War and Jam: George Grosz × Daniel Richter,

Gustav-Lübcke-Museum

September 5, 2026 through February 21, 2027

Between battlefield and breakfast table, between abyss and everyday life: The exhibition “War and Jam: George Grosz x Daniel Richter” brings two of the most important German artists into a dialogue that is as surprising as it is compelling.

The contrast in the title programmatically represents the tension that runs through the work of both artists: the juxtaposition of violence and ordinariness, of political crisis and private existence. On approximately 800 square meters, the uncompromising social analyses of George Grosz (1893-1959) meet the visually powerful, ambiguous paintings of Daniel Richter (born 1962). This opens up a cross-generational perspective on the question of how art responds to times of uncertainty.

For the first time, the works of both artists are systematically juxtaposed. Grosz, known as a chronicler of the Weimar Republic, dissects the social and political upheavals of his time with precise, often ruthlessly honest drawings. Richter, influenced by punk, on the other hand, has since the 1990s translated social conflicts into expressive, color-intensive visual worlds that are less about accusing than about revealing the ambivalences of the present.

With monumental paintings such as Billiards at Half-Past Nine (2001), small-format works, and rarely seen political collages, the exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into Daniel Richter's oeuvre. Highlights include specially developed works that directly reference the work of George Grosz.

The exhibition showcases George Grosz's collages, oil paintings, watercolors, ink drawings, and portfolios. Visitors gain insights into all the formative phases of his work – from the First World War through the Weimar Republic and the rise of fascism to his time after emigrating to the USA.

| Curators: Annette Vogel , expert on George Grosz and guest curator at German and international museums for 25 years, and Ronja Friedrichs , deputy director of GLM and head of the Fine and Applied Arts collection

Daniel Richter, Billiards at Half-Past Nine, 2001, lacquer paint, oil on canvas, 260 x 375 cm, Kunsthalle zu Kiel © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026, Photo: Foto-Renard, Kiel

 

George Grosz, Twilight, 1922, Watercolor XVI from the portfolio Ecce Homo,  © Estate of George Grosz, Princeton, NJ / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

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George Grosz, Paris, 1925, watercolour, 72 cm x 54 cm, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin © Estate of George Grosz, Princeton, N.J. / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026, Reproduktion: Michael Setzpfandt, Berlin

Daniel Richter, untitled, 2021, ink on paper, 42 x 29,7 cm, Sammlung Lütjenburg © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

George Grosz, Cain, or Hitler in Hell 1944, oil on canvas, 99 x 124,5 cm, Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin, bpk-Fotoarchiv © Estate of George Grosz, Princeton, N.J. / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

Daniel Richter, Untitled, from a series of 18 screenprints, 2013, Screenprint, 131 x 100 cm, Sammlung Lütjenburg © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

Daniel Richter, Tränen und Gesabber, 2021, oil on canvas, 220 x 165 cm, Sammlung Lütjenburg © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic

Morgan Library & Museum 

October 23, 2026 through January 31, 2027 

 The Morgan Library & Museum will present Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic, an exhibition that brings together, for the first time, a remarkable group of drawings, etchings, and paintings highlighting the often overlooked but formative presence of migrants, immigrants, exiles, and refugees in the world and work of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606– 1669). The exhibition particularly focuses on stories of diaspora, or dispersed communities, that figure prominently in many of his etchings, offering a new perspective on the effects of migration on seventeenth-century life. Today, Rembrandt is seen as the quintessential Dutch artist, yet in his day the Dutch Republic was newly formed, and what it meant to be Dutch was still being defined. 

On view from October 23, 2026, through January 31, 2027, this exhibition illuminates a new interpretation of the artist and the world he inhabited. 

“Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic offers fresh perspectives on a well-known and thoroughly studied artist through a modern interpretive lens,” said Colin B. Bailey, Katharine J. Rayner Director of the Morgan Library & Museum. “At the heart of the exhibition is the Morgan’s celebrated collection of Rembrandt etchings, the largest and finest in North America, formed primarily by J. P. Morgan during his lifetime but added to over the last century. Major works take Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669), Self-Portrait with Raised Sabre, 1634. Etching with burin on paper, 124 × 102 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1905; RvR 22. 

on new significance in this exhibition, which sheds light on the cultural context in which the artist’s innovations and stylistic choices were made.”

