Latest
Museums in England largely oppose proposal to charge admission for foreign tourists
A storm of opinion is raging in the arts world on whether an admission fee is needed, with some museums arguing the income would be offset by a loss of other revenue
Chanel gives Centre Pompidou financial boost with new five-year partnership
The “commitment will strengthen Centre Pompidou’s work across access, scholarship, and the preservation of public knowledge” according to a statement
Giant glacier painting disappears from Argentina’s presidential palace after new law passes loosening protections for these icy regions
A government spokesperson claims that Helmut Ditsch’s photorealist painting was removed for maintenance, but a leading historian places it within a history of cultural and historical erasure
US Commission of Fine Arts approves Trump’s Washington, DC arch despite public opposition
While the public comments about the proposal were said to be 99.5% unfavourable, the commission signed off on the proposed arch with its golden statuary
New residency in upstate New York will give Indigenous artists access to neon fabrication studio
A partnership between Lite Brite Neon Studio and the Walker Youngbird Foundation, the residency will launch with the artist Sarah Rowe in September
Art market
Richter and Judd works top Christie's solid if not stellar sale of post-war and contemporary art
The $162.6m evening auctions featured a trove of Gerhard Richter works that had belonged to the late dealer Marian Goodman, and canonic Minimalist sculptures from the estate of collector Henry S. McNeil Jr
Bidding battle for Matisse leads Sotheby’s $303.3m Modern art evening sale in New York
Henri Matisse’s "La Chaise lorraine" sold for $48.4m with fees as strong results for Picasso, Van Gogh and Giacometti lifted the evening auction's total
Authorities in New York return more than 650 looted antiquities, valued at nearly $14m, to India
The objects were recovered through investigations into trafficking networks, including those linked to convicted smuggler Subhash Kapoor and trafficker Nancy Wiener
Sold-out Phillips auction in New York brings in $115.2m, more than double 2025 result
The sale offered signals for optimists that the market is rebounding, and set new auction records for Joseph Yaeger, P.S. Krøyer and Pat Passlof
Christie's nets $1.1bn from back-to-back S.I. Newhouse and 20th century evening sales in New York
New auction records were set for Pollock, Rothko, Brancusi, Miro and Neel
Museums & Heritage
Fifty years after Franco, Spain begins to give back art seized during the Civil War
Tens of thousands of works were taken and most were never returned, but Museo del Prado identified 166 from its collection and is leading the return efforts
Israeli organisation threatens legal action against Canadian Museum for Human Rights over Palestine exhibition
The Tel Aviv-based group Shurat Hadin is urging the museum in Winnipeg to pause its upcoming exhibition on the Nakba and its legacy to allow for a “legal and scholarly review”
Final proposals for Billie Holiday monument in New York City revealed
One of the six shortlisted designs, by artists including Tavares Strachan and Thomas J Price, will be chosen this summer and erected at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in Queens
Lagos curator establishes private art society with focus on cross-disciplinary exchange
Ugoma Chinelo Ebilah is opening Mbari Kola, a public gallery and private members club that will host exhibitions, residencies and more
Stonewall monument targeted by Trump administration among the US’s most endangered historic places
The latest edition of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual list spotlights federal erasure and rollbacks to public land conservation
Exhibitions
London exhibition explores untold history of how homelessness was criminalised
Work by artists and activists including 10 Foot, Matt Bonner and Gemma Lees shows how land enclosures and early colonial expansion began to change how unhoused people were treated
Venice show brings together two leading figures from the Polish avant-garde
The the 20th-century artists Tadeusz Kantor and Maria Jarema feature in a collateral exhibition at the 61st Biennale
Boats and trains, not planes: reflections on a greener—but sometimes greenwashed—Venice Biennale
From curator Koyo Kouoh’s foregrounding of “all earthly elements” to Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's new sustainable art island, references to the environment can be found throughout the Italian city
Tate Britain's James McNeill Whistler exhibition aims to show he was more than just a combative ‘coxcomb’
The show will bring to light the “incredible skill and magic and variety” in the painter’s work
‘Entertainment is often violence shrouded in a fun disguise’: Marianna Simnett on being tickled for hours and having Botox injected into her throat
With a new show in Vienna, the artist explains that her work is “about creating the perfect amount of openness for others to become open too”
Books
Shoot and branch: new photography book highlights the enduring majesty of trees
"Trees of Great Britain and Ireland" offers a handsome insight into early 20th-century botanical photography
‘A remarkably tenacious motif’: the many faces of Marilyn Monroe revealed in new book and show
Different artists’ takes on the film star are explored ahead of an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London
Pleasure, parody and propaganda: rethinking the art of illustration in a new history of the genre
From a ninth-century Chinese frontispiece to Marxist magazine covers, this rich tome explores the power of illustration and the ways in which we read such images
An expert's guide to Tracey Emin: five must-read books on the British artist
The best Emin publications, from her searingly honest autobiography to a collection of revealing snapshots—selected by the Tate’s assistant curator Jess Baxter
How the adoption of canvas in Venice changed the way artists painted
Four key takeaways from a new book about the innovative use of canvas in 16th-century Italy
The Week in Art
A podcast bringing you the latest news from the art world, every week
New York auctions, James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain, Edvard Munch—podcast
In this week's episode, Ben Luke speaks to correspondent Judd Tully on the New York spring auction results and takes a tour of the James McNeill Whistler exhibition at Tate Britain in London. Digital editor Alexander Morrison sees a frieze by Edvard Munch on display in Oslo.
