This inaugural list celebrates 40 artists, thinkers, businesspeople and patrons to watch in 2026
Gallerists come off badly in features by Cathy Yan and Hlynur Pálmason, while Michaela Coel plays a forger in the new Steven Soderbergh
LACMA, George Lucas’s museum of ‘narrative art’ and a revamped London Museum are just a few of the highlights to look forward to
The subject of this painting by Marie Laurencin was actually a French film star, but the work will always have a strong family connection
The Francs de Pied movement hopes to see some of the world’s oldest grape stocks join the list of intangible cultural heritage
If galleries and institutions want to grow their visitor numbers, they need to add style to their substance
Curator, High Line Art
Director, Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi
Director, Victoria and Albert Museum
Artist
Susanna Berger’s new book makes a sound argument for the tricksiness of Catholic architecture in 17th-century Rome
The Irish artist is inspired by Philip Guston’s drawings in her London studio, which looks on to a rugby pitch and might be haunted by the ghost of Charlie Chaplin
Though the architect himself is a controversial figure, his commercial interiors are the epitome of the emerging modern metropolis
After some grumbling by Emmanuel Macron, French electronic music is now on the country’s national list of Intangible Cultural Heritage – and should be on UNESCO’s soon
Plus: an independent report finds that Arts Council England should overhaul its funding model; and the National Museum of Libya has reopened after nearly 14 years
Best known for his horrifying tales of the supernatural, the author was inspired by his work as a medievalist and the spookiness of antique objects
The question of how art might usefully engage with social and political issues has long preoccupied artists and curators
Early works by this pioneer of Neo-Concretism are thrilling experiments with geometric forms, planes and space in two and three dimensions
The first Latino master printer in the United States worked closely with artists including Ruth Asawa and Herbert Bayer – and also printed his own designs
The Los Angeles institution’s relationship with the movement stretches back nearly a century, as this selection of masterpieces reveals
Buyers of Glenrothes’ 51-year-aged whisky have to hammer away at its casing before they can start drinking
The contents of the artist’s house were sold after his death and Annemarie Kloosterhof has remade the most elusive of these in paper – to wonderfully spooky effect
The artist’s immaculate paintings of cakes, deli counters and pinball machines are in fact odes to imperfection
December’s evening sales have shown that there is still a strong market for Old Masters, with even contemporary art buyers splashing out on pre-19th-century works
