instruments—a trapezoidal zither; a tall Aeolian harp; and a doubled, leaning one-string—corralled on two sides by a floor piece that serves as both a ‘conductor’ of the ensemble and a boundary-marker of the stage-like surface on which it sits. Full of sonic potential, the sculptures sit quietly in place, waiting to be heard. The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble is the 12th in the series of commissions for the outdoor space.” — The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jennie C. Jones (born 1968, Cincinnati, Ohio). Installation views of The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble, 2025. Images credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photos by Hyla Skopitz. 

 “We are thrilled that Jennie C. Jones has brought her unique artistic vision to The Met’s iconic roof garden,” said Max Hollein, the Museum’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “Elevated high above the sounds and rhythms of New York City, her innovative installation seamlessly combines form, color, line, and acoustics, challenging visitors to engage with sculpture in new and unexpected ways.”

David Breslin, Leonard A. Lauder Curator in Charge, Modern and Contemporary Art, added, “Jennie C. Jones’s fidelity to abstraction invites her viewers to pay attention to the quieter pathways where profound meanings reside. By combining the sensorial experiences of visual art and sound, Jones is one of the most thoughtful and compelling voices in contemporary art today.” 

 The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble is conceived by the artist in consultation with Lauren Rosati, Associate Curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art and Research Projects Manager in the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art at The Met.

Images courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

April 16, 2025

The Frick Collection Reopens April 17, 2025

“The Frick Collection reopens to the public on April 17, 2025, following the multi-year renovation and enhancement of its historic Fifth Avenue home. Designed by Selldorf Architects, with executive architect Beyer Blinder Belle, the project was developed to honor the historic legacy and character of the Frick while addressing critical infrastructure and operational needs.

Marking the most comprehensive upgrade to the institution since its opening in 1935, the project has restored the Frick’s historic first-floor galleries and created a new suite of galleries on the second floor of the original Frick family home, welcoming the public to experience these spaces for the first time. Through the repurposing of existing space and a modest addition, the renovation and enhancement significantly expands exhibition and programmatic spaces, including new special exhibition galleries on the museum’s first floor, the Frick’s first dedicated education rooms, and a new 218-seat auditorium. The project also included the restoration of the 70th Street Garden, now visible from multiple new vantage points throughout the building. Major infrastructure upgrades, improvements to overall accessibility, and new public amenities and back-of-house facilities—notable among them, the creation of advanced art and library conservation facilities—ensure the Frick’s vibrancy for decades to come. The Frick Art Research Library and its refurbished reading rooms reopen concurrently with the museum, with new entry points that enable a seamless integration of the institution’s two branches.” — The Frick Collection

Dining Room, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Fragonard Room, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Living Hall, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
West Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Garden Court, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Grand Staircase, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Boucher Anteroom, new second-floor gallery, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Ceramics Room, new second-floor gallery, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Medals Room, new second-floor gallery, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
Walnut Room, new second-floor gallery,, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.

“The reopening of the Frick marks an exciting moment in the trajectory of this storied cultural institution,” stated Axel Rüger, the Frick’s Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director, who joined the Frick in March 2025. “With the return of the Frick’s masterworks to their revitalized home, we welcome visitors to rediscover the beauty, intimacy, and scholarship that have defined the Frick for nearly a century and that we hope will inspire generations of visitors to come.”

Added Ian Wardropper, the Frick’s former director who shepherded the project through to completion, “Intimate encounters with iconic works of art remain a cornerstone of the Frick experience. Visitors will now be able to experience even more of our collection and programs, thanks to the many architects, preservation experts, curators, artisans, and innumerable museum and library staff who have collaborated to restore the original mansion while also creating new galleries, program spaces, and public amenities. We are especially honored and gratified by the extraordinarily generous support of the many donors who have helped to make this renovation and enhancement project a reality.”

Added Elizabeth M. Eveillard, Chair of the Board of Trustees, “The Frick’s reopening is an invitation to all New Yorkers and art lovers from around the world to discover—or rediscover—incredible works of art from our permanent collection, displayed in the painstakingly restored setting of our historic home. Following this long-awaited unveiling, we look forward to giving our audiences the opportunity to experience several newly constructed spaces through the revitalization of signature Frick offerings, namely a classical concert series and a focused exhibition featuring Vermeer’s beloved Mistress and Maid.”

