Comment

Lawsuits

Dodgy dealers beware: anti-fraud lawsuits are on the rise

A spate of fraudulent agents in the dock this year give the art trade a bad image—even if only a few individuals are involved

Comment

Politics

Chile’s neoliberal ideology has co-opted artist’s creativity

The failed economic experiments of the 1970s laid the groundwork for today’s socio-economic crisis

Comment

Turner Prize

Could the joint win sound the death knell for the Turner Prize?

Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo and Tai Shani's decision to share the prize reflects the collective nature of their work, but how this could impact the future of the award remains to be seen

Comment

Politics

Art is fuelling the protest movements in Latin America

Demonstrators from Argentina to Puerto Rico are relying on traditional art forms, dances, and music to hold their leaders accountable

Comment

Art market

Comment | Why are we seeing so many counterfeits?

Artistic fraudsters are still pushing their luck—creating works ranging from the barely believable to the downright hilarious

Comment

Green Vault

Why the Dresden jewel heist wasn’t worth a billion, but why the Germans are still really upset

Thieves stole Baroque jewels from the Green Vault earlier this week after breaking in through a window

Comment

Venice

Italy should call in the Dutch to help finish the Venice flood barriers

Following years of corruption and issues with Italian administration, an independent expert is the best bet to rescue the city from peril

Comment

Art market

'We felt we had to make a choice and we chose scholarship': why Galerie St. Etienne went non-profit

Jane Kallir explains why, after 80 years as a commercial enterprise, the New York gallery has become a foundation

Comment

Private Museums

The Marciano masquerade is exposed

The art foundation, which has closed its doors, was never more than the shell of a museum

Comment

Music

What Kanye West got wrong so far in his Nebuchadnezzar opera

The image used in Ye's tweet is actually thought to depict Darius the Great. But why celebrate Nebuchadnezzar anyway?

Comment

Hong Kong

'The future of Hong Kong is already set': Ai Weiwei responds to escalating violence against democracy protesters

In Hong Kong, university campuses have become literal battlegrounds in the protracted clash between police and protesters over the region’s future

Comment

Venice

Venice is in peril: Unesco should come to the aid of Venice as it did after the great flood of 1966

Its official international role, to which Italy signed up, enables it to mobilise world expertise and funds

Comment

Auctions

The complicated history of Boccioni sculpture is no barrier to record price at Christie's in New York

Futurist bronze sculpture cast from another bronze in the 1970s sells for $16.2m—four times its estimate

Comment

Savoy/Sarr Report

One year after the Sarr-Savoy report, France has lost its momentum in the restitution debate

It recommended the restitution of African artefacts in French museums, but the country has not returned a single item to Africa

Comment

Hong Kong

Hong Kong art market profits despite protestors’ pain

If not immune to geopolitical unrest, then perhaps art is a refuge for money that is struggling to find its way into other assets

Comment

US politics

Museums must engage more with Indigenous peoples

There is a direct connection between how predominantly white curators have categorised Indigenous peoples as part of “natural history” and how we are misrepresented in contemporary art spaces

Comment

Art market

Piece by piece: the issues with fractional ownership of art

Billed as the next big thing, schemes to sell shares in works of art have yet to excite the market

Comment

Art fairs

New York's Future Fair is a worthy idea—but there are flaws in its model

Despite its commendable 'galleries-first' mindset, the scheduled fair's profit-sharing programme is not as revolutionary as it might seem

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

Art market

Global recession looms—but there's a new twist

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

Comment

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

Comment

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?

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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"

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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?

Comment

Museums & Heritage

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

A call for concrete action on art world salaries

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

Lacma

LACMA is building an institution for the 21st century

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

Comment

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

Comment

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'

Comment

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

Comment

Lacma

Lacma’s $650m plan won’t wash

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

Restitution

Polish government must stop dragging its heels on restitution

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

Comment

Litigation

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

Worthy causes can often disguise more opportunistic motives

Comment

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

Comment

News

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

Comment

Art market

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

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

Comment

Artists

Can artists live off art alone?

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

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

Comment

Okwui Enwezor

Okwui Enwezor was one of the most influential curators in history

The Art Newspaper's features editor Ben Luke pays tribute

Comment

Obituaries

Hans Ulrich Obrist remembers his friend Okwui Enwezor

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

Comment

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

Comment

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”