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UK politics

'London’s resilience, creativity and innovation will help us to keep open for the world'

As the art world turns out in the capital during Frieze, Justine Simons, London's deputy mayor for culture and the creative industries, wonders what the rest of the world must be thinking

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Climate Change

A sustainable art world: greenwash or genuine commitment?

Frieze has long prided itself on its eco-credentials, but these small gestures are negligible in the face of the planet's immediate climate crisis

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Museums & Heritage

A victory for righteousness or just a performance of it?

We need to acknowledge the complexity of our time and not hide in simple political polarities, says the director of the Art Gallery of Ontario

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Museums & Heritage

'We are in a time of crisis: now is the time to assert our moral and ethical principles'

Cultural institutions need to decide what they stand for, says London's ICA director Stefan Kalmár

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Art market

Global recession looms—but there's a new twist

Burgeoning private museums offer cause for hope among economic uncertainty and geopolitical turbulence

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Museums & Heritage

Making the Art Institute of Chicago a more inclusive place is about more than just architecture

The museum’s director James Rondeau on why the institution is bringing Barcelona architects Barozzi Veiga on board to rethink the whole campus

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Museums & Heritage

It's back to school for the art world—here's why you shouldn't just rush to the blockbusters

From William Blake at Tate Britain to Gauguin at the National Gallery, London's museums are opening their biggest exhibitions this month—but how much are you really able to enjoy them?

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Museums & Heritage

Why it is vital to promote cultural inclusion at New York's institutions

The arts sector must engage in constant dialogue with communities, says the city's commissioner of cultural affairs

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Restitution

Icom Kyoto 2019 conference: key takeaways from the decolonisation and restitution panel

Discussion argued for community empowerment, new skillsets, and focus on contemporary colonialism

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UK politics

Politics requires a science degree? Why Boris Johnson's chief strategist is wrong about arts education

“If you are interested in politics you will be far better off if you study maths or physics,” writes aide Dominic Cummings in his blog

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Museums & Heritage

Collectors are now collecting museums, not the other way around

Seats on boards offered by major museums are increasingly being used to serve the narrow agendas of the ultra-rich

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Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono controversy | Government agencies cannot dictate museum programming

The revelation that New South Wales's tourism chief questioned the Sydney MCA's inclusion of a Yoko Ono show crosses a dangerous line

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Venice

Don’t believe what you read in the papers: Venice won't lose its cruise ships any time soon

A lack of a long-term plan combined with the economic benefits brought by the luxury liners means a cruise ship ban will take long to implement

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Art market

An increasingly polarised marketplace needs a third way

The divide between primary and secondary markets blur as sales skew in favour of a few recognised, bankable artists

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Law

Why this Cézanne painting could hold the key to solving thorny heritage disputes

Innovative agreement to share contested work from Gurlitt trove provides a roadmap for similar legal cases

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Exhibitions

Museums cannot ignore artists’ values

Artists are increasingly concerned about the ethical principles of the museums and galleries in which they show their work

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Unesco

A former Unesco chief denounces its failure to protect Venice at Baku meeting

“Where have the ethics and sense of a global mandate to protect the world’s heritage gone?”, asks Francesco Bandarin

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Whitney Biennial

Whiteness must undo itself to make way for the truly radical turn in contemporary culture

The New York-based artist Xaviera Simmons responds to art critics who thought the 2019 Whitney Biennial was "not radical enough"

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Venice

The Turkish shareholders in the port of Venice want to keep cruise ships coming—and the mayor supports them

The World Heritage Committee is meeting in Baku and intends to dodge declaring Venice endangered for the third time

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Politics

'Marmite' Boris Johnson or 'deep cuts' Jeremy Hunt—which would be good for the arts?

The former UK minister for culture, Ed Vaizey, weighs in on which of the two candidates for prime minister would best serve the arts

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Censorship

'Museum directors have lost panache and grit': 30 years on, the legacy of the Corcoran's Robert Mapplethorpe cancellation

New exhibition at the George Washington University looks back the censorship of the photographer's work—but what impact did it have on the art world?

