An installation view of the exhibition “Willem de Kooning: Endless Painting” at Gagosian. Photograph by Maris Hutchinson. Artwork © 2025 The Willem de Kooning Foundation/ Artists Rights society (ARS, New York Alongside Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning has long been considered one of the twin pillars of abstract expressionism. But his most cited works, his […]
Satellite Collective’s Kevin Draper and Lora Robertson On Making Art in Turbulent Times
Kevin Draper and Lora Robertson’s works in conversation at Mriya Gallery. Roman Gorbun Photography Back in 2016, then-Observer contributor Wayne Northcross—now co-curator of the 2026 Detroit Queer Biennial, among other appellations—filed a brief update on a “stylish art collective” that, since 2010, had been “bringing together choreographers, visual artists, composers, writers and musicians to collaborate […]
One Fine Show: “Wayne Thiebaud, Art Comes from Art” at the Legion of Honor
Wayne Thiebaud, Five Seated Figures, 1965; oil on canvas, 60 x 72 in. (152.4 x 182.88 cm). Wayne Thiebaud Foundation © Wayne Thiebaud Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY Welcome to One Fine Show, where Observer highlights a recently opened exhibition at a museum not in New York City, a […]
Six Decades On, Joan Jonas Is Still Leaving Space for Mystery
Joan Jonas’ evolving practice explores a wide variety of themes without ever reducing them to simple narratives. Photo: Toby Coulson To experience the work of renowned multimedia artist Joan Jonas is a bit like trying to articulate the origins of the universe. Her mediums span video, performance, sculpture, drawing, literature, found objects—and elements like wind, […]
A Major Survey Spotlights Marisol’s Sculptural Explorations of Self and Society
An installation view of “Marisol: A Retrospective.” Photo: Brad Flowers | Courtesy Dallas Museum Of Art “My work is sculpture, figurative, life size, and socially conscious”—that’s how Venezuelan-born American sculptor Marisol Escobar (1930-2016) once described her practice. Though she emerged alongside the pop art movement and shared certain aesthetic and conceptual affinities with both Pop […]
Henri Matisse’s Daughter Marguerite Takes Center Stage at MAM Paris
Henri Matisse, Marguerite endormie, 1920; Huile sur toile, 46 x 65.5 cm. Collection particulière / © Martin Parsekian Henri Matisse painted many subjects throughout his lifetime, but one he returned to again and again was his daughter, Marguerite. “Matisse and Marguerite Through Her Father’s Eyes” at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris brings together more […]
The Goldfinch and the Dutch Golden Age: Remembering Carel Fabritius
Carel Fabritius’ Self-portrait (c. 1645, oil on panel, 65 x 49 cm.) was once believed to be the work of Rembrandt. Courtesy the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Rembrandt worked slowly. The layers of time in each painting, the atmosphere in each layer, the depth and glow—these take time. He had fifty years to develop […]