Ben Luke

Ben Luke is a contributing editor and podcast host at The Art Newspaper

Renaissance special: Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael in Florence, drawings and tapestries—podcast

A deep dive into two London shows bringing together key works of the movement, and a spectacular series of tapestries depicting the Battle of Pavia on view in San Francisco

American sculpture: race and racism, Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art, Jusepe de Ribera in Paris — podcast

A chat about a Washington show offering a radical new perspective on the history of sculpture, plus how the major Polish museum has journeyed through political change towards opening, and a discussion of Ribera’s “most moving” work

US election, the glory of Siena, Gabrielle Goliath — podcast

What is at stake for the US cultural sector as the nation chooses its next president? Plus, a tour of 14th-century Sienese masterpieces and a conversation with Goliath about her ongoing video series Mango Blossoms

Comment | I thought I knew Stevie Wonder’s music until Arthur Jafa showed it in a new light

American artist Jafa's recent video work recontextualises Wonder's song 'As' as well as the film 'Taxi Driver'

Art Basel at the Grand Palais, Guillermo Kuitca at Musée Picasso and Małgorzata Mirga-Tas at Tate St Ives — podcast

We find out what happened when the art world descended on Paris for Art Basel, speak to Guillermo Kuitca about his new work for Musée Picasso and hear from Małgorzata Mirga-Tas about June, her work soon to go on display at Tate St Ives

In pictures: Frieze Focus thinks global

Our pick of the highlights from the fair's section for emerging galleries

Frieze, UK critics The White Pube, Giuseppe Penone and Arte Povera — podcast

We find out how the London fair went this year, speak to Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad about their new book and to Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev about her new show at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris

Nairy Baghramian: ‘Dissent is part of society, it is a healthy freedom’

The Iranian-born, Berlin-based artist discusses the beauty that lies in “in-between spaces”, and the relationship between art and democracy

A brush with…Sonia Boyce — podcast

An in-depth interview with the Golden Lion-winner, discussing her shift to social practice, the influence of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and how William Morris’s wallpaper designs have made their way into her work

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David. Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Mike Kelley, a pivotal period of contemporary Indian art, Raoul Dufy and Berthe Weill — podcast

Celebrating the “negative joy” of the American artist Kelley in a new Tate retrospective, a period of change in India explored at the Barbican, and a conversation about a work once owned by the pioneering woman gallerist Berthe Weill

Podcast | Episode 100: A brush with… Marlene Dumas

An in-depth interview with the endlessly daring Dumas, discussing her admiration for Nicole Eisenman and Diane Arbus, and the impact of Francisco Goya on her practice

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Monet in London, Matisse in Basel, Frankenthaler in Florence — podcast

A chat with the curator of a new show featuring Monet's Thames views—in the very room where many were painted, plus trips to Basel and Florence for 'Matisse: Invitation to the Voyage' and 'Helen Frankenthaler: Painting without Rules'

A brush withinterview

A brush with... Gemma Peppé, founder of Art on a Postcard

“If you don’t create art yourself, you can borrow from artists to express how you feel, how you see the world and what’s important to you.”

Podcast | A brush with… Robert Longo

An in-depth interview with "collision" artist Robert Longo, who explains the process behind his responses to works by everyone from Jackson Pollock to Rembrandt

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Glenn Ligon in Cambridge, new Gauguin biography, Teresa Margolles’s Fourth Plinth commission — podcast

The American artist on his interventions at the Fitzwilliam Museum, a chat about a new publication exploring Gauguin’s complex character, and the details on a new London sculpture paying tribute to trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming communities

Podcast | A brush with… Rana Begum

An in-depth interview with sculptor and painter Rana Begum, exploring her experiences with the Qur’an, J.M.W. Turner and negotiating the London cityscape

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Why writing off the Mona Lisa would serve the Louvre better than worshipping it

The Paris museum should forget about the hugely costly move of the Leonardo painting and focus instead on the myriad other masterpieces in its collection

Van Gogh blockbuster, the birth of Impressionism, Juan Pablo Echeverri — podcast

A tour of the National Gallery’s landmark exhibition with our Van Gogh expert Martin Bailey, plus a new book zoning in on the Impressionists’ “Terrible Year” and a highlight from Museum Folkwang’s hair-themed show

The art market slump, the artist freed in the US-Russia prisoner swap, Max Ernst in Paris — podcast

What’s behind the troubles facing auction houses and galleries? Plus, Sasha Skochilenko recounts her experience of being arrested—and incarcerated—in Russia, and the story behind a 1937 Surrealist painting by Ernst

Podcast | A brush with… Arthur Jafa

An in-depth interview with the filmmaker and sculptor, discussing his eye for systemic and historic inequity, and how Anne Imhof and Mahalia Jackson have influenced his practice

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Podcast | A brush with… Eva Rothschild

An in-depth interview with the sculptor, exploring the 'material giddiness' of making work—and the profound effect of Sinead O’Connor

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Podcast | A brush with… Michael Craig-Martin

An in-depth interview with the artist spanning his 50-year career, exploring his influences, use of humour, and how he succeeds in making the humdrum so compelling

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Podcast | A brush with… Charline von Heyl

An in-depth interview with the artist, exploring her description-defying work and her ability to keep us all guessing

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects
A brush withinterview

A brush with… Lois Stonock, the director of Metroland Cultures, London

The arts charity director tells us about her cultural influences, from Lucian Freud to the British-Pakistani writer and artist Rasheed Araeen

The Big Review: Michelangelo: the Last Decades at the British Museum, London ★★★☆☆

In the absence of large-scale works, the London show focuses instead on the objects that reveal the artist’s deepening spirituality

The Week in Art podcast | Arts and the UK election, ex-Uffizi head fails in Florence mayoral bid, Hank Willis Thomas at Glastonbury

What a change in government might mean for the UK culture sector, a close look at Eike Schmidt’s unsuccessful campaign, and Willis Thomas discusses displaying his new afro pick sculpture at the world’s biggest music festival

Titianfeature

'A little masterpiece': Titian's youthful canvas of 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', goes for auction at Christie's

The Venetian master's exquisite early depiction of the Holy Family, once recovered in a bag at a bus-stop seven years after being stolen from Longleat House, is estimated to fetch £15m-£25m in London sale

The Week in Art podcast | Just Stop Oil’s latest protests, Tavares Strachan, Louise Bourgeois at the Galleria Borghese

Is the climate activist group’s campaign proving a success? Plus, Bahamian-born, US-based Strachan on his new Hayward show and a close look at a hanging bronze by Bourgeois

Podcast | A brush with… Igshaan Adams

An in-depth interview with the artist on his cultural experiences and greatest influences, from Louise Bourgeois’s art to the love poems of Rumi

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

The Week in Art podcast | Art Basel: fireworks and nuance, Lynn Barber on her artist interviews, Guillaume Lethière at the Clark

We find out what this year's fair says about the state of the art market. Plus, the veteran journalist Lynn Barber tells us about her encounters with artists and we discover a forgotten master of Neo-Classical art