Latest
Framing Van Gogh: why the artist preferred not to surround his works with gold
The National Gallery’s blockbuster exhibition, ‘Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers’, provides an unusual opportunity to see how the artist’s works have been framed by their owners
‘Can you match the colour of your work to my couch?’: Inside the world of private art commissions
Artists are regularly asked to create pieces to suit the particular tastes of buyers—but taking direction suits some more than others
Comment | Don’t try to keep working-class students in a narrow educational lane
This idea of exposing working-class school students only to the stories of working-class heroes, at the expense of “middle-class pursuits” such as museums, is misguided
David Lynch, artist and film-maker who portrayed America’s dark side with surreal humour and violence, has died, aged 78
Lynch trained as a painter before becoming a successful film-maker and ultimately returning to visual art in recent decades
Ancient Roman statue of Athena goes on public view for first time in more than 200 years
The Halsted A&A Foundation is displaying its recent acquisition at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago starting 25 January
The Week in Art
A podcast bringing you the latest news from the art world, every week
Los Angeles wildfires, World Monuments Fund’s watch list, a Hokusai drawing manual—podcast
How the most devastating fires in Southern Californian history are affecting artists and art workers, plus chats about the work the WMF is doing to protect world heritage and a new book about Katsushika Hokusai’s methods
The Year Ahead 2025: market predictions, the big shows and openings—podcast
2024 in review: the biggest stories and the best shows - podcast
Carsten Höller, Takashi Murakami, sounds of the US-Mexico border — podcast
Art Basel Miami Beach, Notre-Dame reopens in Paris, and Parmigianino’s Vision of St Jerome—podcast
Art and technology shows in London and Los Angeles, a restored 17th-century cosmic atlas—podcast
World Economic Forum in Davos
How the World Economic Forum is offering a global stage for collaboration between art and technology
With a focus on melting ice caps, Joseph Fowler, the World Economic Forum’s head of arts and culture, completes an environmental trilogy of opening concerts at the forum's annual meeting in Davos
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: the artist’s life in Davos
For 20 years, the troubled Expressionist found refuge, respite and inspiration in the Alpine town
Refik Anadol: the AI artist sounding the alarm on glacial destruction
For his third artwork presented at Davos 2025, the artist uses artificial intelligence to highlight the devastating impact of climate change
Maria Balshaw: ‘Attitudes towards sustainability have shifted much faster in the last three to five years’
The director of the Tate discusses the measures that the global museum sector is taking to address the climate and environmental crisis
Gary Tyler: the quilt artist who speaks up for the unjustly incarcerated
Released after being wrongly imprisoned for 41 years, the US artist spreads a message of hope and optimism
Art market
Eyeing growth, Art Dubai makes two senior appointments
Group behind the UAE's biggest fair has selected Alexie Glass-Kantor as executive director, curatorial, and Dunja Gottweis as fair director
Guillaume Cerutti steps down as Christie's chief executive—but will stay within Pinault's orbit
He will be replaced by the president of Christie's America, Bonnie Brennan
UK tax changes spell trouble for artist estates
Labour government’s first budget extends inheritance tax, while non-doms are moving to Italy and the UAE
Los Angeles dealer Douglas Chrismas sentenced to prison time for embezzlement
The Ace Gallery founder has also been ordered to pay back millions in restitution
The art world according to Marc Spiegler: former Art Basel boss launches online course
In collaboration with the events platform Art Market Minds, the ten-hour programme will dissect the rapidly shifting contemporary art ecosystem
Museums & Heritage
Getty and other arts organisations launch $12m relief fund for victims of Los Angeles wildfires
The LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund will provide support to artists and cultural workers affected by the fires
Artists at London's ICA stage mass walkout in support of pro-Palestine protesters
The institution has described the protests at the opening of its New Contemporaries exhibition as "misguided"
Ancient Incan tunnel system discovered in the Andes
A Chinkana, or labyrinth, with three branches has been found beneath the ancient city of Cusco
Out of this world: the Moon features on World Monuments Fund’s list of threatened sites
For the first time, the list of threatened heritage sites raises awareness beyond Earth’s atmosphere
Mary Miss and Des Moines Art Center settle lawsuit over Land art piece's demolition
The artist had sought to force the museum to repair her 1996 outdoor installation, while the institution claimed it could only afford to tear it down
Exhibitions
The self-styled ‘first English abstract artist’ Paule Vézelay gets an overdue exhibition
The show at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol will explore the little-known artist’s remarkable life and career
‘The event as spectacle’: how Weegee’s photographs were more than just documentations of life
An exhibition at the International Center of Photography will explore the larger-than-life photographer’s ability to create sensational images, whether photographing the hoodlums of New York or stars of Hollywood
Tadek Beutlich, from Second World War soldier to master weaver in the picturesque village of Ditchling
An exhibition at the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft untangles the life and work of the Polish-born artist who reinvented craft weaving as an art form
January's must-see exhibitions: Weegee, Tadek Beutlich and the ‘first English abstract artist’
The Art Newspaper's pick of the top shows to see around the world this month
‘We deserved a better time on this earth’: New York’s Palo Gallery showcases Palestinian photography
Three artists living in exile collaborated on the exhibition "Longing: In Between Homelands"
Book Club
‘The painter in me did not die’: novelist Orhan Pamuk turns his hand to art
Notebooks filled with the Turkish author's drawings reflect events spanning the past decade
An expert’s guide to Brazilian Modernism: five must-read books on the subject
All you ever wanted to know about the topic, from its impact on global Modernist art to a novel capturing the “atmosphere of heady excitement”—selected by the curator Rebecca Bray