In the seventeenth century, up to 60 percent of residents in Amsterdam—where Rembrandt lived and worked—hailed from elsewhere. Amid catastrophic religious and political wars that dislocated hundreds of thousands of people, the Dutch Republic established a right to personal religious freedom and became a haven for those who, by force or by choice, left their homes. The newly settled were often referred to as strangers or exiles, their stories subsequently informing the new concepts of “migrant,” “immigrant,” and “refugee.” This diverse community brought ideas, talents, and cultures that influenced life in the republic and Rembrandt’s art. 

The experimental medium of etching aptly inspired some of his most innovative work, which combined historical and contemporary references, often to tell exile stories in new ways. 

“A pivotal moment in Dutch history compelled Rembrandt to make art, and this exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to consider the parallels between Rembrandt’s Amsterdam, New Amsterdam, and New York City,” said Sarah Mallory, Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Morgan. “By recognizing and foregrounding the stories of migrants, immigrants, exiles, and refugees depicted in Rembrandt’s etchings, the exhibition brings greater attention to the histories and enduring legacies of marginalized communities that played a central role in shaping some of the artist’s most innovative and important works.” 

Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic shows how the diverse communities of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century informed Rembrandt’s evolution into the artist we know today. The lion—a symbol of the resilience and strength shown by the republic’s people and lands—began to appear in Rembrandt’s etchings, often in the context of these communities’ stories, coinciding with the republic’s rise to power. 

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669), St. Jerome Kneeling in Prayer, Looking Down, 1635. Etching on paper. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; RvR 161. 

Varied in appearance, from imaginative to lifelike, the lion recurs throughout the artist’s oeuvre, most often in portrayals of the exiled Saint Jerome, one of Rembrandt’s most frequently depicted saints. Saint Jerome sought to expand the borders of the church to include the humblest of peoples. His pursuit led him to a self-imposed exile far from home in the desert, where, according to legend, he pulled a thorn from a lion’s paw; the animal remained with him thereafter. In Rembrandt’s etchings, the pair may be understood as an expression of compassion, loyalty, and acceptance amid the difficulties of exile, a lesson that resonated with the many peoples in the Dutch Republic. 

The exhibition consists of six sections. The first, “Pride of Lions,” explores how the founding of the Dutch Republic established Amsterdam as a haven for religious and political exiles, as well as the connections to Saint Jerome in Rembrandt’s work. “Republic of Refugees” looks closely at depictions of migrant, immigrant, and exiled communities both in the Bible and in Amsterdam. “The Lion’s Share” centers on global stories of the Dutch Republic and colonial aggression. “Home/Lands” examines the neighborhoods where migrant communities resided in Amsterdam through the eyes of Rembrandt, who lived among them. “Fitting In” offers a wider exploration of Rembrandt’s practice as a portraitist, including how he innovated techniques to advance the etching medium. The last section, “Beyond Belonging,” takes viewers to the end of Rembrandt’s life and considers depictions of marginalized figures. 

Throughout the exhibition, Rembrandt’s works provide insight into how he viewed global communities and perceived different countries and peoples. 

Themes of home permeate the works, from domestic scenes of Rembrandt’s life to the ways migrant communities sought refuge in Amsterdam. Many of the republic’s exiles were searching for more than a place of safety; they hoped to establish themselves and create a sense of belonging. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669), The Flight into Egypt: A Night Piece, 1651. Etching and drypoint, first state. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; RvR 82. 4 Questions of identity and belonging also emerge through one of the major threads of the exhibition and of Rembrandt’s work: portraiture, both of himself and of others across many economic and social groups. 

The portraits on view include a 1639 etching of Manasseh Ben Israel, a Portuguese-born rabbi who settled in Amsterdam’s growing Sephardic community and established the first Hebrew press in Holland. Rembrandt also accepted numerous commissions from members of Amsterdam’s upwardly mobile class who sought to establish their place within a Dutch society of their own making. 

As part of his fascination with identity and representation, Rembrandt embraced depictions of dress and appearance, as seen in Self-Portrait with Raised Sabre (1634) and Self-Portrait in a Cap, Wide-Eyed and Open-Mouthed (1630). Also on view are other highlights from the Morgan’s Rembrandt collection, including three impressions of The Three Crosses (ca. 1653) and The Hundred Guilder Print (ca. 1648), as well as unprecedented loans from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (the drawing Recumbent Lion, 1660), and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (the painting The Mill, ca. 1645–48). 

