In the studio with… Helene Appel
The artist works in near silence on her hyperreal paintings in her Berlin studio, which she keeps as empty as possible
Vija Celmins
The Fondation Beyeler presents paintings, sculptures and hyper-realistic drawings by the Latvian American artist
Vermeer’s Love Letters
At the Frick, three enigmatic paintings by the Old Master capture the nuances of the relationship between women of status and their maids
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025
The public and Royal Academicians alike can submit work to the world’s longest-running open exhibition
Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting
A survey at the National Portrait Gallery in London explores the artist’s bracingly conceptual approach to painting
Whitney Museum suspends Independent Study Program after cancelled Gaza event
Plus: UK cultural institutions defend corporate sponsors, Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery director still in post after Trump’s firing by social media
Edward Burra – Ithell Colquhoun
Tate Britain’s pairing of two very different painters reveals that the artists have more in common than is usually thought
Wolfgang Tillmans
The Pompidou’s last show before it closes for five years is a wide-ranging retrospective of the photographer’s work
Patterns of Luxury: Islamic Textiles, 11th–17th Centuries
The Saint Louis Art Museum presents textiles from or inspired by the Islamic world feature in a free exhibition
The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism
This dazzling exhibition at the Barberini brings together some 100 works to demonstrate the variety of the Impressionist master’s art
Acquisitions of the month: May 2025
Chardin’s luscious still life of fruit and Guercino’s commanding King David are among last month’s most significant museum acquisitions
Four things to see: Oceans
To celebrate World Oceans Day, we dive into four artworks that celebrate the blue planet’s beauty, biodiversity and bottomless capacity for artistic inspiration
How Jenny Saville turns paint into flesh
In her depictions of the human form, the artist pushes paint to its limits, explains Sarah Howgate of the National Portrait Gallery in London
Venice Biennale to follow Koyo Kouoh’s vision
Plus: lost Mayan city discovered in Guatemala, and investment company set to buy Artnet and take it private
Design and Disability
The V&A tells the story of how disabled, deaf and neurodivergent people have shaped and inspired modern design over the last 80 years
Camille Claudel and Bernhard Hoetger: Emancipation from Rodin
In Berlin, the Alte Nationalgalerie’s restaging of a 1905 exhibition in Paris shows how both artists were developing their own sculptural languages
Face to Face: 19th-century Austrian portrait painting
Salzburg’s DomQuartier presents portraits by painters who were forced to get more creative after the advent of photography
Marlene Dumas: Cycladic Blues
The artist pairs her paintings of eerily abstracted faces and bodies with archaeological objects from the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens
Four things to see: Myths and legends
To commemorate the anniversary of the death of Peter Paul Rubens, who frequently depicted mythological characters, we look at four artworks that bring classical tales to life
Acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado dies at 81
Plus: chair of Creative Australia resigns in Venice Biennale controversy | directors of Jewish museum in Washington condemn murder of Israeli embassy staff outside building
The curious career of Jan van Kessel
In his teeming depiction of animals about to enter the ark, Jan van Kessel put an inventive spin on an original by his grandfather, Jan Brueghel the Elder
Venice and the Ottoman Empire
The Frist Museum considers the mercantile republic as a melting pot, where foreign fashions, customs and food were readily absorbed
Arresting Beauty: Julia Margaret Cameron
The Morgan Library shows that, although she didn’t own a camera until she was 48, Cameron nudged photography into the realm of fine art
Paolo Veronese
The Prado’s survey of one of the great painters of 16th-century Venice also considers his influences – and the artists he influenced in turn
‘A revolutionary flame burned bright within him’: David Bindman (1940–2025)