BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
How a concierge restored 200 Van Gogh paintings, including the Sunflowers
The astonishing tale of Jan Traas, a caretaker and intern conservator in the 1920s, who later worked on Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring
NewsRestitution
Archaeologist launches private bid to retrieve priceless Egyptian treasures from European museums
Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian minister of antiquities, corrals international team of experts to press institutions for return of important artefacts
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Ten myths about Vincent van Gogh
Why stories—from the mutilated ear to the eventual suicide—can distort our view of the art
NewsArt market
Rare Tahitian painting by Gauguin sells for €9.5m at Artcurial in Paris
Te Bourao II, which went to an international collector, was on loan to the Met in New York for ten years
NewsUK politics
The UK's culture secretary conveyor belt: who will be next?
As the election looms this month and Nicky Morgan announces she is standing down, the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport prepares for its latest secretary of state
NewsDiscoveries
Artist's signature and thumbprint among discoveries in Pieter de Hooch paintings
Revelations were made during research for the largest retrospective of the Dutch painter's work in the Netherlands
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
A good catch: The Mackerels now looks set to be authenticated as a genuine Van Gogh
The still life in Switzerland’s Reinhart collection was dismissed as a forgery
NewsRestitution
Cambridge college returns Benin bronze to Nigeria
Statue of a cockerel was looted by the British in 1897 from the Court of Benin
NewsUK politics
Boris Johnson’s Conservative manifesto promises £250m funding for culture
Although Tory announcement calls it the “largest cultural capital programme in a century”, pledge is only quarter of Labour’s £1bn culture fund
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Van Gogh's Sunflowers will leave London for over a year as Australian show is added to loan tour
Masterpiece from London's National Gallery is headed for Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
How London’s Kew Gardens connects Van Gogh and Gauguin—and the monster flower that caught the latter's imagination
In Tahiti, years later, Gauguin recalled the Corpse Flower which stinks of rotting flesh
NewsUK politics
Jeremy Corbyn promises £1bn culture fund in Labour Party election manifesto
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats commit to stopping Brexit and protecting arts funding through the National Lottery
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Where is the portrait of Dr Gachet? The mysterious disappearance of Van Gogh's most expensive painting
Frankfurt's Städel Museum put a detective journalist on the case
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Two Dutch museums join forces to buy rare, $3m Van Gogh painting at Sotheby's New York
Work acquired by Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Drents Museum in Assen is one of few to survive from the artist's visit to Drenthe
NewsOrazio Gentileschi
London's National Gallery launches public campaign to fund last £2m to buy Orazio Gentileschi masterpiece
The 17th-century painting The Finding of Moses was painted in London for Charles I and represented the birth of Charles II
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
For sale: two Van Gogh paintings come up at Sotheby’s New York next week
One of the works was looted by the Nazis from Jewish collector Jacques Goudstikker, but is now being sold by his heir after restitution
NewsMuseums
Gus Casely-Hayford, director of Smithsonian’s African art museum, to lead V&A East
The British cultural historian will take up his role at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new branch in the spring
NewsDiscoveries
Revealed: the story behind the Gauguin paintings buried with a young boy in Tahiti
The artist befriended the child of his neighbours, and had given two paintings for the boy’s nursery
NewsExhibitions
Tutankhamun blockbuster will head to Boston
Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, which opened in London this weekend, will also tour to Australia, Japan, Canada and South Korea
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Two Van Gogh exhibitions in a single week
After the Frankfurt show opens, another on still lifes comes to Potsdam—17 years after Germany’s last presentation on the artist
NewsPolitics
London's Roundhouse turns down £1m Sackler grant
The arts and performance venue has refused to accept a £1m grant from the Sackler Trust because of risk it would "distract from its work with young people"
NewsExhibitions
King Tut show on track to become one of the most popular art exhibitions ever in the UK—and the most expensive
Peak adult tickets for the travelling exhibition opening at the Saatchi Gallery in London this week will cost £37.40