Title image: Fifth Avenue façade, The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Nicholas Venezia.

Images courtesy The Frick Collection.

April 12, 2025

Saya Woolfalk: Empathic Universe at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), April 12 – September 7, 2025

“The Museum of Arts and Design presents Saya Woolfalk: Empathic Universe, a parable of how cultures mix, clash, and ultimately transform through shared understanding. On view from April 12 through September 7, 2025, the multimedia artist’s first retrospective and first major museum exhibition in New York City brings together two decades of her site-specific installations comprised of garment-based sculptures, video, paintings, works on paper, and performance.

Woolfalk’s work represents one of the earliest and most influential examples of ‘world-building’ in contemporary art; her ambitious fictional narrative of an imagined race of women known as ‘Empathics’ runs throughout her entire oeuvre. The Empathics’ story is told through their own distinctive imagery, symbolism, and folklore, which reflect the artist’s investigations of African, African American, Japanese, European, and Brazilian art, craft, and storytelling.” — MAD

Saya Woolfalk. Installation view, Saya Woolfalk: No Place, University at Buffalo Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, Buffalo, NY, February 26–May 9, 2009. Courtesy University at Buffalo Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, photo: Bill Henrich
Saya Woolfalk. Utopia Conjuring Chamber, Greene County, New York, 2012. Wood, handmade paper, natural and synthetic fibers, gel medium, mannequins, beads, notions, paint, carpet, dimensions variable. Installation view, Saya Woolfalk: The Empathics, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, September 28, 2012–January 6, 2013. Courtesy Montclair Art Museum, photo: Peter Jacobs
Saya Woolfalk. Chimera (from The Empathics series), 2012. Natural and synthetic fibers, mannequins, handmade paper, spandex bodysuits, beads, notions, shoes, poly fill, paint, gel medium, single channel video projection, sound; dimensions variable. Installation view, Migrating Identities, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, June 28–September 29, 2013. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, photo: John White
Saya Woolfalk. Installation view, Saya Woolfalk: ChimaTEK: Hybridity Visualization System, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York, January 17–March 07, 2015. Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects
Saya Woolfalk. Installation view, Saya Woolfalk: Expedition to the ChimaCloud, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, March 1–September 1, 2019. Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Digital Production & Preservation, photo: Dana Anderson
Saya Woolfalk. Floating World of the Cloud Quilt, 3-channel video projection, natural and synthetic fibers, digitally printed vinyl flooring, plastic, paint, paper, beads, notions, gel medium, 406 × 72 to 144 (variable) × 108 in. (103.2 × 182.9 to 365.8 [variable] × 274 cm). Installation view, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Rudin Family Gallery at the BAM Strong, April 4–June 18, 2022. Courtesy Brooklyn Academy of Music, photo: Etienne Frossard
Saya Woolfalk. Plucked from a Jangling Infinity (for Daphna Mitchell, My Mother-in-Law), 2023. Glass, steel, paint, 3 channel video projection, 192 × 180 × 192 in. (487.7 × 457.2 × 487.7 cm). Installation view, Saya Woolfalk: Heart of a Museum, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH, October 19, 2023–February 4, 2024. Courtesy Currier Museum of Art

“With its sumptuous handmade aesthetic, interdisciplinary approach, and searching examination
of how craft shapes and reflects global cultures, Saya Woolfalk: Empathic Universe offers both an environment for meditation on the complex times in which we live, and a hope for a better, more compassionate way toward navigating the turbulence together,” said the exhibition’s curator,

Alexandra Schwartz, MAD’s Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design. “Saya, an alumna of MAD’s Artist Studios program, was also featured in our 2022 exhibition Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art. We are thrilled to now present her first retrospective,” said Elissa Auther, MAD’s Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator. “Like many artists who have received their first major museum exhibitions at MAD, Saya’s artmaking synthesizes diverse and unexpected genres, cultures, and materials to explore society’s most pressing concerns. In her Empathic Universe, she envelopes us in fantastical new forms of creative expression while raising the question: what world do you want to live in?”

