PreviewThe Year Ahead 2021
Our guide to the top biennials and triennials coming up in 2021
Previews of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo, Prospect.5 and the 11th Liverpool Biennial—plus, lots of dates for your diary
NewsCentre Pompidou
A departure, a side move, and a new appointment: Centre Pompidou in flux as leadership shuffle causes controversy
Outrage after curator Kasia Redzisz, who won the vote to be appointed the director of Brussels outpost, is made to share the job with current director in Paris, Bernard Blistène
NewsCentre Pompidou
A departure, a side move, and a new appointment: Centre Pompidou in flux as leadership shuffle causes controversy
Belgian art world outraged after curator Kasia Redzisz, who won a vote to be appointed director of Brussels outpost, will have to share the job with current director in Paris, Bernard Blistène
FeatureArles
Destination Arles: must-see art and culture spots while on pilgrimage to the new LUMA creative campus
From Roman architecture to medieval streets that inspired Van Gogh, the historic city in the south of France is becoming a go-to destination
NewsControversies
‘One thing is clear to us now, we should have handled this better’—Royal Academy apologises to artist Jess de Wahls over transphobia row
The London museum says that pulling her work from their shop because of her views "betrayed our most important core value—the protection of free speech"
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Unesco warns that Stonehenge will go on its danger list unless plans to build tunnel beneath it are modified
World Heritage Site status may also be removed from Liverpool's waterfront after excessive development
NewsMuseums
Anti-Shell sleepover protest at London's Science Museum ends with police threatening to arrest demonstrators
Youth climate activists claim that the "museum would rather have kids arrested than drop their polluting sponsors"
NewsControversies
Royal Academy gift shop will not stock work of artist accused of transphobia
London museum posted an Instagram story explaining reasons for withdrawing items by Jess de Wahls
NewsAcquisitions
Anti-racism posters, Nike trainers and Kim Kardashian's selfies go on show in Victoria and Albert Museum's new gallery of contemporary design
London institution unveils refurbished Design 1900-Now space for its Rapid Response collection of objects that reveal "truths about how we live"
NewsControversies
'In solidarity with the Palestinian people', photographers withdraw their works from Prix Pictet show in Israel
Prize-nominated artists Shahidul Alam and Gideon Mendel will not show their works at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv
NewsPublic art
'Gormley would have liked it': Man who graffitied sculpture cleared in court of criminal damage
Clasp statue at Newcastle University was defaced in May 2019 and again earlier this year
NewsStatues
'Geffrye must fall': Labour MP Diane Abbott leads protests demanding slaver statue be removed from London museum
Former UK shadow home secretary led protests at the Museum of the Home in Hoxton, which reopened to the public at the weekend
NewsPrizes
Queen’s birthday honours: sculptor Phyllida Barlow is made a Dame with awards also for gallerist Sadie Coles and artist Veronica Ryan
Other art world figures recognised include Edmund de Waal and Martin Parr
NewsStatues
Oxford professors refuse to teach undergraduate students if Cecil Rhodes statue stays in place
Oriel College said it had no plans to “begin the legal process for relocation” of the monument
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Barkley L. Hendricks unseen photographs gathered in new publication
The US artist’s images are joined by an extract from the book looking at how aspects of his painting and photography overlapped
BlogBook Club
June’s book bag: from Peter Blake’s collages to artists’ solutions to the climate emergency
A roundup of the latest art publications
NewsExhibitions
Harrowing film on Japanese war-time atrocities in China is among shortlisted works on show in UK's biggest art prize
Powerful work by Japanese artist Meiro Koizumi is on show alongside five other artists in Cardiff's Artes Mundi award
Newsreopenings
