Latest
Mavisbank House: abandoned Scottish 18th-century mansion to be rescued at last
The the house near Edinburgh is considered one of Britain’s most important buildings—but also its most derelict
Courtauld show to make Monet’s 1905 London ‘dream’ exhibition a reality
Three weeks before a planned London gallery show of his paintings of Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, the “perfectionist” Impressionist pulled out, dissatisfied with the state of his canvases
Painting stolen from Chatsworth House 45 years ago discovered at auction
The oil on wood painting by Eramus Quelliness II was taken in a raid in 1979, though the thieves left behind much more valuable works
Possible Ancient Egyptian structure identified beside the Giza pyramids
The discovery of the L-shaped object was made in an ancient Egyptian elite cemetery beside the Great Pyramid of Khufu
Jacob Lawrence’s painting series on Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture to be conserved thanks to $1m grant
The Amistad Research Center in New Orleans has received a grant from the Terra Foundation to get the 41 paintings ready for their first public exhibition since 2010
TAN careers
We're hiring! Assistant Digital Editor, London office
The Art Newspaper is looking for an art journalist to join its London team
Partnerships and Fairs Coordinator, London office
The Art Newspaper is looking for a dynamic and strategic Partnerships and Fairs Coordinator to join its London team
Exhibitions
Steve McQueen: the Oscar-winner who still sees himself first and foremost as an artist
In his new commission for Dia Beacon, the British artist and director has focused on the trauma of African enslavement and the creation of a Black Atlantic culture with a screenless composition of light, colour and sound
Eduardo Chillida show shines a light on lesser-known works inspired by summer holidays in Menorca
The Hauser & Wirth exhibition of "lighter" pieces by the Basque artist—best known for his huge steel sculptures—commemorates his centenary
How four gardens became important spaces of experimentation and creativity for the Bloomsbury Group women
An exhibition at the Garden Museum in London unearths the freedoms that were fostered by outdoor life
Late Michelangelo drawings—including his deeply meditative crucifixions—explored in London exhibition
British Museum show focuses on the final three decades of the Italian master’s life
Museums & Heritage
Portrait of Charles I's children revealed to be by inventor of tri-colour printing
The print by Jacob Christoph le Blon, which hung under a staircase of a Norfolk mansion, was thought to be a copy of a work by Anthony Van Dyck
Possible Ancient Egyptian structure identified beside the Giza pyramids
The discovery of the L-shaped object was made in an ancient Egyptian elite cemetery beside the Great Pyramid of Khufu
Brazil’s National Museum receives donation of more than 1,100 fossils—including those of rare dinosaurs
The museum has been slowly rebuilding ever since an electrical fire devastated its building and collection in 2018
Letter to the editor | ‘Charging fees to enter British museums is not the answer, it is a signifier that culture is for someone else’
Rather than creating another “psychological barrier” to culture, leaders and institutions could be thinking about more fair ways to fund the sector, writes Will Jennings
Bard College plans $10m expansion of Center for Curatorial Studies’ library
The expansion of the influential programme’s library and archives will be named the Keith Haring Wing in recognition of a gift from the artist’s foundation
Art market
Have artist-run shows lost their market-making power?
The current focus on biennials obscures a past when artists reset the agenda
Romania’s Rad fair returns bigger and better for round two
Participating gallery numbers up in second edition of the Bucharest art fair
Four ex-staffers say Nino Mier Gallery underpaid multiple artists and pocketed the difference
A series of documents from 2018-19, seen by The Art Newspaper, shows that five artists on the dealer’s roster were shortchanged by as much as 54% on some sales
Klimt portrait surrounded by mystery sells for €30m in Vienna
The price paid by a buyer from Hong Kong was at the lower end of the estimate range, but still an auction record for Austria
Man who sold 145 fraudulent Peter Max paintings sentenced to 14 months in prison
More than 40 people bought what they thought were original paintings by Max, but were in fact prints to which the seller had added paint and signatures
Frank Stella (1936-2024)
One of the leading exponents of abstract art for the past half-century, Stella died on 4 May 2024, aged 87. The landmark "Black Paintings" series marked him out as a Minimalist in the 1960s before he expanded his range to include brightly coloured shaped canvases, relief paintings, large-scale sculpture and architecture
Frank Stella, a painter's painter and one of the leading abstract artists of his generation, has died, aged 87
His landmark "Black Paintings" series marked Stella as a Minimalist in the 1960s before he expanded his range to include brightly coloured pieces on shaped canvases, relief paintings, large-scale sculpture and work with architects
From the archive | A 2009 studio visit with the king of the one-liner Frank Stella in the fallout from the global financial crash
The artist reveals that his cavernous upstate New York studio includes a Formula 1 racing car that had "drifted in", and is packed with art following the recent cancellation of two exhibitions in Europe: "It's not good"
From the archive—Frank Stella in 2012 on upcoming exhibitions in Zaragoza and Wolfsburg
Stella discusses a collaboration with the architect Santiago Calatrava in the lead-up to a major retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
From the archive: Frank Stella in 1999 — 'I started, and I think I am going to finish, as a committed abstractionist'
The American artist talked about working to commission, exploring the creative tension between figurative and abstract art, his debt to artists of the past and his views on artists of today
From the archive: Frank Stella in 2015—on his Whitney retrospective
As a major exhibition opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the US artist reflects on how beauty is “a given” in art—and how, after nearly 60 years, he is still pursuing “the problems of painting”
Technology
News, background and analysis on the latest tech developments—artificial intelligence tools; Web3, the blockchain, NFTs; virtual and augmented reality; social media platforms—and how they affect the art market, museums, artists and curators.