Organization 

Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic is organized by Sarah Mallory, Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints.

IMAGES

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)Self Portrait with Raised Sabre, ca.1634Etching with burin on paper, 124 x 102mm. Purchased by J. Pierpont Morganin 1905.The Morgan Library & Museum (RvR22).Photography by Janny Chiu, 2020.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)The Flight into Egypt: A Night Piece,ca. 1651Etching and drypoint on paper, 127 x109 mmThe Morgan Library & Museum (RvR82).Photography by Graham S. Haber,2014.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Small Lion Hunt (with Two Lions)ca. 1629Etching on paperOverall: 6 1/16 × 4 3/4 in. (15.4 ×12.1 cm).The Morgan Library &Museum, RvR 181. Photography byJanny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Large Lion Hunt1641Etching and drypoint on paperOverall: 8 13/16 × 11 13/16 in. (22.4× 30 cm).The Morgan Library &Museum, RvR 180. Photography byJanny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Recumbent Lion1660Reed pen, brown ink, and brown washon paper12.2 x 21.2 cmThe Rijksmuseum (RP-T-1901-A-4524),Purchased with the support of theVereniging

RembrandtRembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Rat Catcher1632Etching on paperOverall: 5 1/2 × 4 15/16 in. (14 × 12.5cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR188. Photography by Janny Chiu

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)St. Jerome Kneeling in Prayer, LookingDown1635Etching on paperOverall: 4 1/2 × 3 1/8 in. (11.4 × 8cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR161. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Christ Crucified Between the TwoThieves: 'The Three Crosses'1653Drypoint on paperOverall: 15 3/16 × 17 11/16 in. (38.5× 45 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR122. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Pancake Woman1635Etching on paperOverall: 4 5/16 × 3 1/16 in. (10.9 ×7.7 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR190. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)St. Jerome Reading in an Italian Landscapeca. 1653Etching and drypoint, printed onJapanese paperOverall: 10 3/16 × 8 1/4 in. (25.9 × 21cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR165. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Holy Family[ca. 1632]Etching on paperPlate Mark: 3 3/4 × 2 13/16 in. (9.5 ×7.2 cm)Sheet: 3 15/16 × 3 in. (10 × 7.6 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR95. Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Self Portrait Etching at a Window1648Etching and drypoint on paperOverall: 6 5/16 × 5 1/8 in. (16 × 13cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR29. Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Two Mummers on Horseback ca. 1638Pen and brown ink and wash, withyellow and red chalks and whiteopaque watercolor, on paperMount: 11 7/8 × 8 3/8 in. (30.2 × 21.3cm)Overall: 8 3/8 × 6 1/16 in. (21.3 ×15.4 cm)Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909The Morgan Library & Museum, I, 201.Photography by Steven H. Crossot.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Self-Portrait in a Cap, Wide-Eyed andOpen-Mouthed1630Etching and drypoint on paperOverall: 2 × 1 13/16 in. (5.1 × 4.6 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR442. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Indian Warrior with a Shieldca. 1654-1656Pen and brown ink and wash, with redchalk wash, black chalk and scraping(correction), on Japanese paper7 × 3 15/16 in. (17.78 × 10 cm)Mount (Richardson): 14 1/8 × 11 1/8in. (35.88 × 28.26 cm)Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909The Morgan Library & Museum, I, 207.Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Self Portrait, Frowning: Bust17th centuryEtching on paperOverall: 2 15/16 × 2 3/8 in. (7.4 × 6cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR11. Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Descent from the Cross: SecondPlate17th centuryEtching and engraving on paperOverall: 20 7/8 × 16 1/8 in. (53 × 41cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR128. Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Ephraim Bonus, Jewish Physician1647Etching, engraving and drypoint, onpaperOverall: 9 1/2 × 6 15/16 in. (24.1 ×17.7 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR386. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)Arnout Tholinx, Inspector[ ca. 1656] Etching and engraving with drypointon paperOverall: 7 13/16 × 5 7/8 in. (19.8 ×14.9 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR399. Photography by Graham S.Haber.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Spanish Gypsy 'Preciosa'[ca. 1642]Etching on paperOverall: 5 1/4 × 4 7/16 in. (13.3 ×11.3 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR187. Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Leper ('Lazarus Klep')1631Etching on paperOverall: 3 3/8 × 2 3/8 in. (8.6 × 6 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR248. Photography by Janny Chiu.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669), Manasseh Ben Israel, 1639 (recto). Etching on paper. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; RvR 359. 

