NewsContemporary art
Rachel Whiteread’s breakthrough work Ghost gets complex conservation treatment
Structural engineers and architects were among those restoring the room-sized cast at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC
NewsConservation
Back from the brink: Jean Tinguely’s beloved music machine
Sculptor’s Méta-Harmonie II is ready for action after a year-long conservation effort in Basel
NewsConservation
Restoration of rare English Medieval altarpiece reveals a history of serial vandalism
The Battel Hall retable, which survived the fury of 16th-century iconoclasts, bears later scars of graffiti and "witchmarks" against evil spirits
NewsConservation
Houston museum reattributes painting to Velázquez
After conservation effort, Museum of Fine Arts decides its hunch was correct
NewsRenaissance
Isenheim Altarpiece restoration finally back on track after public outcry
More than 30 conservators will treat paintings and sculptures, seven years after French culture ministry halted reckless cleaning of two panels
NewsConservation
Modernism award honours preservation of a French school dating from 1933
Prize goes to firm for restoration of a monument to ‘civic Communism’
NewsDisasters & destruction
Flood-damaged tapestries by Miro return to Venice museum in time for exhibition opening
The two works at Palazzo Zaguri were found submerged in water on Monday night
NewsMuseums
Top museum directors on the challenges of climate change and mass tourism
Vatican conference on preventive conservation warns of environmental impact of short-term politics
NewsConservation
Warship figureheads restored ahead of opening for new Plymouth arts complex
Royal Navy statues are being made shipshape and ready for installation at The Box, opening in 2020
NewsConservation
Alaskan dancer helps the Met solve riddle of the Yup’ik mask
Conservator calls in master storyteller to decipher shamanic object
NewsConservation
Warhol's newly restored 102-canvas work Shadows goes on show in New York
Dia's presentation coincides with the Whitney Museum of American Art’s retrospective on the artist
NewsConservation
Soane Museum starts crowdfunding campaign to restore valued frame of a Reynolds painting
Institution hopes to raise £15,000 to clean and conserve wooden structure surrounding The Snake in the Grass
NewsConservation
Graff portrait of Saxon noblewoman shakes off centuries of grime and varnish
Its restorer puts it on display at Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie
NewsConservation
Family reunited: US exhibition brings together the pieces of cut-up 17th-century Frans Hals portrait
Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio shows three paintings confirmed as one original work by recent conservation
NewsIn the frame
Getty announces grants to shore up modern buildings
The conservation projects include the National Art Schools in Havana, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.
NewsConservation
Titian's Crucifixion work torn after falling from the wall in Spain's Royal Monastery
Sixteenth-century painting of Christ on the cross was rushed immediately for conservation
NewsConservation
Death triumphs: Museo del Prado completes challenging two-year-long Bruegel restoration
Newly conserved danse macabre work travels to Vienna for major exhibition marking 450 years since the artist's death
NewsConservation
Spain tells vandal to Kiss off after Santiago de Compostela statue defaced
Authorities vow to find rock fan who damaged Medieval statue
NewsConservation
Turin’s Chapel of the Holy Shroud—almost entirely destroyed by fire—reopens after €30m restoration
State-of-the-art conservation project that took 21 years brings masterpiece of Baroque architecture back to its former glory
NewsConservation
Is Bergamo’s rediscovered Mantegna linked to a triptych in the Uffizi?
Accademia Carrara’s curator Giovanni Valagussa explains how he put “two and two” together
NewsConservation
Chicago resurrects its master craftsman
Edgar Miller finally gets his due as the city prepares to celebrate the overlooked designer’s eclectic work
NewsConservation
German court orders restorer to pay dealer €26,000 after eight-year dispute
Munich-based dealer claimed paintings he sent for cleaning had been ruined
InterviewConservation
The portrait miniatures conservator who sees the bigger picture
We spoke to the V&A's Alan Derbyshire about Nicholas Hilliard's trick for painting the perfect ruby and why collector's need to look at their miniatures often
NewsConservation
Syria's Palmyra to be ready for tourists by summer 2019 as cost to rebuild Homs reaches $2bn
Authorities says they have received "good offers from the world powers" to help conserve ancient sites
NewsConservation
Conservation starts on Liverpool’s Neolithic stones
The Calderstones are being studied, recorded and restored before their reinstallation
NewsConservation
Turkey's Göbekli Tepe: is this the world’s first architecture?
