Latest

Unesco sites in Iranian city of Isfahan damaged by US-Israel strikes

There have also been reports of damage to the third-century Falak-ol-Aflak Citadel in Khoramabad, western Iran

Sarvy Geranpayeh38 minutes ago

Tomás Saraceno and Indigenous communities build art complex in Argentine salt flats

The monumental outdoor environment, “El Santuario del Agua” (The Water Sanctuary), is located in one of the world’s largest lithium reserves

Mercedes Ezquiagaabout 15 hours ago

Comment | What is the role of art museums in times of civic stress?

Museums and cultural organisations must embrace our vital role in bringing people together, whether friends or strangers

Mary Cerutiabout 16 hours ago

Pretty in pink: how Toulouse is establishing itself as a top arts destination

Set to overtake Lyons as France’s third-largest city, Toulouse is also gaining cultural momentum, with a boom in visitors to its venues, and renovations of two major museums

Sindbad Hammache32 minutes ago

Artists agonise over when a work is finished—but should we viewers care?

The thorny issue is relevant to current exhibitions of work by Howard Hodgkin, Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne

Ben Luke30 minutes ago

Art market

Artists agonise over when a work is finished—but should we viewers care?

The thorny issue is relevant to current exhibitions of work by Howard Hodgkin, Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne

Ben Luke30 minutes ago

UK council criticised over sale of collection including works by pioneering photographer Tony Ray-Jones

Kent County Council, led by the Reform party, cited financial pressures as a reason for the forthcoming sale, while stating that the works had not been offered to any of the county’s museums or galleries

Simon Bainbridgeabout 18 hours ago

UK presenters Ant and Dec take legal action over 'secret and unauthorised £250,000 profit' made from Banksy prints

The duo has won a court order to force an art dealer to reveal details of his transactions with an unnamed intermediary

Henry Moore and Dorothea Tanning set records at Christie's triple-header sale in London

The evening brought in £197m, a 52% increase on last year's equivalent auctions

London art market springs back to life in Sotheby's Modern and contemporary evening sale

The packed auction totalled £131m and made a record for Leon Kossoff

Museums & Heritage

Ancient Egyptian form of ‘Tipp-Ex’ identified on papyrus at UK’s Fitzwilliam Museum

A white fluid on a 3,300-year-old papyrus was used to make the figure of a jackal slimmer, researchers have found

‘A gilded edifice to one man’s ego’: critics pile on at public hearing on Trump’s White House ballroom plans

The National Capital Planning Commission, widely expected to approve the plans, will hold its final vote in April

Leading Russian archaeologist arrested in Poland over Crimean excavations

Ukraine has requested the extradition of the State Hermitage Museum’s Alexander Butyagin, who seized artefacts including ancient Greek coins

19th-century shipwreck discovered in Lake Michigan after 60-year search

Paul Ehorn, an 80-year-old shipwreck hunter, has finally located the long-lost luxury steamer Lac La Belle

Unesco World Heritage buildings in Tel Aviv damaged by Iranian missile strike

Cultural sites and museums in Israel have closed and have been instructed to move their collections into bomb shelters

Exhibitions

‘There’s a bead connection to every place’: Wendy Red Star on exploring the real and symbolic currency of beads

The Apsáalooke artist’s new exhibition at Sargent’s Daughters in New York takes the form of a simulated trading floor for glass beads

Lee Ufan retrospective will be among 2026 Venice Biennale collateral events

The show, spanning the South Korean artist’s seven-decade career, will be one of 31 collateral events at this year’s Biennale

Is it finally time for the Guerrilla Girls to remove their masks?

A new Getty show on the activists’ legacy points to the power and limits of anonymity

‘He always had spirituality’: Spanish exhibition unpicks Picasso's religious influences

The exhibition, held in Burgos's Gothic cathedral, brings together 44 works spanning six decades of the artist's career

Monumental commissions and pioneering women artists take centre stage at Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026

“In Interludes and Transitions” includes more than 25 commissions and works by Samia Halaby, Etel Adnan, Pacita Abad and Kamala Ibrahim Ishag

The Week in Art

A podcast bringing you the latest news from the art world, every week

Books

Clash of the Renaissance titans: an intriguing double biography of Titian and Michelangelo

The book about the two Old Masters, who probably only met twice, considers what they had in common and how they differed

New book digs into the little-known gallery that brought Modern art to America

The publication's author on how it has taken decades of research to tell the story of the New York gallery, which exhibited artists such Picasso and Mondrian

An expert's guide to John Constable: five must-read books on the British painter

The best publications to learn all about Constable, from a journey through the landscapes that inspired him to a children's activity book—selected by the curator Emma Roodhouse

A short guide to the hidden meanings in great paintings

An A to C extract from the glossary of Painted Mysteries, which deciphers common motifs and symbols in famous works

A brush with... podcast

A podcast that asks artists the questions you've always wanted to

A brush with… Danh Vo—podcast

Danh Vo talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack and Aimee Dawson
Sponsored by Bloomberg Connects

The Year Ahead

Fair behemoths bet on Gulf plus new, bigger venues for Independent—a quick look at art fairs in 2026

Art Basel and Frieze are expanding in the Middle East while Art Cologne is reinstating its Mallorca edition

Venice, Sydney, Gwangju: the most interesting biennials to visit in 2026

Plus, full listings of the biennials, triennials and festivals taking place throughout the year

Art market 2026 predictions: underwhelming rebound and another Frieze fair

Our columnist gazes into her crystal ball to spot the major trends—from London regaining its lustre to AI fatigue—that are set to dominate the trade over the coming 12 months

Adventures with Van Gogh

Adventures with Van Gogh is a weekly blog by Martin Bailey, our long-standing correspondent and expert on the artist. Published every Friday, his stories range from newsy items about this most intriguing artist to scholarly pieces based on his own meticulous investigations and discoveries.

Epstein files reveal Leon Black as a key collector of Van Gogh works

The New York collector Black is revealed to have bought five of the artist’s pieces

Obituaries

Liliana Angulo Cortés, director of Bogotá’s Museo Nacional de Colombia, has died, aged 51

Angulo’s work was devoted to decolonising the museum, anti-racism and reparation with a special focus on diversifying narratives to include more Black and Indigenous voices

Renowned gallerist Marian Goodman has died, aged 97

The dealer was known for her support of conceptually challenging artistic practices, and credited with bringing key European figures like Gerhard Richter and Marcel Broodthaers to the US

Remembering Gathie Falk, Canadian artist whose singular practice sparked comparisons to Surrealism and Pop art

Shaped by the austerity of her Mennonite upbringing and the bustling Vancouver art scene of the 1960s and 70s, she developed a playful, poignant and exacting visual language

Beatriz González, indefatigable force in Colombian art, has died, aged 93

One of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century, she influenced the direction of post-war painting and helped shape Colombia’s museums as a curator, educator and mentor

Kathleen Goncharov, influential curator who helped many artists ‘realise their dreams’, has died aged 73

Alongside her work at organisations such as New York’s Just Above Midtown gallery and the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, Goncharov was also an artist