Those open to venturing a bit off the beaten path for an art experience will be well rewarded by heading up to Gloucester, Massachusetts, for a David Hockney show unlike most others. There are just a few original artworks in the cozy wood-beamed gallery barn of the Manship Artists Residency, but the late artist himself guided the show’s creation, and you’ll see his signature many times over in sign-offs directed toward his longtime friend Bing McGilvray. Throughout “Hockney Reproduction(s),” it also appears on posters, prints and missives, which are presented across two floors alongside seldom-seen fax works, photographic composites, digital drawings and video.

McGilvray, whose large collection of Hockney ephemera initially inspired “Hockney Reproduction(s),” describes himself as a real “Gloucester character,” which he certainly is today. But in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was an aspiring illustrator, fresh out of art school and sick of Boston. Longing for something different, he drove across the country with a friend, landed in L.A. and loved it. It wasn’t long before he encountered a book by Hockney and found himself utterly blown away. “Going to art school in the early ’70s, it was all abstract, conceptual, minimal—very interesting, but I’m a cartoonist,” McGilvray, who also curated the show, told Observer. “I was determined to meet him, and it happened, and I found out that was the same thing he’d been dealing with. He said, ‘Yes, yes, this is what I’ve been telling them at the Royal College of Art—more drawing classes, not less.'”

That conversation sparked a close friendship that lasted more than 45 years, evidence of which is peppered throughout the show: paintings and digital photo collages of McGilvray (a frequent Hockney sitter), exhibition posters inscribed by the artist, invitations to visit overlaid on iPad sketches. “We always kept in touch, even in the last few years. I haven’t been able to travel and he hadn’t, either, but thanks to FaceTime, we were always talking to each other,” he said. In the two years before Hockney’s passing, those conversations were often about “Hockney Reproduction(s),” which evolved out of McGilvray’s 2025 Manship residency. Initially, the artist was skeptical, but he came around when Richard Benefield, the first executive director of The David Hockney Foundation and a friend of McGilvray’s, joined the project as an advisor.

“David calmed down, and then the more I started saying ‘we can do this, we can do that, we can show the faxes,’ he got very excited about it,” McGilvray recalled. (Hockney sent elaborate faxes in the late 1980s and early ’90s to friends and galleries, building images across multiple sheets, and these were often shown at the time of their creation but have largely dropped from view, possibly because the medium is now so thoroughly obsolete. The fax drawings in the show are, more than any other pieces, artifacts of a very particular moment.)

With both Hockney and Benefield on board, things accelerated. David Hockney Inc. in L.A. provided 25 posters. Salt’s Mill in Saltaire, U.K.—a former textile mill turned into a cultural destination by another friend of Hockney’s, and which now houses one of the largest collections of the artist’s work—provided more posters and merch. Friends and collectors contributed additional materials, including original illustrations Hockney made for Grimm’s Fairy Tales, loaned by Diane Chen Koch-Weser. Cultural historian and curator Charlie Scheips, another close Hockney confidant and one-time studio assistant, also contributed to the exhibition’s creation and gave a lecture on the opening weekend.

Hockney was a lifelong experimenter, so it’s fitting that the curatorial throughline here is experimentation, with the whole of “Hockney Reproduction(s)” being itself something of an experiment. There are distinct thematic groupings of works—fax drawings, items related to the artist’s engagement with the theater, photo collages, museum posters and books—around the space, which McGilvray maintained Hockney would have loved. But don’t come expecting a chronological walk through Hockney’s oeuvre or an in-depth exploration of the artist’s career. There are no placards or explanatory wall texts accompanying the objects on display, which some may find frustrating. That aside, what the exhibition lacks in detail, it makes up for in heart, color and panache.

“There’s a lot of joy here—I can feel the vibrancy Hockney surrounded himself with,” one exhibition-goer commented during our visit. Ultimately, it’s not just a show about the work of an artist most of us will miss greatly, even those who never met him, but also a show about what he meant to the people who knew him best. “It’s grown far beyond anything we initially imagined,” McGilvray said. “But of course, whenever David got involved with something, everything changed.”

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Artist Tom Gilleon is known for his depictions of American West motifs—tipis, lonesome landscapes and Native Americans—that straddle archetype and avant-garde. But describing him as a painter of tipis is a little like describing Rothko as a painter of rectangles. Gilleon is, with his chosen forms, doing something considerably stranger and more contemporary than one usually finds in what is restrictively labeled Western art but really ought to be called American art. Now in his mid-80s and still painting most days from his ranch in Montana, he has spent decades pulling the genre toward modernism with a rigorous focus on color, form and stripped-down compositions.

Diverting sharply from the work of ostensible forebears like Howard Terpning and Charles Marion Russell, most of Gilleon’s works strip out the sorts of things a traditional Western painting might include: drying racks, fires, horses, children, dogs. What remains, particularly in his paintings of tipis, are densely saturated blocked fields of color that seem lit from within. The best descriptor might be ‘maximalist minimalism.’ Each tipi is accurate in its specific tribal details, but “I don’t want to go back to the illustrative. Every detail that can be eliminated and still tell the story should be eliminated,” Gilleon says when we talk via Zoom.

That instinct for elimination came not from years of art school but from decades spent, ironically, working as an illustrator, first for NASA’s Apollo space program and then alongside Herbert Ryman and a roster of Disney’s top concept artists and architects to help bring not only EPCOT Center but also the company’s international theme parks to life. “I started out as a technical illustrator, doing how-to manuals, which taught me to eliminate as much detail as possible,” Gilleon tells me. “Then I became a concept illustrator with Disney Imagineering, so I was more of a storyteller at that point.”

On retainer, he moved from California to Montana in the early 1980s, first to a home on the Dearborn River and then a ranch near Great Falls, and began painting in the hours his contract left free. Inspired by the landscape (and his own background, having been raised by a grandmother who was a citizen of the Cherokee Nation), Gilleon experimented: “I had a little bit of spare time, I had a stretched canvas, and I drew a tipi and painted it. I thought no one in their right mind would want a big painting of a tipi. Well, it sold so fast it hardly had time to dry, and there were requests for more.”

He counts Rothko, Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol among his touchstones, and he applies the Pop Art figure’s provocation to his palettes. “I’m always going back to Warhol: ‘Art is what you get away with,'” he says. “And it’s the same with color; how far can you push this and still be true to art? How far can you push away from the traditional color scheme or theory and still make it work? I always try to push those boundaries.” His Sun Setting on the Red Man (2023), of a Native man on horseback in vivid blocks of red and blue, is particularly Warholian, illustrative and painterly at once.

His method is as unusual as his palette—every one of his oil paintings begins as a fully realized digital work. In Photoshop and then Corel Painter, Gilleon tests his compositions and colors. “It’s literally painted before I start painting,” he explains. By the time he puts brush to canvas, he’s polishing the work in a process akin to a flight plan: exhaustive preparation on the ground, followed by minor adjustments in the cockpit. “In the old days, you’d do maybe one study, possibly two, and then you’d do the canvas—and you’d be so invested in that study that you’d make it work on the canvas whether you really thought it was working or not. Whereas now I throw away 30 that I don’t think I like, and settle on another before I start the actual painting… I’ve increased the number of failures, but I’ve increased the number of successes when it gets to the canvas.”

Gilleon’s digital fluency has pushed him into some surprisingly radical virtual territory over the years. Alongside longtime collaborator Marshall Monroe, another former Imagineer, he has produced dynamic screen-based audio-visual works in which one painting dissolves into the next through layered transitions, generating unique compositions to tell the story of people and places. (The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls has one, as does the Booth Western Art Museum in Atlanta. Several collectors at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky have them; one even had an architect design an entire room around a triptych.) Gilleon began experimenting with the underlying techniques at Disney in the late 1990s, anticipating the rise of digital art by decades. When he “saw the future of art being done on a computer,” he recalls, he sold a big collection of Native American artifacts to buy a top-of-the-line machine. “A few of the artists I was teaching would come up to my ranch here, spend a week, and we’d go on site and do plein air paintings. Several of them were also doing computer art. I got fascinated by what they were doing, and I said, well, I’m going to learn to do that. So I did.”

For an artist who first spent decades as an illustrator, recognition arrived quickly when Gilleon transitioned to painting. He was the featured artist of the 2009 Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, and in 2013 became the first living artist to receive a solo exhibition at the C.M. Russell Museum, titled “Let Icons Be Icons: The Art of R. Tom Gilleon,” following a 2012 solo show at the Booth Western Art Museum. More recently, Scottsdale’s Museum of the West opened a 90-painting career retrospective, “Inner Light: The Art of Tom Gilleon,” tracing his development from a childhood spent drawing to his current digital work, and including the world debut of Spirit Catcher, a 22-minute triptych referencing century-old photographs of Native Americans made by Edward S. Curtis. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum and many other institutions, as well as in the holdings of organizations as different as NASA and Universal Studios.

Even as Gilleon’s work might feel hyper-local in its references, it’s now galactic in its reach. He’s one of a handful of artists inducted as founding members of the Lunar Museum of Art‘s “First Artists” cohort: 15 digital reproductions of Gilleon’s paintings were launched into space and permanently archived on a lunar server after traveling to the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in March 2025.

As for the next evolution of Gilleon’s oeuvre, it would be banal—and inaccurate—to suggest the sky is the limit. For all the vastness of his subject matter, his whole world is the work. Asked what advice he would give young artists, Gilleon doesn’t circle back to color theory or compositions but rather suggests learning who you are as an artist before trying to sell anything: “Art is a spiritual practice. Creativity is a spiritual practice. You’d be there in your studio painting even if no one was buying.” Which is where you’ll find him on any given day. “I’ve always been this way,” he reflects. “As early as I can remember, drawing pictures in the sand. I think probably before I could speak well, art was my language.”

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Industry elders will remember when summer truly was the slow season in the art world: a time for mounting group shows featuring interesting works by contemporary artists on the rise. But this year’s calendar of July art fairs and August art fairs was surprisingly robust—proof positive there’s no longer a slow season in the art world when you come at it globally, perhaps?

That said, plenty of galleries spent the summer preparing for the big fall fairs. September’s art fair calendar is absolutely packed with events, particularly for New Yorkers who have The Armory Show to look forward to in a month bookended by Salon Zürcher and Affordable Art Fair’s New York editions. Frieze Seoul is sure to be another September standout, along with an internationally list of fairs so lengthy there can be no doubt about summer officially being over.

Whether you’re hunkering down in New York for the Armory Show-adjacent fairs or hitting the road on an international odyssey of art, Observer’s monthly art fair calendars can help you put together the perfect itinerary.

Frieze Seoul 2026

September 2-5

More than 120 of the world’s most recognizable art galleries from across 30 countries typically participate in Frieze Seoul, which takes place at COEX and runs alongside Kiaf SEOUL. Each new edition of the fair unfolds in a city—and a local art scene—that is changing dramatically, growing exponentially and becoming more international with each year. It arguably anchors the most anticipated week for contemporary art in South Korea, with an expansive program of live art and performance, film screenings, talks and special projects. “It was really important to me that Frieze Seoul had its own character and its own identity. I didn’t want it to feel like just another edition of Frieze,” director Patrick Lee told Observer in 2025.

Hungry Eye Fair 2026

September 2-6

Hungry Eye Fair (formerly Haute Photographie) in Amsterdam Noord is the autumn edition of the boutique fine art photography fair launched by Roy Kahmann (the winter edition is held annually in conjunction with Rotterdam Art Week). What hasn’t changed with the name is the fair’s intelligently curated, museum-style format, which showcases vintage and contemporary photography in conversation, and the annual Bookmarket with new and vintage photobooks. As always, the focus is primarily on the independent photographer—as in photographers without gallery representation, though the roster of exhibitors usually does include a handful of galleries.

SWISSARTEXPO 2026

September 2-6

In Zurich, SWISSARTEXPO is yet another fair that aims to connect artists and art enthusiasts through lively conversation. (We love that so many fairs are trying to strip the lingering veneer of exclusivity from art world events.) In past years, SWISSARTEXPO has attracted 80,000 visitors per day, there to see more than 100 exhibitors from all over the world displaying art under the sculpture L’ange protecteur by Niki de St. Phalle. Notably, this fair is free, but it was also one of the first to incorporate QR codes into displays, making it easier to find out more information about specific art and artists—and in some cases, to access related audio and video guides.

Kiaf SEOUL 2026

September 2-6

While it sometimes doesn’t get the attention of Frieze, Kiaf SEOUL was South Korea’s first international art fair. Founded in 2002 by the Galleries Association of Korea, it has always been deeply rooted in—and sustained by—its close ties to South Korea’s gallery system. When Kiaf launched, the market was valued at roughly KRW 200 billion; by 2023, it was approaching KRW 1 trillion. (The arrival of Frieze has been both a test and a catalyst, director Eunice Jung told Observer in 2025. “It challenged us to rethink what makes our fair distinctive, and further to refine our role within a rapidly changing art scene.”) Over these years, the fair has matured into one of international standing while maintaining a distinct identity rooted in the richness and dynamism of the country’s contemporary art scene.

POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair 2026

September 10-13

Given that this September art fair overlaps with Berlin Art Week, POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair tends to attract a lot of visitors—30,000 each year, hailing from a range of nations. The Berlin art scene is worth checking out but not necessarily easy to absorb in just a few days, as the city is home to more than 200 museums and around 440 galleries. POSITIONS is held in hangar 7 of Berlin-Tempelhof Airport (which ceased operating as an aviation hub in 2008) and has a supporting program that includes special exhibitions, panel discussions, the Berlin Art Week Collectors Dinner and other events.

Aruba Art Fair 2026

September 11-13

Now in its 9th edition and serving as the centerpiece of ART WEEK ARUBA, Aruba Art Fair has established San Nicolas—known as the Street Art Capital of the Caribbean—as a platform where fine art, murals, performances and installations meet in the streets. More than 100 artists will showcase work that spans painting, sculpture, fashion and performance art in outdoor booths and curated gallery spaces. Unlike many commercial fairs, Aruba Art Fair operates as a non-profit, directing proceeds back to participating artists—a model that underscores the fair’s focus on community and access. An adjacent cultural program extends well beyond the three-day fair, with a culinary art competition, artist-led workshops and community events.

ARTe Kunstmesse Wiesbaden 2026

September 11-13

Also known as ARTe Kunstsalon, it’s one of several ARTe art fairs taking place throughout Germany this year. What unites them? Since the first fair in 2015 at the Sindelfingen Trade Fair Center, ARTe fairs have emphasized open, airy venues and the deliberate mixing of contemporary and classical artwork. At Wiesbaden, most of the works displayed are by exhibitors based in Germany and other E.U. countries. One draw is the art historians who guide visitors through the fair, placing the works on display in their historical contexts.

