Latest

‘Exclusion can only satisfy the ego’: Venice Biennale president hits out at critics amid Russia and Israel controversy

At a conference on 6 May, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco said that calls to ban countries from the Biennale would go against its mission to be ‘the place where the world comes together’

James Imamabout 6 hours ago

No money, more problems: 85% of US museums in urgent need of building repairs

A survey by the federal Government Accountability Office shows that a majority of the nation’s museums lack the resources to maintain their buildings, putting collections at risk

Helen Stoilasabout 9 hours ago

Major protests take place at Venice Biennale previews

More than 200 people attended a protest outside the Israeli pavilion, while the activists groups Pussy Riot and FEMEN led a demonstration at Russia’s

Brandywine Conservancy and Museum picks architects for $100m expansion project

The Pennsylvania museum and land trust plans an ambitious overhaul of its campus, which will connect gallery buildings to the original studios of N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth

Two truths? US 250th anniversary programmes take differing approaches

America250 was established by congress and files regular reports while Freedom 250 is planning a mixed martial arts fight at the White House on Trump’s 80th birthday

Helen Stoilas1 day ago

Venice Biennale 2026

Breaking news, analysis, interviews and more from the world-famous exhibition, including The Art Newsaper’s on-the-ground coverage

Our pick of the best pavilions at the 61st Venice Biennale

From splashing sewage to moments of zen, here is our selection of top national presentations in the Giardini, Arsenale and across town

Sound-based Holy See pavilion opens at Venice Biennale as Vatican’s contemporary art ambitions grow

The Vatican meanwhile recently opened a contemporary art space, which next year will feature work by artists including Yan Pei-Ming

Gareth Harrisabout 3 hours ago

Polish pavilion at Venice Biennale explores fluidity of language with film recorded underwater

Deaf and hearing performers worked on the project, filmed in a Warsaw swimming pool

Richard Unwinabout 6 hours ago

Cultural workers at Venice Biennale to strike over Israel’s participation

A rally is also planned to take place in the city on the same day, 8 May

Gareth Harris1 day ago

Lotus Kang channels desire into Bvlgari's Venice Biennale pavilion

The Canada-born, New York-based artist creates works informed by everything from industrial rubber to rat pups

Charlotte Jansenabout 7 hours ago

Art market

David Nahmad maintains that his Modigliani was not looted by the Nazis

The Lebanese billionaire cited Marc Restellini’s recently published catalogue raisonné as proof that this has all been a case of mistaken identity

Art trade adjusting after US Supreme Court struck down Trump's extreme tariffs

After the ruling, President Donald Trump imposed new rate of up to 15%, although this is also being challenged and is likely to be temporary

In new play, Norval Morrisseau forgery scandal prompts questions about authenticity and Indigenous identity

Drew Hayden Taylor’s “The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light”, which recently debuted in Vancouver, interrogates fraud in several forms

Pittsburgh’s burgeoning gallery community readies for its moment in art world spotlight

As the latest Carnegie International arrives, Pittsburgh’s long-running and newer commercial art spaces make the case for a more supportive, sustainable and slower-paced scene

British billionaire's £200m art collection most expensive ever offered in UK

Financier Joe Lewis's trove of market titans, including Klimt, Schiele and Bacon, will "inject trust into the London market" when it is sold at Sotheby's this June

Museums & Heritage

Latino community organisation opens $33m arts centre in Boston

La Casa, the new home of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, will be a hub for civic engagement, education and artistic expression

Kimberly Hatfieldabout 23 hours ago

Pedro Reyes’s new Lacma commission sparks criticism in Mexico

Mexican cultural figures say the Olmec-inspired sculpture reprises a work that was previously rejected in Mexico City

1,000-year-old archaeological site bulldozed during construction of Mexico-US border wall

A contractor for the Department of Homeland Security destroyed a 1,000-year-old etching in the sand of the Sonoran Desert

Hadani Ditmars2 days ago

Van Gogh Museum in funding mediation with Dutch government following threats of closure

Legal proceedings—begun by the museum to demand more public funding for a renovation—have now been postponed

Filippo Lippi painting—once the centrepiece of Florence's Palazzo Medici chapel—to undergo two-year restoration

The varnish layer of the work, which is held in Berlin's Gemäldegalerie, is degrading the tempera paint

Exhibitions

Beware the technology rat trap: Cooper Jacoby’s standout contribution to New York’s Whitney Biennial

The US artist’s sculptures explore the ways in which AI behemoths and other corporations turn our data into financial assets

Tim Schneiderabout 8 hours ago

Paul McCarthy: ‘The world is now an extreme absurdity. The work is a reaction to that’

The veteran provocateur talks about his return to the enduring motif of Santa Claus, and his ongoing collaboration with the German actress Lilith Stangenberg, as an exhibition of his taboo-busting work opens in Paris

Cosmic, concrete, earthy: Nancy Holt’s Land Art on show in UK

The Goodwood Art Foundation hosts Britain's first major exhibition by the US artist

US exhibition unearths the Etruscans and their enduring cultural influence

Nearly 200 objects will be on view at San Francisco's Legion of Honor in a show exploring the influential civilisation

New space dedicated to Oleg Prokofiev—whose abstract art was censored by Soviet Russia—opens in London

The paintings will be unveiled in "Bending Time", the inaugural exhibition at Prokofiev Studio in Hackney

Books

‘A remarkably tenacious motif’: the many faces of Marilyn Monroe revealed in new book and show

Different artists’ takes on the film star are explored ahead of an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London

Pleasure, parody and propaganda: rethinking the art of illustration in a new history of the genre

