Catherine Hickley
Egon Schiele’s death mask to be auctioned in London
The mask was produced from a mould made in 1918, after the artist had succumbed to Spanish flu
Nazi-looted Monet returned to heirs after FBI traces it to New Orleans
Missing for more than 80 years, the 1865 pastel will be handed over in a ceremony today after the couple who bought it relinquished it voluntarily
Kasper König’s collection fetches €6m at Cologne auction
Top lots at the auction arranged by the esteemed curator before his death in August included two “date paintings” by On Kawara, a close friend
Police investigate after Berlin culture senator’s home attacked with red paint
Joe Chialo has come under fire from artists and pro-Palestinian factions over state policies
Vikings invade the Nordic museum landscape with three themed institutions in the pipeline
Museums dedicated to Viking culture and artefacts are taking shape in two cities in Denmark and the Norwegian capital, Oslo
Netherlands to return 288 items looted in colonial era to Indonesia
The repatriations show policy continuity despite the new right-wing government, experts say
Bavaria acquires Picasso’s Woman with a Violin from a private collection
Six sponsors cooperated to buy “a masterpiece of Cubism of priceless art historical value” for the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich
Cranach portrait will be sold in accord between Pennsylvania museum and Jewish heirs
The portrait of the Duke of Saxony, attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop, will be auctioned by Christie’s in New York in January 2025
Zagreb collective WHW named creative directors of Skulptur Projekte Münster
The three curators, Ivet Ćurlin, Nataša Ilić and Sabina Sabolović, were selected by a seven-member committee to lead the 2027 edition, which marks the event’s 50th anniversary
Kasper König, pioneering curator and co-founder of Skulptur Projekte Münster, dies aged 80
The former director of Cologne’s Museum Ludwig “shaped the art discourse of the last five decades like no other", the museum says
London's prestigious Courtauld Institute to create British art centre with $12m donation
US-based Manton Foundation's gift will establish a research facility and "intellectual hub" at Somerset House
Rare Caspar David Friedrich sketchbook jointly acquired by Berlin, Dresden and Weimar museums
The sketchbook will be shown in all three cities to mark what would be the artist's 250th birthday
Hartwig Fischer, former British Museum director, is appointed to run Saudi museum of world cultures
Fischer, who resigned after a thefts scandal at the British Museum, has been announced as the founding director of the new institution, which is expected to open in 2026
Young V&A wins UK Art Fund Museum of the Year prize
The prize rewards a space for children that “will cement museums as places they belong and feel welcome as they grow up, regardless of their background”
Marion Ackermann appointed first woman to run Berlin state museums
Ackermann is to take up the post in June 2025 after nine years managing Dresden’s state art collections
British Museum’s historic Reading Room opens to the public after 11 years
The space, once used by the likes of Karl Marx, is finally available for all visitors to the London institution to see
Jordaens painting to be sold after settlement with heirs of Jewish bank shareholders
The work, to be auctioned at Sotheby’s today, was one of more than 2,500 held as collateral and sold, shortly before the Nazi invasion, by the Dutch bank Lisser & Rosenkranz
Bührle Foundation’s provenance research is inadequate, report finds
The report by Raphael Gross calls for more research and details how Jewish owners are omitted from the published provenance
Stedelijk Museum restitutes Matisse Odalisque to Jewish arts patrons’ heirs
Albert Stern, the former owner, sold the painting “out of necessity” in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, the Dutch Restitutions Committee says
Collector Reinhard Ernst’s abstract art gets a new home in Germany
The Museum Reinhard Ernst, opening this week in the city of Wiesbaden, houses works by Frank Stella, Jackson Pollock, Damien Hirst and Neo Rauch
Monet to go on sale after Kunsthaus Zurich reaches settlement with Jewish heirs
The collector and textiles entrepreneur Carl Sachs sold the painting after fleeing to Switzerland from Nazi Germany in 1939
Swiss Bührle Foundation seeks to settle with Jewish heirs on major Impressionist works
Paintings by Courbet, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Gauguin are to be removed from display at Zurich’s Kunsthaus
Germany returns looted antiquities in Berlin’s Altes Museum to Italy
As a “thank you” gesture, Italy is reciprocating with loans from Paestum and Naples
German medieval altarpiece wings that remained in one family for 500 years to be auctioned at Sotheby’s
The portraits painted by Bartholomäus Zeitblom carry an estimate of £400,000-£600,000
Germany slashes VAT on art sales to 7%
The reduction, which comes into effect next year, meets long-standing demands from German dealers
Almost untouched for a century, Swiss painter Albert Anker’s rural home opens to visitors
The Centre Albert Anker in Ins, Switzerland, is set to open to visitors on 7 June with an exhibition on the artist's travels to Italy
Berlin’s Brücke Museum settles with the heirs of a Jewish collector on Kirchner painting
The work, showing two of Kirchner’s fellow artists playing chess, was sold under duress by the Berlin dealer Victor Wallerstein after he fled to Italy from Nazi Germany
Icom names Medea Ekner as director general
Ekner, who was appointed interim director general last year, has 25 years of museum experience in Sweden and New Zealand
Ukrainian museums call for better recognition of their role in reconstruction
More than 100 Ukrainian museum professionals, meeting in Berlin, pledge to rebuild a modern, inclusive cultural sector
Nazi-loot panel set up by private Swiss collection to evaluate painting by Hodler
The painting, purchased by the real estate magnate Bruno Stefanini in 1998, was once owned by a Jewish woman who fled Hitler’s Germany