Tokyo Gendai 2026

September 11-13

Tokyo Gendai has been described as not just a commercial fair but also a platform that brings collectors, sponsors, charities and the general public together while offering the infrastructure for meaningful exchange. Expect to see a mix of Japanese and international participants—in recent years, particularly since the pandemic, Tokyo has seen a compelling wave of new galleries opening across the city. “It’s exciting to see these galleries coming to Tokyo—not just to expand commercially but to challenge themselves, explore something new and build relationships with a younger generation of Japanese collectors, which I believe is growing in confidence and curiosity,” director Eri Takane told Observer in 2025.

art3f Monaco 2026

September 11-13

Monaco’s international contemporary art fair at Chapiteau de Fontvieille, art3f Monaco, aims to give art and art collecting a “human and warm side” with affordable art presented “without code, without prejudice and uninhibited.” Galleries are certainly present at this art fair, but many of the 200 artists whose works are on show were handpicked by the fair’s selection committee, and moreover, the artists are actually on site. Enthusiasts and collectors can meet the painters, sculptors, photographers, etc., and hear their stories, fostering a connection between buyer and artist that leads to a “direct exchange and sharing of emotions.” In theory, anyway. It’s a good concept and one that’s attractive to many younger collectors and would-be collectors, but whether it makes art more accessible is up for debate.

Affordable Art Fair New York 2026

September 16-20

If the question is ‘When is Affordable Art Fair?’, the answer is another question: ‘When isn’t there an Affordable Art Fair running?’ Affordable Art Fair London is on the March art fair calendar. Among the February art fairs, you’ll find Affordable Art Fair Brussels. And so on. The autumnal New York edition of Will Ramsay’s Affordable Art Fair will take place at the Starrett-Lehigh Building with a diverse selection of curated works priced between $100 and $12,000 (instead of the usual $10,000, possibly owing to inflation). Affordable Art Fair fairs don’t typically feature work by “celebrity” artists, offering instead a significant platform for emerging artists and younger galleries to gain exposure and connect with new collectors.

Clio Art Fair 2026

September 17-20 and 24-27

Observer once suggested that visitors to Clio Art Fair could “expect more outsider work, maybe less expensive pieces and artists who are actually down to talk to their audiences.” True or not, Clio does tend to live up to its reputation as the “anti-fair”—in a good way. The work on view is by artists from around the world who don’t have exclusive gallery representation, so it can be more eclectic, riskier and overall more exciting. It’s also (sometimes) less expensive, with some price points in the hundreds, versus the hundreds of thousands. Fun fact: Clio Art Fair was one of the first to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment.

art3f Paris 2026

September 18-20

With a whopping twenty-one fairs in eighteen cities, the international contemporary art fair art3f comes to Paris twice yearly, once in September and once in January. Presale tickets are just 10 euros, the opening night preview is open to all and there’s an emphasis on affordability that you don’t see at many other art fairs. It’s a great place for collectors to discover artists on the rise and to relax in the presence of beautiful things—live music and a fully stocked cafe and bar round out the experience. As art3f puts it, “Because life goes on and optimism takes back its rights, because you have to be positive, drink, eat, have fun, marvel, art is an excellent remedy!”

Fine Art Paris 2026

September 19-23

Formerly FAB Paris, Fine Art Paris gathers about 100 internationally renowned art and antique dealers covering 20 disciplines that span millennia. Exhibitors mount displays of antiquities to contemporary works, and visitors can expect to see masterpieces by renowned artists such as Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Auguste Rodin, Renoir and Picasso shown alongside exceptional pieces like Ancient Egyptian artifacts and furniture that adorned royal salons. This young fair is known for its “fabulous ephemeral museum” atmosphere that presents a rich art historical narrative.

Salon Zürcher 2026

September 21-27

New York City mini fair Salon Zürcher bills itself as an Armory Week oasis—a restful, non-intimidating space to appreciate art on a human scale. The 2026 edition of the satellite art fair, titled “100 Women of Spirit +, Part 5” (a continuation of the “11 Women of Spirit” series, which originally launched during the 2020 Armory Show) will present work brought by a distinguished group of just eleven women artists. Salon Zürcher is held each year in the Zürcher Gallery’s New York space on Bleecker Street, and admission is free, though the best reason to check this one out in particular might just be the opportunity to connect with the participating artists directly.

SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2026

September 23-28

The latest New York edition of SPRING/BREAK Art Show will showcase more than 100 new projects in a brand-new space during this year’s art week. Billing itself as a “curator driven art fair,” it seems to prefer that curators, not galleries, submit proposals around each year’s theme. SPRING/BREAK Art Show is different from most fairs in that sales happen through the fair’s website. And for whatever reason, it tends to be the most social media-friendly in terms of visuals—perhaps because it attracts a younger, cooler crowd?

Independent 20th Century 2026

September 24-27

The invitation-only edition of Independent dedicated to works from the 20th Century is bringing 75 percent more exhibitors to the Breuer Building this year. Whether growing the fair will change the vibe remains to be seen. “We thought this was an interesting opportunity for Independent—how could we contextualize 20th-century art as strongly as we have tried to contextualize the present and future of contemporary art? I reached out to Sofie Scheerlinck, former global head of TEFAF, to join our team and help us develop the idea with a rising group of gallerists who have true vision in this area,” Independent’s cofounder Elizabeth Dee told Observer in 2023 when asked how the idea to focus on 20th-century art first came about.

The Armory Show 2026

September 24-27

The largest Modern and Contemporary art fair in New York, and one of the largest anywhere in the world, The Armory Show in the Javits Center has become such an anchor of the fall art season that many people refer to it (rightly or wrongly) as Armory Week. “Just as artists and galleries evolve through a pipeline, so do collectors. We actively engage with younger collectors; it’s a real priority for us,” director Kyla McMillan told Observer in 2025. “New York is a city where someone with transactional potential can walk through the door and, while relatively unknown today, be on every top collector list in just a few years. That openness to discovery is something we want to foster.”

British Art Fair 2026

September 24-27

This September art fair has been gathering the best, you guessed it, modern and contemporary British art in London’s iconic Saatchi Gallery since 1988. Typically, British Art Fair invites exhibitors that bring works by some of the country’s most famous artists, including Frank Auerbach, Banksy, John Craxton, Tracey Emin, Terry Frost, Barbara Hepworth, Damien Hirst, Ivon Hitchens, David Hockney, Albert Irvin, Gwen John, L.S. Lowry, Henry Moore, John Piper, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley and William Scott.

The Other Art Fair Los Angeles 2026

September 24-27

The first edition of The Other Art Fair was held in London in 2011 by Ryan Stanier, who created the fair with the dual aims of making art discovery easier and democratizing the art buying experience. This is another one of those art fairs that seems to be everywhere—London, Brooklyn, Dallas, Sydney and so on. In Los Angeles, this fair where “art is for everyone” and the displays are mounted by more than a hundred independent artists, is held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Did we mention the DJs, the fully stocked bar and the party atmosphere? In case it wasn’t obvious, this is absolutely an art fair geared toward a younger, cooler audience, and the prices of the works on view often reflect that.

Even more September art fairs in 2026

As always, what’s above doesn’t represent the totality of the September art fair calendar in 2026—there are always plenty of smaller, lesser-known and niche art fairs happening around the world. Here’s a quick roundup of several more fall art fairs you might want to check out this month.

Art Formosa 2026 (Taipei)

September 25-28

Sydney Contemporary 2026 (Australia)

September 3-6

FNB Art Joburg 2026 (South Africa)

September 4-6

Parcours des Mondes 2026 (France)

September 8-13

Season Fair 2026 (Detroit)

September 11-13

Art & Bali 2026

September 11-13

ArtRio 2026 (Brazil)

September 16-20

Reno Tahoe International Art Show 2026 (Nevada)

September 17-20

Noise_Media Art 2026 (Istanbul)

September 17-21

Works Art Fair 2026 (Denmark)

September 18-20

EuropArtFair 2026 (Amsterdam)

September 19-20

Contemporary Istanbul 2026

September 24-27

ARTBO 2026 (Colombia)

September 24-27

U-Haul Art Fair 2026 (New York City)

September 25-27

Estación Material 2026 (Guadalajara)

September 27-29

(Editor’s note: This article was originally published in December 2023.) Jackson Hole, Wyoming is known for its world-class luxury hospitality, thrilling winter sports and pristine natural vistas, but ski resorts like Caldera House, the high-end hotels in Jackson Hole and the lively après-ski scene aren’t the only draws. Art abounds in this cozy Western mountain town, which has just over 12,000 residents yet is also home to its own art museum (the National Museum of Wildlife Art), a 78,000-square-foot cultural campus and a whole lot of public art, from Ben Roth’s Watch for Deer to Mama Mimi, a Thomas Dambo troll. It also has many wonderful art galleries that attract art lovers and the culturally curious in the winter months and during Jackson Hole’s off season.

There’s a distinct vibe to the Jackson Hole art scene, thanks in part to a vibrant and enduring artistic community. Jackson Hole restaurants and cafes have shown art since the 1930s, and according to Jackson Hole Magazine, the area’s first year-round resident artist was painter Conrad Schwiering, who settled here in 1947, selling his art in the town square. Many more followed, drawn to Jackson Hole by both the natural beauty and the growing number of galleries, exhibits and art fairs.

Today, there are scores of local artists, and many of the art galleries in Jackson Hole showcase works focused on the unique culture of Jackson and the American West. This uniqueness, along with a schedule of art events like the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival and the sales at Jackson Hole Art Auction, have cemented the valley as a must-visit arts destination.

SEE ALSO: The Best Art Galleries in Engadin Valley, Switzerland

No visit to the area would be complete without a visit to some of the aforementioned Jackson Hole art galleries, which have everything from modern Contemporary art to Western art to photo prints, design pieces and jewelry. Below, we’ve put together a roundup of some of the best Jackson Hole art galleries to help you plan your next adventure. Keep in mind, however, that it’s not an exhaustive list—there are something like thirty art galleries in Jackson Hole, and they’re all worth a visit.

The best art galleries in Jackson Hole

Heather James Fine Art

One of a global network of galleries with locations in New York, L.A., London and Basel, Heather James Fine Art in Jackson Hole offers an unmatched selection of artwork paired with white glove advisory services, lectures, salons and tours. The gallery’s expertly curated exhibitions are museum-quality, with a focus on high-profile artists and historical and contemporary themes. Recent exhibitions have included works by Andy Warhol, Herb Alpert, Max Pelligrini, Jim Dine and James Rosenquist.

Diehl Gallery

Formerly Meyer-Milagros Gallery, Diehl Gallery in Jackson Hole specializes in domestic and international Contemporary art for a global audience of private collectors, corporate art consultants, architects and interior designers. Headed by art dealer Mariam Alaskari Diehl, the gallery showcases the work of both world-renowned and emerging artists, with a focus on painting and sculpture. In the winter months, Diehl Gallery hosts regular evening Après-Ski & Art hours with wine and hot chocolate (ski attire welcome).

Astoria Fine Art

Astoria Fine Art is a highlight of the Jackson Hole art scene, with a wide variety of works by Contemporary and historical artists from twenty states and five countries. The gallery specializes in boundary pushing Western, wildlife and nature art in oils, watercolors and other mediums, including bronze sculpture. Notable artists on the gallery’s roster include Dean Mitchell and Ewoud de Groot as well as watercolorist Joseph Alleman, sculptor Gerald Balciar, painter Chris Bacon and painter D. Eleinne Basa.

Horizon Fine Art Gallery

Barbara Nowak’s Horizon Fine Art Gallery is a Jackson Hole staple, having been founded in 1998. As with many of the local galleries, it showcases primarily Western art while also showing some of the best in Contemporary art by domestic and international artists. In addition to paintings, fine art photography and sculpture, the gallery exhibits jewelry, furnishings, design pieces and woodworking to highlight the area’s diversity of expression. Recently on view were works by mixed media artist Dewey James, painter Benjamin Walter and mosaic artist Kelly Nygard.

Turner Fine Art

Under principal owner and artist Kathryn Mapes Turner, downtown Jackson Hole’s Turner Fine Art showcases world-class, museum-quality wildlife and landscape art that celebrates the beauty of the region. The gallery is known for its unique approach—more than just a place to buy art, it aims to help visitors and clients gain a broader understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the creativity of its nationally renowned artists. Notable group exhibitions featured Jacob Aguiar, Gunnar Tryggmo, Millie Whipplesmith Plank, Mitch Baird and Bethanne Kinsella Cople.

The Brookover Gallery

Since 2001, The Brookover Gallery has showcased the beautiful landscape photography of renowned artist David Brookover, in addition to that of fine art photographers such as Rudy Atallah, Gregory Essayan and Amr El-shafei. The gallery, which spans two floors, has a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Brookover is often on site to discuss his work with visitors and buyers. What makes the photographers on view different from those at many other galleries that show photography is that Brookover specializes in traditional printing processes including platinum/palladium, photogravure, bromoil and silver gelatin on handmade Japanese Gampi, Kozo and Mitsumata papers and historical French papers. The resulting archival photographs are available in custom frames.

Altamira Fine Art

Altamira Fine Art specializes in the exhibition, purchase and sale of Western Contemporary artwork in two galleries: one in Jackson Hole and one in Scottsdale, Arizona. The art on view encompasses a range of mediums, from oil and acrylic paintings to contemporary glass work and bronze sculpture to digital art installations. For art lovers, the gallery hosts several artist receptions and talks most months. For estates, design firms and corporate entities, it offers help with collection assembly, auctions, curation and conservation. Recent exhibitions featured the work of Jivan Lee, Geoffrey Gersten, Mary Roberson and Ben Steele.

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• Julian Schnabel On Showcasing the Essentials at Château La Coste

The art at Chez Fifi, David and Joshua Foulquier’s bistro tucked into an Upper East Side townhouse was not curated in the conventional sense but rather inherited. The brothers, cofounders of the We All Gotta Eat group, named the restaurant for their mother—Firouzeh “Fifi” Foulquier—a stylish Iranian refugee who arrived in New York in the 1970s and settled just a few blocks from where it now stands. Though its menu is shaped by French and Basque influences, the ambiance is all Fifi. According to Joshua Foulquier, the candles on the tables were hers. The pillows on the banquettes were hers. Chez Fifi’s playlist comes from a box labeled “dinner party CDs” that he found under his mother’s bed after she passed away in 2018; it plays every night, untouched. And on the wall are works by Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Joan Miró and other artists that she collected over decades.