From a ninth-century Chinese frontispiece to Marxist magazine covers, this rich tome explores the power of illustration and the ways in which we read such images

An expert's guide to Tracey Emin: five must-read books on the British artist

The best Emin publications, from her searingly honest autobiography to a collection of revealing snapshots—selected by the Tate’s assistant curator Jess Baxter

How the adoption of canvas in Venice changed the way artists painted

Four key takeaways from a new book about the innovative use of canvas in 16th-century Italy

A brush with... podcast

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

A brush with... Andrew Cranston—podcast

Andrew Cranston talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored by Bloomberg Connects

The Art of Luxury

A magazine, published twice per year by The Art Newspaper, exploring how grande marque fashion, jewellery, travel and lifestyle interact with artists, the art market and the museums and heritage sector

Hotel and art hub Casabianca opens on Italy's Lake Como

From Jannis Kounellis to Anselm Kiefer, a very personal art collection, asssembled by the De Santis family, is now on view in the 1930s villa

Van Cleef & Arpels cashes in on lucrative secondary market for vintage jewellery

The jewellery designer's Heritage Collection presents rare 20th-century creations

Claire Wrathallabout 7 hours ago

What is a botanical curator? Rahel Kesselring takes on inaugural role at Fondation Beyeler

With the support of the Chanel Culture Fund, the Swiss museum's new role is the first of its kind at a major arts institution

How Wayne McGregor’s epic ballets draw on help from his artistic friends

From Carmen Herrera to Saul Nash, the choreographer is a master at utilising the skills of artists and fashion designers

Visitor Figures 2025

The Art Newspaper’s Visitor Figures survey is conducted annually, and is the foremost authority on the attendance of art museums worldwide

Exclusive | The world's 100 most visited art museums in 2025: new venues a big hit with visitors

Our annual survey shows that some of the world’s most venerable institutions are still struggling to attract the number of visitors they had before Covid, but there is enthusiasm for new museums, and in regions such as Asia and Latin America

Irreconcilable differences: Canadian cultural tourism to the US experiences a steep decline

A significant number of Canadians are shunning their neighbours to the south, a phenomenon felt most acutely by smaller museums and those along the border

National Museum of Korea Seoul sees a surge in visitor numbers

According to our 2025 Visitor Figures survey, the Seoul location of the museum is attracting more international guests

How museum funding in Denmark has become reliant on visitor numbers

Danish government reforms have resulted in increased funds for museums, but some question the equity of grants based on footfall

The Week in Art

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

Zurbarán in London, the Carnegie International, Walter Sickert’s Ennui—podcast

In this week's episode, Ben Luke takes a tour of the Zurbarán survey at the National Gallery in London, speaks to the director of the Carnegie Museum of Art ahead of this year's Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, and learns about a Walter Sickert painting on view at Charleston in Sussex.

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack and Alexander Morrison

Opinion

Comment | Degenerate art all over again? Nazi attack on Modern art is not far away from trends in today’s world

When it comes to art, Trump is an utter vacuum—he makes the Nazis look like great connoisseurs, says author John-Paul Stonard

Comment | The slopification of political art

Artificial intelligence has made it incredibly easy to create pointed visuals in response to crises in real time, but the resulting videos and images have little poignancy or staying power

Comment | Catherine Opie shows us that in dark times, looking for joy can be radical

The artist's new show at the National Portrait Gallery offers plenty of reasons to be cheerful

Comment | A generational moment for Nazi-looted art claims in the US

Expanded version of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (Hear) Act in the US fundamentally alters the legal landscape for both claimants and current owners

Comment | All hail the rise of the art internship

Against a backdrop of a contracting job market for graduates, initiatives such as the Sotheby’s Institute’s fellowship programme are supporting the next generation of art industry experts

Obituaries

Remembering Pat Steir, one of the 20th century’s late-blooming great artists

The painter made gravity her collaborator, transforming poured oil paint into one of the defining gestures of late 20th-century abstraction

Georg Baselitz, German artist who turned figurative painting on its head, has died, aged 88

Baselitz’s death comes on the eve of a major exhibition of his latest paintings at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini concurrent with the Venice Biennale

Obituary | Umberto Allemandi, visionary publisher who founded 'Il Giornale dell’Arte', has died aged 88

The editor built an international network of publications—including 'The Art Newspaper'—that transformed cultural journalism

Pedro Friedeberg, key figure in Mexican art renowned for hand-shaped chair, has died at age 90

Beyond his famous chair design, Friedeberg created a singular world of ornament, architecture, and irony

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

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.

Rare early photographs reveal lost sites featured in Van Gogh’s paintings

Photographic albums assembled by the artist’s early biographer Gustave Coquiot provide a glimpse into his Arles scenes

How sweet it is: chocolate Russell Crowe at the Malta Pavilion

A chocolate gladiator features in Valletta-based artist Charlie Cauchi's film and accompanying installation in the Arsenale

The Art Newspaperabout 8 hours ago

Nature is healing? Seagull lays eggs in the Giardini during Venice Biennale preview

The new mother may have upstaged some of the artwork on show

The Art Newspaperabout 10 hours ago

Alvaro Barrington takes a road trip to the Venice Biennale

The artist's contribution to In Minor Keys includes a decked out truck driven from London to Venice

‘She had a fresh, informed eye’: mural depicting late Venice Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh displayed in lagoon city

Derrick Adams’ piece features “beams of gold signifying the brilliance and reach” of the curator’s influence

Spice up your life: Tate channels 90s glam at The Groucho Club

Vogue alumni Edward Enniful will curate Tate Britain's autumn blockbuster 'The 90s: Art and Fashion'

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