NewsLaw
US appeals court rules—with regret—that Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation can keep Nazi-looted Pissarro
Judges noted the Spanish government, which signed the Washington Principles in 1998, “can preen as moralistic in its declarations”, yet not be bound by them
ReviewFilms
Helmut Newton, the man whom (some) women loved
A documentary of the photographer, known for his brazen photographs of defiant nude women, is now streaming online
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts axes director Nathalie Bondil after public spat over museum management
Ouster came after the long-serving leader was "sidelined" as a successor took over her duties
NewsLaw
Heirs battle estate over $30m Monet painting from Emden collection sold during Nazi era
Le Palais Ducal is at the centre of an ownership dispute that has kept the work from coming to auction
ReviewBooks
Alexander Calder, master of time and space: erudite biography captures artist's full ambition
Second volume of a wide-ranging biography gives us the fun-loving, sophisticated man, as his work developed from delicate mobiles to firmly grounded ‘stabiles’
InterviewFilms
How a Canadian documentary director got the major players in the Knoedler fakes scandal to speak on camera
Barry Avrich talks to us about his new film Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art, due to be released in theatres this autumn
ReviewMedia & broadcast
An abstract parallel universe: documentary on Hilma af Klint released online
Long overlooked and snubbed because of her spiritualism, the Swedish artist is finally getting the recognition—and style credit—she deserves
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Art films at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival
From a bio-pic on Italian naïve artist Antonio Ligabue to a documentary on the Berlin Wall fragments in the US
NewsMuseums & Heritage
As Nazi objects and fakes enter collectors’ market, should museums show them?
Highly publicised sales and seizures of Nazi memorabilia raise questions about whether such items should be exhibited
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
Cuzco paintings meet colonial Cuban culture in Allapattah
Founders of museum of Latin American art believe they may also have a work by Raphael
ReviewArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
New documentary offers unvarnished view of Clyfford Still
Lifeline/Clyfford Still sheds light on the Abstract Expressionist who despised critics, condemned the work of his contemporaries, and was admired by many
ReviewFilms
In Redoubt, Matthew Barney retells an ancient myth in a survivalist American landscape
The artist’s new film is visually spectacular but with a current of politics underneath
NewsLaw
Who really owns this Schiele watercolour Portrait of the Artist's Wife?
A three-way battle is brewing in New York courts as the heirs of two Holocaust victims take on the work’s current owner
ArchiveAttribution
Met's “Riverbank” row rages over attribution debate
Experts prepare to fight it out at the Metropolitan as the painting bought from artist-collector C.C. Wang goes on display
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Art films worth seeing from the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival
Claes Bang takes the lead in two art dramas, while Cunningham dances through the decades
NewsObituaries
Robert Frank, the foreigner who framed America in photographs, dies aged 94
Swiss-born photographer, best know for his series The Americans, had a wide and enduring impact on photography
NewsRestitution
Trump opens door to restitution claims on art seized by Cuba
While the president is the first to allow Title III of Helms-Burton Act to be used, some whose collections were taken doubt it will have an impact
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Into the cluttered maze of a packrat photographer
“Jay Myself” captures an artist and collector in his overflowing six-storey home
PreviewExhibitions
Rediscovering Ida, the lesser-known O’Keeffe
A show opening at the Clark Art Institute reveals how Georgia O’Keeffe thwarted her sister’s career in art
ArchiveNazi loot
Seattle Art Museum sues New York dealers Knoedler
The heirs of Parisian dealer Paul Rosenberg demand the return of a Matisse stolen during World War II
NewsExhibitions
Photograph using ‘redface’ pulled from Brooklyn show
The work by the Taiwanese artist Ching-Yao Chen features him and three women wearing feathers, buckskin and body paint
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Speaking frankly: Robert Frank on his work and life
A documentary originally made in 2004 about the Swiss-American photographer and film-maker finally opens in US theaters 15 years later
NewsBarnes Foundation
'Selling everything but the wallpaper'—auction reopens old wounds over Barnes legacy
Barnes Foundation’s sale of founder’s items follows nominal payment for lease of valuable land
NewsVenezuela
Venezuelan art market fractured as coup erupts in Caracas