In Tokyo, teamLab's giant new immersive space opens glittering portals of the imagination
The light-filled, interactive, spaces at teamLab Borderless offer “full-body joy” to the author's school-age children—as well as some cool selfies
Aleksandra Artamonovskaja is appointed head of arts for TriliTech, the entrepreneurship team supporting Tezos blockchain
Artamonovskaja, a leading consultant and moderator in the Web3 world, will oversee development of opportunities for artists across the Tezos ecosystem
On process: Refik Anadol seeks to demystify AI art by showing how it is put together
The media artist's "Echoes of the Earth: Living Archive" at Serpentine Galleries, London, goes for radical clarity on its raw data sources and the make-up of Anadol's artificial intelligence Large Nature Model
Robert Alice breaks new ground with auction of generative art NFTs on Christie's 3.0
Auction house sees maturing of market since the heady days of 2021 as works by the digital art pioneer are sold in combination with launch of their catalogue raisonné-like historical survey "On NFTs"
Quantum leap: how a decade of NFTs has changed digital art
Two books take a look at the past and future of the non-fungible token. Once seen as the creature of market hype, the NFT now promises the first shared technical standard for the digital art world
Book Club
A move to London, the famous logo and liquid lunches: a short history of Thames & Hudson
As it marks its 75th anniversary, we hear how the “amazing melting pot” of Vienna shaped the publisher’s identity and what’s in store for the future
An expert's guide to colour: five must-read books on all things chromatic
All you ever wanted to know about the topic, from our difficult relationship with colour to a remarkable monochrome children’s book—selected by the colour historian Alexandra Loske
The art critic Robert Storr on the slow road to social and racial justice
A new series of books titled Focal Points launches with three volumes of essays and articles by the former curator
May Book Bag: from a compilation of Eva Hesse exhibitions to a guide for tackling Nazi loot in museums
Our round-up of the latest art publications
Books
‘Shamefully duped’: friend of convicted art fraudster Inigo Philbrick spills the beans in new memoir
In the warts-and all publication, Orlando Whitfield discusses his 15-year friendship with Philbrick while offering insights into the world of art dealing
From pews to power stations: a history of interwar British architecture that some feared might not be published
Gavin Stamp’s final book offers a fitting memorial to the architectural historian and Private Eye columnist
Ghosts of America’s ‘Street of Dreams’: a comprehensive book brings the history of New York’s Fifth Avenue to life
Established in the early 1800s, the street was once home to the city’s grandest houses, but many were soon replaced by towering apartment buildings, shops and hotels. A comprehensive book brings this history to life
The Week in Art
A podcast bringing you the latest news from the art world, every week
The Week in Art podcast | Should UK museums charge for entry? Plus, Michelangelo’s last decades and Maria Blanchard
The case for and against the policy of free admission for UK museums, a tour of the British Museum's new Michelangelo show and an in-depth look at Maria Blanchard’s Girl at Her First Communion in Malaga
Opinion
'Why British museums must start charging entrance fees'
Low pay for museum workers, decreased local authority spending and a theft scandal have highlighted that "it’s time for some difficult choices," says the writer and broadcaster Ben Lewis
The €5 tourist tax to enter Venice kicks in: 15,700 tickets sold but this will not solve the city’s problems
Day visitors should pay €25 as for the Uffizi but be made proud to help save the city
'Enjoy the Venice Biennale, everyone—but be aware it's taking place in a dying city'
Venice can still be saved from the rising water level: here’s how
'UK school art curriculum should reflect diversity efforts in our institutions'
Research by the Runnymede Trust found that only 2.3% of artists named in GCSE Art papers over the last five years were Black or Asian
Venice Biennale 2024
Pro-Palestine protests continue at Venice Biennale
One protester was held by police while a "Freedom Boat" attracted hundreds of visitors
Venice Biennale 2024 review | Intimacy and violence: 'Foreigners Everywhere' explodes the Biennale model
Adriano Pedrosa's international exhibition combines the old and new to undermine Western narratives, but still creates a compelling survey of global contemporary art, in which Queer art stands out
