At Basel Social Club, the Office Becomes a Playground of Anti-Productivity
In an increasingly commodified art world, this is one fair at which creativity doesn’t feel dependent on returns and maximization.
One Fine Show: “Grandma Moses, A Good Day’s Work” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Staged in Washington against the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it frames a life spanning Lincoln to Kennedy as a parable of the nation.
Curator Kate Kraczon Arrives at the Montclair Art Museum Ready to Get Radical
With works by Jeffrey Gibson and Wendy Red Star alongside John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer, the museum’s collection has always defied easy categorization
Business
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As OpenAI and Anthropic Race Toward IPOs, Trust Becomes the Real Product
As OpenAI and Anthropic move toward public markets and model capabilities increasingly converge, View Source’s Ross Vandenhoeck unpacks how enterprises are discovering that personality, predictability and behavioral consistency may be the industry’s most valuable assets.
After the CLARITY Act, Compliance Becomes a Growth Strategy
B2PRIME’s Alex Tsepaev examines how the CLARITY Act could reshape digital asset markets, and why compliance, governance and operational credibility are emerging as the real determinants of which firms attract institutional capital and which are left behind.
From Homelessness to Kickstarter CEO: How Everette Taylor Built His Path
Everette Taylor’s climb from homelessness and early hustle to Kickstarter CEO offers a look at why he’s betting on creators, not gatekeepers.
SpaceX’s First Post-IPO Deal Mints Four Young A.I. Multibillionaires
Michael Truell, Sualeh Asif, Aman Sanger and Arvid Lunnemark turned a college-era bet on A.I. coding into one of Elon Musk’s biggest prospective deals.
From Fingerprints to Passports: Trust After A.I. Detection
Building ever more sophisticated A.I. detection tools may already be reaching its limits. As synthetic content floods the digital ecosystem, A.I. expert Mike Pino argues the future of trust will depend less on identifying what machines created than on constructing systems of provenance, authorship and accountability.
Art
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What’s the Matter With Museums?
“The museums succeeding in the current climate are the ones that are hyper-local, positioning themselves as direct service providers… The ones facing opposition, in most cases, led with what they had and why it mattered, rather than asking the community what it needed.”
Konstantina Krikzoni’s Warriors Find Their Power in Balance
In her latest work, she channels grief, Greek antiquity and Jungian duality into a fresh language of feminine force, androgynous physicality and open possibility.
Yoko Ono Has Outlasted the Scorn, the Caricatures and the Blame
“Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” at The Broad in L.A. brings together decades of work that predated and anticipated many of the ideas now central to contemporary art.
After the Clearing: Remembering Hilde Lynn Helphenstein
Most of the world knew Hilda as “Jerry Gogosian,” the art world satirist. But within her often hilarious dispatches, Georges Bergès found a profound message.
Middle Node and What It Takes to Build an Art Scene Outside New York and L.A.
There are plenty of exhibitions in the Rust Belt; the challenge has always been finding them.
Lifestyle
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The Best Men’s Swimwear for Summer, From Tailored Classics to Bold Prints
From Saint-Tropez classics to art-world collaborations and the return of the swim brief, these are the trunks worth packing this season.
In Full Bloom: The Most Beautiful Hotel Gardens in America
From English-style courtyards to Tuscan-inspired estates, these hotel gardens make the case for checking in and heading straight back outside.
Aktar Islam’s Indian Fine Dining Is Built on a Lifetime of Curiosity
At Opheem and Oudh 1722, Aktar Islam turns books, travel and years of research into Indian fine dining that moves from Bengali broths to Awadhi kebabs.
Lisa Vanderpump’s Vegas Hotel Is Campy, Clever and Somehow Good
Lisa Vanderpump’s first hotel turns reality-TV spectacle into a surprisingly persuasive Vegas stay.
Andaz One Bangkok Finds Calm Above the City’s Electric Chaos
Set above Wireless Road, the new hotel balances Bangkok’s street-level rush with warm design, sharp dining, custom tea cocktails and skyline-facing calm.
Interviews
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How Chess.com Co-Founder Danny Rensch Turned a Centuries-Old Game Into a Media Empire
Danny Rensch helped transform Chess.com from an online playing platform into a media, subscription and creator economy business. As Netflix, streaming and A.I. reshape chess’s cultural profile, Rensch has become one of the game’s most visible executives.
