Features
Venice can’t manage its tourists—yet it’s encouraging more to come from China
The town council proposes digital monitoring and a charge to enter St Mark’s Square
On the side of the angels
Vittorio Scarpati made a series of bold drawings in a New York hospital before he died of Aids, which also claimed the life of his wife, the writer and actress Cookie Mueller. Teeming with “piles of angels”, Scarpati’s drawings are being shown for the first time in 25 years in London this month
Jenny Holzer: Words of Conflict
As three new commissions open this year in the UK and Abu Dhabi, the US artist reflects on the continued dominance of war as a theme in her work and says she longs for Trump to be “in the past tense”
Summer art pilgrimages
Artists and curators tell us about the journeys they have embarked on, or hope to make, to see something special. Compiled by Ben Luke
David Lamelas: time zones
The peripatetic Argentinian artist has explored memory, space and time in works made across the world. In September, his first full career survey opens in Los Angeles as part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative
The importance of being Ettore Sottsass
Diverse work by the larger-than-life designer who rejected Modernist good taste goes on show in Basel, Venice and the Met soon
Venice Biennale: triumphs and talking points
Leading figures give their impressions of Christine Macel’s main show, Viva Arte Viva, and their pick of the national pavilions
Nairy Baghramian: check your privilege
As she features in Documenta 14 and takes centre stage in Münster this summer, the Berlin-based artist discusses her approach to these major public exhibitions and the need to be wary of sensation and spectacle
Frank Lloyd Wright: a force of nature
As MoMA’s show of his vast archive confirms, the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest architect” was an inspired talent-spotter, employing brilliant female assistants
Freeing Tania Bruguera
The artist takes a turn on the psychiatrist’s couch in a new documentary by Lynn Hershman Leeson that delves into the psychology of government oppression
Frieze New York gets theatrical
For this year’s Frieze Projects tribute, four artists will recreate and riff on Galleria La Tartaruga’s historic Teatro delle Mostre exhibition, which turned experiences into works of art
Symbiotic siblings: Alberto and Diego Giacometti
As a major survey opening this month at Tate Modern confirms, Alberto Giacometti’s reputation as a 20th-century great is assured. But his younger brother Diego’s role cannot be overlooked
Death, destruction and deity: painting Guernica
As exhibition opens in Madrid, new research shows how Picasso was inspired by church paintings to create Spanish Civil War rallying cry
Cerith Wyn Evans: Light Fantastic
As the Welsh artist fills Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries, ahead of showing in Venice and Münster later in the year, he talks about his varied inspirations, from Duchamp to Japanese Noh theatre
The Antarctic Biennale: a crazy idea becomes reality
In little more than a year, the artists and scientists—and, crucially, the funds—have been gathered for a unique biennial. The journey begins this month
The other lives of artists
The exhibition Michelangelo & Sebastiano at the National Gallery in London reflects the younger artist’s sharp decline in production once he became keeper of the papal seal. But second jobs did not stop Rubens and Velázquez painting
From the archive | The art machine: the Centre Pompidou at 40
As the Parisian cultural behemoth hits a landmark anniversary, figures from the world of art and architecture discuss its legacy
‘Paintings untethered to notions of taste or intention’
It was love at first sight when the artist David Salle first saw Francis Picabia’s strange, late paintings based on magazine pin-ups, which are now on show at MoMA. Salle describes their provocative appeal
Remembering the ‘mud angels’
The Italian floods of 1966 prompted a strong—and lasting—international response
A museum for a time of doubt
Over a decade in the making and due to open in 2017, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has evolved into a museum that has gone beyond being merely a showcase for historical European art into one that is a truly global institution reflecting a new kind of universalism
Philippe Parreno creates a public ritual at Tate Modern
As he takes on the Hyundai Commission in the Turbine Hall, the French artist on exhibitions as works of art, why he dislikes the word “installation” and engaging with Londoners
Getting digi with it: how the art world is grappling with new media
As new technology is increasingly adopted by artists, can curators and collectors keep up?
New museums: the rise of cryptic cathedrals of the cosmos
Charles Jencks revisits his article written for The Art Newspaper in 2000 to survey how museum architecture has evolved since the millennium
How to give artists life after death
A new book advises executors and heirs that managing artists’ estates can be a painful and exacting process
William Kentridge: an animated life
As a major show and opera come to London, the South African artist reflects on his multimedia installations’ disparate influences, from his homeland’s politics to Wallace and Gromit
A cerebral matter: the common ground between brain science and art
Eric Kandel’s new book finds similarities in the approach of neuroscientists and abstract painters
Unveiled: Rodin’s adoration of a young english actress
Sybil Mignon Cooke left a touching wreath at the sculptor’s London memorial during the First World War. A new cache of letters, analysed here for the first time, reflects the extent of their affection
Ragnar Kjartansson: New Romantic
As a major show of his work opens at London’s Barbican, the Icelandic artist discusses his fascination with Romanticism and explains why he gets his mother to spit in his face every five years
William Hamilton’s prize possession
A new book on the history of private collectors describes how Emma Hamilton became inextricable from her husband’s often erotic collection of ancient art
How the Spanish Republic saved the Prado’s masterpieces
General Franco ensured that his left-wing enemies got no credit for protecting hundreds of works by Velázquez, Goya and others in the Spanish Civil War—but their efforts were heroic