“In the salon upstairs, behind the black-and-white upholstered couch, is a Cleve Gray painting,” Foulquier told Observer. Gray was a New York-based painter who studied with all of the great AbEx artists of the Postwar period. “He was friends with Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Willem de Kooning—that whole crew of New York Jewish painters.” Fifi bought the painting not long after arriving in New York, straight off a gallery wall where it hung beside a de Kooning of the same size, made the same year and priced identically at $2,000. She chose the Gray. “It really defines my mom in ways that words or photos don’t, in a lot of different ways,” he added. “She never regretted it. We never regretted it. It hung over our dining room table for my whole life, and before that, for her life as a young adult who was a refugee and made it to New York City.”

Elsewhere in the salon is a Joan Miró lithograph, reframed in an oversize vintage frame Foulquier’s mother found collecting dust at the Marché aux Puces in Paris and knew, instantly, that it belonged with the work. “It’s absolutely spectacular… she loved the musicality of it,” he said. Foulquier, who is colorblind, walked us through the work’s palette with the same ebullience with which he described his mother. “They are all the vibrant colors that really define my mom. Growing up, roses of all colors were always in the house—pink roses, white roses, red roses, yellow roses—and she just loved those colors, and all of her art and all of her jewelry and all the clothes she wore reflected that.”

Foulquier studied art business at NYU before pivoting into hospitality, and also collects, mostly Calder gouaches. Across from the Miró lithograph is an Calder gouache that Foulquier acquired as a teenager, after finding two Calder-esque works listed as fakes at a small auction house in Alabama. He bought them anyway, for next to nothing, simply because he liked them. A month later, Sandy Calder, the artist’s grandson, reached out to tell him that one of the works had hung in his grandfather’s own bedroom for 20 years before a patron acquired it in the 1970s and the family lost track of it. His own tastes, he said, run more academic than his mother’s, with more portraiture and landscapes where she gravitated toward images of pure color and joy, but his approach to collecting is all Fifi: “I buy things that I like to be around.”

A Ludwig Bemelmans dog portrait, auctioned at Doyle and bid on from a stool at—providentially—Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle, turned out to be a near-exact likeness of Baguette, Fifi’s treasured maltipoo, who carried her through her illness and now lives with Foulquier. Above the bar hangs a framed original sketch by the tattoo artist Daniel Zender, commissioned to render Foulquier’s mother in the style of Henri Matisse, her favorite artist and one whose work she sadly never owned. (It became the restaurant’s logo.) And tucked between two windows in the back of the salon is a striking portrait of Foulquier’s grandmother, a Sophia Loren-esque woman who, by his account, spent her life pulling attention toward herself and, fittingly, now does so once more.

These and other works were arranged in the space, said Foulquier, with no particular design logic. “They hung themselves, really… They fit perfectly in the space exactly as the space was.” He was quick to add that no amount of explanation can do the art, or Fifi herself, justice. The restaurant itself, he suggested, says more about his mother than he can. “She was just warm, welcoming, loving—she would hug you and hold you just a second longer than you expected, and give you that little extra love. That’s my mom, and that’s how I want her to be remembered.”

More art collector interviews

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• Jennifer Gilbert Is Selling Masterpieces at Sotheby’s to Fund a New Arts Nonprofit in Detroit

• How Two Hong Kong Collectors Are Choosing Public Engagement Over Possession

Museum Studio CEO Delphine de Canecaude has, in her own words, one of the best jobs in the world. Since taking the helm of the Paris-based cultural engineering firm in early 2023, she has guided a team of 400 specialists through more than its share of ambitious projects in 100 countries, from a reimagined Mona Lisa experience at the Grand Palais Immersif to a visitor experience for Gandhi’s Ashram in Ahmedabad.

In May, the firm designed and produced “Hidden Treasures” at the Shed in New York, which explored two and a half centuries of artistic exchange between France and the United States through luxury goods, art and design. Museum Studio has also done strategic work for the V&A East and collaborated with institutions including the Smithsonian, the British Museum and the Zayed National Museum in the U.A.E.

The career that brought de Canecaude to the firm has been similarly eclectic. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, she spent nearly two decades in advertising, founding Etoile Rouge, which was later acquired by BETC Group, and cultural ventures including The RedList and Stella Studio. What links those chapters, she might say, is the same question that drives good museum work: how do you take something most people know little about and make it genuinely matter to them?

Observer spoke with her about the underappreciated longevity of museum design, where the field tends to go wrong and right and what it actually takes to turn an idea into an exhibition. Several times during our exchange, de Canecaude spoke of the importance of authenticity. As much as technology and the hybrid experiences it empowers have transformed museums, she argues, it is the real—the actual artifact, the actual painting—that must remain the irreducible core of what museums offer their visitors.

Tell me about your job, which sounds amazing. Can you walk me through the steps you take when working with museums on shows?

I genuinely think I have one of the best jobs in the world. Every project is completely different. Every brief takes us into a new subject that we often know very little about at the beginning, so we’re constantly learning. One day we’re immersed in Renaissance painting, the next in natural history, contemporary art, archaeology or science. Every project is a new adventure.

What makes Museum Studio quite unique is that we’re a true one-stop shop for museums and cultural institutions. We can support a project across its entire value chain.

Sometimes we’re helping a client imagine a museum that doesn’t exist yet, defining its vision, its masterplan and its business model. Sometimes we’re designing the visitor experience for an entire museum, creating a temporary exhibition, or developing a single gallery. On other projects, we’re asked to focus on something very specific, whether that’s strategic consulting, exhibition design, content development, media production, retail, publishing through our sister company Skira, or even the construction and delivery of the exhibition itself.

That’s what makes the job so exciting: no two projects are ever the same. Museums are extraordinary collective endeavors. Every project brings together curators, architects, scientists, historians, designers, filmmakers, educators and craftspeople. Our role is to orchestrate all that expertise into one coherent experience for visitors.

Recently, we worked with the Louvre on a new version of the immersive Mona Lisa experience, originally produced by the Grand Palais Immersif. We preserved all the scientific research and scholarly content, but completely reimagined the narrative. Instead of someone telling the story of the Mona Lisa, she tells her own story in the first person. That simple shift completely changes the emotional connection visitors have with the work.

We also recently opened an exhibition in New York with the Comité Colbert, bringing together 65 French luxury maisons around the story of Franco-American friendship. It was another reminder that every exhibition is the result of an incredible collective effort.

What’s something people might be surprised to learn about museum or exhibition design?

I think what surprises people most is how long museums are designed to last. When you create a museum, you’re not designing something that will exist for six months. You’re creating a place that may still welcome visitors 20 or 30 years from now. It has to stand the test of time while remaining flexible enough to evolve as technology, research and audiences change. But if you do your job well, millions of people will experience what you’ve created. Jay Barnwell, who leads our U.S. exhibition company D&P, often tells our teams: “Be proud of what you build, millions of people will come through these spaces.” That’s quite a rare privilege.

What also surprises people is the extraordinary diversity of expertise behind every project. One day you’re working with specialists on iconic historical figures like Gandhi. The next, with experts on Ancient Egypt or the Cold War. Then you’re meeting scientists who have dedicated their lives to mangroves, camels, marine ecosystems or dinosaurs. Every museum opens the door to an entirely new world of expertise.

Some people restore centuries-old textiles. Others conserve paintings or archaeological artifacts. Some build life-size dinosaur skeletons. Others develop the latest scientific interpretation for natural history museums. The range of expertise is extraordinary.

The challenge is always the same: how do you transform that depth of expertise into an experience that is accessible, engaging and memorable for very different audiences?

That’s especially important because every audience is different. Designing a museum in a country with a long museum-going tradition isn’t the same as creating one where visiting museums is still a relatively new cultural habit. Every project starts by understanding who you’re speaking to and how you can create enough curiosity and emotion to make that expertise meaningful.

For me, that’s the most fascinating part of museum design. Every project is an opportunity to discover an entirely new field, and then find the best possible way to share it.

How has it changed in an era of immersive experiences, digital exhibition components and more focus on storytelling coupled with shorter attention spans?

Museums today welcome audiences with very different expectations and ways of engaging with culture. We also have generations who have grown up with a smartphone in their hands. That inevitably changes how they discover information, learn and interact with the world. Our challenge is to create experiences that speak to all of those audiences, offering different ways into the same story without compromising the quality of the content.

Whether visitors are discovering an ancient artifact, a scientific breakthrough or a historical document, they’re always asking the same question: Why does this matter to me? Our role is to create that connection.

What’s fascinating is that many museum subjects are already part of our collective imagination. Ancient Egypt, Greek mythology, dinosaurs or natural history have all been brought to life through films, novels, television and comic books. Young visitors often arrive with references and expectations long before they enter the museum.

That’s where museums have something unique to offer: authenticity. They are the place where fiction meets reality, where people encounter the original object, the real evidence and the richer story behind what they thought they already knew.

Technology has transformed museums enormously over the past 20 years. Digital media, immersive experiences and, more recently, artificial intelligence have opened up entirely new ways of telling stories, encouraging participation and making complex subjects more accessible. But I don’t believe technology should ever become the destination. We’re actually seeing a growing demand for hybrid experiences. Visitors still want to stand in front of the authentic object. I was recently discussing this with the director of the Musée de l’Armée in Paris, who told me that visitors always have their favorite objects, the real sword, the real uniform, the artifact that carries history. Nothing replaces the emotion of seeing the original.

Technology should simply enrich that encounter. It’s particularly valuable for helping children and school groups engage with collections in more active ways, encouraging curiosity and creating new paths to learning.

For me, that’s the future of museums: authentic objects at the heart of the experience, enhanced by thoughtful storytelling and technologies that deepen understanding rather than distract from it.

Putting yourself in the shoes of a consumer of exhibitions, what’s something you feel institutions get wrong when designing them? What are the pitfalls that are most difficult to avoid?

I actually think museums deserve much more credit than they sometimes receive. Whether we’re talking about permanent galleries or temporary exhibitions, the overall quality is incredibly high. Curators and museum teams do an extraordinary job, and I think visitors don’t always realize the amount of research, care and expertise behind every exhibition.

When it comes to temporary exhibitions, the challenge is often about finding the right balance. There will always be blockbuster exhibitions around universally recognized artists or subjects because they naturally attract large audiences. They’re important, they introduce millions of people to art and culture.

But museums also have another responsibility: to champion artists, ideas and stories that deserve greater recognition. Sometimes those exhibitions become wonderful discoveries for visitors.

I experienced this recently at the Grand Palais Immersif, where we presented Miguel Chevalier’s first major solo exhibition in Paris. His work explores artificial intelligence, digital creation and our relationship with technology through immersive installations. It wasn’t the most obvious blockbuster on paper, but it deeply connected with audiences because the themes resonated with questions people are asking today.

I think that’s where museums are at their best: when they combine cultural ambition with public engagement. It’s not about choosing between popular and challenging, it’s about making ambitious ideas accessible and meaningful.

For permanent museums, the challenge is slightly different. These are places designed to last for decades, so the question becomes: how do you create galleries that remain relevant as knowledge evolves, technologies change and audiences change? Flexibility is becoming increasingly important.

Ultimately, I don’t think museums should simply be places that display collections. They should be living cultural institutions, places people want to return to, not just because there’s something new to see, but because they continue to inspire curiosity, conversation and discovery.

Can you share a recent project you feel is emblematic of the future of museum and exhibition design? What made it cutting-edge?

One project that perfectly illustrates where I think museums are heading is a visitor experience we’re currently developing for Gandhi’s Ashram in Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat. It’s a remarkable place because it isn’t a museum that was built from scratch. It’s the actual site where Gandhi lived and worked. Visitors move through the different houses that made up the Ashram, the school, the printing house where the newspaper was produced, the kitchen, the spaces where khadi was woven, and the house where Gandhi welcomed friends and political leaders.

Rather than creating a traditional chronological exhibition, we proposed a very different approach. The experience is built around Gandhi’s personality and the values that shaped his life. As visitors move through the Ashram, they don’t simply learn what happened there, they discover the principles that guided his daily actions and experience those ideas through the places where he lived them.

What’s particularly exciting is that the architecture itself dictates the storytelling. Because the buildings are protected heritage, we can’t transform them or hide them behind exhibition design. We have to respect their simplicity and authenticity. That constraint pushes us to be even more creative. Every intervention has to feel natural, almost invisible, while enriching visitors’ understanding of the place.

At the same time, we know the Ashram welcomes large numbers of school groups every year. Every space therefore has to work on several levels: it needs to be historically accurate, emotionally engaging, educational and interactive enough for younger audiences, while always respecting the integrity of the site.

For me, this project perfectly illustrates the direction museums are taking. It’s not about adding more technology or creating bigger spectacles. It’s about bringing architecture, storytelling and education together so naturally that visitors simply experience the place rather than the exhibition. When that happens, history stops feeling like something to observe and becomes something people genuinely connect with.

In another vein, Museum Studio was engaged to ensure the V&A East business case was realistic and accurate. That sounds like very different work, or do you see it as related?

That particular assignment was led by our partners, Lord Cultural Resources, who specialize in cultural planning and strategy. But for us, it’s very much part of the same journey. People often imagine that museums begin with architecture or exhibition design. In reality, they begin much earlier, with a vision.

Very often, we’re involved when there’s little more than an idea. A city wants to create a museum, a foundation wants to launch a cultural institution, or an industrial site is looking for a new future. Before anyone starts designing galleries, you first have to answer some fundamental questions: Why does this project need to exist? Who is it for? What will make it distinctive? And how will it remain relevant over time?

That’s what we call master planning. It’s about turning an ambition into a viable institution. We look at everything that will make the project successful in the long term: its program, its audiences, its operating model and, of course, its economic sustainability.

We test the long-term viability of the institution by looking first at its core sources of revenue: ticket sales, philanthropy and donations, and corporate sponsorship. We then assess the complementary revenue streams that strengthen the business model, including retail, food and beverage, venue hire and, where relevant, public funding. But revenue is only one side of the equation. We also evaluate the long-term investment needed to renew exhibitions, maintain the buildings and ensure the museum continues to evolve over the decades. Opening a museum is not the finish line; it’s the beginning.

What does it mean to you to be a “cultural catalyst”?

At Museum Studio, we often describe ourselves in two ways: as Cultural Catalysts and Cultural Asset Developers. I think those two ideas are deeply connected.

Being a Cultural Catalyst means bringing together everything that’s needed to make a cultural project succeed. One of our strengths is that we can support a project from the very first idea all the way through to opening and sometimes even beyond. That ability to connect every stage of the process is what we mean by being a catalyst. But it’s also about people.