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Museums & Heritage

Mission statements and paychecks: let's put our money where our mouths are

A call for concrete action on art world salaries

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong demonstrations are driven by creative spirit

The city's artistic response to the political unrest proves that the best work often comes at times of crisis

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Art market

The Trump administration’s tariffs will not hurt China but they will hurt the US art trade

Art organisations join other US businesses at a series of hearings this week in Washington, DC on the proposed 25% tariff on $300bn worth of Chinese goods

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Art market

Sotheby's newfound privacy gives it greater freedom, but at what cost to the rest of us?

Former public company status left the auction house at a disadvantage to rival Christie's, but its quarterly finance reports provided rare insight in a secretive market

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Data

A crisis of faith: is Big Data the art world’s new religion?

The rise of Big Data means that connoisseurship is being replaced by "intel", which has far-reaching implications for the art world

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Lacma

LACMA is building an institution for the 21st century

Museums were never “encyclopaedic”—nor should they be, Michael Conforti says

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Motherhood

When life happens, just remember that art fairs will be 'fine without you for a while'

Melanie Gerlis asks whether the art world is compatible with parenting

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Environment

Are we worried enough about the planet to give up jetsetting to art fairs?

A truly environmentally friendly art world requires that we give us the 'freedom, privilege and progress to which we are so accustomed'

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In the frame

What art did the Queen show Donald Trump?

We take a look at the art that Her Majesty dug out of the Royal Collection for the US president

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Lacma

Lacma’s $650m plan won’t wash

Community lawsuit brings welcome last stand against museum’s alarmingly secretive building project

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Artists

Abortion will happen—whatever the law says

The artist Paula Rego on why her abortion works are the best thing she's ever done

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Restitution

British Museum must recognise its own powers in matters of restitution

Case of Ethiopian tabots shows that trustees' hands are not tied when it comes to the disposal of certain items from the collection

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Leaders

Comment | Cupid ‘outing’ in Vermeer painting is the right move

The uncovered figure changes the composition of Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window

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Restitution

Polish government must stop dragging its heels on restitution

Serious roadblocks remain for claimants looking to reclaim works looted by Nazis

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Litigation

The elephant in the room: the rise of art-related lawsuits

Worthy causes can often disguise more opportunistic motives

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How Notre Dame abounds in the collective artistic imagination

Matisse's 1900 painting of the gothic cathedral risked taking on elegiac significance before the fire was extinguished

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News

Notre Dame presents an opportunity for respect, not re-invention

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Art market

Forget millennials —the art market should be looking at Gen Z

People under the age of 22 account for 40% of consumers

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Artists

Can artists live off art alone?

Only 2% of artists earn more £50,000, a report by the Arts Council England finds

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Tbilisi Art Fair

Why I agreed to join the advisory board of the art fair in Georgia (no, not the southern US state)

It has art schools, tradition, a culturally rich catchment area, and a true-grit backer

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Museums in the changing world order

Museums in the changing world order: the rise of authoritarian nationalism

In the third part of a new series, Adrian Ellis looks at the cost of state support in illiberal democracies and the insidious erosion of institutional independence

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Venice Biennale 2019

Why is the Venice Biennale still so important?

Historical importance, glamour, big spenders—it continues to be an art festival like no other

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The Shed

The Shed needs to come out of its comfort zone and generate some heat

The visual art presentations strike a respectful note rather than spark the irreverence the arts centre needs most

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Cathedral of Notre Dame

Notre Dame should be rebuilt as it was

The cathedral’s 19th-century additions are as much part of its history as its Gothic vaults, says a former director of Unesco’s World Heritage Centre

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Obituaries

What Jayne Wrightsman did when you criticised her style

Anna Somers Cocks recalls a telling episode in her relations with the Met’s benefactor, who died on 20 April

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Leaders

Gilded coffin gives Met a golden opportunity

To prevent similar high-profile losses in the future, the Met should hire a permanent, full-time provenance curator

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Venice Biennale 2019

Ralph Rugoff is creating a Venice Biennale for right now

By only showing living artists, the artistic director's exhibition will reflect this time of emergency

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Havana Biennial

The 2019 Havana Biennial is a smokescreen for government censorship

Art fares poorly when parroting official narratives, especially when that messaging is opposed to the values of free speech and an open society

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Cathedral of Notre Dame

In Notre Dame, we find a heritage that invites us to breathe and reflect

A spire competition is the wrong approach

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Cathedral of Notre Dame

Around the world, the Notre Dame fire inspires sadness, solidarity and anger

The Art Newspaper network, which includes the Giornale dell’Arte, The Art Newspaper France, The Art Newspaper Russia, and The Art Newspaper China, has gathered together comments from three continents

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Art market

Should dealers reveal past prices in provenance?