London's Courtauld Gallery to reopen in November with new exhibition spaces and a commission by Cecily Brown
LVMH Great Room and Blavatnik Fine Rooms reflect generous backing from sponsors
NewsArt market
Takashi Murakami organises Outsider art sculpture show in vast New York space
Collectors can still break into market for self-taught work, says fair founder
NewsExhibitions
Institutional racism and police brutality: ICA London to reopen with timely show after 15-month hiatus
Book by investigative artists Forensic Architecture and ICA presents new evidence in 2011 police killing of Mark Duggan
NewsUK politics
UK culture war: museum trustees are paying the price for disagreeing with government's policies
Several board members who do not support the "retain and explain" policy championed by the ruling party have recently left or lost their roles within the arts
NewsArt market
Art Basel confirms it is happening this September IRL—but with some caveats
Collectors are told they must be fully vaccinated or supply a negative Covid-19 test in line with Swiss government regulations
NewsVenice
Museum chiefs—and Mick Jagger—say Venice must be saved as cruise ships are set to return to lagoon city after 18-month break
Signatories of the open letter supporting ten point-plan to save La Serenissima also include the artist Anish Kapoor and The Art Newspaper's founding editor Anna Somers Cocks
NewsStatues
Imperialist statue must go: defying college's decision, more than 350 Oxford University academics demand Cecil Rhodes be removed
Oriel College's plan to keep the sculpture of "racist" 19th-century British mining magnate "does not reflect the Oxford we represent", say staff in a letter
NewsMonuments
Colston returns—controversial statue of slave trader to go on show in Bristol museum
Visitors to M Shed display asked to give feedback about the future of the sculpture
ReviewThree to see
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
From 5,000 years of Iranian art and culture to Black female resistance and the domestic sphere
NewsExhibitions
Tino Sehgal to unveil open air 'live encounters' piece in the gardens of Blenheim Palace
Thirty participants will enact "moments of connection" in the setting of the 18th-century Oxfordshire stately home
NewsLondon
Arts charity to open pop up in Mayfair selling works during London Gallery Weekend
Contemporary Art Society will launch temporary exhibition space on 4 June with pieces by artists including Lubaina Himid and Roger Hiorns
PreviewExhibitions
The David and Goliath of art collections team up—London’s National Gallery loans nine works to Southampton
Maverick museum chief Kenneth Clark helped shape the Southampton City Art Gallery's collection
NewsAppointments & departures
Too woke? National Trust chair Tim Parker steps down
Rebel group of members planned to depose heritage chief following row over controversial research into charity’s historic ties to slavery
NewsExhibitions
Acclaimed Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Zanele Muholi shows end at Tate next week—but both are coming back
After runs punctuated by Covid-related delays, the exhibitions at Tate Modern and Tate Britain will return after their international tours
NewsAppointments & departures
Culture professionals react to Tony Hall quitting as National Gallery chair amid BBC Princess Diana scandal
John Kingman, the London museum's deputy chair, will temporarily step into the role
NewsParis
Gaping hole opens up under Eiffel Tower in French artist JR’s new illusion
Paris trompe l’oeil piece launches ahead of vast exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in London next month
ReviewExhibitions
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
From Matthew Barney's American survivalist film to Emma Stern's "porn-adjacent" virtual avatars
NewsArt market
London gallery hub Cromwell Place partners with Abu Dhabi Art fair to show emerging artists
Fair will show works by Emirati artists Hind Mezaina, Afra Al Dhaheri and Afra Al Suwaidi in South Kensington this June
PreviewVenice Architecture Biennale
Giuseppe Penone’s monumental tree rises from Venetian lagoon as Architecture Biennale opens
This year's exhibition in Venice brings together artists as well as architects to explore the question How Will We Live Together?