Scholars say the organisation needed to build the 12,000-year-old temple may mark the beginnings of class society and patriarchy
NewsConservation
Tate restores colour and depth to John Nash painting
The picture is on display in Tate Britain's show Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One
NewsConservation
A 19th-century bikini from Iran goes on show in the UK in time for the summer
The garment was conserved for the Holburne Museum's exhibition of objects collected by the “intrepid” traveller Ellen Tanner
NewsConservation
Berlin restores murals neglected for more than a century
Only ten of the wall paintings—created in housing complexes to offer visual relief from the booming German capital—remain
NewsDisasters & destruction
Syrian museums seek Russian expertise to restore destroyed Palmyra sculptures
Ancient city occupied by Islamic State was retaken by Syrian army with Russian support in 2017
NewsTaj Mahal
Demolish or restore discoloured Taj Mahal, India's Supreme Court tells government
White marble monument, a Unesco World Heritage site, is turning yellow due to pollution and insect dung
NewsConservation
Relic of first-century pope found in a rubbish tip is donated to Westminster Cathedral
Rubbish collectors found the bone fragment of Clement I in London
NewsConservation
Aleppo's reconstruction 'deserves international resources'
Aga Khan Trust for Culture calls for condemnation of destruction to be reinforced by help on the ground
NewsBayeux Tapestry
Entente cordiale: governments sign deal securing loan of Bayeux Tapestry to the UK in 2022
Cross-channel collaboration involves translating, conserving and digitalising the historic embroidery
NewsConservation
Huge disparity in estimates to repair vandalised Ivan the Terrible painting
Ilya Repin’s masterpiece in Moscow’s Tretyakov gallery was struck with a metal pole in May
NewsConservation
What colour is this dress? Guggenheim reveals Manet painting after three years of restoration
New York museum has removed varnish and overpainting to let the artist’s brushstrokes “sing”
NewsConservation
Russia opens new exhibition centre dedicated to icons
The Grabar Art Conservation Center has launched the Ovchinnikov Ikonoteka space, which is named in honour of renowned restorer
NewsConservation
Pharmaceutical company pledges to restore beauty at the Hermitage
The Hungarian firm Gedeon Richter to fund three-year project to restore works from the Russian museum that relate to the concept of female beauty
NewsConservation
Britain's Post-Modern architecture receives protected heritage status
From a private residence inspired by the cosmos to a commercial building with curves: Historic England adds 17 "PoMo" buildings to register
NewsConservation
World Monuments Fund gives $1m for post-quake restoration of Mexican archaeological site
Monte Albán, the ancient capital of the Zapotec people, was damaged by earthquakes in 2017
NewsConservation
The amazing technicolour Chippendale: museum injects colour back into 18th-century work
Show at Leeds City Museum is one of this year's many events commemorating the tercentenary of the furniture maker’s birth
NewsDisasters & destruction
Can the Glasgow School of Art be saved after second fire?