Images courtesy Museum of Arts and Design.

April 10, 2025

TIME CAPSULE: Ronit Porat – Man Ray at L’Space Gallery, April 10 through June 13, 2025   

“L’Space Gallery is proud to present TIME CAPSULE, the first U.S. solo exhibition by Israeli artist Ronit Porat, on view from April 10 to June 13, 2025. TIME CAPSULE will also feature a curated collection of 1920s era vintage photographs by Man Ray. Time Capsule opens with a public reception on Thursday, April 10th. 

Porat’s work delves into the interwar period in Germany (1919–1933), a time of profound societal transformation and photographic innovation. Through a meticulous process of collecting, layering, and reassembling archival materials—such as postcards, magazines, and maps—she creates poetic collages and immersive installations that blur the boundaries between personal memory and historical narrative. Porat is particularly drawn to Berlin’s Weimar Republic era, a period of social upheaval and artistic innovation. It was an age when the human body took on new roles in photography studios and advertising, reflecting empowerment and objectification. This historical period resonates deeply with Porat’s personal experiences and the history of the kibbutz where she was born. TIME CAPSULE derives from Porat’s major series from the past decade, offering a multi-layered visual dialogue that examines identity construction, control mechanisms, and the intersections of personal and collective memory.” — L’Space Gallery  

Ronit Porat, Untitled, 2023, Photographic collage, 18 x 22 inch / 45 x 55 cm.
Ronit Porat, Untitled, 2017, Mr Ulbrich and Miss Neumann, Photographic collage,
13.9 x 20 inch / 35 x 50 cm.
Ronit Porat, Untitled, 2018, Photographic collage,
20 x 14 inch / 50 x 35 cm.

“The Man Ray photographs serve as a compliment to Porat’s. These works, taken during the same period (1920s–30s) after Man Ray moved to Paris in 1921, reflect a similar spirit of experimentation, exploring the connection between nature and the human form. The dichotomy of the female figure in Man Ray’s art—both as an object of desire and a subject of creative expression—mirrors Porat’s interrogation of gaze, power, and control in historical imagery.” — L’Space Gallery

Man Ray, Kiki from the film L’Etoile de Mer, 1928, Gelatin silver print, 6 x 7.5 inch.
Man Ray, Irises, 1926, Gelatin silver print, 9.1 x 11.5 inch.

Images courtesy L’SPACE Galllery.

April 8, 2025

Whitney Museum of American Art presents Amy Sherald: American Sublime, April 9 – August 10, 2025   

“The Whitney Museum of American Art presents Amy Sherald: American Sublime, the artist’s debut solo exhibition at a New York museum and the most comprehensive showing of her work. Opening to the public on April 9, 2025, American Sublime considers Amy Sherald’s powerful impact on contemporary art and culture, bringing together almost fifty paintings spanning her career from 2007 to the present. This exhibition positions Sherald within the art historical tradition of American realism and figuration. In her paintings, she privileges Black Americans as her subjects, depicting everyday people and foregrounding a population often unseen or underrepresented in art history. The exhibition features early works, never or rarely seen by the public, and new work created specifically for the exhibition, along with iconic portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor—two of the most recognizable and significant paintings made by an American artist in recent years.” —  Whitney Museum of American Art

“American Sublime is a salve,” said artist Amy Sherald. “A call to remember our shared humanity and an insistence on being seen.” 

Installation views of Amy Sherald: American Sublime at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 9 – August 10, 2025. Photos: Tiffany Sage/BFA.com, courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art.

“It is a great honor to work with Amy Sherald, one of the most compelling, generous, and impactful artists of our time,” said Rujeko Hockley, Arnhold Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum. “Her unwavering dedication and commitment to what she has called the ‘wonder of what it is to be a Black American’ is deeply felt, and I am thrilled to share her visionary work with our audiences.” 