NewsStatues
Oxford college will not remove controversial statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes
Independent commission recommends contextualising the sculpture instead
FeatureLondon Gallery Weekend 2021
‘I’ll be back’: the return of AI art
After being pushed out by NFTs, machine-made art is making a comeback with London shows ranging from the "world's first ultra-realistic AI robot artist" to the first artificial intelligence ink artist
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
V&A confirms it will keep its focus on materials—but workforce will be reduced by 15% to cut costs
Following backlash over proposed chronological reorganisation of London museum, specialist departments will now remain
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Fuelling culture war, UK government forms new 'retain and explain' board for controversial monuments
"Independence cuts both ways," UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden warns museums and heritage bodies
NewsHeritage
Bell foundry that cast Big Ben can be turned into boutique hotel, UK government says
Decision has drawn wave of criticism from culture and heritage professionals, accusing government of ‘money-grabbing philistinism’
BlogBook Club
May’s book bag: how Napoleon's plunder ended up at the Louvre, Edmund de Waal's latest book, and a 9kg tome of Chinese art
A roundup of the latest art publications
NewsArt education
Museum directors and art school leaders demand that UK government ‘scraps cuts to arts education’
"Art is essential to the growth of this country," say 300 art world figures and academics in open letter
FeatureBook Club
Sackler family: three takeaways from a new book about the dynasty’s rise and fall
The publication claims Nan Goldin may have been tailed by investigators and reveals how the Met lost out to the Smithsonian thanks to a lack of flattery from its director
NewsLoot
Looted Libyan sculpture seized at Heathrow Airport heads back home with help from the British Museum
The funerary piece was illicitly excavated from the ancient city of Cyrene which is under threat from property developers
NewsPrizes
For first time Turner Prize 2021 shortlist is made up entirely of artist collectives
From a Welsh community group to a neurodiverse arts hub in Hastings, the collectives' works will go on show in Coventry in September
FeatureCollector's Eye
‘Works made in Iran today are inextricably linked to the past’: collector Mohammed Afkhami on how art shaped his life
The Middle Eastern financier is bringing his collection to New York’s Asia Society later this year
NewsArt education
Uproar as UK government plans to cut funding for arts education by 50% to prioritise 'high-value subjects'
Artists express concerns and the Public Campaign for the Arts launches a petition as the consultation on the planned budget cuts to higher education ends today
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | How a new John Craxton biography began its life in a Soho bar following a funeral
The writer Ian Collins says that after his chance meeting with the British artist his “life changed forever”
NewsMuseums & Heritage
UK culture war heats up as arts professionals question veto of trustee appointment at Royal Museums Greenwich
Museums Association says government refusal to renew academic Aminul Hoque’s term is “worrying”, and the chair of trustees has resigned over the decision
NewsMonuments
Four artists shortlisted for Windrush monument at London’s Waterloo Station
Thomas Price and Jeannette Ehlers are in the running for public art piece honouring Caribbean pioneers
ReviewThree to see
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
From Charles Gaines's Plexiglas grids at Hauser and Wirth to Rafał Zajko's frozen urine sculptures at PUBLIC
NewsCollectors
Korean museums to receive 23,000 works from Samsung estate in $11bn tax settlement
Lee Kun-hee, the Samsung Electronics chairman who died in October, leaves collection worth $2.2bn, including works by Monet, Dali and Chagall
NewsArt education
Christie’s supports charity delivering art history lessons for students at UK state schools
Art History Link-Up chief says subject is a rare offer at state schools because of cuts and teacher shortages
NewsParis
French historians up in arms over plans to install Napoleon horse skeleton above his tomb
Pascal Convert's sculpture is a replica of the remains of the emperor’s horse Marengo, which was captured by the British at the Battle of Waterloo
NewsLaw
Tate Modern neighbours head to Supreme Court over 'relentless' invasion of privacy
Residents next to the London museum continue legal battle after losing case to close viewing platform that allows visitors to see inside their flats
NewsObituaries
Hans Rasmus Astrup—the intensely private founder of Oslo’s Astrup Fearnley Museet—has died, aged 82
The Norwegian collector took an “early chance” on Damien Hirst and in 2001 bought Jeff Koons’s Michael Jackson and Bubbles sculpture for a then record $5.6m
NewsArt market
Colnaghi gallery to lead research into €1,500 painting now believed to be by Caravaggio
Established dealership will manage restoration and authentication of disputed work offered at auction for €1,500
NewsGeorge Floyd
