The Easel

15th September 2026

Ileana Sonnabend: a taste for the unexpected, a life in contemporary art

Candace Wetmore | Christies.com | 14th September 2026

Sonnabend was one of a tiny group of art dealers who can be said to have influenced the direction of art. After dabbling in art in post-war New York, she opened a gallery in Paris in 1961, introducing contemporary American art to Europe. Moving back to New York in 1971 she introduced an astonishing, “daring” rollcall of major artists. Such was her judgement that Rauschenberg said, “I never finished a painting without wondering what Ileana would think of it.’ Said Sonnabend “I only want what I don’t like”.

What’s Going on With the Met’s Odd New Giacometti Show?

Ben Davis | Artnet | 15th June 2026

Giacometti was interested in simplified sculptural forms and liked the Egyptian sculptures he saw in Europe’s museums. He was also inspired, perhaps even more so – by the elongated figures in some tribal African carvings. A show that exhibits his gaunt, spectral figures around an ancient Egyptian temple thus connects loosely with his back story. But so what?  Curators are having fun mixing old and new objects but where is the narrative? “It is kind of a half-show, with a half-premise”.

8th September 2026

“Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas” at The Met Cloisters

Mario Naves | Too Much Art | 14th August 2026

Up to about 1500CE, European artists imagined mythical creatures that combine features of animals and humans. Such imaginings were an attempt to explain the known world and express spiritual visions. In the Americas, completely independently, hybrid creatures were similarly being imagined that linked the human and the divine. These are beautiful and provocative objects, “a sampler of greater ventures hopefully to come.” Images are here.

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