News

The week in art news – Jean-Luc Martinez appointed ‘interim’ president of the Louvre

Plus: French court rules that commercial galleries must remain closed, and more stories

16 Apr 2021
A detail of the possible Cavaraggio

The week in art news – Spain stops a suspected Caravaggio from leaving the country

Plus: French galleries are suing the government to reopen, Egypt moves its royal mummies in a a televised extravaganza, and more stories

9 Apr 2021
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, with the restored balcony.

The week in art news – V&A revises plan to restructure departments

Plus: Mali and Unesco receive symbolic reparations for Timbuktu destruction, France pledges €500,000 for Sursock Museum repairs, and more stories

1 Apr 2021
German culture minister Monika Grütters at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.

The week in art news – German culture minister calls for national strategy on Benin Bronzes

The German culture minister, Monika Grütters, has called a meeting next month of museums and states to form ‘a national…

26 Mar 2021

Germany moves closer to returning Benin Bronzes

The German government has reportedly been in talks about the return of German-held Benin Bronzes, raising hopes of their imminent restitution

24 Mar 2021
The Met Museum is considering a policy change that would mirror the AAMD’s temporary relaxation of guidelines, allowing it to use deaccessioning funds for collection care.

The week in art news – US museums vote against permanent easing of deaccessioning guidelines

Plus: V&A pauses plans to make National Art Library staff redundant | Lacaton & Vassal win Pritzker Architecture Prize | and David Alan Harvey resigns from Magnum

19 Mar 2021
Everydays: The First 5,000 Days (detail; 2021), Beeple. Courtesy Christie’s

The week in art news – Christie’s sells jpeg by digital artist for a record $69m

On Thursday a digital artwork sold for $69.3m at Christie’s in New York. The work, titled Everydays: The First 5,000…

12 Mar 2021
A view of Museum Island and the Bode Museum in Berlin.

The week in art news – museums in Germany to open from Monday

Plus: V&A to merge departments and cut 140 jobs | UK government announces £390m to help arts venues reopen | Alan Bowness (1928–2021) | and missing Jacob Lawrence painting discovered in Manhattan

5 Mar 2021
Panel 28 (detail; 1956) from Struggle: From the History of the American People, (1954–56), Jacob Lawrence.

Missing Jacob Lawrence painting discovered in Manhattan apartment

The panel from one of the American painter’s great narrative series is the second to have shown up by chance in quick succession

3 Mar 2021

The week in art news – Amnesty report points to massacre in Ethiopian town of Axum

Plus: Swiss museums reopen next week, while UK museums must wait until May | Experts confirm message on The Scream is by Munch | and National Gallery in London and Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin update Hugh Lane bequest deal

26 Feb 2021
The Scream (detail; 1893), Edvard Munch.

Experts confirm Edvard Munch wrote secret message on The Scream

Experts have confirmed that the writing on The Scream is in Munch’s handwriting

22 Feb 2021

The week in art news – head of Indianapolis Museum of Art resigns after controversial job ad

Plus: National Gallery in London launches design competition to rethink Sainsbury Wing, and more stories

19 Feb 2021
Mayor Louis Aliot at the Hyacinthe Rigaud Museum, Perpignan, on 9 February.

The week in art news – far-right French mayor reopens museums in defiance of Covid shutdown

Plus: Getty Trust launches $38.5m LA arts recovery fund | Neal Benezra to depart as head of SFMoMA | Mayor of London names members of diversity commission | CEO of Royal British Columbia Museum resigns after racism inquiry

12 Feb 2021
Photograph from an exhibition of the Guelph Treasure in Berlin in 2015.

The week in art news – US Supreme Court rules for Germany in Guelph Treasure case

Plus: Germany announces a second €1bn bailout for culture | Dutch government agrees to return all stolen objects to former colonies | and French museums press for reopening

5 Feb 2021

The week in art news – Botticelli painting sells for $92m at auction

Plus: Centre Pompidou to close for three years of renovations | TEFAF Maastricht postponed to September | City of Bruges to build major new exhibition space

29 Jan 2021
All the fun of this year’s fair has been postponed from June to September.

The week in art news – Art Basel postponed to September

Plus: Bozar damaged by fire | and City of London to remove statues with slavery links

22 Jan 2021
Photo: Maxime Aubert/Griffith Center for Social Science and Cultural Research

The week in art news – world’s oldest animal painting found in Indonesia

Plus: Smithsonian scales back $2bn redevelopment plan | Naomi Beckwith appointed deputy director and chief curator of Guggenheim | and Champs-Élysées to be turned into ‘extraordinary garden’

15 Jan 2021
The Indian parliament building (Sansad Bhavan), designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912–13, in New Delhi.

The week in art news – Indian Supreme Court approves plans for new parliament complex

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India dismissed objections to the construction of a new parliament complex in New Delhi. The plans, announced…

8 Jan 2021

Bill restituting artefacts to Benin and Senegal passes into French law

The French parliament has finalised the restitution of 26 artefacts to the Republic of Benin and one to Senegal. Speaking…

18 Dec 2020
A view of the National Mall and the United States Capitol from the top of the Washington Monument

The week in art news – lone US senator blocks bills to create national Latino and women’s museums

Mike Lee, the senior senator for the state of Utah, voted on Thursday against a pair of bills to create…

11 Dec 2020
Demonstrators protesting against job losses at the Tate in July 2020.

The week in art news – Tate to cut 120 gallery jobs to reduce losses

The Tate has announced that it will be making a second round of redundancies, just months after cutting 295 jobs…

4 Dec 2020
Manchester Art Gallery will not reopen on 2 December after the national lockdown in England ends.

The week in art news – continuing restrictions mean a patchy reopening for European museums

As a second phase of national lockdowns across Europe comes to an end, the reopening of museums will proceed at…

27 Nov 2020
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center in Washington, D.C., with the Washington Monument and National Mall in the background.

The week in art news – Smithsonian and other US museums close amid Covid surge

A surge in Covid-19 cases has led to the closure of museums in multiple states across the US. The Smithsonian…

20 Nov 2020
Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The week in art news – controversial road tunnel near Stonehenge gets the go-ahead

The Secretary of State for Transport has approved plans to build a road tunnel for the A303 motorway near Stonehenge.…

13 Nov 2020