Venice Biennale 2024: our pick of collateral shows
Alongside the main event, there's a plethora of exhibitions vying for visitors' attention. We've selected some of our favourites, ranging from Shahzia Sikander fairytale gothic palace to Andrzej Wróblewski's poignant depictions of war
The legacy and mystery of the display of Native American art at the 1932 Venice Biennale
Remarkably little is known about the selection, reception and whereabouts of the Native art shown in the US pavilion at the 18th Biennale
Venice Biennale 2024: the worst art on show in the city
There's a lot to see during this year's edition of the city-wide event, so we've rounded up a few things you might want to skip
Lord Byron bicentenary
The scandal-ridden, global celebrity poet, who inspired artists of the stature of Turner and Delacroix, was the best-known cultural figure of his age and died a hero to the cause of Greek independence on 19 April 1824
School of Lord Byron: how the first global celebrity influenced art, portraiture and attitudes to built heritage
JMW Turner, Eugène Delacroix and Théodore Géricault were among the artists inspired by the much-portrayed poet whose concern for Venice and the Parthenon Marbles has a resonance 200 years after his death
Poetic pose: Lord Byron the image-conscious Romantic in five portraits
The face of the scandal-ridden, best-selling celebrity poet—who died 200 years ago, and had a great influence on 19th-century artists and composers—was better known in his era than that of anyone save Napoloen Bonaparte
Bicentenary appeal seeks to move Byron memorial to prominent site in London's Hyde Park
Group launches £360,000 fund to re-site 1880 statue isolated on UK capital's roundabout
From the archive: The enigmatic spirit of Lord Byron on show at London's National Portrait Gallery
The poet's biographer Fiona MacCarthy placed the Romantic Regency poet in the context of 20th-century film stardom
Diary
Seeing the light: Caravaggio steals the Netflix show Ripley
The Baroque bad boy plays a leading role in a new adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley
Jane Fonda and Larry Gagosian work it for the planet
The Oscar-winning actress and the art dealer have teamed up to support California's fight against oil drilling
Proud mum Madonna drops in on son Rocco’s Miami show
His "Pack a Punch" paintings are inspired by Thai boxers
Museum employee hangs his own art in Munich institution—and gets the chop
Budding artist surreptitiously displayed his work alongside art by Andy Warhol
A brush with... podcast
A podcast that asks artists the questions you've always wanted to
A brush with... Kapwani Kiwanga
An in-depth interview with the artist on her cultural experiences and greatest influences, from residencies in Paris to the jazz legend Sun Ra
Obituaries
Dinh Q. Lê, master of multimedia art and mentor to fellow artists across southeast Asia, has died, aged 56
Vietnamese-American artist, best known for his distinctive photo-weaving works, made powerful statements in photography, video, sculpture and installation that challenged politics, history and memory
Richard Serra, creator of audacious steel sculptures, has died aged 85
The American sculptor received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale
Antoine Predock, architect of distinctive museums in the US and Canada, has died, aged 87
His Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Tang Teaching Museum and Tacoma Art Museum were typical of an approach that melded modernism and post-modernism into a characteristically unpredictable aesthetic
Lucas Samaras, tirelessly adventurous New York artist, has died, aged 87
The Greek American artist was always willing to try new forms and materials, working across sculpture, photography, performance, installation and more
Remembering Jacob Rothschild, banker, collector, philanthropist, and a towering figure in the British art world
A scion of the famous banking dynasty, he led the National Gallery, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Waddesdon Manor
Adventures with Van Gogh
Adventures with Van Gogh is a weekly blog by Martin Bailey, our long-standing correspondent and expert on the artist. Published every Friday, his stories range from newsy items about this most intriguing artist to scholarly pieces based on his own meticulous investigations and discoveries.
The fate of a Van Gogh flower painting destined for Japan’s 'Sheer Pleasure' pavilion
Kojiro Matsukata’s still life was destroyed in a London fire and his “Van Gogh’s Bedroom” was seized during the Second World War