The museum world is actually a relatively small ecosystem filled with extraordinary talents. Part of our role is to bring those people together around ambitious projects and create the conditions for collaboration. We see ourselves as catalysts not only for our clients, but also for the wider cultural community.

The second idea, that of being a Cultural Asset Developer, reflects another important belief. Culture creates value. Of course, museums create intellectual, educational and social value. They preserve heritage, inspire curiosity and strengthen communities. But they also create economic value. A successful cultural institution transforms a neighborhood, attracts visitors, supports local businesses and becomes a long-term asset for a city or a region.

That’s why we spend so much time thinking about sustainability from the very beginning. We want to create institutions that people will still want to visit decades from now, places that continue to evolve, remain financially resilient and have a lasting impact on both society and their local economy. Ultimately, our ambition isn’t simply to create museums. It’s to create cultural institutions that people will still value, visit and love for generations to come.

More interviews

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• Marilyn Minter Reflects On Four Decades of Beauty, Grit and Banishing Shame

• The Future Perfect’s Laura Young Makes the Case for Design as the Next Collecting Frontier

• With the Taipei Biennial Ahead, Cecilia Alemani Reflects On What Makes an Exhibition Feel Alive

Earlier this year, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York unveiled a 10-foot by 15-foot mural depicting the Brooklyn Bridge rising over the Manhattan skyline with a traditional Chinese junk boat passing beneath it. That painting, East Meets West, was made in 1951 by Dong Kingman—one of the most significant American watercolorists of the 20th Century—for the Lingnan Restaurant on the Upper West Side. When the restaurant closed in 1980, the mural was damaged during removal and abandoned among construction debris. It survived because Roslyn Gamiel, a former student of Kingman’s at Hunter College and a regular at the restaurant, recognized what she was looking at and refused to let it be thrown away.

One of Gamiel’s conditions for donating East Meets West was that whatever institution held it had to display it, and the work spent years on view at the Brooklyn Public Library. But when the library underwent renovations in 2022, it took down the mural without plans to reinstall it. Gamiel and her family began looking for a new home, and when they consulted with Elaine Kingman, the artist’s widow, about where the work should go, she recommended MOCA.

“It’s such a monumental work by such an important American artist that we felt we had to take it, and that meant committing to put it on display,” Herb Tam, the museum’s chief curator and senior director of programs, told Observer. East Meets West arrived at MOCA at a transitional moment for the institution, which acquired its building at 215 Centre Street, on the border of Chinatown and Soho, in 2024, and is now mid-renovation, working out how best to use the five floors it does not yet occupy.

The museum was founded as the Center for Community Studies (or the New York Chinatown History Project) in 1980 by Jack Tchen and Charlie Lai, not as a philanthropic project with grand institutional backing, but as part of a community’s effort to save its own history in a period of transition. Tchen and Lai had watched a generation of Chinatown immigrants retire, close their businesses or move away, and rather than pass anything down, “a lot of people would just shut down and close,” according to MOCA president Michael Lee. Signage, personal effects and business records were being thrown out along with everything else, and the founders started collecting what they could.

Two years later, they mounted their inaugural show, an exhibition on Chinese hand laundries, at a public library. Hand laundries were the first real economic engine of Chinatown—a way to bring money into the community before restaurants took over that role. “Chinese Americans in 1982 had never seen any kind of exhibition where their life was put on show like that,” Lee said. “People talked about how grandmothers would walk up the library stairs with their canes and just see their lives and their contributions to the country being recognized.”

There were initially no plans to turn the Center for Community Studies into a permanent museum. Rather, the plan was to gather materials and eventually hand everything over to a larger institution such as the New York Historical Society or the Museum of the City of New York. The organization set up meetings with those institutions, but neither wanted what had been collected. “Nobody wanted to tell these stories because they didn’t think they were part of a bigger story,” Tam said. “I think that’s when the mentality of the institution changed from being a temporary project to something they wanted to establish as a permanent institution for that neighborhood.”

In 1986, the Center for Community Studies secured permanent space in the old PS23 schoolhouse at 70 Mulberry Street, alongside other local organizations. A rotating exhibition schedule took shape, along with a long-running permanent show called “Where Is Home?” And then for a long stretch after that, the collection simply grew. According to Tam, for several decades, the answer to any donation from the community was almost always yes: “People who lived in the neighborhood began to think of MOCA as a place where they could bring belongings of their relatives or businesses they’d been involved with, but whether there was enough space to care for everything and enough staff to document it all started to become a real concern.”

Today, MOCA holds more than 80,000 cataloged artifacts, and by Tam’s reckoning, the real number is considerably higher. Some 30,000 of those have been digitized and made keyword searchable through the museum’s online database, including oral histories in English, Toishanese, Cantonese and Mandarin dating back to the 1980s. And the collection keeps revealing new surprises.

A community member once salvaged decades of photo negatives shot by a local newspaper photographer who documented Chinatown almost daily from 1975 to 1985. “We have a picture of Chinatown every day for a decade,” Lee said, adding that a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant is funding the slow work of cataloging and digitizing those images. A visiting dress designer, looking through the museum’s textile holdings, told staff they were sitting on one of the country’s most significant dress collections, tied to specific, prominent families whose stories the museum had not yet researched. And there are sculptures created by Chinese Americans who were detained during the Clinton administration. “A boat carrying a number of undocumented Chinese immigrants from China—it became known as the Golden Venture—came to New York and immigration officials wouldn’t let it dock,” explained Lee. “One of the detainees was an artist, and to pass the time, she taught all the other detainees how to create sculptures out of tissue paper and whatever materials they could get their hands on… It’s unfortunately more common now to detain immigrants, but at the time it was shocking.”

Then there is the story of the Moy family. A historian researching the museum’s holdings labeled a photograph of a gravesite, and a relative of the person buried there found the photo on MOCA’s website and reached out. That connection led to a book, The Moys of New York and Shanghai: One Family’s Extraordinary Journey Through War and Revolution, published in March 2026, chronicling a family whose history includes a member who worked as a radio host for Nazi Germany. “It’s really important that any item we bring into the collection does have these living narratives behind it,” Lee said, “so we can show the broad arc of how different Chinese people lived in this country.”

MOCA’s acquisition of a building in 2024 set off what the museum calls MOCA Rising. “We’re renovating the full building, but what’s opening to the public is the first three floors,” board of trustees member Minyi Su told Observer. “That project is kicking off in the fall, and then there’s an even longer-term project to do a more complete renovation.” McKinsey & Company is currently helping define how space gets divided among permanent exhibitions, rotating shows, community events and education. Su stressed, however, that she and MOCA advisory board member Jessica Wang aren’t waiting on the realization of future plans to position the museum as urgently needed in the present moment.

The expansion is happening as the history MOCA stewards aligns, in a very literal sense, with current events. In June, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Citizenship Clause guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, a constitutional protection that exists because of a case brought by a Chinese American man who was barred from re-entering the country he had been born in. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as anti-Asian violence and rhetoric spread, the museum responded by mounting an exhibition called “Responses,” collecting stories of harm and of mutual aid in real time and pairing them with a long timeline of anti-Asian policy and violence stretching back generations. “What we wanted to do was create a safe space for people to reflect and to share,” Tam said.

Alongside its physical expansion, MOCA has filled its board with people whose instinct is to meet audiences where they already are. Wang, who has a background in fashion, digital media and experiential events, said she was drawn to the museum because “there are a lot of people who may not necessarily think of themselves as museum-goers but care deeply about identity, culture and community.” Su, who joined the board around the same time, described wanting a “home for all different kinds of Chinese Americans, in terms of what generation they are, whether they just arrived as immigrants or have been here for five or six generations, whatever dialects they spoke or speak in their family.”

The museum has, in recent years, enacted a multi-pronged social strategy. “We’ve brought in a lot of incredible influencers and cultural leaders who have been sharing about the museum organically, because they loved the experience,” Wang said, though she was careful to frame the institution’s ambitions in terms of relevance rather than reinvention. “The goal isn’t to make MOCA trendy but to give the museum a new platform to connect with people and help people understand why this matters.”

MOCA’s more Instagrammable moments are, alongside initiatives like an annual program with the nearby P.S. 124 Yung Wing School and the museum’s searchable database of artifacts, simply another way to get people engaging with the museum’s massive collection. “We did a story about a menu from a New York Chinatown restaurant from probably 60 or 70 years ago, and young people found that really interesting,” Su said, describing the museum’s approach to social storytelling as taking past material and “packaging it in a more digestible, entertaining way for the new generation” without losing what made it worth preserving in the first place. She pointed to growing engagement among Gen Z audiences both online and at events as evidence the approach is working.

Underlying it all is the argument that Chinese American history is not a niche interest. It is an immigration story, a civil rights story, a labor story and a story about who gets to be American and under what conditions—topics that resonate with many people in our current moment. “We want to be the institution, nationally, that people can come to and have our history recognized,” Lee said. “Chinese Americans are more than one story; there’s such a diversity of different pathways people took to get here.”

“So much of the Chinese American experience has either been simplified or stereotyped or left out of the broader American story,” Wang said. “MOCA gives us the space where our history can be told with depth and humanity. And it bridges generations, honoring the sacrifices the earlier immigrants made while also creating space for us to tell a more modern story through identity and belonging.”

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• What the Cultural Sector Got Wrong About the Philadelphia Museum of Art Rebrand

• MOCAD’s Co-Directors On What a Museum Owes a Changing City

• How Outposts Turned the World’s Greatest Museums into Instruments of Soft Power

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Are you ready to be both shocked and dismayed? Summer is almost halfway over. August in the art world often feels like a long, hot, slightly grim slog toward Frieze Seoul and the Armory Show—not to mention the wave of early-autumn art fairs descending on New York. But wait! Don’t write off summer’s dreariest month just yet. The list of August art fairs is surprisingly robust, especially for those intrepid art lovers willing to country hop. If you thought this month might offer a breather after July’s art fairs and festivals, think again. The world’s most dedicated fairgoers already have their 2026 August fair itineraries mapped out and are hitting the road to take in some—or even most—of the art events below.

Intersect Aspen Art + Design Fair 2026

July 28 – August 1

Intersect Aspen, an art fair founded in 2010, is a cornerstone of Aspen’s peak art season and summer cultural calendar. While design was integrated into the fair’s program a few years back, art is still number one at Intersect. This edition, according to the fair, will be Intersect Aspen’s most expansive programming and gallery presentation to date, with 38 gallery presentations and a lengthy lineup of lectures, tours and panel discussions.

The Aspen Art Fair 2026

July 29 – August 1

Aspen always has hordes of visitors hoping to escape the heat and humidity of summertime, which means The Aspen Art Fair’s third edition will attract thousands of collectors and enthusiasts looking to buy some art while beating the heat. National and international art dealers and artists will convene at the historic Hotel Jerome during Aspen Art Week, with a lineup that includes Coloradan art galleries; galleries from New York, L.A. and elsewhere in the States; and far-flung art spaces like London’s Ronchini, Italian gallery Secci and Galerie Gmurzynska of Zürich. Program highlights include a guided tour of the Aspen Art Museum featuring highlights from the ArtCrush Auction, a home tour of the personal art collection of Ernesto and Cecilia Poma, a panel on evolving roles in art and film and an agave tasting.

100% Design Africa 2026

July 30 – August 2

“Celebrating the pulse of African design,” 100% Design Africa has become one of the continent’s premier international design showcases, offering a curated selection of contemporary decorative arts, technology, product designs and furnishings (an interesting mix, to say the least). Keeping up with an ever-shifting art world, the event at Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa embraces a “phygital” approach—blending digital storytelling with tactile objects and even entire exhibition spaces. Prepare to be surprised by what you see.

Whitehawk Antique Indian & Ethnographic Art Show 2026

August 6-9

The Whitehawk Antique Indian & Ethnographic Art Show was several fairs before Objects of Art Santa Fe and The Antique American Indian Art Show merged to become Objects of Art & American Indian/Tribal Santa Fe in 2022. IAF Indigenous Art Fair Contemporary fits in there somehow, but the event originally slated for August of 2024 has been postponed until further notice, according to the Whitehawk website. The Whitehawk Antique Indian & Ethnographic Art Show—a staple of the Santa Fe art scene for more than 46 years, whatever name you give it—brings together over a hundred of the world’s premier experts in this space showing “the best of the best” of modern and historical textile art, folk art, pottery, jewelry, beadwork, woodcarving and more from Native American and other indigenous cultures.

SP–Arte Rotas Brazileiras 2026

August 26-30

SP–Arte’s Rotas Brazileiras is a São Paulo art fair laser-focused on the art of Brazil and its contexts, historical and otherwise. It bills itself as a fair of discoveries, and each year, the fair gathers about 60 curated projects brought by galleries, cultural institutions and initiatives at ARCA. What you’ll see: thoughtfully curated presentations of works mounted by art spaces from across Brazil; institutional presentations that shed light on their collections; special projects designed to promote Brazilian art and support the work of the country’s artists; and the visual delights of the Mirante sector, which brings together large-scale paintings, sculpture and installations.

FEMME Art Fair 2026

August 26-30

FEMME Art Fair will bring more than 100 established and emerging women artists, curators and cultural figures, including the iconic Guerrilla Girls to Washington, D.C.’s The Square at International Square. Timed to coincide with Women’s Equality Day on August 26,this new fair aims to address the vast gaps in representation, sales, collecting and institutional access encountered by women artists. Created by USAN USAN (the producers of Umbrella Art Fair) and Our Daughters’ Futures Fund (a nonprofit that uses art, storytelling and intergenerational programming to advance the futures of women and girls), the fair’s full programming schedule remains TBD.

KUNST/MITTE 2026

August 27-30

Each edition of KUNST/MITTE in Magdeburg, Germany, brings together about 60 exhibitors—a roster that includes not only galleries but also artists and artist collectives. Additionally, a group of young artists presents their work in the YoungArtistSpace (YAS). There’s not a ton of exhibition space at this fair, but the organizers manage to pack in an engaging variety of paintings, mixed-media works, sculpture, collages, fine art photographs and installations by artists there for the exposure and to compete for several prizes. There’s also an extensive supporting program, with free guided tours of the fair, performances and COLLECTOR’S NIGHT, during which exhibitors present one previously unshown work per booth for the first time ever.

CHART Art Fair 2026

August 27-30

CHART, which takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark’s Kunsthal Charlottenborg, was founded more than a decade ago by five Copenhagen art galleries and has given the region’s contemporary art scene an annual boost ever since. Each edition of this August art fair brings together a roster of established, celebrated Nordic artists exhibited by leading regional galleries and new talent from around the globe. There is also a public program of artist talks, panel discussions, performances and film screenings focused on New Voices in The Nordics. The associated month-long off-site sculptural exhibition in Tivoli Garden, CHART in Tivoli, is always a highlight, as are the art book and print components of the fair. As always, the fair’s public program presents a wide selection of talks, performances, music, screenings and off-site projects.