“Few contemporary artists make images as gripping and indelible as Amy Sherald. Each of her paintings distills the essence of an individual while also conveying a broad sense of humanity,” said Scott Rothkopf, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director. “Over the years that I’ve been in dialogue with Amy, we’ve visited works in the Whitney’s collection by Paul Cadmus, Barkley Henricks, and Edward Hopper, among so many American painters whose legacy she both inherits and extends. I can think of no better home for this important exhibition, which we’re honored to present.”

April 1, 2025

Jack Whitten: The Messenger at The Museum of Modern Art, March 23 through August 2, 2025   

“The Museum of Modern Art presents Jack Whitten: The Messenger, the first comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the groundbreaking art of Jack Whitten (American, 1939–2018), on view from March 23 through August 2, 2025, in the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions. Presented solely at MoMA, the exhibition explores the full range of Whitten’s innovative art over his nearly six-decade career, showing more than 175 works from the 1960s to the 2010s, including paintings, sculptures, rarely shown works on paper, and archival materials. Together, these works reveal how Whitten overturned the tenets of modern art-making to become one of the most important artists of our time. Beginning his career during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, Whitten was under great pressure to create directly representational art as a form of activism, yet he dared to invent new forms of abstraction and, in the process, transformed the relationship between art, memory, and society.” — MoMA

Installation views of Jack Whitten: The Messenger at The Museum of Modern Art. from March 23 through August 2, 2025. Photos: Jonathan Dorado, courtesy The Museum of Modern Art.

“Jack Whitten’s art is visionary, even prophetic,” said Michelle Kuo. “He connected painting to photography, sculpture, printmaking, music, and new technologies. He created monumental works that confront watershed moments in history, from the Civil Rights movement to the discovery of new galaxies. Whitten defied traditional boundaries between abstraction and representation, race and nation, culture and technology, individual identity and global history. He made art matter in a world in turmoil.”

Jack Whitten: The Messenger is organized by Michelle Kuo, Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, with Helena Klevorn, Curatorial Assistant to the Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, Dana Liljegren and Eana Kim, Curatorial Assistants, Department of Painting and Sculpture, David Sledge, Mellon-Marron Research Consortium Fellow, Department of Painting and Sculpture, and Kiko Aebi, former Curatorial Associate, Department of Painting and Sculpture.

March 26, 2025

The Met Fifth Avenue presents Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie, on view March 25 through August 17, 2025   

“Opening March 25, 2025, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the major exhibition Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie will radically reimagine the story of European porcelain through a feminist lens. When porcelain arrived in early modern Europe from China, it led to the rise of chinoiserie, a decorative style that encompassed Europe’s pervasive fantasies of both the East and the exotic along with new ideas about women, sexuality, and race. This exhibition interrogates the ways in which this mutable, fragile material that shaped European women’s identities in the past also led to the construction of abiding racial and cultural stereotypes around Asian women. Shattering the illusion of chinoiserie as a neutral, harmless fantasy removed from the present, Monstrous Beauty casts a critical glance at inherited attitudes toward the style, exploring how negative stereotypes can be reclaimed as terms of female empowerment.” — The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Installation views of Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie, on view March 25–August 17, 2025 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos by Eileen Travell, courtesy of The Met.

 “Monstrous Beauty examines the multifaceted legacy of chinoiserie in 18th-century Europe,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “By illuminating the beauty of the object and the power of this art form to reflect, distort, and dictate the ways in which women’s identities have been shaped and perceived across time, this thought-provoking exhibition invites viewers to engage with the past in new ways.”

Iris Moon, Associate Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Met, said, “Monstrous Beauty is both a story of enchantment and a necessary unraveling of harmful myths from the past—myths about the exotic—that have a hold over the present. It is time to retell the history of chinoiserie.” 

Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie is curated by Iris Moon, Associate Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Met.