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(1606 - 1669)The Hundred Guilder Printca. 1648Etching, engraving and drypoint onpaperOverall: 11 1/8 × 15 9/16 in. (28.3 ×39.5 cm)The Morgan Library & Museum, RvR116. Photography by Janny Chiu

Modern Paris: A Century Begins

 

McNay Art Museum 

Oct. 30, 2026-Jan. 24, 2027

Amedeo Modigliani, "Girl with Blue Eyes" (detail), 1918. Oil on canvas. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay, 1950.99

When artists from around the world flocked to Paris in the 1900s, they fostered imaginative innovation that shifted the trajectory of visual art. The McNay Art Museum celebrates the creativity that blossomed from their collaboration in “Modern Paris: A Century Begins,” on view Oct. 30, 2026-Jan. 24, 2027. 

 Vincent van Gogh, “Women Crossing the Fields,” 1890. Oil on paper. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay, 1950.49

The exhibition of more than 50 paintings, prints and sculptures draws exclusively from the McNay Art Museum’s permanent collection and showcases a range of artists, including Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Berthe Morisot, Pablo Picasso, Chaïm Soutine and Vincent van Gogh.

The exhibition highlights Marion Koogler McNay as the Museum’s founding collector and opens with

 

Alfred Sisley’s “The Route from Saint-Germain to Marly” (1872). Sisley’s painting depicts the quiet villages on the outskirts of Paris and was displayed in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. The evolution that followed is evident in works by Paul Cézanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

“Marion Koogler McNay’s collecting of French modernist works was visionary for South Texas in the 1930s and 1940s. She built this collection with real discernment at a time when many of these artists were not yet the canonical figures they later became,” said Matthew McLendon, Ph.D., director and CEO of the McNay Art Museum and curator of “Modern Paris.” “Much of these holdings have been distributed across the permanent collection galleries in thematic hangs or off view. Bringing key works together in this way illustrates how the McNay’s collection can highlight this important moment in western art history.”

The exhibition invites visitors to explore the rise of Fauvism and Cubism featuring a host of works that challenge what those artists perceived as Impressionism’s limitations in form and boldness.

Picasso upends the history of image making with 

“Guitar and Wine Glass” (1912). The collage features wallpaper, a newspaper clipping, sheet music, a wine glass drawing and paper that mimics the shape and woodgrain of a guitar. The McNay’s Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts includes 

Matisse’s “Robe for the Emperor” costume for the ballet “Le Chant du Rossignol” and Picasso’s maquette for “Le Tricorne.” Both objects in the exhibition emphasize collaborations between visual artists and performing artists.

The exhibition also showcases the McNay’s holdings of prints that cemented Paris as the capital of innovative printmaking in the early 20th century. During that time, dealers and publishers such as Ambroise Vollard produced limited edition prints for major artists, including Braque, Picasso and Georges Rouault. Etchings from “Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé” invite visitors to examine artwork from Matisse’s first livre d’artiste (artist’s book). Published by Albert Skira in 1932, the book is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of the format, in which artist and poet collaborate as genuine equals.

“Modern Paris” ends with a selection of works by artists collectively referred to as “The School of Paris.” These artists who weren’t native to Paris converged on Montparnasse because of the region’s relative tolerance for difference. Among the works on view is 

Amedeo Modigliani’s “Girl with Blue Eyes” (1918), a standout work in the McNay’s collection that conveys the powerful innovation associated with Modigliani’s painting as well as the feelings of intimacy he was able to produce between subject and viewer.

“The innovations taking place in Paris, that resonated quickly across Europe and beyond in the first decades of the 20th century are why I became an art historian. I think it is one of the most thrilling moments in art history. Marion Koogler McNay clearly felt the same way based on her collecting for the first modern art museum in Texas,” explained McLendon. “‘Modern Paris’ offers visitors a more specific sense of this moment and of one of the strengths of the McNay Art Museum’s collection that was built by a woman and continues to grow following her bold example.”

“Modern Paris: A Century Begins” is organized by the McNay Art Museum and curated by Matthew McLendon, Ph.D., director and CEO of the McNay Art Museum.