Enter Art Fair 2026

August 27-30
Established by Julie Leopold in 2019, Enter Art Fair at Lokomotivværkstedet in Copenhagen is Scandinavia’s largest international art fair and a self-described “nexus of creative and commercial exchanges.” Each year, more than 20,000 art collectors, enthusiasts and professionals come for the paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, glass, video, photography and digital works by more than 350 artists, as well as the annual Art and Talks Program and a performance program, all dedicated to fostering growth within the Danish, Scandinavian and international arts industries.

Affordable Art Fair Melbourne 2026

August 27-30

Since its inception in 1999, Will Ramsay’s Affordable Art Fair has emerged as a beacon for art enthusiasts and collectors alike, democratizing the acquisition of art with its welcoming, inclusive ethos. Affordable Art Fair Melbourne brings Ramsay’s ethos to Australia with a show of original, contemporary artworks by emerging and established artists, all priced up to AUD$10,000 and no higher. On the exhibitor list are seventy galleries from Australia, Asia and even Peru, but you’ll find no U.S. or North American galleries at this edition of the fair widely lauded for its commitment to accessible art collecting.

Pink Art Fair 2026

August 28-30

Staged this year on the 16th floor of the JW Marriott Hotel, a five-star property in Seoul, South Korea’s iconic Gangnam district, Pink Art Fair has come a long way since its inception in 2011 as a satellite of the much larger Kiaf SEOUL. In the years since, Pink—a “hotel fair” with a mission “to bring art closer to everyday life”—has come into its own, drawing exhibitors from all over the world (past editions have featured work brought by galleries from the U.S., Russia, Switzerland, Italy and elsewhere). Note: If you can’t make the summer edition of the fair, the winter edition will take place on Dec. 4-6.

ART-O-RAMA 2026

August 28-30

Marseille’s ART-O-RAMA, the first international art fair in the South of France, has carved out a distinct niche in the global fair landscape since its inception, offering a compelling entry point for galleries looking to access both the Mediterranean and European markets. Produced by Fræme in co-production with La Friche la Belle de Mai, ART-O-RAMA stands apart for its expansion into contemporary design with the Immaterial Salon—a fresh addition that complements the fair’s established visual art offerings. Visitors, as always, can take advantage of screenings and discussions, all free to the public.

Even more August art fairs in 2026

As always, what’s above doesn’t represent the totality of the August art fair calendar in 2026—there are always plenty of smaller, lesser-known and niche art fairs happening around the world. Here’s a quick roundup of several more art fairs and festivals you might want to check out this month.

TRYST Art Fair 2026

August 7-9

Knokke Art Fair 2026 (Knokke-Heist, Belgium)

August 14-16

ART ANTIQUE Residenz Salzburg 2026

August 15-23

BADA Argentina 2026 (Buenos Aires)

August 27-30

Paréidolie 2026 (Marseille)

August 28-30

“It looked like nothing I’d ever seen before,” Ryan O’Shea told Newsday reporter Joye Brown. “It looked like it died angry… I kept thinking, ‘Boy, I hope its mother isn’t around.’” He was referring, of course, to the Montauk Monster, a house cat-sized… something that washed up on the shore of Ditch Plains, a popular Long Island surfing beach, in July of 2008. Most people who encountered the story—i.e., just about everyone—agreed it was an animal, though some floated the idea that it could be a marketing stunt for the Cartoon Network’s Cryptids Are Real. What no one could agree on was what kind of animal. Or even if it hit the beach dead or alive.

In the same Newsday piece, one Ryan Kelso reported seeing it up and about, roaming the dunes. “It looked about the size of an average fox, gray in color, eyes like a mole, hairless and was breathing quite heavily,” he told Brown.

Cue the conspiracy theorists. Montauk, they say, is a magnet for monsters thanks to both the top-secret Montauk Project, with its psychically-generated Bigfoot, and the village’s proximity to Plum Island, the one-time home of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. There, the credulous maintain, government researchers not only invented Lyme disease and accidentally released it into Connecticut but also created hundreds of mutant hybrids as part of a cross-species breeding program.

Some of these creatures naturally escaped their cages and swam for the mainland, coming ashore in Montauk (as with 2008’s Montauk Monster and the lesser-known 2020 Montauk Globster) or possibly much further down the coast. There have been, some will recall, several East River Monsters along with the monster of Wolfe’s Pond Park in Prince’s Bay on Staten Island.

Theories abound as to what these creatures are. Allegedly, the New York City Parks Department told Animal New York that the 2012 East River Monster was “a pig left over from a cookout.” Other fantastical and pedestrian possibilities include: dead dogs, bloated raccoons, the fabled chupacabra, turtles mangled by the sea, rotting otters, government-manufactured bioweapons or Satan himself.

But does it even matter what Montauk’s monster and its ilk actually are? The Montauk Monster wasn’t the first of these presumed cryptids to lodge itself in the public consciousness—every single time the bloated, decaying body of some unfortunate unidentifiable animal ends up on a beach, people with cameras are never far behind. There’s the Tasmanian Globster and the Newfoundland Blob. Trunko and the Monster of Folly Beach. The Stronsay Beast of 1808 and the St. Augustine Monster, which washed ashore in 1896. Wherever there are shorelines, there are monsters.

There’s something universally compelling about a weird old corpse that could be just about anything. Maybe because humans love a good zoological mystery. We want to believe there’s more out there for us to discover—stretches of the twisting tree of animal phyla that haven’t yet been mapped. Somewhat ironically, scientists estimate there are millions of undiscovered species waiting to be cataloged, but most of us don’t have the time, knowledge or patience to invest in finding them. The most exciting zoological discoveries are often preceded by years of tedious study, research and observation, so the notion that any one of us might happen upon an undiscovered species on a summer stroll is an appealing one.

And then there’s the fact that the shared drama of the Montauk Monster provides a reliable dopamine drip. We all want to be a part of something, and keeping the legend alive lets us tap into virality and snag a fraction of the monster’s fifteen minutes—now stretched to fifteen years—of fame. It’s a little hard to believe that people are still, to this day, talking about what was just a dead and decaying animal of the non-cryptid variety, but on the internet, legends spread fast and never die.

The East Hampton Independent was the first to go to press with the story but it wasn’t until the OG Gawker picked it up that the lore took hold. From there, news outlets as big as CNN and Fox and as niche as the Hamptons Plum carried the story. The Jewish Journal published at least five articles about the monster, including one with the headline “Montauk Monster Anti-Semitic?” DISCOVER magazine made sure to let the world know that its “official stance” was that the Montauk Monster was a raccoon. Wired, on the other hand, asserted that the monster was “a pit bull, a dogfighting washout who washed up a Long Island beach.” New York Magazine published a story about East Hampton bureaucrats denying it was a “beast from hell.” And after the mainstream media disseminated the story, the cryptozoology and clickbait sites kept the momentum going.

Full disclosure: Observer published not one, but two Montauk Monster pieces. The second was a deep dive into the creature and the coverage, published to mark the tenth anniversary of its discovery, that included an interview with Loren Coleman, a veteran cryptozoologist who claims to have coined the Montauk Monster moniker. The first was a quick take published about a week after the creature’s discovery that mentions the monster in the context of Gawker Media properties generating twice as much traffic than the country’s fourth-largest newspaper in July of that year, including millions of views on Richard Lawson’s Montauk Monster post.

Today, Montauk Monster lore lives on across the internet, on the cryptid sites as you’d expect, but also in memes and on Twitter, where there’s a tweet referencing the creature at least every few days. People compare their chunky pets to the bloated beast. Conspiracy theorists point to it as evidence of New York’s secret bioweapons laboratories. And then there are those for whom the monster seems to evoke a gentle, if bizarre, nostalgia. “Not a day goes by wherein I don’t think about the Montauk Monster,” tweeted baker and writer Susie Heller last December.

Tweet after tweet asks the same question: Remember the Montauk Monster? We remember, the internet collective shouts back, though what we remember differs. Most of us remember the hype. Cryptozoologist Coleman remembers a decomposing raccoon.

“All you had to do was look at it and know a little bit about zoology, which I do,” he told Observer in 2018, “and you would see that it was barely second-day disintegration and the decaying of a [raccoon’s] body.”

Curator Samantha Katz, who co-owns 1:1 Gallery with architect Alan Paukman, didn’t necessarily set out to create an arts festival. What she wanted to do was shine a light on the lesser-known cultural output of New Orleans—the culture you find when you look beyond “boobs and beads and Bourbon Street,” as she put it. The result was Becoming Together, a multi-day happening that unfolded across venues earlier this year. What set the weekend apart from a typical arts festival was not its scale, which was decidedly small, or its scope, which encompassed painting and sculpture, live performance, design, sound and food, but its refusal to separate audience from artist. It was, Katz told me, not so much a gathering of works to be passively absorbed but rather a distributed work in its own right in which both spectators and city became co-authors.

Drawing on New Orleans’ deep-rooted traditions of improvisation and pageantry, Becoming Together assembled a roster of more than 40 local artists spanning visual art, performance and culinary practice, all of whom had a hand in developing a program that moved across distinct New Orleans sites, including Studio 633, Kingsway Mansion, Toulouse Theatre and the deconsecrated chapel at Hotel Peter & Paul. Katz’s role was essentially facilitator: “all I did was create the canvas, but they showed up with such expression and authenticity and creativity,” and each location also had a part in shaping the weekend. Every day had its own dress code and thematic lens, through which participants—all invitees at this edition of Becoming Together—could express themselves, contribute or otherwise weave themselves into the festival’s fabric.

Observer spoke with Katz about why models of cultural engagement that favor participation over spectatorship feel increasingly urgent, what it took to hold space for collaborators across five disparate programs and whether Becoming Together could become an annual event in New Orleans or something she adapts to other cities.

For those who weren’t there, how would you describe what “Becoming Together” actually was?

It was a three-day, three-night art festival that really served as a living love letter to the city of New Orleans. Each program, of which there were five, focused on a different medium. Night one was a visual art exhibition. Day two was a culinary pop-up. Night two was a five-act back-to-back DJ lineup at the historic Toulouse Theatre, which has a history of hosting every famous act you can think of, from Lady Gaga to Charli XCX to the Wilson Brothers. We really wanted to lean into the darker sides of New Orleans culture, so we called it the Unholy Disco. Then the third day, Sunday, there was a second line parade with a local brass band, because jazz is obviously so integral to New Orleans culture. There’s a 170-year-old tradition of Mardi Gras parading krewes, and each one typically has a theme. We created a new concept called ‘Krewe Do You,’ which turned that tradition on its head and encouraged people to show up as their most embodied and reflective selves.

So it was definitely more participatory than your typical festival. What do you think is driving the shift we’re all seeing, both outside of and in the institutional sphere, toward participation over spectatorship in the arts? And do you see this as where art consumption, or cultural consumption, is heading?

This sits in a frame of ‘beyond the event model.’ It’s not a festival, it’s not an art fair. It was a distributed, participatory work where the guests were in full costume, leaning into the very integral cultural DNA of the city itself, whether they were getting up and sharing their work in a performative, musical or choreographic aspect. They really became a part of that broader tapestry. It was about what happens when you remove the audience-artist divide entirely and let that social fabric become the medium. And I think part two is artists as co-authors. It wasn’t about programming artists into slots but about inviting them to shape the experience itself. There is the traditional nature of the art world, so much work is online, there’s a lot of sterilization through traditional gallery models and fair models. There is a need and a hunger for this type of participatory work.

You went well beyond the typical art-plus-food model to include architecture, choreography, music and even tarot. How did you think about that range?

I think that’s where New Orleans really comes into the picture. The city served as the medium. New Orleans itself is a co-author because the city understands performance and procession and collective expression, it felt wrong for us to extract or exclude any one medium. In three days with five programs, there was structure within that broad canvas. In Krewe Do You alone, there were 12 participants covering poetry, song, meditation, vocal chanting, piano and dance. It was important to create a container that allowed for all types of expression, but with enough structure to allow it to come to life in a way that felt digestible.

How did you approach coordinating that many artists and disciplines in one framework? Or to put it another way, what did you do to make sure artists were locked into whatever constraints you imposed?

I have a 20-year history of curating. I was working with Art Basel Miami from 2007 onward, I was one of the founders and co-leads of Bushwick Open Studios, which has been going on for 17 years. With each of the artists, all I did was create the canvas, but they showed up with such expression and authenticity and creativity in ways I could not have expected.

How long did it take to put together, and is it something you’ll repeat?

Months. This felt very much like a labor of love and a gift to our city. I think to pursue this on an annual basis, it would take sponsorship, which is a conversation for another day, but it’s not out of the picture.

Let’s talk about ‘active participation,’ which is a term that’s maybe overused in the art world. What did it mean in the context of “Becoming Together,” and why was it important to you to engage people in a participatory way?

From the very first invitation to the end ceremony, there were many touch points where guests and participants were invited to lean into different costume moments. Each day and each program had a different theme. The visual art exhibition had a theme called Tone on Tone, and guests were asked to come head-to-toe monochromatic, one color of their choosing. The second day, the Avant Garden, the culinary pop-up at the Kingsway Mansion, had a theme of Surrealism. That evening, the Unholy Disco, the theme was Monster Mash. And then during Krewe Do You, the goal was for people to really show up as their most expressed selves, so the theme was elevated to feel free to express yourself in robes and pajamas in a way that makes you feel comfortable, intimate, cozy but still expressive. There were a lot of impromptu music moments, people brought their own instruments. A local fashion designer Margaret Shea had a two-rack costume moment where guests could play dress up. Friends who are local tarot readers popped up and did readings for all of the guests.

Some might say all of that framing could distract from the visual art that was also part of Becoming Together. How would you respond to that?

Solving that involved extending the visual art exhibition, which opened on night one, for a week beyond the festival container. That way, each of the six visual artists who were part of that exhibition could have their moment in the sun, an economic opportunity and a marketing opportunity to share their work both locally and with broader audiences. Food is ephemeral, as is music, so luckily there wasn’t any kickback on the culinary or the performance aspects. But in terms of the visual art, wanting to take that extremely seriously meant working closely with the artists, explaining the duration of the show. They really got it and bought in and are very open to continued collaboration.

What else makes the Becoming Together model unique?

