Vincent Noce

French art dealer Didier Wormser stands trial for trafficking looted Egyptian antiquities

Owner of L’Etoile d’Ishtar gallery said artefacts from Saqqara necropolis “should be restituted to Egypt” but insists he purchased them in good faith

Exclusive: German museums latest to be implicated in far-reaching criminal investigation into antiquities trafficking

Case has so far seen Middle Eastern works seized from New York's Met and the indictment of a former Louvre director

Arrest warrant issued for dealer who sold ‘hundreds’ of looted Middle East antiquities—some of which ended up in the Met

Georges Lotfi has been accused of handling the types of materials he helped the police recover and repatriate for years

Billionaire battle rages on as Geneva court overturns dismissal of Dmitry Rybolovev's fraud case against art dealer Yves Bouvier

Rybolovlev is accusing Bouvier of having swindled €1.1bn from him through the €2bn sales of 38 works of art from 2003 to 2014

Paris court rejects wax sculptor’s claim he is the true creator of eight Maurizio Cattelan works

Daniel Druet, who created hyperrealist likenesses of Pope John Paul II, Hitler and others for Cattelan, was seeking €6m in compensation and to be declared the works’ “sole author”

Antiquities trafficking case escalates as Louvre Abu Dhabi joins civil action and Swiss collector files criminal complaint

In wake of scandal involving former Louvre director, France's culture minister forms taskforce to assess acquisitions procedures at museums

Egyptian antiquities connected to international trafficking ring seized from Metropolitan Museum in New York

Five objects worth more than €3m have been confiscated by authorities as part of a wide-ranging global investigation involving former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez

Louvre launches civil action as part of art trafficking case involving former director Jean-Luc Martinez

A number of objects purchased by the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are now under scrutiny—including an ancient Egyptian marble head worth €35m

Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez charged in connection with antiquities trafficking investigation

Martinez has been indicted for “complicity of gang fraud and laundering“ of objects purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Louvre Abu Dhabi

Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez questioned by police as part of probe into alleged antiquities trafficking ring

Investigation focuses on purchases made by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre Abu Dhabi

Masterpieces from Morozov collection return to Russia from France—but three works have been retained

Around 200 valuable works had to be sent in five convoys of six trucks across Europe as war in Ukraine hampers shipping

Politicsanalysis

French elections: what's at stake for culture and the arts?

As Macron and Le Pen face off in the second round of the presidential battle, cultural policy is likely to continue taking a back seat

Loansnews

France seeks to protect Russia's Morozov collection from seizure as masterpieces return home

Works were on loan to a blockbuster exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris

Louvre suspends sale of Chardin's record-breaking strawberries

The French museum is now seeking funds to buy the still-life painting, which was sold last week by Artcurial to a US dealer for €24.3m

French museums survived a drastic fall in tourism but may face uphill struggle as state support dries up

France’s status as a honeypot for tourists from Asia and the US has taken a huge hit, from which its cultural institutions are still reeling. Now the country’s museums hope that French and European visitors can restore their finances

Dealer suspected of selling looted antiquities to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Louvre Abu Dhabi detained in Paris

The Hamburg-based dealer Roben Dib was arrested in Paris last week. His lawyers say he will "fully cooperate with the investigation"

Restitutionanalysis

Why Macron's radical promise to return African treasures has stalled

Four years after a landmark pledge to hand back colonial loot, French government has opposed a new restitution bill backed by the Senate

Louvre hosts major international conference to fight trafficking of cultural goods

Meeting, organised by France, aims to define new proposals to be adopted by the European Commission

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts settles dispute with its former director

Nathalie Bondil, who was fired in 2020, was seeking $1.5m in moral and punitive damages from the museum’s board

Louvre's attendance last year dropped to 1986 levels

Covid continued to impact on French museum visits, but the government provided a much-needed financial safety net

Macron's Gulf tour: UAE's Louvre Abu Dhabi contract extended to 2047 and more French-Saudi culture deals

Renewal of Abu Dhabi deal means the Louvre can partner with the network of museums planned for Saudi Arabia's AlUla region

Cy Twombly Foundation pulls lawsuit after Louvre agrees to rework renovation of gallery that bears artist's ceiling

The foundation said earlier this year that the “aggressive colours“ covering the walls “violated the harmonies“ of Twombly’s pale blue canopy

The Netherlands looks set to buy Rembrandt’s €165m 'Standard Bearer'

Owned by the Rothschild family, the vibrant painting is on the open market after France was unable to raise the funds to buy the national treasure

Catholic church's proposed redesign of Notre Dame interior provokes outrage

Plans to revamp the fire-ravaged cathedral with contemporary art and multilingual projections of Bible quotes have been compared to Disneyland

'Taliban-like minority working to undermine the Western world': uproar after French Academy in Rome moves to remove tapestries linked to colonialism

After a media campaign, French art historians and scholars sign a petition accusing the Villa Medici of "cancelling culture"

Al-Ulanews

Unesco strikes partnership deal with Saudi agency to develop AlUla region's rich heritage

Agreement covers developing archaeological programmes and paves the way for kingdom's ambitious long-term plans to attract tourists to the region

Museums face pressure to explain presence of Cambodian relics linked to disgraced dealer Douglas Latchford

Expert says there is a "long list of returns expected from museums", as Cambodia cites new evidence of war-time looting

Beninnews

Benin pushes for 'full restitution' as 26 looted objects destined to return to the country go on show at the Quai Branly in Paris

A farewell exhibition, due to be visited by French President Emmanuel Macron this week, is being hosted at the French museum. But the West African nation is "not satisfied" with the partial restitution

France launches Islamic art shows across 18 cities to combat rising Islamophobia

The Louvre-led government initiative aims to shatter clichés and encourage a deeper understanding

Genevan court dismisses Dimitry Rybolovev's case against art dealer Yves Bouvier—but feud between the two billionaires is not over yet

Russian art collector had sued for double dealing and will now appeal decision, while Bouvier plans to launch $1bn countersuit for damages—and write a tell-all book