London case surrounding Brueghel painting raises questions over whether a work's full sales history should be listed—even when that shows a big markup

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Cathedral of Notre Dame

Stone is cool: Gothic vaulting probably saved Notre Dame from total destruction

Tragic fire destroys the roof, but vaulting saves the interior

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Okwui Enwezor

Okwui Enwezor was one of the most influential curators in history

The Art Newspaper's features editor Ben Luke pays tribute

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Obituaries

Hans Ulrich Obrist remembers his friend Okwui Enwezor

Many of Enwezor's ideas "are more relevant today than ever before", Obrist says

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Museums & Heritage

A train wreck in slow motion? Why Lacma’s new building is an impending disaster

County officials prepare to vote on the $650m project this week, but the museum’s next incarnation could come at too high a cost for culture

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Connoisseurship

Another new Leonardo is a reason to be cheerful

The Virgin and Laughing Child was recently re-attributed as the artist's “only surviving sculpture”

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Museums in the changing world order

Museums in the changing world order: Restitution to Africa reaches tipping point

In the second part of a new series, Adrian Ellis examines the issue of post-colonial restitution

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Biennials & festivals

Why we need an independent biennial in Havana

The San Isidro Group of Cuban artists explain their plans for the Bienal Sin 349

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Art market

Why KAWS is not a great artist

Brian Donnelly's painting sold for a record $14.8m at Sotheby's—but there is little value in his art

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Caravaggio

Discovery in a Toulouse attic is no Caravaggio

There are too many oddities in the painting discovered in France five years ago

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Art Basel in Hong Kong 2019

'Fingers crossed for China’s art market'

The latest Art Basel and UBS report makes for uncomfortable reading

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Art's Most Popular 2019

Exhibitions are a numbers game, whether we like it or not

Today's directors are focused on figures—and not always for the right reasons

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Leaders

When it comes to museum attendance, it’s more than just a numbers game

London's National Portrait Gallery director on the way cultural institutions engage audiences and measure success

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Leaders

What’s in a title? It’s time to reframe the Parthenon Marbles debate

The British Museum's ownership of the statues is only guaranteed within the UK—things get more complicated on an international level

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Obituaries

Remembering Edmund Capon, longest-serving director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

He shook up a moribund institution by abolishing entry fees and staging lively exhibitions

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The Jewish Museum

Ancient antisemitic tropes are resurfacing—it is time to uncover the myths

New exhibition in London shows negative ideas around Jewish people have a long history, in which artists have played their part—and continue to do so

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Obituaries

Tribute to Marella Agnelli—doyenne of high society

The art collector and museum founder who married into the Agnelli dynasty was a woman of charm and intelligence

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Art market

Should galleries adopt the Tinder approach?

Dealers face a difficult marketplace and industry leaders say “engagement is the currency of the 21st century”

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Verbier Art Summit

Art in sensitive times

In the face of turbulent times the public art museum has a difficult, but essential role to hold open an open space for dissenting experiences of art and culture

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Art market

Vexed issue of vetting: force for good or conflict of interests?

Tefaf Maastricht's removal of art trade professionals as voting members of its vetting committee raises the wider question of the role of self-policing by fairs

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Mark Rothko

Rothko deserves better, SFMoMA

The San Francisco museum plans to sell Untitled (1960) at Sotheby's for between $35m and $50m, the artist is unlikely to have approved

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Nazi loot

Holocaust-era art restitution: more complex than you think

A rush to judgement has resulted in notable errors with some "Nazi-looted" art having been purchased legally

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Obituaries

When Karl Lagerfeld sold his art collection

The fashion designer, who died this week at the age of 85, spent lavishly on decorating his houses in the style of the Ancien Régime