You and I have talked about the city as the backdrop, and we’ve talked about the beyond-the-event model. There’s also having a longtime curator and architect as the center points for thinking about broader structure and reframing the typical formats. But one thing we haven’t talked much about is art as social infrastructure. This felt like an experiment in rethinking what an exhibition or gathering can be, and I hope it inspires people to explore and expand their own creative outlets in a similar way.

I think it’s worth mentioning that Becoming Together was an invitation-only event, not a ticketed festival. How did you think about who was in the room?

It was by invitation only, with about 50 percent attendance from New Orleans-based locals, mainly people we knew through the art world, guests of the visual artists themselves, or people in our broader community. The reason to focus that percentage of the invites on New Orleans locals is to give them a platform to share their story. The city has been so good to us, and you throw a rock in any direction and you’ll hit the most talented person you’ve ever met. Those people deserve to be witnessed. New Orleans, in my experience, gets a bad rap for being a party town, all boobs and beads and Bourbon Street. There’s such a robust creative community here, and it was important to have some of our greatest art supporter friends to participate in this and to see the city through our curatorial lens in a way that would rewrite that narrative.

Could you see it scaling, maybe becoming a ticketed event, or traveling to other cities?

I actually produced a television show, one season only, that focused on 10 cities across the United States where I documented each one. I focused on telling the narrative of those cities, and each one has such a different cultural DNA. I focused on New Orleans for the pilot, then Los Angeles, Austin, Nashville, et cetera. I think this is very much in that same vein, where each top- and second-tier city across the United States and beyond has a story to tell. To the extent that this could be popped up in a way that plays upon and gives credit to local creatives, that is certainly something I’d  love to do. To any extent I could help support or inspire other cities or communities to create platforms for artists in proximity, or their own culture, to share their work, I am 100 percent on board. The people who participated in Becoming Together didn’t just attend or view the work. They became a part of it, and everybody in the world, in their respective communities, has the opportunity to do the same.

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When the players who authored them put pen to paper, they bypassed self-congratulation in favor of revelation, exposing everything from family struggles and personal flaws to the immense psychological toll of the nomadic, hyper-competitive lifestyle professional tennis imposes on its stars. Often pushed into rigorous training before they had a chance to form their own identities, players describe feeling trapped not only by the pressure but also by the fame that winning brought.

For tennis’s most decorated champions, the toughest opponent has rarely been the person on the other side of the net. Althea Gibson faced down the sport’s country club racism. James Blake battled injury and personal loss. In some cases, a player’s main adversary can even become the game itself, as explored in Andre Agassi’s groundbreaking memoir Open—widely considered one of the best first-person books about tennis ever written—which chronicles his powerful resentment toward the sport. Beyond those, these are the personal stories that paint the clearest picture of the realities of the game.

‘You Cannot Be Serious’ by John McEnroe 

The title of this tennis memoir comes from McEnroe’s famous 1981 outburst at Wimbledon. He was a lightning rod on and off the court, and You Cannot Be Serious offers an unvarnished look at a career that was defined as much by temperament as talent. Whether he’s writing about his triumphs and tantrums or his personal entanglements—including his two high-profile marriages—the appeal of his story lies in the honesty with which he tells it. 

read it

‘Unbreakable’ by Jelena Dokic

Dokic’s story begins in the chaos of a collapsing Yugoslavia and ascends to the global heights of professional tennis, but its true subject is her own survival after years of abuse at the hands of the domineering father who was also her tennis coach and manager. She writes unflinchingly about cruelty, poverty and prejudice, charting the path she took to escape her father’s control, rise up from rock bottom and reclaim her agency. 

read it

‘Open: An Autobiography’ by Andre Agassi 

Agassi’s memoir is frequently cited as the finest tennis memoir ever written, and for good reason: it lays bare the fact that he came to despise the sport that made him famous. He describes a childhood engineered by a domineering father who made him hit millions of balls, the isolating burden of celebrity and a prolonged struggle with addiction. Unlike some titles on this list, Open is accessible to readers with no interest in tennis because it’s not so much about the game as it is about the search for meaning when outside validation is no longer enough.

read it

‘The Racket’ by Conor Niland 

Niland turns his attention away from tennis’s celebrated elite and toward the anonymous majority who chase rankings without ever approaching wealth or fame. His account captures the grinding logistics of low-level tournaments, the psychological wear of constant travel, the precarious finances of the players, and the small-time corruption—e.g., gambling, doping—that casts a shadow on the tour’s lower rungs. As wry as it is clear-eyed, it reveals the oftentimes invisible economy that sustains tennis from below.

read it

‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’ by Maria Sharapova

Sharapova traces her ascent from her modest upbringing in Siberia to her Grand Slam titles, framing her career in terms of relentless discipline and the sacrifices required to sustain it. (She addresses her high-profile rivalry with Serena Williams and offers her own account of the doping suspension that interrupted her career.) She’s notably unwilling to smooth over the more complicated parts of her legacy, writing about ambition and controversy with equal candor.

read it

‘A Handful of Summers’ by Gordon Forbes 

Forbes offers a humorously affectionate portrait of tennis in its amateur era, before sponsorships and prize money reshaped the sport. Rather than dwelling on match results, he lingers on the eccentric personalities found on and off the court and the misadventures of his contemporaries, delivering a book that is more comic anthropology than competitive record. In its distance from today’s polished professionalism, it offers a delightful glimpse of a bygone tennis world defined not by commerce but by camaraderie.

read it

‘All In: An Autobiography’ by Billie Jean King 

King’s memoir uses her own trajectory—from her days playing on public park courts to winning dozens of Grand Slam titles across singles, doubles and mixed doubles—as a lens through which to focus on social change, including the founding of the women’s professional tour and her advocacy for equal pay and LGBTQ+ rights. She writes with unusual openness about private struggles, among them an assault she endured as a teenager, disordered eating and what being outed publicly cost her. 

read it

‘Rafa’ by Rafael Nadal 

Co-written with journalist John Carlin, Nadal’s memoir jumps between his own first-person reflections with Carlin’s third-person narration, which fills in context over a period ranging from the tennis star’s upbringing in Mallorca to major victories like the 2008 Wimbledon final. The narrative, which is enhanced with plenty of personal photos, emphasizes humility and family as the foundations of Nadal’s resilience, particularly through the injuries that threatened his career. 

read it

‘Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life’ by James Blake 

Blake’s memoir chronicles a single catastrophic year—a neck fracture, a paralyzing illness and the death of his father from stomach cancer—and his improbable return to the top of his game. Central to the book is his insistence that tennis is fundamentally a psychological contest, one in which confidence and optimism are as important as skill. “Breaking my neck was the best thing that happened to me in 2004, because it gave me six weeks to spend with my father when he was sick, and be home,” Blake told ABC in 2007. While most of us won’t face as much in as compacted a span, his account of doubt, grief and recovery is universally resonant.

read it

‘I Always Wanted to Be Somebody’ by Althea Gibson 

Gibson’s autobiography recounts her progression from a difficult childhood in Harlem to becoming the first Black champion at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open (then the U.S. National Championships), breaking barriers that had long excluded players like her from the sport’s highest levels along the way. (She notably inspired later players like Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe.) While not as compellingly written as some other tennis autobiographies, her account is notable for its directness—she shares her story without an ounce of self-pity. 

read it

‘Chasing Points’ by Gregory Howe 

At 34, Howe abandoned his teaching career to pursue a professional tennis ranking, and his memoir follows a year spent in the sport’s lower circuits, competing against opponents half his age across four continents. It captures both the absurdity and the dignity of pursuing a dream past the point most people would deem achievable. The book’s appeal lies in its honesty and humor, plus the rare look it offers at the sport’s unglamorous foundational levels. It’s a great read for anyone of a certain age who’s nurturing a secret dream.

Read it

In 1884, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Liberty Enlightening the World arrived in pieces and was assembled in New York Harbor, a gift from France, and there it has remained for more than 140 years, presiding over social and political shifts, booms and busts, centennials and now, this summer, the United States’ semiquincentennial. Hundreds of replicas exist worldwide, though most have no connection to Bartholdi’s hand. A scattered few do, however, and in a little more than a week, one of these will welcome visitors to the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, compliments of New York City gallery Modern Fine Art.

The monumental 10-foot bronze’s story begins not in 19th-century New York but in Paris in 2005, in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, where French art dealer Guillaume Duhamel, founder of Duhamel Fine Art, had joined his son’s elementary school class on a field trip. As they wandered, he spotted Bartholdi’s original 1878 plaster model—over 9 feet tall from base to torch and bequeathed to the museum by his widow in 1907.

The model, which Bartholdi would enlarge 16 times to produce the 151-foot copper colossus in the harbor, was too delicate to loan out, but Duhamel convinced the museum to authorize a limited edition of 12 bronze casts (the maximum permitted under French law), funding the project himself and promising the first cast to the Musée des Arts et Métiers as part of the arrangement.

Using a high-tech digital 3D modeling process, a point-by-point reproduction of the original plaster was created, and 12 bronzes (numbered from 1/8 to 8/8 and from I/IV to IV/IV) were cast by the Fonderie Susse in Paris, one of the country’s most respected foundries. The first cast went to the Musée des Arts et Métiers, where it entered the permanent collection, though it has since spent time on Ellis Island for Independence Day 2021 before moving to the French ambassador’s home in Washington, D.C., where it will remain through 2031. The 11 subsequent casts were sold to private collectors, galleries and institutions around the world. American billionaire Leonard Stern was among the original purchasers; his cast was installed at 667 Madison Avenue in New York City at the entrance of the Hartz Group tower.

The cast coming to the Hamptons Fine Art Fair is the penultimate work in Duhamel’s edition (EA III/IV). Priced at $1 million, it’s something of a bargain, considering he originally sold the casts, according to the New York Times, for $1.1 million each (or about $1.8 million in today’s dollars). For a gargantuan bronze with direct provenance to Bartholdi’s original plaster, authorized by the museum that holds the model and cast by one of France’s great foundries, the pricetag isn’t difficult to defend. The fifth cast from the edition went on the block at Sotheby’s in the New York Sale and sold for $970,000. “La liberté éclairant le monde is an icon that, though familiar, exploited, trivialized and infinitely reproduced, has made us forget the heroic effort and technological ability that went into her creation,” the auction house wrote in the catalogue.

The fair runs July 9-12, and this bronze will be hard to miss. The timing of the offering is, of course, not incidental. As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the appetite for objects that connect Americans to their own founding mythology has sharpened considerably. You only turn 250 once, after all.

On the night of July 4, 1776, a Philadelphia printer named John Dunlap was handed a draft of what is arguably the most consequential document in American history and told to get it into print. He set type through the night, printing around 200 broadside copies of the manuscript that would be read aloud at town gatherings, nailed to posts and passed from hand to hand. Some went to local printers across the colonies, who produced their own editions. One of those was Robert Luist Fowle in Exeter, New Hampshire, whose Exeter broadside, which hit the presses on July 16, was one of 13 contemporary broadsides produced in July and August of 1776. Of those 13 editions, only around 120 broadsides survive, with the majority now held by institutions. According to Goldin Auctions, “surviving, legible broadside copies are so incredibly scarce that the concept of owning one as a collector’s item is a nearly impossible endeavor.”

Just 10 copies of the Exeter broadside exist today. One of them is currently the star lot in Goldin’s 2026 USA 250th Anniversary Historical Auction, which closes July 8. Bidding has already climbed to $1.2 million, and there is every reason to expect that figure to rise before the auction closes. An Exeter broadside in comparable condition sold at Christie’s earlier this year for just under $5.7 million. But the auction record for any Declaration of Independence broadside was set at Sotheby’s in June 2000, when an original Dunlap printing—famously discovered hidden behind a $4 flea market painting in Adamstown, Pennsylvania—achieved $8.1 million.

The broadside currently on the block—known as the Goodspeed-Sang-Streeter copy—is one of five known July 1776 broadsides that don’t identify a printer or place of publication, but attribution to Fowle was established in 1947, when Frederick Goff of the Library of Congress compared the text with known regional newspaper printings and confirmed a match. Printed before the official engrossed Declaration of Independence was signed on August 2, 1776, the copy passed through the hands of Americana collector Thomas W. Streeter (1883-1965) and manuscript collector Philip David Sang (1902-1975). In 2021, it landed at Christie’s New York, where it hammered for $930,000; last year, it sold at Sotheby’s for $2.4 million.

But who was Robert Luist Fowle? Not a patriot rebel, according to Barbara Rimkunas, executive co-director of the Exeter Historical Society, which has his printing press on display in its museum room. Rimkunas wrote in the Portsmouth Herald in 2010 that Fowle had to keep “his political inclinations under cover” to establish himself in Exeter, then a hub of rebellious sentiment. New Hampshire had already declared itself independent of Britain in January of 1776, and “one can only imagine what was going through his mind as he set the type. As a loyalist, or ‘Tory,’ he would have been quite uncomfortable with the idea of revolution against Great Britain.”

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On Tuesday (June 23), as the setting sun bathed London’s Kensington Gardens in a honey-tinted glow, the Serpentine Summer Party—annually one of the U.K. art scene’s most fashion-forward events—returned in characteristically impeccable form. This year’s fête was hosted by arts patron and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Serpentine CEO Bettina Korek and artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, with co-hosts actress Salma Hayek Pinault and filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Arts patron and entrepreneur Isha Ambani (in a look by Steve O Smith) returned for her second year as chair of the host committee.

As always, the newly unveiled Serpentine Pavilion, a serpentine, was the star around which the evening orbited. Designed by Mexico City-based LANZA atelier and built of rows of brick columns that alternately reveal and conceal, it situates the historic masonry of Serpentine South in the longstanding cultural exchange between Europe and the Americas. “The English brick city and the Mexican brick wall speak different languages, yet both turn earth, fire, and craft into culture,” González Iñárritu said.

Spotted among the crowd were actors Michael B. Jordan, Jeff Goldblum, Kyle MacLachlan, Rebel Wilson and Isla Fisher; artists Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Wolfgang Tillmans, Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry and Yinka Shonibare; architect Lina Ghotmeh; socialite Nicky Hilton; and, as per usual, an absolute cavalcade of designers, Aaron Esh, Charles Jeffrey, Chet Lo, Daisy Knatchbull, Daniel Lee, David Koma, Dilara Findikoglu, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem Moralıoğlu, Harris Reed, Priya Ahluwalia, Robert Wun, Roksanda Ilinčić and Wes Gordon among them. When not mixing and mingling, they went on an artist-led journey through Kensington Gardens that showcased Serpentine’s summer program, which features major exhibitions of works by Cecily Brown (“Picture Making”) and David Hockney (“A Year in Normandie and Other Thoughts on Painting”), alongside Jesús Rafael Soto’s public installation Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 Edition).