‘An impossible stillness that artists have chased’: Alvaro Barrington on Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ
In this exclusive extract from a new book, the London-based artist explains why Piero’s painting is his favourite in the National Gallery collection
Magnum’s opus of America: a new photography compendium reveals the many sides of the US
The publication’s co-editor Peter van Agtmael chooses seven key images from legendary agency’s new book
Opinion
Comment | Why seeing art by train should be the next big thing
Flying to an exhibition is increasingly unjustifiable. But by choosing the train, visitors can enjoy endless, inspiring encounters with art and life
Comment | What happens behind the scenes at the museum is what really matters
From delicate cleaning to forklifts, the unseen, but crucial, investment often goes unnoticed
Comment | Why the road to the sale of Frieze is a winding one
The potential sale raises questions around how to value the prestigious and unique art brand
Comment | Despite what some critics claim, art today isn’t really too obsessed with ‘social justice’
In viral essays and beyond, those who bemoan the dominance of identity politics in museums often reveal more of their own biases than of the art world's
The Year in Review: escalating art attacks and responses to war
This year has been marked by a rising number of politically-motivated attacks on art. But we should not forget the power of art to unite diverse groups of people
Obituaries
Pippa Garner, art and gender provocateur, has died, aged 82
Garner's witty deviations in form, text and body addressed the consumerism and sameness plaguing US culture
Jimmy Carter, the US president and Renaissance man who believed in art and rock and roll, has died, aged 100
The Southern Baptist peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, was a dedicated amateur portraitist and made a deep cultural impact when in office
Joe Average, Canadian artist and Aids activist, has died, aged 67
Known for his bold, bright-hued paintings, prints and murals, Average was a pillar of Vancouver’s creative community
Zilia Sánchez, Cuban artist renowned for shaped, abstract canvases, has died, aged 98
Sánchez, who fled Cuba and ultimately settled in Puerto Rico, only achieved widespread critical acclaim late in her career
Lorraine O’Grady, conceptual artist who dissected language and dualities, has died, aged 90
O’Grady, who devoted herself to art in her early forties, spent the ensuing decades making incisive works that spanned photography, collage, performance and more
David Lynch, artist and film-maker who portrayed America’s dark side with surreal humour and violence, has died, aged 78
Books
Beetlejuice and beyond: the origins of Tim Burton’s world of gothic romance and its enduring influence
Catalogue accompanying exhibition at London’s Design Museum explores the US film-maker’s unique aesthetic
Intense repartee: a collection of letters that the critic John Berger exchanged with his artist son
The correspondence between John and Yves Berger is both moving and enlightening
Two books explore Piet Mondrian's journey into abstraction—and his posthumous influence on 1960s fashion
How, two decades after his death, did Mondrian become a brand icon, and make a lasting contribution to the “youthquake”?
This newly translated volume compiles the photographic traces of a libidinous love affair
Author Annie Ernaux and journalist Marc Marie’s collaborative memoir documents a passionate yet haunted relationship
The arts should be recognised as a key part of what it means to be human, argues a new publication
An urgent treatise on the decommodification of culture by the professor of cultural economy Justin O’Connor
Compelling prose and lyrical turns in Sally Mann’s poignant and, at times, shocking memoir
The stuff of nightmares: catalogue of Alfred Kubin’s work shines a light on his dark world
London’s lost interiors: new volume reveals the famous homes of aristocrats, society figures and artists
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.
Framing Van Gogh: why the artist preferred not to surround his works with gold
The National Gallery’s blockbuster exhibition, ‘Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers’, provides an unusual opportunity to see how the artist’s works have been framed by their owners
Once the most expensive painting ever auctioned, has a long hidden Van Gogh portrait been rediscovered?
A brush with... podcast
A podcast that asks artists the questions you've always wanted to
A brush with… Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset — podcast
In the first episode of A brush with featuring an artist duo, Elmgreen and Dragset discuss their influences, and the cultural experiences that have shaped their lives and work
A brush with… Hank Willis Thomas — podcast
Podcast | Episode 100: A brush with… Marlene Dumas
Diary
As part of a new campaign, David Hockney is encouraging the nation to get drawing
The artist's Draw! project is part of the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
En suite art? London exhibition opens in an Airbnb
East End show highlights the ‘commodification of the domestic’ say the organisers
Stellar work: Mercury crater named after artist Ruth Asawa
The Japanese-American sculptor is the 23rd woman to be given the honour—compared with 100 men
Elon Musk serves up disconcerting AI art
The controversial billionaire failed to spot a contemporary car in Caillebotte picture altered using artificial intelligence by Luma
Go big or go to the London gallery offering small beautiful art
Flowers Gallery has opened its annual exhibition of little pieces
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.
Oliviero Toscani, Italian photographer known for his provocative fashion campaigns, dies aged 82
His work for brands such as Benetton sparked conversations about issues including the Aids crisis and anorexia
Immersive inspirations: three key developments from 2024
It was a big year for immersive art, with major institutions getting involved, new virtual reality kit, and a groundbreaking event in Venice
Does Trump’s return spell boom or bust for the NFT art market?
Experts are sceptical that the NFT market will ever rebound to its 2021 levels, but the crypto asset sector may still manage to take over the art world one way or the other
Palestine Museum US launches NFT collection in support of Gaza artists
The museum released a non-fungible token of a work by the Gazan artist Mohammed Alhaj to kick off the new initiative
‘It surprised me’: artist finds inspiration in what AI art gets wrong
Charlie Engman is creating a counter to the “internet nerd culture” imagery widely associated with generative art