Ho Jae Kim’s Civil Art Returns to Christie’s With a Million-Dollar Milestone in Sight
What began as a fundraiser has become a nonprofit ecosystem connecting artists, institutions, galleries and community organizations.
Francesca Mollett’s Architecture of Abstraction
In “Buried Shadow” at GRIMM, she transforms memory, matter and perception into tableau vivants in which light, color and form shift under the eye.
MOCAD’s Co-Directors On What a Museum Owes a Changing City
“Meaningful cultural work doesn’t happen in isolation—it’s built through listening, collaboration, adaptability and trust,” artistic director Jova Lynn told Observer.
The Essentials With Carley Fortune: “Off Campus,” Tofino and All Things Barry’s Bay
The bestselling novelist shares the settings, shows, skincare and travel staples she returns to, from Barry’s Bay nostalgia to Tofino’s foggy coastline.
Power Lists
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Observer New Media Power List: Call for Submissions
Nominations are open for Observer’s 2026 New Media Power List
The 50 Most Powerful PR Firms of 2026
This year’s honorees are emblematic of a notable shift in public relations from responsive publicity to proactive leadership in the moments that matter most.
Wall-to-Wall Cultural Capital: Inside Observer’s Art Power Index Party
Under the dim lights of the Lower East Side’s Maison Nur, art world luminaries gathered to celebrate Observer’s Art Power Index—and each other. From the impassioned speeches to the sharp tailoring and Damien Hirst over the bar, the evening embodied our legacy of chronicling power with style.
2025 Nightlife & Dining Power Index
Humanity is still the most vital ingredient in hospitality, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
Observer’s 2025 Art Power Index: The Art Market’s Most Influential People
Their acquisitions, affinities and approbations move the needle on valuation and redefine how art is made, shown and sold.
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LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault Says He Uses A.I. Weekly to Design Products
LVMH is scaling A.I. from product design to retail operations, with CEO Bernard Arnault personally testing A.I. tools on a weekly basis.
With Roku, Murdoch’s Fox May Have Found the Smarter Way to Win Streaming
Fox sat out much of the costly content arms race, and Roku now gives it a way to monetize the platforms where that battle plays out.
“Climate Clock” in Oulu Reckons With a Warming World
Curator Alice Sharp describes the project as an attempt to step outside the ordinary tyranny of clock time and into something else: a space “between the tick and the tock,” where new worlds can be imagined.
Lachlan Murdoch Pushes Fox Deeper Into Streaming With $22B Roku Deal
Murdoch is betting on Roku to accelerate Fox’s next phase of streaming growth. The Roku acquisition would unlock user data, expand reach and position the company as a leader in the fast-growing CTV ad market.
Michael Gallagher’s ‘The Leader’ Drops the Ball Dramatically
The film, which screened at Tribeca, is shockingly dull for a tale of people so impassioned that they were willing to kill themselves based on misguided beliefs about the world and about themselves.
In Basel, a Cautious But Committed Market Rediscovers Its Nerve
“Art Basel remains the most important fair of the year… It starts strong, and it stays strong.”
Performa’s Broadway Benefit Brought Fresh Magic to an Old Format
Fifty artists gathered at New York’s Town Hall theater for one unforgettable vaudeville-inspired evening of live performance art.
‘Giant’ and the Seduction of Certainty
Director and playwright Moisés Kaufman sees the play’s power not in its denouncement of antisemitism but in its depiction of how antisemitism persists.
At Liste Basel, Market Trends Give Way to Explorations of Contemporary Anxiety
While the usual sense of urgency was lacking, dealers reported that collector response on opening day was solid.
The Insider’s Guide to Athens, Beyond the Greek Island Stopover
The city most travelers once rushed through now makes a better case for lingering, with serious hotels, ambitious kitchens, late-night bars and enough energy to make the islands feel almost optional.
New York’s Design Sales Offered a Clearer Picture of What Serious Collectors Want
From French postwar design and American studio craft to ceramics, Tiffany lamps and contemporary collectibles, buyers at Sotheby’s and Phillips pursued rarity in all its forms.
The 10 Most Exciting Restaurants Opening in New York City This June
From a bar on a boat to the long-awaited unveiling of a food hall in a historic space, June’s openings are built for summer.