March 17, 2025

 The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt at Jewish Museum, March 7 – August 10, 2025

“This spring, the Jewish Museum presents a major exhibition examining how the heroic story of Queen Esther served as a popular source of inspiration for Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1609) and his contemporaries in 17th-century Netherlands. Featuring over 120 works, including paintings, prints, and drawings by Rembrandt, Aert de Gelder, and Jan Steen, among others, as well as Jewish ceremonial art and decorative objects, The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt illustrates how the story of the biblical queen influenced Dutch art and culture and represented an enduring symbol of triumph over adversity at a time of vibrant cultural exchange.” —Jewish Museum

“The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt explores the universality of a biblical story that has inspired an artistic dialogue among cultures and communities throughout world history, and especially in Rembrandt’s time,” said James S. Snyder, Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director. “As an art museum that explores the rich texture of Jewish experience in the global diaspora and within broader cultural contexts, we hope that this exhibition will encourage audiences of all backgrounds to experience these masterworks and to reflect on the ways in which they demonstrate our shared humanity.” 

Rembrandt van Rijn. A Jewish Heroine from the Hebrew Bible, 1632-1633. Oil on canvas. 109.2 x 94.4 cm. National Gallery of Canada, purchased 1953.
Frans Francken the Younger, Esther before Ahasuerus, 1622. Oil on panel, 29 x 44 in. (75.2 x 112.7 cm). Salomon Lilian, Amsterdam. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Geldorp Gortzius, Esther and Ahasuerus, 1612. Oil on panel, 22 x 28 in. (56.5 x 72.4 cm). Leiden Collection, New York
Salom Italia, Esther Scroll, Amsterdam, 1640s. Printed and hand-colored border, handwritten text, ink, and gouache on parchment, scroll height: 4 in. (10.1 cm), with carved ivory and silk roller, height: 9 in. (22.9 cm). Jewish Museum London
The Feast of Esther, c.1625 by Lievens, Jan the Elder (1607-74); 130.8×163.8 cm; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, USA; (add.info.: .); Purchased with funds from the State of Jan Lievens, The Feast of Esther, c. 1625. Oil on canvas, 51 x 64 in. (130.8 x 163.8 cm). North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh / Bridgeman Images

“Queen Esther’s story about resilience and courage in the face of persecution resonated widely in 17th-century Netherlands when Amsterdam became a safe haven for many,” said Abigail Rapoport, Curator of Judaica. “This exhibition explores how artists and patrons in Rembrandt’s time—Jewish and Christian—shaped imagery based on the Book of Esther, imagining the heroic Queen Esther as their own, as a young woman who gave voice to the voiceless at the risk of her safety. And Rembrandt’s talent for capturing human emotion imbued Esther with that much more meaning in his time.”

The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt, co-organized with the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, will be on view at the Jewish Museum from March 7 through August 10, 2025. It will travel to North Carolina in September 2025, and a condensed version will be presented at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, opening in August 2026.  

The exhibition is curated by Abigail Rapoport, Curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum, and Michele L. Frederick, Curator of European Art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh. The exhibition at the Jewish Museum is designed by Solomonoff Architecture Studio with graphic design by Studio LHOOQ.

Images courtesy Jewish Museum. 

March 14, 2025

LUCIO POZZI: qui dentro / in here at Magazzino Italian Art, March 7 – June 23, 2025

“Magazzino Italian Art presents LUCIO POZZI: qui dentro / in here, an exhibition featuring a selection of vibrant and innovative abstract works that the Italian-born artist has produced over the course of his remarkable 60-year career.

On view from March 7, 2025, to June 23, 2025, the show, which honors the artist’s 90th birthday, offers an overview of his wide-ranging interests. Internationally known for figurative as well as abstract works, Pozzi is represented in this exhibition by vivid abstractions. The show includes paintings, sculptures, and wall reliefs in an extraordinarily diverse array of styles, revealing Pozzi’s artistic dexterity and his commitment to continual experimentation with a unique visual language.” — Magazzino Italian Art

Lucio Pozzi said, “Any combination of ideas, materials and processes can produce art—it all depends on how it is carried out. I am keen on producing intense thought and emotion within the unique terms of every individual work I make. I loathe pre-deciding originality, novelty, consistency and style. They emerge without my knowing. I expect the viewers not to ask what I meant but to recreate the work as they view it.”