Lee Krasner

Gagosian

October 19–December 18, 2026

Gagosian, Olney Gleason, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation are pleased to announce an exhibition of Lee Krasner’s paintings and works on paper from the 1960s at Gagosian’s rue de Ponthieu gallery in Paris. This collaborative presentation is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in France and continues the renewed international attention brought by the 2019–21 touring European retrospective Lee Krasner: Living Color. 

The Paris exhibition, opening on October 19, 2026, spans a pivotal decade in Krasner’s artistic development, characterized by vibrant gestural abstractions. It coincides with the first major dual survey of Lee Krasner’s and Jackson Pollock’s work, Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous, on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from October 4, 2026, to January 31, 2027. Larry Gagosian noted, “

The 1960s marked a key turning point in Lee Krasner’s life and career, as her distinctive artistic voice was seen on its own. At a moment when her talent and contributions are finally being acknowledged on an institutional scale, we are honored to contribute to that story by presenting a show of her work in Paris for the very first time.” Eric Gleason commented, “This important exhibition focusing on work from the 1960s will further illuminate Krasner’s position as one of the most versatile and courageous painters of the postwar era. "

Comet, 1966–70, oil on canvas, 70 × 86 inches (117.8 × 218.4 cm) © 2026 Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Christopher Stach, courtesy Olney Gleason, New York 

 Krasner is one of the most significant artists of the New York School. Throughout the 1960s, living between Springs, East Hampton, and her apartment and studio in Manhattan, she threw herself into a focused period of experimentation and reinvention. Tackling canvases of unprecedented scale and increasingly lyrical compositions, Krasner worked with newly restricted palettes and began to apply paint directly from the tube. These developments gave rise to the Umber paintings (1959–62) and Primary Series (1960s), now considered among the pinnacles of her painterly achievements. Krasner’s influence on American art deepened across the decade, consolidated in part by the 1965 retrospective Lee Krasner: Paintings, Drawings and Collages at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, curated by Bryan Robertson. In 1969, she turned her attention to calligraphic color experiments and original compositions in gouache on paper. 

The exhibition at Gagosian includes works spanning this period, culminating in the majestic oil on canvas Comet (1966–70), now in the collection of the PollockKrasner Foundation in New York. The exhibition marks the first time Krasner’s work has been the subject of a solo presentation in France, a country whose modernist legacy, particularly the work of Henri Matisse, proved formative to her development as a painter. Krasner made an important visit to Paris in 1956, where time spent at the Louvre deepened her engagement with the history of European painting. Her relationship with France was formally recognized in 1982, when she was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. 

The exhibition is Krasner’s debut at Gagosian. Olney Gleason continues to represent the artist’s work globally in partnership with the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. 

Lee Krasner, The Seasons, 1957. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York© The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

"I like a canvas to breathe and be alive. Be alive is the point."
—Lee Krasner. 

Biography.

 

Arguably the most crucial proponent of Pollock, Krasner was instrumental in propelling his career and cementing his reputation as the most influential living American artist, having introduced him to Willem de Kooning, Clement Greenberg and Peggy Guggenheim, as well as other key figures. Living with Pollock at their home near The Springs, Long Island, Krasner developed some of her most compelling series, including her Little Image paintings. Defined by thick impasto and repetitive abstract symbols, these works are recognized as among her most noteworthy contributions to Abstract Expressionism.

 

Following Pollock's death from an automobile accident in 1956, Krasner dedicated the remainder of her life to solidifying Pollock's legacy, while continuing her own artistic endeavors. During this time of newfound solitude, Krasner realized her iconic Umber Paintings, which convey a distinctive rawness and intensity that was unprecedented in her oeuvre until this point. Fiercely composed of abstract forms through explosive brushwork in a parsed-down palette of primarily umber, cream and white, this series is considered among Krasner's most psychoanalytically evocative work.

 

With paintings from the 1960s, Krasner embraced Pollock's artistic achievements in size, all-over composition, gestural method and engagement with Jungian psychology, which emphasized the importance of the individual psyche and personal quest for wholeness. From time to time, Krasner incorporated staring eyes, a motif that harkened back to her own earlier work. Other repeated marks suggest foliage, wind, feathers and wings. It is with these works that Krasner further delved into ideas about self-knowledge.