In what we understand is a brand-new approach to the Summer Party, LANZA atelier partnered with Egyptian artist Laila Gohar to shape the fête’s creative direction. She created a spiraling sequence of culinary experiences that included tamales, hibiscus, mango and guava sorbets and a chocolate installation inspired by the Pavilion’s bricks, along with The Weight of Air, a series of mesmerizing fabric installations. “The spiral invites movement, and the food follows its path, passed between hands, shared in conversation, consumed and transformed,” she said. “Somewhere between architecture, landscape and banquet, the party becomes a living composition shaped by the movement of people.”

A smartly curated program of music kept the energy high as dusk gave way to darkness. DJ Wolfram Amadeus opened, followed by DJ Carlita, before Danny L Harle spun what was arguably the night’s most compelling set. But the evening’s most joyful notes were played by Mariachi Las Adelitas, whose acoustic performance brought warmth, humor and an unexpectedly moving thread of celebration to a night that was already, by any measure, perfectly harmonious.

Grayson Perry

Michael Bloomberg

Lina Ghotmeh and Salma Hayek

Alice Rawsthorn and Hans Ulrich Obrist

Kyle MacLachlan and Desiree Gruber

Bettina Korek and Maya Martinos

Alfonso Cuarón

Adot Gak

Yinka Shonibare and Sybil Robson Orr

Adwoa Aboah

Simon de Pury and Carol Asscher

Sienna Miller

Isabel Abascal

Rebecca Vallance and Amy Jackson

Isla Fisher

Thaylise Ferreira

Kristin Scott Thomas

Foday Dumbuya

Julie Pelipas

Rocco Iannone and Naomie Harris

Sumayya Vally

Pixie Geldof and Alexa Chung

Celia Imrie

Richard Caring and Stefanie Powers

Pixie Lott

Jessica Gunning

DJ Cuppy and Funmi Fetto

Jordan Grant and Anissa Kermiche

Ikram Abdi-Omar

Emma Thynn

Nicky Hilton

Maya Jama

Gabriella Shteiman, Bettina Korek and Marc Lotenberg

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Lisa Love and Harris Reed

Rebel Wilson

Charlotte Dellal

Caroline Polachek

Anish Kapoor and Oumaima Boumoussaoui

Anoushka Shankar

Jessie Ware and Jenna Coleman

Bettina Korek and Simon de Pury

Aria Mehta and Varun Kaji

Liam Hess, Oliver Lee and Matt Copson

Daniel Lismore

Rosalind Weinberg

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There’s no rest for the weary. In July, the art world’s collective Basel hangover lingers, but many galleries have to pack it all up all over again and make their way to one or more of the international or niche-y art fairs held in July, or possibly some of the smaller summertime art events that nimbly toe the line between fair and festival. If you’re not already burnt out from the June art fairs (and the May art fairs and the April art fairs, etc.), the coming month’s calendar offers a lighter load.

Semantically speaking, there are fine art festivals that bring in millions of dollars annually (Denver’s Cherry Creek Arts Festival comes to mind) and tinier fairs that sometimes don’t, and in any given month, new art fairs emerge and older ones are subject to delays and cancellations. There aren’t a lot of new entries on this year’s July art fair calendar, but you’ll likely notice some notable deletions. Sidenote: The Hamptons had, for a time, three or four major art fairs every summer—it worked for a while post-Covid because people were gathering again and the wealthy collectors who’d decamped to the East End hadn’t yet re-decamped to the City. Alas, the only constant is change. With that in mind, here’s what’s on this month:

Riga Contemporary 2026

July 2-5

Riga Contemporary in Latvia promises to deliver a captivating lineup of artworks brought by 35 galleries from the Baltics, Nordic countries, the U.S., Japan and beyond. Founded by Kim? Contemporary Art Centre—yes, the punctuation is a little confusing—with support from NADA co-president and Misako & Rosen director Jeffrey Rosen, Riga Contemporary’s mission is twofold: to elevate the region’s art scene while bringing renowned galleries from around the globe to Latvia. The fair keeps booth fees modest to attract exhibitors and potentially transform the traditional art fair into a more community-driven and collaborative experience. Alongside exhibitions and presentations, there will be a program of talks and performances involving artists, representatives from international galleries, art advisors, Baltic collectors and other creative industry professionals.

Toronto Outdoor Art Fair 2026

July 10-12

Now in its 65th year, Canada’s largest and longest-running contemporary art event returns this year to Nathan Phillips Square. TOAF got its start in the parking lot of the Four Seasons Motor Hotel in 1961, when philanthropist founders Murray and Marvelle Koffler launched the fair in partnership with former Director of the National Gallery of Canada Alan Jarvis and artist Jackson Pollock to spotlight Canadian talent. In the past, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair—which, admittedly, is more festival than fair—has featured artists like Barbara Astman, David Blackwood, Harlan House, Joanne Tod and Jennifer Stead at different stages in their careers. Rain or shine, it’s a good time.

Art Santa Fe 2026

July 9-11

Art Santa Fe, a boutique art fair in New Mexico held during Santa Fe Art Week, was founded in 2000 by gallery owner Charlotte Jackson. She sold the fair to former gallerist Eric Smith, now CEO of Redwood Media Group and producer of art shows like Art Miami, in 2018. The fair, which showcases prints, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, ceramics, giclée, lithographs and glassworks, takes place annually at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center and is known for its exceptional presentation and well-curated selection of fine art, decorative art and design. The 26th edition will feature works from more than eighty-five galleries and independent artists—those looking for a bargain can make a beeline to the Discoveries Collection, which showcases pieces priced at $3,000 or less.

Hamptons Fine Art Fair 2026

July 9-12

When culturally tuned-in New Yorkers migrate en masse to the east end of Long Island, that can mean just one thing: it’s art-collecting season out east. The Hamptons’ only international art fair and one of the nation’s largest summer fairs, Hamptons Fine Art Fair, or HFAF, takes place in a 70,000-square-foot complex at Southampton Fairgrounds. Minutes from downtown Southampton Village—and its stylish shops, trendy restaurants, art galleries and museums—the 19th edition of the Hamptons Fine Art Fair brings 120 exhibitors and galleries from around the world to Long Island. Collectors and art enthusiasts can explore diverse works by contemporary art’s rising stars (look out for those locally based) and pieces by names known the world over, like Picasso and Warhol. In addition to the usual booths, the Hamptons Fine Art Fair has several themed events and social gatherings held over the course of the busy weekend, including the always-interesting Hamptons Artists Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 2026

July 9-12

The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) was established in 2009 as part of the Queensland Government’s Backing Indigenous Arts program but became an independent entity in 2013, transitioning to a not-for-profit company governed by a skills-based board with significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation. Held annually in northern Australia, CIAF is known for its commitment to cultural exchange and offers a platform for indigenous artists to present their art, fashion, performance works and music to an audience of national and international collectors, curators and an art-loving public. This year’s theme, Reclamation & Regeneration, “speaks to a return to Country, to memory, and to stories passed down through generations. It is an act of resistance and resurgence by reclaiming space through expressions of language, cultural identity and spiritual connection.”

Ann Arbor Art Fair 2026

July 16-18

Art lovers looking for a relaxed fair experience with plenty of local flavor should make time for the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which is one of the largest and most prestigious juried art events in the country. Founded in 1960, it’s also one of the oldest. For correctness’ sake, we should point out that Ann Arbor Art Fair is actually three distinct events—the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (a.k.a. “The Original”), the Ann Arbor State Street District Art Fair and the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair—making it, for lack of a better descriptor, a “distributed fair.” Together, the events that make up the Ann Arbor Art Fair have a 30-city-block footprint and attract roughly 500,000 visitors annually, there to see contemporary fine arts and crafts brought by nearly 1,000 artists. There are also performances, hands-on art activities and street food, and the overall atmosphere is very much that of a mega block party. In fact, many Ann Arbor locals have beef with the fair because of the congestion it causes—there have been protests in the past, under the slogan “It’s not art, and it’s not fair.”

ARTe Art Fair Konstanz 2026

July 17-19

Around 60 galleries will take part in this year’s ARTe Art Fair Konstanz, set in a 1,800-square-meter exhibition space in Konstanz, Germany. Also known as ARTe Kunstsalon, it’s one of several ARTe art fairs taking place throughout Germany this year. What unites them? Since the first fair in 2015 at the Sindelfingen Trade Fair Center, ARTe fairs have emphasized open, airy venues and the deliberate mixing of contemporary and classical artwork. At Konstanz, most of the works displayed are by exhibitors based in Germany and other E.U. countries. One draw is the art historians who guide visitors through the fair, placing the works on display in their historical contexts.

Seattle Art Fair 2026

July 23-26

Seattle Art Fair, founded in 2015 by the late art collector and philanthropist Paul G. Allen to celebrate the vibrant arts community of the region, has become a fixture of the Pacific Northwest’s cultural calendar. Held at the Lumen Field Event Center, it showcases a diverse range of modern and contemporary art brought by around 90 galleries, local and not. It’s worth pointing out that the Seattle art scene was very much shaped by Allen, who founded Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture and whose foundation continues to distribute millions in arts grants in Washington. Nato Thompson, Seattle Art Fair’s former artistic director, said in a 2019 conversation with Observer that “in Seattle, people know who you are, and it’s a real community, and you can tap into it really well. I find that intimacy very exciting and something I benefit from participating in.”

Intersect Aspen Art + Design 2026

July 28 – August 1

Intersect Aspen, founded in 2010, is a cornerstone of Aspen’s peak art season and summer cultural calendar. Happening once again at the Aspen Ice Garden, this year’s edition features its largest lineup to date, with artworks brought by more than 39 local, national, and international galleries, and a robust program of artist-focused talks, tours and panel discussions. Known for its intimate setting that facilitates direct interaction among collectors, galleries and artists, Intersect Aspen also partners with local cultural non-profits such as Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Aspen Film to offer a range of cultural and community initiatives beyond the fair. “It’s not just about acquiring art; it’s about becoming part of a deeper cultural dialogue that defines Aspen,” Tim von Gal, CEO of Intersect Art + Design, said in a statement.

Aspen Art Fair 2026

July 29 – August 1

Aspen always has hordes of visitors hoping to escape the heat and humidity of summertime, which means Aspen Art Fair’s third edition will attract thousands of collectors and enthusiasts looking to buy some art while beating the heat. National and international art dealers and artists will convene at the historic Hotel Jerome during Aspen Art Week, with a lineup that includes Coloradan art galleries; galleries from New York, L.A. and elsewhere in the States; and far-flung art spaces like London’s Ronchini, Italian gallery Secci and Galerie Gmurzynska of Zürich. Program highlights include a guided tour of the Aspen Art Museum featuring highlights from the ArtCrush Auction, a home tour of the personal art collection of Ernesto and Cecilia Poma, a panel on evolving roles in art and film and an agave tasting.

100% Design Africa 2026

July 30 – August 2

“Celebrating the pulse of African design,” 100% Design Africa has become one of the continent’s premier international design showcases, offering a curated selection of contemporary decorative arts, technology, product designs and furnishings (an interesting mix, to say the least). Keeping up with an ever-shifting art world, the event at Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa embraces a “phygital” approach—blending digital storytelling with tactile objects and even entire exhibition spaces. Prepare to be surprised by what you see.

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“Versailles… exists as an unparalleled and final statement that is likely never to be repeated,” declares the American Friends of Versailles on its website. Yet for all its singularity, like the Ship of Theseus, the Château must be restored, bit by bit, to fend off the ravages of time. Earlier this week, the organization’s annual gala, dubbed A Legacy of Light and held inside Versailles itself, raised money for a specific piece of history: the celebrated Salon de Diane—one of the palace’s most significant painted ceilings. The newly restored Charles Le Brun masterwork from the reign of Louis XIV, untouched since a 1955 conservation round, was unveiled at the gala in all its original brilliance.

Spotted in the well-heeled crowd were France’s Minister of Culture Catherine Pégard, U.S. ambassador to France Charles Kushner and Louvre Président-directeur Christophe Léribault, along with Prince Charles (Carlo, Duke of Castro) and Princess Camilla de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles. The art, fashion and design worlds likewise turned out in force, with gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin, artist Jean-Michel Othoniel, Paris Opera star Hugo Marchand, designers Harry Nuriev and Christian Louboutin, art historian Diana Widmaier Picasso and jeweler David Yurman in attendance, along with a long list of philanthropists and socialites, including Becca Cason Thrash, Peter Brant Jr. and Tracey Amon.

The black-tie evening, which also celebrated America’s 250th anniversary and the French allies that made independence possible, started with cocktails and conversation in the Hall of Mirrors before a dinner in the Galerie des Batailles, cleverly orchestrated by star planner Lucas Somoza. A spirited paddle round led by auctioneer Lydia Fenet raised more than €3.5 million in a mere 20 minutes, with a wildly extravagant roster of lots that included a private journey along the Nile River for eight guests, the 2023 Hunt Slonem painting Monsoon Aftermath, eight nights for six VIP guests at the Baraza Resort Spa in Tanzania and a French excursion with exclusive private tours of the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champagne and, naturellement, Versailles. The evening’s top lot, however, was a stunning one-of-a-kind David Yurman Liberty Cable bracelet featuring more than 25 carats of diamonds, which sold for $260,000, giving the room its loudest gasp of the night. “I rarely get offstage during an auction, but David Yurman asked me to wear the custom diamond bracelet they commissioned to celebrate the event,” Fenet told Observer. “When the bidding hit $250,000 for the bracelet—nearly $80,000 over the retail value—I walked offstage and, with a wink, placed the bracelet on the underbidder’s wrist.” The underbidder was thus inspired to place a final bid and, voila, the bauble was hers.

More than a gala, A Legacy of Light was the final stop on the American Friends of Versailles’ four-day itinerary of private tours, exclusive programming and parties, which concluded with a raucus afterparty in the Galerie Basse. But, as Fenet reminded us, this was a soiree with substance. “We were able to fully fund the restoration of a huge ceiling at Versailles, which was really the aim of the whole thing.”

