Art News

This month the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, presents a comprehensive study of one of the greatest painters of the 16th century. Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 1519–1594) was one of the most prominent painters of Venice during his lifetime.

MoMA PS1 presents a major survey of the work of artist and activist Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). A celebrated figure in the cultural life of New York City, Spero produced a radical body of work that confronted oppression and inequality while challenging the aesthetic orthodoxies of contemporary art. Among the first feminist artists, Spero drew on archetypal representations of women from diverse cultures and times in an attempt to reframe history itself from a perspective that she termed “woman as protagonist.”

Learn about the life, practice, and influence of Charles White, a brilliant and under-appreciated American artist, the subject of the hit exhibition Charles White: A Retrospective, currently on view at LACMA.

The Art History Babes are joined by the curator of Diverse Art LA, Marisa Caichiolo and contemporary artist, Andrés Paredes to discuss the Diverse Art LA program, interactive immersive art experiences, and the challenges of creating a temporary art installation.

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery presents Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence, a major exhibition examining the history of women’s suffrage in the United States opening March 29. The seven-room exhibition will feature more than 120 portraits and objects spanning 1832 to 1965 that explore the American suffrage movement and the political challenges women have faced. Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence is a centerpiece of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative called “Because of Her Story.”

In 1925, Frida Kahlo was on her way home from school in Mexico City when the bus she was riding collided with a streetcar. She suffered near-fatal injuries and her disability became a major theme in her paintings. Over the course of her life, she would establish herself as the creator and muse behind extraordinary pieces of art. Iseult Gillespie dives into the life and work of Frida Kahlo.

As one would expect, the semi-annual Oak Interior auction at Bonhams London is chockful of sturdy chairs and clunky chests. There’s also plenty of antique iron, brass, pewter, stone, and copper–if you happen to be furnishing a castle, this is the sale for you–but the lot with the most presence is this rough-hewn English oak jail door dating from the 1630s (or earlier) and showing “fascinating and macabre prisoner graffiti,” according to the auctioneer.

Conceptual artist Allen Ruppersberg (b. 1944, Cleveland) moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s with the goal of becoming an illustrator, but soon became active in an emerging scene led by artists such as John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, William Leavitt, and others exploring the interface of language and image filtered through the lens of mass culture. His early projects—including environments made with found objects; wry, narrative photo works; and a novel copied by hand—began a career-long practice of creating works that prompt both reading and looking, and that intertwine fact with fiction. Allen Ruppersberg: Intellectual Property 1968–2018 is on view at the Hammer Museum till May 12, 2019.

Michelangelo (1475-1564) is widely acknowledged as one of the most creative and influential artists in the history of western art. He was an exceptional draftsman and the up-close study of Michelangelo drawings is an unparalleled experience. An extraordinary exhibition coming to the U.S. this fall will bring that experience to museumgoers in Cleveland and Los Angeles.

DALLAS, Texas – Collections from a prominent Tulsa, Oklahoma collector and a large group of 22 sets of drawings by Frank Lloyd Wright, among the great architects of the 20th century, will be among the highlights in Heritage Auctions’ Design auction April 15 in Dallas.