Once the cultural darling of South America, the country's capital is now a shadow of its former glory as artists and dealers struggle in the face of a military uprising
NewsMedia & broadcast
Dueling documentaries take aim at one of the biggest scams in recent art history
Three productions are due to examine the Knoedler forgery scandal
NewsLooting
A 'missed opportunity'? US seeks to return painting looted by Nazis to Ukraine
Questions are being raised about how the work ended up in the US and why such a public seizure is being pursued now
NewsPublic art
Michele Oka Doner finds fertile ground as the New York Botanical Garden’s new artist in residence
The Miami-born, New York-based artist known for her richly botanical works hints at “raves” and a departure from the expected kind of art installation as she digs in to the 250-acre landscape
NewsPolitics
Double Jeopardy? US dealer fights extradition to Poland, for the second time
Alexander Khochinsky’s lawyer calls the country’s actions over a €10,000 looted painting “aggressive and disproportionate” and says his client will not get a fair trial in the “illiberal democracy”
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Ruben Brandt, Collector is an animated art heist film bursting with references
The comedy is clever, playful and inventive—although the car chases are never-ending
NewsForgeries
Fake Marsden Hartley found in medical giant’s collection points to a larger scandal
Abbott Laboratories suspects fakes found their way into its collection during conservation process
ReviewMedia & broadcast
A man-made landscape is writ large on the screen in Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
After its US premier at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, the visually stunning documentary heads to Berlin
NewsCatalogues
Cataloguing Egon Schiele: a digital work in progress
Database allows scholars to make rapid connections between works
NewsAustria
Austria returns wrong Klimt to wrong family
Painting of apple trees is pulled from exhibition after admission that its restitution was a mistake
ReviewVideo, film & new media
Gael García Bernal’s new film Museo turns Mexico’s biggest art heist into a madcap caper
The Spanish-launguage movie follows two middle-class flunkies who somehow pulled off one the largest antiquities thefts in modern-day history
InterviewVideo, film & new media
‘I like the liberation of film’: the photographer and experimental film-maker Duane Michals explains why he prefers moving pictures
The 86-year-old artist is showing three new short films at DC Moore Gallery in New York
ReviewBooks
The tortuous story of Gustav Klimt’s Nazi-looted, 100ft-wide Beethoven Frieze uncovered
New book exploring work's provenance is a must-read for those interested in the contentious field of art restitution
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Nico, 1988: the twilight after the spotlight
Susanna Nicchiarelli’s drama depicts the grim final years of the singer-songwriter
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti is a sombre picture of the artist under the sun
There are few surprises in this boilerplate biopic based on the painter’s time in Polynesia
NewsLaw
Claim on Guelph Treasure can go to trial in US federal court
Lawyers for the Prussian Cultural Foundation argued that it was not “genocide” when the objects were sold in 1935
NewsLaw
Art dealer sues Poland over its failed efforts to extradite him from the US
After offering to return a work looted by the Nazis in exchange for his family’s former real estate, Khochinsky was placed under house arrest in New York and faced a 10-year prison sentence in Poland
NewsLaw
New York judge orders two Schiele works sent to Christie’s, where they could be auctioned
But the watercolours are currently at the centre of a closely watched restitution lawsuit
NewsArt market
Sotheby's sues Greece over its claim to ancient bronze horse
A case of man bites dog: auction house turns the tables on Greek government after it was forced to withdraw the figure from New York sale in May
NewsAmedeo Modigliani
Modigliani the maverick? Vienna show to position Italian artist alongside Picasso
Exhibition at the Albertina Museum in 2020 will “reposition” artist as an avant-garde innovator, organiser says
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Mapplethorpe feature film includes plenty of titillation and drama but not enough of the man himself
The film premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, along with several other art-related films
ReviewMedia & broadcast
How Garry Winogrand captured the everyday drama of American life
A new documentary includes many of the artist’s myriad images and his voice, but leaves gaps in his story
NewsRestitution
Holocaust survivor’s family seeks painting in Ukrainian museum
Meanwhile, much of the country’s art is stuck in limbo and its own efforts to recover cultural property have stalled
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Andy Goldsworthy revisits his relationship with nature in new documentary
Leaning Into the Wind follows an earlier popular film on the artist and his works in stone, water, wood and earth
PreviewMedia & broadcast