Princess Camilla of Calabria, H.R.H. Prince Charles of Bourbon and Prince Charles-Henri of Lobkowicz

Alicia Bryan

Diana Widmaier Picasso and Emmanuel Perrotin

Marie de Noailles and Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz

Christian Louboutin, Alicia Bryan, Becca Cason Thrash and Lucas Somoza

Carlos Gustavo Mascardi and Lily Sciorra

Peter Brant Jr. and Jean-Joseph Pani

Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz

Megg Goodman and Ceron Goodman

Cameron Silver and Alexandra Longanecker

Harry Nuriev

Sybil Yurman and David Yurman

Bastien Blanc-Tailleur

Shannon Ralston and Philip Risalvato

Stephane Gerschel and Tracey Amon

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The Frick Collection’s Fellows, Young Fellows and their sundry plus-ones turned out across two consecutive evenings—Tuesday, June 9, and Wednesday, June 10—for the museum’s annual Spring Garden Party. Inside, the partygoers perused the “Ruffles & Ribbons: Fashion Plates from the Time of Marie Antoinette,” but the real fashion plates could arguably be found outside, taking their turns around the museum’s highly exclusive Fifth Avenue Garden. Said garden had some competition, as the see-and-be-seen set leaned hard into stunning seasonal pastels and flouncy floral motifs. Live jazz from musicians at The Juilliard School set the mood, and the cheery margaritas and flutes of champagne that accompanied seasonally inspired nibbles and desserts cemented it. Gallery talks ran throughout the evening, open to all those who ventured indoors to take a private peek at the permanent collection or “Ruffles & Ribbons.” One suspects, however, that most of the style commentary was happening out in the garden, where the crowd paraded and peacocked long after the sun went down. These were some of our favorite looks:

Nancy Moeller

Joshua Cockream

Vanessa Gordon

Tinu Naija

Nancy Moore and Ansley Williams

Sherece Bennett

Giovanni Fares

James Jelkin and Alexandra Bell

Mark Medearis and Teresa Mederais

Pina Giselle and Aimee Ng

Julia Beyensen

Christine A Eagleson

Kristian Ivanoff and William Radin

Alexandra Maximova and Alina Miroshnyk

Julie Wald, Mary Grace Castello and Josette Winograd

Rajiv Surendra

Alexandra Longanecker and Bach Mai

Martha Fortune and Jessica Cardenas

Pauline Argenson and James Demmert

Avishan Bodjnoud

Brianna Taylor, Genesis Rakatsu and Juan Tellez Sandoval

Tobili Hatcher

Harold Rafael, Reem Abadi, Av Mark and James Burn

Mercedes de Guardiola

Olivia Miller and Thersa Luk

Allie Provost and Kristi Hemric

Delia Folk

Wendy Kaplan and Martin Kaplan

Nadia Gakou

Alexa Griffith and Lindsey Zurovchak

Marissa Wu

Isabel Tung and Brandon Smith

Zarig Baghdadlian and Tara Tomimoto

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Sébastien Léon doesn’t think in categories, nor does he fit into them. He’s a multi-hyphenate creator whose practice takes mediums, materials and forms at their most familiar and finds in them something fundamentally other. “Each creation operates as an act of revelation: an object that reveals itself through transformation,” reads his bio, and in his hands, resin might become leather or stone and glass can metamorphasize into fog or folds of cloth or lava. So, too, has the French-born, New York-based artist transformed himself, from creative director to designer and artist. He is variously described as a sculptor, a musician, a furniture designer and an installation artist.

Léon first experimented with blown glass in 2019 when working on a collection of lighting shown at Design Miami, and he describes the medium as one of transmutation—sand mutated by fire, then shaped by air into something solid. That arc, from one state of matter to another, is a useful description of his general approach to his work, which encompasses not only physical objects but also soundworks. He has collaborated on projects with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, released three solo records, built a permanent sonic sculpture for the Orange County Museum of Art and created immersive sound environments around the world.

(Later this month, he’ll be debuting a new soundwork for NOMAD Hamptons—the first in a coming series of interconnected pieces. Titled The Echoes of Our Dreams, it blends sculpture, sound and technology to explore the boundaries between natural and artificial forms of communication.)

His work has been shown at the Palais de Tokyo, the New Museum, the Palazzo della Triennale and UCCA in Beijing, and his commercial collaborations have extended to Audi, Samsung, Audemars Piguet and Krug, among others. More recently, he completed an 18-month residency at the Ralph Pucci sculpture studio in Manhattan, resulting in a new body of work, “Inca City.”

The series of otherworldly lighting and furnishings takes its name from the Angustus Labyrinthus on Mars—a networked complex of geological ridges so geometrically precise that it looked like the ruins of a lost civilization in the images sent back to Earth by the Mariner 9 probe. Alas, the resemblance was an obvious coincidence, but for Léon, that potential misreading opened a doorway into what he calls speculative archaeology—the fabrication of relics from a civilization that never was.

The works in “Inca City” are the output of the material philosophy Léon has been refining throughout his career and the experimentation that has driven that career forward. During the residency, he built and refined the pieces in the show at the Ralph Pucci workshops, where he had access to master artisans and the tools to work with materials ranging from clay and resin to metal. Observer connected with Léon after the opening of the show to discuss what it means to excavate a civilization that never existed, why function can be its own kind of illusion and what sound has to do with sculpture.

Your work spans a wide range of materials and techniques. Is that multiplicity driven by a search for the right medium, or is the movement between materials itself the point?

More than anything, I think it’s because each idea demands its own medium. Glass, steel, resin, sound, etc., each carries very specific behaviors and symbolic weight. What interests me is how far I can push those behaviors until the material starts to contradict itself: resin that reads like leather, mirrors that dissolve into transparency, wool rugs that feel like hairy terrains. My exploration between materials is really a way of staying in that unstable perception-shifting territory.

Your sound works are incredibly immersive. How does your engagement with sound relate to your work with physical materials?

Sound is probably the most direct way I think about presence. It’s invisible, and yet it completely shapes how we experience space. It suggests a memory, an emotion, a place, even a form of materiality. Any sculpture, for me, is something that emits: light, reflection, tension, or even a kind of silent aura. I approach a light sculpture in the same way as I approach a sound sculpture. They all have a voice, something to say, a role to fulfill.

“Inca City” at Ralph Pucci International feels suspended between abstraction and something almost geological, like artifacts from a civilization that might have existed elsewhere. There’s a strong sci fi undertone. Was that intentional?

“Inca City” is a real geological formation on Mars, resembling the ruins of a lost city. It became the starting point for the exhibition, which I developed as a kind of speculative archaeology, creating artifacts from a civilization that never existed. The sci-fi aspect is definitely there, but not in a futuristic sense; it’s more about displacing time and location altogether. I’m interested in imagining a different physical world, almost a parallel set of conditions where matter follows a slightly altered logic. Glass might behave like stone, surfaces might shift between opacity and reflection and materials might be grown into their final forms instead of cut to fit.

When you create functional pieces, do you approach them differently from your more speculative works?

What interests me is when a piece fulfills a use, but at the same time destabilizes your perception of what it is. A table that appears to float, or a mirror that behaves in unexpected ways. I integrate function as a magic trick, as an illusion. So I see my work as a continuum where function becomes a kind of entry point into a more ambiguous experience. I often get asked whether my work belongs to the design or art worlds, but I don’t really think in those terms.

On your website, you pose the question “Design or Transmutation?” What are you trying to prompt with that idea?

‘Design’ broadly implies solving a problem through the creation of an object, but I’m more interested in transforming the nature of the material itself. Transmutation suggests a deeper shift, almost alchemical. What I hope it prompts is a moment where the viewer is no longer sure if they’re looking at something familiar or something that’s been fundamentally altered. In the word “transmutation”, there is a notion of magic, of transformation from lead into gold, and invention, and all these resonate with me.

There seems to be an element of world-building in your work. Is there a throughline connecting these pieces?

There is definitely a form of world-building, but it’s not narrative in a literal sense. It’s more like fragments of a larger system that keeps on growing in order to reveal itself. Each creation, each exhibition, becomes a way of introducing new elements, whether sculptural, sonic, or even olfactory. Over time, the idea is that this environment is slowly unveiled as a set of conditions for us to discover. “Inca City” is slowly revealing itself to me and to everyone.

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The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s annual gala is arguably one of L.A.’s most genuinely exciting evenings, and the 2026 edition at The Geffen Contemporary did not disappoint. The $3 million night was hosted by ebullient dancer and multi-hyphenate creative Stephen Galloway and “was made all the more special through Piero Golia’s fantastic interventions and the brilliance of a wide cast of collaborators,” Ann Goldstein, LA MOCA’s Interim Maurice Marciano Director, told Observer.

First up on the itinerary? Guests queued up for cocktails at a reception featuring a beautiful performance by the MOCA Gala Symphony Orchestra alongside an installation conceived specifically for the occasion by Golia. From there, bringing back last year’s MOCA Legends format, the gala fêted three figures whose contributions to contemporary art are, in different ways, foundational. To start, artist and MOCA board member Tala Madani took the dais to introduce artist Paul McCarthy, followed by The Brick’s director Hamza Walker, who introduced his fellow “MONUMENTS” co-curator, the artist Kara Walker. Board Chair Carolyn Clark Powers rounded out the tributes by recognizing Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo president Eugenio López Alonso for two decades of support.

“When I returned to MOCA last summer as interim director, I came back to an institution firmly focused on its mission of presenting the most significant and challenging art of our time,” Goldstein said, pointing to the museum as an “ecosystem that empowers artists to challenge, provoke and transform our understanding of the world.”

Spotted in the assembled crowd were actors Supriya Ganesh and Keanu Reeves (on the arm of Los Angeles and Berlin‐based artist Alexandra Grant), who shared the room with filmmaker Ava DuVernay, bestselling author Minka Kelly, showrunner Trisha Cardoso, producer China Chow, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons. Mingling among them were venture capital investor and art collector Jarl Mohn, entrepreneur and art collector Sonya Yu, power couple Balthazar and Rosetta Getty, philanthropists Jerry and Terri Kohl, Deborah Irmas and Terri Smooke, and collectors Heather Podesta, Kathi B. Cypres and Clifford J. Einstein.

The art world’s own showed up in force, too, of course. Hammer Museum director Zoë Ryan, curator Connie Butler, gallerists Jeffrey Deitch and Esthella Prova, The Box founder Mara McCarthy and a long list of artists rubbed elbows with designer Johnson Hartig, architect Kulapat Yantrasast and other notable creatives, giving the evening its own brand of electric energy.

Supriya Ganesh

Minka Kelly and Dan Reynolds

Paul McCarthy

Karyn Kohl and Alex Israel

Carolyn Clark Powers and Terri Smooke

Rufus Wainwright

Alicia Blanco and Poch Blanco

Joy Simmons

Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant

Ava DuVernay

Rebecca Morris

Piero Golia and Ann Goldstein

Frances Stark

Alfonso Gonzalez Jr.

Tala Madani

Diana Thater

Sonya Yu and Rodney McMillian

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova

Max Hooper Schneider

Connie Butler and Tala Madani

Christina Quarles and Alyssa Polk

Persia Dime and Charles Dime

Monique McWilliams, Glenn Kaino and Maurice Harris

Kulapat Yantrasast, Celesta Hodge and Max Hooper Schneider

Monique McWilliams and Kenturah Davis

Ari Marcopoulos and Kara Walker

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El Museo del Barrio’s annual benefit, held last week at the Mandarin Oriental New York, brought together artists, philanthropists, collectors and cultural and political leaders to celebrate Latin American and Latine art and culture while raising more than $1 million in support of El Museo’s exhibitions, educational initiatives, bilingual public programs and the stewardship of its permanent collection.

The evening’s honorees reflected the breadth of El Museo’s reach. Global music icon J Balvin was recognized for his visionary support of contemporary art and his commitment to advancing Latin American and Latine culture worldwide—”I’ve always believed in bringing our music, art, and voice to the world with pride and responsibility,” he told the assembled crowd. Art collectors Isabel and Agustín Coppel were honored alongside Balvin for the impact they’ve had on the contemporary art canon. And curator and collector Estrellita Brodsky, a formidable force in the Latin American art world whose decades of advocacy have shaped institutions around the world, received the inaugural Tony Bechara Legacy Award. The evening also saw the announcement of the 2026-2027 Maestro Dobel Latinx Art Prize recipient: artist Guadalupe Rosales, whose solo exhibition will open at the museum next year.

“I do what I do out of love. Whether it is my art practice or my archival work, both have always been rooted in self and community preservation, storytelling, and the belief that our histories deserve to be seen, held, and remembered,” Rosales said in her acceptance speech. “This work comes from years of doubt and challenges, from people not always seeing its importance, while at the same time, others like me felt seen, remembered and reflected in it. I have not always fit neatly into art institutions as an artist, or into archives and official histories as someone committed to preserving and telling these stories. It has not been an easy path, but I kept going. Recognition is a meaningful gesture, and I am grateful for it, but what feels most important is knowing that by not giving up, this work has helped make space for future artists, archivists, storytellers and generations to come.”

Given their turns at the dais, El Museo del Barrio’s executive director Patrick Charpenel and board chair Karla Harwich each spoke about the institution’s singular importance. Charpenel pointed out that the museum has long served as “a platform for voices that have shaped—and continue to shape—the cultural fabric of this country,” while Harwich noted that in a city where more than 40 percent of public-school students identify as Hispanic or Latino, the institution offers young people “a place where they can see themselves, their histories, and their communities reflected with beauty and pride.”

As the night unfolded, guests sipped tequila cocktails and Leo Gruber & Tren Latino provided a musical performance that kept energy levels high. Spotted in the crowd were art historian Victoria Espinosa, kurimanzutto cofounder José Kuri, model and entrepreneur Alida Boer and CIMA Capital co-founder Alfonso Aldrete, who mingled with curators Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Deborah Cullen Morales, Susanna V. Temkin, Ines Katzenstein and Magnolia de la Garza. The lineup of artists in attendance included Pedro Reyes, Elia Alba, Elena Damiani, Yvette Mayorga and Jorge Méndez Blake.

Notably, the museum’s 2026 benefit auction, presented in collaboration with The Auction Collective, remains open through June 3, 2026, so even if you missed this year’s gala, you can still raise a paddle in support of El Museo del Barrio’s mission.

J Balvin

Arlene Davila, Candida Alvarez, Karen Vidangos and Elia Alba

Augustine Coppel and Isabel Gómez de Coppel

Sophia Zayas

Willy Chavarria and Claudia Edelman

Valentina Ferrer

Jesus Navarro

Thomas Vecchione and Elizabeth Belfer

Richard Blanco

Clifford Prince King and Carlos Martiel

Valentina Ferrer, Karla Harwich and Patrick Charpenel

Pedro Reyes

Ines Katzenstein and José Kuri

Larisa Martínez

Matt Bregman and Sulie Arias

Elsa Collins and Karla Martinez de Salas

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• At the Guggenheim’s 2026 YCC Party, Artist Diane Severin Nguyen Created Breathing Room

• Fran Drescher, Hari Nef and Olivia Palermo Opined On the Power of Ballet

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