‘Still much work to be done’: artists and US museums react to Derek Chauvin conviction in George Floyd murder trial
Former police officer faces up 40 years in prison, but systemic racism must now be addressed, says San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
NewsSponsorship
After staunch criticism, Science Museum defends oil company Shell’s sponsorship of its climate exhibition
Director Ian Blatchford says that the Science Museum Group "retains editorial control" over London show
NewsDisasters & destruction
Cape Town wildfire 'guts' university library that houses anti-apartheid archives and one of the world’s largest African film collections
Blaze has ripped through the Reading Room of the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town
ReviewExhibitions
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
From Lawrence Abu Hamdan's investigation into reincarnation to Robin Rhode's imaginary underwater reef
NewsRedevelopment
Lithuanian prison—once a set for Netflix series Stranger Things—could become a major museum under redevelopment plan
Historic building in the heart of the capital Vilnius to be split up and turned into restaurants, hotels and other commercial and cultural spaces
NewsMuseums
Jean-Luc Martinez stays in post as Louvre director—for now
Museum chief is named "interim" director while President Macron decides if he should continue as head of the Paris institution
NewsExhibitions
Miss an exhibition at Tate or the Hayward Gallery? Catch up on shows from the past on new digital platform for the 'phygital era'
New virtual initiative theVOV also aims to generate funds for the creative sector, potentially unlocking "new streams of income"
NewsMuseums
Unesco issues three key recommendations to help museums following report that reveals scale of Covid-19 crisis
Among the innumerable concerns expressed by international institutions are loss of public funding, threats to the security of collections and a decrease in visitors
PreviewExhibitions
Lockdown easing: the best gallery shows to see in London right now
Eerie wooden cabins, rural quiltmakers and dismembered, tentacular dolls are among our highlights from the city's commercial exhibitions
NewsArt market
'Good reasons to believe this is a new Caravaggio': specialists cautiously vouch for €1,500 painting pulled from Spanish auction
Government does not want to repeat ‘export mistake’ of 1970s when another work by the Old Master ended up in the US
NewsTracey Emin
'All clear': Tracey Emin says she is finally free of cancer
Artist also slams government decision to re-open museums in England next month
BlogBook Club
April’s book bag: how four lesbians shaped Modernism, why we love to hate biennials, and a photographic history of African women
A roundup of the latest art publications
NewsSocial media
'Stuffy and dusty' no more: Uffizi builds on new-found social media savviness with Clubhouse appearance
Florence museum director Eike Schmidt will discuss the fate of museums in the wake of Covid-19 on the audio app following successes on Facebook and TikTok
FeatureBook Club
Extract | The day Anthony van Dyck received ‘wise advice from the words of a blind woman’—the 17th-century artist Sofonisba Anguissola
New book by Jennifer Higgie gives astute insights into brilliant women artists shut out of art history
NewsRestitution
London’s Horniman Museum—home to 15 Benin bronzes—announces new ‘transparent procedures’ for looted object requests
South London museum has released new policies on restitution but says it will need to seek legal advice about the right to return artefacts
FeatureBook Club
Extract | How Sandro Botticelli brought Dante’s Divine Comedy to life
New book by Martin Kemp considers the impact of poet’s vision of divine light on artists such as Michelangelo and Titian
NewsBiennials & festivals
The 'male graze': Guerrilla Girls to put up billboards across UK reasserting women's place in art history
Anti-discriminative posters are part of festival Art Night 2021, where commissions this year will have a political tone
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Twenty-two mummies transported in nitrogen-filled caskets across Cairo in museum move
Pharaohs opulent golden parade was streamed as part of marketing exercise
NewsMuseums & Heritage
V&A will not scrap focus on materials in restructuring U-turn
An updated proposal will keep the collection organised around mediums instead of switching to a chronological approach
NewsExhibitions
Major show of Vivian Maier—a Chicago nanny who was also a secretive street photographer—is heading to the UK
Laura Knight and Ingrid Pollard exhibitions also part of year-long women artists programme at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes
NewsNFTs
Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi—the world's most expensive work of art—to be turned into an NFT
Author Ben Lewis is minting the masterpiece to highlight the art world’s ‘age-old inequities and injustices’
NewsExhibitions
Egg hunt at the V&A: rare Fabergé treasures from the Queen and Moscow Kremlin Museums included in new show
Russia's Tsar Alexander III began the most expensive Easter tradition in history in 1885 when he began gifting bejewelled eggs to his wife
NewsBritish Museums
The cost of the cuts: what now for UK museums as the Covid-19 crisis bites?