 

Reflecting on work from this period, in 1973, Krasner remarked: "My painting is so biographical, if anyone can take the trouble to read it." This assertion is evident especially in works from the 1960s, which stand as vehicles by which the artist confronted her turbulent 11-year relationship with Pollock and the effects of his death in a particularly poignant and personal mode of expression. At once unruly and lyrical, each canvas becomes animated by Krasner's individual and newly powerful backhand gesture, advancing in a rhythmic motion from right to left in vast, curvilinear sweeps. Vigorously thrusting and stabbing with her brush and body, these works present Krasner's sophisticated integration of sprays and arcs with nodules of paint. Accordingly, Krasner's works from the 1960ssignal her emergence from behind her husband's shadow and the beginning of Krasner's critical recognition of her own unique and noteworthy artistic impulses. 

 

In 1978, the exhibition Abstract Expressionism: The Formative Years positioned Krasner in her rightful place alongside Pollock, de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell and Adolph Gottlieb. Exhibition catalogue.

Shortly after Krasner's death, the Museum of Modern Art presented a major retrospective of her work.

 

Today, Krasner's work has been exhibited worldwide and is included in the permanent collections of major institutions, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Jewish Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Tate, London; Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; National Gallery of Australia, Sydney; among many others.

William Hogarth’s 1755 painting “An Election Entertainment,”

 

depicting English Whigs partying on election day, while Tories protest outside. Posted just for fun - so many individuals in 1 painting!

Leonora Carrington The art of transmutation

Almine Rech 

 Sep 8 — Oct 10, 2026 

From September 8 to October 10, 2026, Almine Rech Paris is dedicating a solo exhibition to Leonora Carrington (1917–2011), a leading figure in international Surrealism and one of the most distinctive artists in the history of art. Bringing together paintings, sculptures, drawings, masks, and works on paper, this exhibition invites visitors to rediscover a body of work whose visionary power continues to fascinate through its ability to create a dialogue between myth, magic, and metamorphosis. Spanning the 20th century and its upheavals, from the rise of fascism to her exile in Mexico, Carrington nevertheless defies any strictly biographical interpretation. 

Neither muse, nor disciple, nor mere heir to Surrealism, she created a body of work that is profoundly free, unbound by aesthetic categories or assigned identities. Her world never seeks to represent reality: it transforms its very laws, opening pathways between the visible and the invisible, the human and the animal, nature and culture, dream and matter. 

This exhibition highlights one of the key aspects of her work: art as a process of transmutation. In Carrington’s work, nothing is static. Beings change form, boundaries become porous, and realms intermingle. Dragons, horses, birds, hyenas, hybrid creatures, and androgynous figures make up a cosmology in which every form seems to be in a state of perpetual becoming. The metamorphoses that run through her work do not belong to the realm of fantasy in the sense of an escapist imagination; they constitute an alternative way of thinking about the living world, based on continuities rather than on divisions. This vision is rooted in a culture of rare breadth. Fascinated by alchemy, mythology—particularly Celtic mythology—Mesoamerican traditions, tarot, and Eastern spiritualities, Carrington constructs an iconography where ancient knowledge and modern intuitions converge. 

The exhibition features, among other works, the paintings 

The Lovers (1987), 

Laberinto (1991),(Loan from FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins) / The Levett Collection) and 

La Naguala (1975), which reference these major themes. Thus, her work invites us not so much to solve riddles as to accept the existence of multiple, sometimes contradictory, yet always open-ended realities. The fantastical is not an escape, but a way of inhabiting the world differently. 

After settling in Mexico in 1942, Carrington came to regard the country as her chosen home. Indigenous cosmologies, the richness of popular traditions, and the idea of a world animated by invisible forces and other forms of agency deeply nourished her imagination. Without ever renouncing her British roots, she developed a body of work in which cultures and temporalities engage in a free and fluid dialogue. In her universe, historical time gives way to mythical time, where past, present, and future coexist within the same symbolic space. 