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.
Why did Van Gogh sign his paintings as ‘Vincent’?
And why did he sign so few? The intriguing story behind his signatures
Opinion
Comment | Flourishing markets beyond the big three will benefit the art ecosystem—and the planet
Regions outside of the US, UK and China have grown their share from 17% of business in 2015 to 24% in 2025, according to report
Comment | Degenerate art all over again? Nazi attack on Modern art is not far away from trends in today’s world
When it comes to art, Trump is an utter vacuum—he makes the Nazis look like great connoisseurs, says author John-Paul Stonard
Comment | The slopification of political art
Artificial intelligence has made it incredibly easy to create pointed visuals in response to crises in real time, but the resulting videos and images have little poignancy or staying power
Comment | Catherine Opie shows us that in dark times, looking for joy can be radical
The artist's new show at the National Portrait Gallery offers plenty of reasons to be cheerful
Comment | A generational moment for Nazi-looted art claims in the US
Expanded version of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (Hear) Act in the US fundamentally alters the legal landscape for both claimants and current owners
A brush with... podcast
A podcast that asks artists the questions you've always wanted to
A brush with... Andrew Cranston—podcast
Andrew Cranston talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work
The Art of Luxury
A magazine, published twice per year by The Art Newspaper, exploring how grande marque fashion, jewellery, travel and lifestyle interact with artists, the art market and the museums and heritage sector
'A work of conceptual art': Belmond launches new Art Deco-inspired train dining car
The film director Baz Luhrmann and his wife, production designer Catherine Martin, have designed the lavish interior
Hotel and art hub Casabianca opens on Italy's Lake Como
From Jannis Kounellis to Anselm Kiefer, a very personal art collection, asssembled by the De Santis family, is now on view in the 1930s villa
Artist Bouke de Vries creates sculptural porcelain bottles for Dries Van Noten perfume
London-based Dutch artist uses reassembled broken china fragments to create five unique vessels
Van Cleef & Arpels cashes in on lucrative secondary market for vintage jewellery
The jewellery designer's Heritage Collection presents rare 20th-century creations
'It’s like the natural world. Nothing lasts forever': Tadashi Kawamata on creating his temporary sculptures
The Japanese artist takes the simplest of materials to make his powerful installations
Visitor Figures 2025
The Art Newspaper’s Visitor Figures survey is conducted annually, and is the foremost authority on the attendance of art museums worldwide
Exclusive | The world's 100 most visited art museums in 2025: new venues a big hit with visitors
Our annual survey shows that some of the world’s most venerable institutions are still struggling to attract the number of visitors they had before Covid, but there is enthusiasm for new museums, and in regions such as Asia and Latin America
Irreconcilable differences: Canadian cultural tourism to the US experiences a steep decline
A significant number of Canadians are shunning their neighbours to the south, a phenomenon felt most acutely by smaller museums and those along the border
National Museum of Korea Seoul sees a surge in visitor numbers
According to our 2025 Visitor Figures survey, the Seoul location of the museum is attracting more international guests
How museum funding in Denmark has become reliant on visitor numbers
Danish government reforms have resulted in increased funds for museums, but some question the equity of grants based on footfall
Obituaries
The art world remembers Valie Export, Austrian pioneer of feminist performance art
Best known for daring audiences to face and feel the female body on her own terms, the performance artist died in Vienna on 14 May at 85 years old
Remembering Pat Steir, one of the 20th century’s late-blooming great artists
The painter made gravity her collaborator, transforming poured oil paint into one of the defining gestures of late 20th-century abstraction
Georg Baselitz, German artist who turned figurative painting on its head, has died, aged 88
Baselitz’s death comes on the eve of a major exhibition of his latest paintings at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini concurrent with the Venice Biennale
Obituary | Umberto Allemandi, visionary publisher who founded 'Il Giornale dell’Arte', has died aged 88
The editor built an international network of publications—including 'The Art Newspaper'—that transformed cultural journalism
Pedro Friedeberg, key figure in Mexican art renowned for hand-shaped chair, has died at age 90
Beyond his famous chair design, Friedeberg created a singular world of ornament, architecture, and irony
Diary
Mexican film-makers to co-host Serpentine Summer Party
Co-host Salma Hayek Pinault may be best known to the art world for her Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Frida Kahlo
Fashion figure Jordan Roth wows in collage at the Venice Biennale
Having just taken on the Met Gala as a "living sculpture", the multi-disciplinary artist came to Venice later in the week for a compelling performance
How sweet it is: chocolate Russell Crowe at the Malta Pavilion
A chocolate gladiator features in Valletta-based artist Charlie Cauchi's film and accompanying installation in the Arsenale
Nature is healing? Seagull lays eggs in the Giardini during Venice Biennale preview
The new mother may have upstaged some of the artwork on show
Alvaro Barrington takes a road trip to the Venice Biennale
The artist's contribution to In Minor Keys includes a decked out truck driven from London to Venice