The Artful Life: 7 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week
From an 18th-century finca that’s been reimagined as an 11-room boutique hotel in Menorca to a cultural clubhouse for collectible car enthusiasts in Brooklyn
1. An 18th-Century Finca in Menorca Is Reimagined as an 11-Room Boutique Hotel
The hotel portfolio of Vestige Collection encompasses rustic villas and romantic lodges artfully restored by regional craftsmen using traditional methods that preserve the charming patina of the 18th-century structure. The newest addition, Vestige Binidufà, welcomes its first guests on April 30, immersing travelers in restful spaces that open to the breathtaking natural environment of Menorca. The sister property to last summer’s debut, Son Ermità, Binidufà occupies an older building on the 2,000-acre private estate, incorporating 11 bedrooms outfitted with an earthy palette, natural materials, contemporary art, antiques, and locally crafted furniture designed by the in-house studio Vestige Estudio. Guests can move freely between Binidufà and Son Ermità, enjoying the plant-forward dining at the former’s restaurant Mesura or the Mediterranean cuisine served at the latter’s spot Brisa. Spa programming celebrates the surrounding environment with massages and treatments utilizing products made with indigenous herbs and flowers, while hiking and biking trails winding throughout the bucolic grounds dotted with olive trees, aromatic rosemary, and lush fig trees provide the most picturesque wellness offering imaginable.—Jill Sieracki
2. Zurbarán at the National Gallery, London Puts a Fresh Spotlight on 17th Century Master
Francisco de Zurbarán has spent three centuries in the shadow of Diego de Velázquez. He is usually the third of his contemporaries mentioned after fellow Spanish Baroque masters Velázquez and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. A 2003 Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, “Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting,” platformed Zurbarán as a progenitor for Impressionism alongside his aforementioned contemporaries as well as Goya and El Greco, but The National Gallery’s new London show, “Zurbarán,” is his first U.K. retrospective.
Opening this Saturday, May 2, “Zurbarán” features nearly 50 paintings generously spread through six rooms in the recently renovated Sainsbury Wing. It showcases his excellence across multiple sub-genres. His still lifes are calm yet intense, and his glowingly colorized large-scale images of female saints have the humanizing intimacy of portraits. It’s time to rediscover Zurbarán. The exhibit runs through August 23. —Rena Gross
3. Sullivan Owen Introduces Limited-Edition Baby Twist Pearl Vase
Just in time for Mother’s Day gifting, ceramic artist Sullivan Owen is releasing a limited-edition Baby Twist vase with a Mother of Pearl finish, a noted departure from her usual porcelain and satin-glaze creations. Limited to just 99 editions, with each numbered and signed by Owen, the vase features a subtle iridescent surface that shifts in the light, making it both the perfect vessel for any blooming bouquet or a shimmering piece of collectible design ready to be displayed.—Alexandria Sillo
4. Brooklyn’s Car Part Time Reimagines the Garage as a Cultural Clubhouse
Car Part Time introduces a fresh venue for automotive culture in Brooklyn, conceived by bicoastal studio Office of Tangible Space as both clubhouse and showroom. Housed within a 2,000-square-foot concrete garage, the interior frames a rotating selection of collectible cars alongside a program of cultural events that reflect its role as a licensed dealer. Floor-to-ceiling mustard linen curtains temper the industrial shell before revealing an open plan organized around six vehicle displays, a bar, a listening station, and a lounge. Vintage pendants sourced from Edward Durell Stone’s 1962 SUNY Albany campus cast each car in a warm glow, while a Hay sectional, Percival Lafer lounge chairs, and a Thomas Gayet cocktail table reminiscent of a car grille lend a residential ease. Avocatus quartzite, walnut, aluminum, and cognac leather introduce rich surfaces that stylishly echo the craft of classic automobiles. —Ryan Waddoups
5. Matthieu Blazy’s First Chanel Cruise Collection Is Breezily Fun in Biarritz
All eyes in the fashion world were on the Tuesday afternoon livestream of the Chanel Cruise 2026/27 in Biarritz for what’s next in Matthieu Blazy’s stewardship of the hallowed brand. The signs are all positive. There’s a coral lace beaded gown that does a dressy take on the boho crocheted beach cover-up, takes on the striped jersey tops that Coco Chanel popularized in her early boutiques, and some very fun renditions of Wellington galoshes. Other highlights include loose-fitting, lounge-y versions of the classic tweed suit, playful flounced skirts in stripes and patterns, stylized giant interpretations of the classic interlocking Cs incorporated into some of the garments themselves, and fresh, youthful use of color all around. As a witty final touch, some of the models wore the cutest little bathing caps since the silent film era. —R.G.
6. Fortuny Adorns Two Special Limited-Editions of Assouline’s New Title Venice, La Serenissima
Written by Venetian historian Alberto Toso Fei, with a foreword from world-renowned architect Peter Marino, Assouline presents Venice, La Serenissima, one of its most historically ambitious titles in its Ultimate Collection. To mark such a monumental occasion, the book is being offered in a standard Ultimate Collection edition and in two limited Special Editions, which feature a bespoke, handmade clamshell created in partnership with Venice’s Fortuny. Limited to one hundred copies in each version of the Special Edition, readers may opt for a clamshell in Fortuny’s Richelieu or Pigne fabrics. Both Special Edition options include a copper title plaque and a hand-painted plaster medallion of the Lion of Venice. Inside the book, readers will dive deep into the historical influence Venice has had on modern culture, including the Biennale, and find iconic photographs from Helmut Newton and Cecil Beaton. —A.S.
7. At the Jordan Schnitzer Museum, Mimi Jung’s Loom-Bound Sculptures Rise and Transform
The loom has long been central to Mimi Jung’s practice, guiding a labor-intensive process that creates dense, tactile assemblages from such unconventional materials as paper and foam. At the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Washington State University, her solo exhibition “An Unfinished Origin” gathers recent works that probe states of transition and transformation. Large-scale fiber constructions push beyond the wall, their bundled cords and manipulated warp structures extending into sculptural territory while maintaining a clear lineage to weaving. Jung also expands her language through casting, a method she explored during a 2020 residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, translating handwoven pieces into brass sculptures that register a shift in material and weight. At the center of the exhibition stands Certain Uncertainty (2026), a vivid yellow installation that rises from the gallery floor in cascading strands, its suspended cords drawing the eye upward as it occupies the room’s full height. —R.W.