The exhibition also reveals the full scope of a practice that extends far beyond painting. As much a writer as a visual artist, Carrington developed a truly multifaceted body of work. Drawing, sculpture, tapestry, masks, theater, costume design, jewelry, and literature all form part of the same creative exploration. The images extend the narratives, the texts respond to the sculptures, and the materials engage in a dialogue with one another. Each medium becomes an expression of a unique imagination, rejecting any hierarchy between artistic forms. Particular attention is paid to sculpture, which accompanied the artist throughout her life. From her earliest experiments to the large bronze works created in the final years of her life, Carrington never ceased to explore the possibilities offered by three-dimensional form. Bronze occupies a unique place in this regard. Created using wax or plasticine models up until her final days, these sculptures encapsulate the figures that have always populated her world: horses, birds, fantastical creatures, protective deities, and guides between worlds. They appear as the culmination of a philosophy of metamorphosis, in which the material itself becomes the site of constant transformation. 

The exhibition also highlights Carrington’s profound relevance to the present day. Long before ecological, feminist, or posthumanist issues came to the forefront in contemporary debates, her work was already challenging the major dualisms inherited from Western thought. The distinctions between human and non-human, female and male, nature and culture dissolve in her work, giving way to a relational view of living beings. This insight, which is strikingly relevant today, undoubtedly explains why her work continues to inspire artists, philosophers, writers, and fashion designers. Through this exceptional collection, Almine Rech aims to convey the richness of an artist whose creative vision remains inexhaustible. 

More than a historical figure of Surrealism, Leonora Carrington emerges as one of the great visual thinkers on the theme of transmutation. Her work invites us to reconsider our relationship with the world, with other living beings, and with the imagination itself. At a time when certainties are wavering and new narratives are needed, Carrington’s works remind us that transformation is not merely an iconographic theme: it constitutes a way of being in the world. Between myth and matter, magic and knowledge, memory and becoming, they open up a space where boundaries cease to be limitations and become passages. It is perhaps here that the undiminished power of her work still lies today. — Dr. Mylène Ferrand, art historian and curator.

Also see 

Leonora Carrington: What if the Impossible Wasn’t Impossible?

Bruxelles 1900

The Petit Palais 

 In 1900, in the Grand Palais, opened in Paris, the visitors of the Universal Exhibition discovered, at the same time, the exhibition was consecrated to other nations, a Belgian section that enjoyed an enthusiastic unanime: about 150 paintings and sculptures venues Belgium appears to be a veritable revelation. This Parisian recognition established Brussels as one of the major European artistic centers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. 

The exposition is an extraordinary focus on culture that includes 250 works: paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, posters, jewelry, photographs, architecture, and graphic arts.

The exhibition has been realized in part with the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Royal Museums of Art and History and the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) and benefit from the exception of three institutions. 

Following the success of Paris 1900, the Petit Palais, on avenue Winston-Churchill in the 8ᵉ arrondissement of Paris, turns its gaze toward Brussels with a major exhibition, Brussels 1900, on view from November 10, 2026 to April 25, 2027. For the first time in France, such a comprehensive panorama of Belgian creative output at the dawn of the 20th century is gathered in a single venue: painting, sculpture, decorative arts, photography, architecture, jewelry and fashion are brought together to tell a city in full ferment.

What immediately stands out is the sheer scale of the territory covered. We won't just talk about a few well-known Symbolist paintings: the exhibition will bring together works of very different kinds, from monumental triptychs by Léon Frédéric to the movable ensembles and models by Victor Horta, along with posters from the Salon des XX and jewelry by Philippe Wolfers. Horta, a leading figure of Belgian Art Nouveau, breaks with the traditional architecture of bourgeois houses, championing open planning and spatial fluidity, and makes extensive use of metal and glass. Seeing his models in Paris will be a rare chance to get as close as possible to a way of thinking about built space that changed Europe’s face.

Commissariat general: 

Géraldine David, general director of the Royal Museums of Art and History 

Sara Lammens, director of the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR)

Annick Lemoine, president of the public establishment of the Orsay and Orangery Museums, former director of the Petit Palais 

Kim Oosterlinck, general director of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Belgium 

Commissariat scientifique: 

Anne-Charlotte Cathelineau, conservatrice and chef du patrimoine en charge of sculptures, Petit Palais Davy Depelchin, conservator in charge of the collection of paintings and sculptures of the 19th century at the Royal Museums Fine Arts of Belgium 

Benjamin Foudral, director of the Musée Gustave Courbet d’Ornans.

Fernand Khnopff, Des Caresses, 1896. Huile sur toile, 50,5 x 150 cm. Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. © Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles / photo J. Geleyns Art Photography