Anger as focus turns to cause of blaze that ripped through Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece
NewsConservation
Eight World Monuments Fund watchlist sites get $1m in grants from American Express
In many cases, the funding will be used to help prevent future damage, including public outreach and scientific research
NewsConservation
Mauritshuis invites visitors to watch conservators clean its oldest painting
Dutch museum will remove yellowed varnish from Van der Weyden's The Lamentation of Christ
NewsConservation
Why using lasers to clean feathers is not a bird-brained idea
Conservators have used the method on a ceremonial cape made by the Tupinambá—a cannibalistic tribe from Brazil
NewsConservation
New research reveals secrets beneath the surface of Picasso paintings
Discoveries about two Blue Period works in the Art Gallery of Ontario’s collection have inspired an upcoming exhibition
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Google and the World Monuments Fund highlight Iraqi heritage under threat
Using drone footage, 3D models and videos, the tech giant is working with cultural institutions to make preservation efforts accessible to a larger public
NewsConservation
British Museum positions itself as a European expert on Korean art with major conservation project
It is the first Western institution to launch a long-term project to study and conserve pictorial art from the country
NewsConservation
How do you conserve time-based media? Museums invest in research to keep up with new technologies
Symposium on the subject to open at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts
NewsConservation
Damaged art undergoes intensive care in Berlin’s Bode Museum
The institution is using funds from a private foundation to restore works scarred by war
NewsPrizes
Wanted: nominations for World Monuments Fund’s Modernism prize
The biennial award was established to help preserve Modern architecture
NewsConservation
Army helicopter paint used to restore outdoor sculptures
US Army research on the use of matte black on helicopter blades is aiding conservators working on outdoor sculptures
NewsControversies
Paris mayor wants to turn city into ‘refuge’ for works in conflict zones
Anne Hidalgo’s plan, which has drawn fire, involves storing items threatened by conflict in buildings owned by the city authority
NewsConservation
Reconstruction of quake-damaged church to be led by former head of Vatican Museums
Antonio Paolucci to oversee restoration of Italy's Basilica of St Benedict
NewsConservation
From Monet to Van Gogh: Factum Arte re-creates lost masterpieces for Sky Arts TV series
New show tells the stories behind seven great works that have disappeared and the creation of digital facsimiles
NewsConservation
Caucasus government plans to beef up heritage laws to protect Medieval towers
The Russian republic of Ingushetia is hoping that improved conservation will lead to Unesco status
NewsConservation
One of Pope’s favourite paintings is looking refreshed after restoration
Icon’s first major intervention since 1931 brings back original colours
NewsConservation
Billionaire François Pinault gives €3m for refurbishment of Victor Hugo’s Guernsey home
Hauteville House revamp includes overhaul of furniture and facades overseen by the Les Misérables creator
NewsConservation
The Met resurrects Italian Old Master’s Entombment
Museum’s restoration lifts “grey veil” from final commission by the Renaissance artist Moretto da Brescia
NewsConservation
‘Historic’ agreement resolves dispute over Chauvet cave (and replica)
Explorers will be paid for image rights and receive share of entrance fees
NewsConservation
Fresco that never was will be digitally realised
Charles Le Brun project at Vaux-le-Vicomte, halted by a financial scandal at Louis XIV’s court, will be completed with video projection
NewsConservation
How much of conservators’ work should be visible and how much should be hidden?
The release of a pre-conservation image of Leonardo’s $450m Salvator Mundi reignites debate over the transparency of conservators’ interventions
CommentConservation
How refugees are conserving Iraq and Syria's extraordinary monumental heritage
Opening mega museums is not the only way to exercise soft power in the region
FeatureTEFAF Maastricht 2018
A day in the life of… a Tefaf vetter
Maastricht is famous for its tough vetting procedures, but what is it really like to be on the fair’s expert team?
NewsConservation
Mauritshuis shines a light on its famous Vermeer
A team of international specialists are studying Girl with a Pearl Earring for two weeks straight
NewsConservation
Bayeux Tapestry to be conserved in London?
The British Museum has the space and facilities to restore the embroidery, which is returning to England for first time in 940 years
NewsConservation
Where petroleum exploration meets art
Researchers use terahertz scanning to understand artist’s methods
NewsConservation
Pastels: the 18th century’s answer to Photoshop
Getty show explores the versatility of the medium
NewsConservation
Urgent action needed to save Russia’s wooden architecture
Grassroots activists are leading a campaign to preserve the country’s unique, but sadly neglected, built heritage
NewsConservation
Egyptian ibis mummy holds clues to crooks behind ancient clothing caper
Scroll hidden in animal mummy may lead to the discovery of more old texts
NewsConservation
Tate awarded $1.5m research grant to conserve contemporary works 'that challenge the structure of the museum'
The project, funded by the Mellon Foundation, will concentrate on time-based media, digital and performance art
NewsConservation
Hidden ‘LeWitt’ wall drawing may once again see light of day
Current owner of the collector William Stern’s former home wants to uncover work that was painted over when the Menil Collection sold the property
NewsConservation
Boris Johnson related to mummy found in Basel crypt
Corpse is identified as Anna Catharina Bischoff, who is great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother of British foreign secretary
CommentMuseums
Then & Now: "Modern art is destroying itself," warned our first issue
Museums have since devoted sizeable resources
Emily Sharpe