What to see at Documentary Fortnight at MoMA
From the history of Cuba to a gay beauty pageant to the Kitsch of Prejudice, the museum’s annual film series has plenty to offer
PreviewExhibitions
The emperor strikes back: Montreal show revisits the splendour and romanticism of Napoleon’s court
More than a display of splendour, the exhibition examines how the court functioned as an institution of propaganda, shaping and promoting images of imperial power
PreviewExhibitions
Museums pay tribute to Vienna’s visionary voyeurs, Klimt and Schiele, on 100th anniversary of their deaths
The artists are the subject of exhibitions across the Austrian capital—and beyond
NewsDonald Trump
Trump change: Ukrainian artists unveil presidential portrait made of money
The artists Daria Marchenko and Daniel Green describe the work as “rich and cheap”
ReviewMedia & broadcast
From Koons to Kusama, five art films to catch from the Sundance Film Festival
Documentaries that examine the contemporary art market boom and the life of the world’s most popular artist had their world premieres in Park City, Utah
ReviewExhibitions
Arshile Gorky takes us ‘beyond the tangible’ in Hauser & Wirth show
Émigré’s contributions to Abstract Expressionism make him a seminal figure of 20th-century US art
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Richard Hambleton casts a long shadow in a new documentary film
The street artist behind Shadowman outlived many of his contemporaries, but heroin and untreated skin cancer eventually took their toll
NewsArtists
The grave of Schiele’s muse, Wally Neuzil, found in Croatia
The site is to be restored as a monument to the artist’s young model, whose portrait has been called the Mona Lisa of Austria
NewsOpenings
Washington's new $500m Museum of the Bible claims 'non-sectarian' mission
Private institution is funded by evangelical Hobby Lobby chairman, Steve Green
InterviewMonuments
How the Vietnam Veterans Memorial went from an art battleground to a solemn destination
James Reston, the author of a book on the site’s history, talks to us about the power of monuments
ReviewMedia & broadcast
What to see at DOC NYC, New York’s documentary film festival
The art smuggler Michel van Rijn, the Outsider architect Ron Heist and the celebrity photographer Cecil Beaton are the subjects of films worth watching
NewsResearch
Egon Schiele catalogue raisonné to go digital with updates on newly discovered works and provenance
The online platform will have an emphasis on connoisseurship says the catalogue’s author and art dealer Jane Kallir
ReviewExhibitions
Crowns made of chicken bones: on Eugene Von Bruenchenhein
A show of the artist's work in Sheboygan is sure to spur more interest in his art and life
ReviewExhibitions
Plenty to chew on: on Theatre of the World at the Guggenheim
The show, which was met with protest before it even opened, packs a punch
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Ai Weiwei’s documentary debut Human Flow is more of a journey than a j’accuse
The feature-length film is now open in New York and Los Angeles
InterviewMedia & broadcast
Ruben Östlund, the director of The Square, explains why the art world deserves to be mocked
The Swedish film-maker’s brutal satire set in a contemporary art museum comes to New York next month
News
Ai Weiwei’s refugee film Human Flow picked up by Amazon
The media production arm of the online retailer giant plans to release the documentary theatrically this autumn and stream it online
News
Vito Acconci: the controversial and pioneering US artist who refused all restraint to explore his body
He sat under a floor at a gallery with a microphone for eight hours and masturbated while speaking of his fantasies about people sitting above
NewsMedia & broadcast
Art drama muscles in on documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival
Artists’ lives—including Tom of Finland, Laurie Simmons, Julian Schnabel and Richard Hambleton—get the cinematic treatment
News
Legal battle over Schiele works owned by Jewish entertainer who died in Dachau
His heirs’ attempts to recover them will be framed by President Obama’s Holocaust Act
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Beuys the myth, more than the artist, explained in new documentary
Andres Veiel’s film, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, is the most extensive revisiting of Joseph Beuys art and life for a general public
ReviewExhibitions
Cosmic collectors: how the Guggenheim family came into its art
An exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York looks at how the collection was shaped
News
Montreal’s Max Stern Foundation gets its Bacchus back
The FBI recovered the work when it was offered for sale at the 2015 Spring Masters fair in New York
NewsVideo, film & new media
Art on film at Sundance, from Van Gogh’s landscapes to an orbiting VR vanitas
Drawings come to life and visitors follow the trail of malware code at the annual film festival in Park City, Utah
ReviewExhibitions
What a vivid imagination: on Sergei Eisenstein's erotic work
A group of "sex drawings" by the Soviet filmmaker are on show in New York