Lucio Pozzi. LEAN ON ME, 2024. Acrylic on wood. Two parts: 96 x 5½ x 5½ inches; and 96 x 5 ⅜ x 5 ⅜ inches
Lucio Pozzi. THE OPEN GATES OF SPRING (PERSEPHONE), 2023. Acrylic on canvas. 132 x 120 x 2 5/8 inches
Lucio Pozzi. VISITATION, 2023-24. Acrylic on canvas. 132 x 120 x 2 7/8 inches
Lucio Pozzi. Untitled, 2002. Acrylic on plywood. 30 x 9 x 2 inches (variable)

Adam Sheffer, Director of Magazzino Italian Art, said, “Part of our core mission at Magazzino is to connect our historic collection of Arte Povera masterworks with the practices of contemporary artists informed by the movement’s legacy. Lucio Pozzi’s work is a sterling example of the ways that postwar art from Italy continues to animate debates in artists’ studios worldwide. We are enormously proud to present this exhibition in honor of his remarkable achievements.”

Paola Mura, Artistic Director of Magazzino Italian Art, said, “Presenting LUCIO POZZI: qui dentro / in here alongside Maria Lai: A Journey to America, within the broader context of the Arte Povera collection, offers a rare opportunity to deepen the conversation around both artists. This dialogue enriches our understanding of Italian art from the postwar era to today, inviting audiences to explore the interplay between these works and to appreciate the distinct qualities that define them.”

David Ebony, guest curator, said, “For much of his career, Pozzi has been known as an elusive multidisciplinary artist who traverses abstraction, figuration, photography and performance. This focused exhibition will pay close attention to the painting practice he has developed over six decades, articulating the variety of forms he has invented, as well as the anchors that have always guided his explorations.”

Title image: Lucio Pozzi. SMALL LEVEL BLUEYELLOW UPFRONT (HLR). Acrylic + sawdust on canvas on plywood. Two parts: 11 ¼ x 7 ¾ x 4 ¾; and 11 ¼ x 7¾ x 3 1/4 inches.

Images courtesy Magazzino Italian Art. 

March 13, 2025

Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty, at the Guggenheim Museum New York, March 7 through September 14, 2025

“The Guggenheim New York presents the first museum exhibition in New York devoted to the work of Beatriz Milhazes (b. 1960, Rio de Janeiro), a global contemporary artist who engages with her Brazilian cultural heritage and identity through the language of abstraction. This focused exhibition features a group of fifteen paintings and works on paper from 1995 to 2023, drawn from the museum’s permanent collection and augmented by key loans, which together contextualize the broader narrative of her artistic evolution.” — Guggenheim Museum

“With almost thirty years between the earliest and most recent works in this exhibition, the pieces interact in remarkable ways, creating a strong and distinctive visual confrontation while offering a valuable opportunity to observe their evolution. I would especially note the convivial relationships between abstraction, figuration, geometry, and free forms in these works, as well as the superposition of their paint layers. The colorful compositions diverge from dark and melancholic to bright and intricate, creating a dynamic atmosphere in the exhibition,” states Beatriz Milhazes. 

Installation views, Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty, March 7, 2025 – September 14, 2025, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Photos: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. 

Collection in Focus: Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty; March 7 – September 14, 2025
Collection in Focus: Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty; March 7 – September 14, 2025
Collection in Focus: Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty; March 7 – September 14, 2025
Collection in Focus: Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty; March 7 – September 14, 2025

“The Guggenheim is thrilled to present the first New York museum exhibition of Beatriz Milhazes. Her colorful abstractions interweave references to art history and the natural world while merging Brazilian cultural motifs with modernist influences. The show offers a rare opportunity to engage with her unique creative process and see how she reinforces her Carioca roots, creating an elaborate lexicon of allusions and symbols within a vernacular Brazilian context,” states Geaninne Gutiérrez-Guimarães, Curator, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York.

Beatriz Milhazes: Rigor and Beauty is organized by Geaninne Gutiérrez-Guimarães, Curator, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York.

Title image: Beatriz Milhazes, In albis, 1995–96. Acrylic on canvas, 72 1/2 × 117 7/8 in. (184.2 × 299.4 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, The Bohen Foundation 2001.219. © Beatriz Milhazes. Photo: Ariel Ione Williams, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York.