Museum directors in London and the regions are cutting jobs and slashing budgets, raising concerns for the post-pandemic future of the sector
NewsMuseums
Musée d’Orsay in Paris renamed after late French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
The formal name change—an administrative move—also means the Muséee de l’Orangerie will be rebranded
NewsResidencies
Looking for free artist studio space in central London? A new scheme could help out
New award backed by Spanish fashion brand Loewe will fund workspaces for seven artists at Studio Voltaire
NewsMuseums
Plans to build new Museum of Brexit move ahead with plea for funds and objects
Institution initially called the Museum of Sovereignty will present a balanced picture of the divisive EU debate, say founders
Newscoronavirus
Grayson Perry is casting a bell to ring at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic
As future of London's historic Whitechapel foundry hangs in the balance, artist’s bell will be made elsewhere
NewsDante Alighieri
'Complete ignorance': Uffizi director Eike Schmidt hits back at German journalist for criticising Dante
Arno Widmann wrote that the 13th-century Italian author, best known for the Divine Comedy, was antiquated and difficult to understand
NewsPhotography
Spencer Tunick’s nude pandemic photography project brings people together on Instagram
Naked montages uniting friends and lovers "reaffirm resilience of community"
NewsPublic art
Venice Biennale artist Sonia Boyce to unveil 2km-long wall mural in London’s East End
Longest public art piece in Europe reflects community life, charting 170 local stories
InterviewArt market
New EX.Paris fair will replace the Paris Biennale—but how will it stand out on the post-pandemic event circuit?
President Alexis Cassin tells us why he thinks the event will succeed in November
NewsBiennials & festivals
Controversial 'festival of Brexit' moves a step closer with selection of ten winning teams for 2022 event
Turner prizewinning collective Assemble will lead a project at the £120m creativity showcase
NewsTracey Emin
After delays, Tracey Emin’s massive sculpture honouring her mother will head to Oslo's Munch Museum this summer
Production of The Mother monument took longer than expected due to its size and also because of how badly the UK was hit by the pandemic, city officials say
NewsMuseums
Uffizi Galleries' Botticelli masterpieces—currently kept in storage—are bound for Medici villa in the Tuscan hills
The Uffizi Diffusi project aims to "scatter" works from the Florence museum's collection around overlooked sites across Tuscany on short term loans
NewsPublic art
Marc Quinn’s BLM protestor statue could be reinstalled on Bristol plinth that held slave trader monument
Sculpture of Edward Colston was pulled down by activists last summer and will now be placed in a museum
NewsStreet art
Street artist JR rips off the front of Florence's Palazzo Strozzi in new optical illusion work
Trompe l’oeil image called La Ferita (The Wound) reflects on the difficulties of accessing culture during Covid-19 and reveals Botticelli’s Primavera and The Birth of Venus
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Victoria and Albert Museum backtracks on plans to cut its National Art Library staff
The announcement was met with public outrage prompting more than 10,000 people to sign a petition against the cuts
NewsMarina Abramovic
Marina will release 'digital manifestation' of The Abramovic Method on WeTransfer with aim of reaching 70 million people
Artist continues efforts to bring performance art to the masses as she collaborates with file-sharing platform and its editorial arm, WePresent
NewsSocial media
Censored? Shadowbanned? Deleted? Here is a guide for artists on social media
New York-based advocacy group Don’t Delete Art's comprehensive tips on how to comply with social media platforms' rules on art include advice from Facebook and Instagram staff
NewsPainting
Artist Yan Pei-Ming makes vast pandemic painting inspired by plague scenes of the Isenheim altarpiece
“The viewer might be shocked. It is life today,” says the artist who created the Covid-19 works in isolation in his studio in Dijon
NewsLuma Arles
Frank Gehry’s twisting tower for Luma Arles to open its doors in June
Patron Maja Hoffmann is driving the ambitious cultural project in southern France
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Why Alice Neel’s work has ‘extraordinary currency’ today
As a biography on the US painter is republished, its author Phoebe Hoban tells us why Neel’s work is more relevant than ever
BlogBook Club
March’s book bag: from a guide to decoding photographs to a survey of the world’s most celebrated museums
A roundup of the latest art publications