News
Cuban collector’s heirs settle over Wifredo Lam painting that resurfaced in Miami
Artist’s son warns of real and fake works flowing out of Cuba
News
Custodians of the Holy Land: the Franciscans to open new museum in Jerusalem
The monastic order, which has had a presence in the city since 1217, is planning a two-venue Terra Sancta Museum
NewsPolitics
Senate to vote on Holocaust restitution bill in a race against the clock
The new law, if passed, would set a national statue of limitations for claims on art looted by the Nazis
NewsExhibitions
The radiant future that never came: on Communist art from the 1930s to today
A show at Galerie St. Etienne in New York looks at how left-wing politics once animated culture—and how they no longer do
News
How Toronto learned to embrace its street art
After the former mayor’s crackdown on graffiti triggered a backlash, city officials decided to stop arresting artists and start hiring them
NewsPolitics
The end of the world is coming to Manhattan
Robert Cenedella, the “Art Bastard”, brings his vision of the apocalypse to a gallery window just a week before the US election
NewsMedia & broadcast
The one that got away: film-maker tracks down the Warhol work that her family let go
After its New York Film Festival premiere, the charming documentary Brillo Box (3 ¢ off) will air on HBO in 2017
News
US museums’ Cuban dreams deferred
High-profile loan programmes are hindered by practical problems and political realities
NewsHeritage
François Hollande announces $100m fund to protect cultural heritage in the Middle East
The French president was joined by the US vice president Joe Biden at the Metropolitan Museum in New York Tuesday night
NewsVideo, film & new media
Three films to watch out for from the Toronto International Film Festival
From Jonas Mekas darkly humorous memories of escaping the Second World War, to concentration camp tourism, to a photographer facing the death of her favourite technology
News
Norton Simon Museum can keep Cranachs, California judge decides
A US court has dismissed a claim to recover two paintings looted by Nazis, but collector’s heir plans to appeal
NewsExhibitions
The private pleasures of kings: on nudes from the Prado at the Clark Art Institute
The Spanish Catholic Church tried to curb images of nudity, but artists and patrons did not always oblige
News
Frida Kahlo’s potent portrait on US-Mexico border heads to Philadelphia
The 1930s painting, on show in October, is a timely response to the anti-immigrant stance of Donald Trump
News
Bronx Museum postpones show after Cuba halts loans to US
State-owned works of art risk seizure to satisfy $7bn of claims by Americans
NewsExhibitions
Copper and dust: on Mesopotamian sculptures and pastels by Lucas Samaras at the Morgan Library
The shows reveal the twin sides of the museum's interests
NewsFairs
Art on film: why filmmakers are drawn to artists
Movies about artists may not be nailed-on money-spinners, but more and more are appearing—and some are even box-office hits.
NewsMuseums
Is the Israel Museum’s Birds’ Head Haggadah Nazi-era loot?
The manuscript was once owned by the family of a German-Jewish politician who opposed Hitler
News
Blind, 90-year-old son of Holocaust victims sues to find his family’s art
David Toren has filed a petition in New York State Supreme Court asking the Berlin auction house Villa Grisebach to reveal the buyers of works sold there
NewsReview
A world away from the rest: David D'Arcy on Paula-Modersohn Becker at Galerie St. Etienne
A show of the artist's work reveals her proximity to and distance from both modernism and academicism
NewsVideo, film & new media
Art on film at Sundance, from Mapplethorpe’s S&M photos to virtual reality landscapes
Our picks of what’s worth seeing at the Park City, Utah film festival
NewsExhibitions
Living memories of a dying medium: David D'Arcy on Walkers at the Museum of the Moving Image
For some artists, Hollywood is the ruin of a former civilisation
NewsExhibitions
A man of many—tiny—letters
Collector, author and magician Ricky Jay on the 18th-century limbless entertainer Matthias Buchinger
NewsReview
Secrets from a lost world: David D'Arcy on Martin Wong at the Bronx Museum
The exhibition is too stiff for the artist, but he shines through
News
Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami opens up doors to a lost past
NewsArt
Holocaust survivor’s art last seen in Cuba
US foundation claims Castro regime seized paintings that Hitler failed to steal
NewsAuctions
Charles Moffett, former Sotheby’s vice chairman, dies at 70
Before working at the auction house for 16 years, he had a long and distinguished career as a curator at national museums
NewsExhibitions
Abbas Kiarostami on his fixation with doors, the still image and carpentry
The Iranian film-maker is showing a photographic series he’s worked on for 20 years at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum
NewsLaw
Tale behind Schiele watercolours is a tragedy—but is it a theft?
The heirs of the Viennese entertainer Fritz Grünbaum, who died in Dachau, go to court in New York to recover his art