NewsBrexit
New deadline creates problems for National Gallery's 'Brexit-ready' exhibition schedule
Museum has avoided transporting loans to and from Europe around 31 October “deadline”, but the last-minute extension to next January may cause shipping issues
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh and Germany: Frankfurt mounts best show on the artist in recent years
Städel Museum tells the story of Germany's love affair with the painter, which ended in tragedy with Hitler’s rise to power
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Methodical, well read and—above all—human: what we learn from the myth-busting edition of Van Gogh’s letters
A decade after the publication of Vincent's trove of correspondence, here is how the remarkable project has contributed to scholarship on his art
NewsAppointments
Emilie Gordenker appointed new general director of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum
The current director of the Mauritshuis in The Hague is taking over from Axel Rüger who now leads the Royal Academy of Arts in London
NewsPompeii
Fresco of two fighting gladiators discovered in Pompeii
Italy's culture minister Dario Franceschini says the find shows the site is an "inexhaustible mine for archaeological research"
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Arles to Tokyo: Van Gogh exhibitions in 2020 that Vincent aficionados won't want to miss
Detroit’s Van Gogh in America will be the highlight, with more major shows in Amsterdam, Padua, Santa Barbara and Columbus
PreviewExhibitions
Pieter de Hooch steps out from Vermeer's shadow in new Delft show
First survey in the Netherlands puts the spotlight back onto the ‘other’ Golden Age painter
NewsResearch
Gauguin’s Tahitian lover may be more fantasy than reality
As the National Gallery's exhibition opens in London, an expert speculates that the teenager in his Polynesian works could be a composite of women the painter encountered
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
The artist whom Van Gogh most admired—and whose work fetched record prices
An exhibition on Millet opens in Amsterdam with the rare loan of The Angelus
NewsArt market
Gauguin Tahitian painting comes to auction in Paris from the walls of the Met
Te Bourao II (The Purao Tree), which has been in the same collection since 1995, is estimated to sell for €5m-€7m at Artcurial
NewsMuseums & Heritage
British Museum knocks Tate Modern off top spot as UK's most popular attraction after miscalculation
Over 300,000 visitors had been missed in the financial year 2018/19 because of 'incorrect light levels caused by a broken light fitting'
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Uncovered: Van Gogh's first art teacher
First photo discovered of Anna Birnie, of Scottish descent, who served as a young governess for eight-year-old Vincent
NewsPolitics
'We want the Babylonian Palace of Tiglath-Pileser!': new book reveals Boris Johnson's thwarted vision for new V&A East
Nicholas Coleridge, the chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum, tells how Boris laid down the law on his plans for the project
NewsExhibitions
Raphael revelry: National Gallery secures exceptional loans for 500th anniversary of artist's death
London exhibition in 2020 includes around 30 paintings, 20 of which will come from international museums
NewsDiscoveries
'True Rembrandt relic' discovered in cesspit below artist's house
Clay pot used by Old Master to paint is now on show in Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum
NewsExhibitions
Despite Brexit, Britain is biggest lender to Louvre’s Leonardo blockbuster show
Speculation remains over whether Salvator Mundi will appear
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Where there’s a will there’s a way: the Wallace Collection lifts loan restrictions
Terms of original bequest are loosened, paving the way for the London museum to stage joint international exhibitions in Los Angeles and Vienna
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Not just a tortured soul: new show shines light on Van Gogh's humour and friendships
Den Bosch exhibition features rarely exhibited documents revealing the artist's personal relationships
PreviewExhibitions
Albertina’s Albrecht Dürer drawings enjoy a rare outing
Exhibition will bring together Vienna museum’s collection with key loans from European institutions, as well as unveiling a raft of new theories
ReviewBooks
'The guardian of Vincent’s legacy': new biography details devoted life of Van Gogh's sister-in-law Jo Bonger
Bonger's encounter with Trotsky and her tireless effort to preserve the artist's work are explored in the new book by Hans Luijten
NewsPrizes
Mona Hatoum and William Kentridge among international recipients of £100,000 Japanese art prize
The Praemium Imperiale Award will be presented in Tokyo in October
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
New discoveries: Paul Signac painted watercolours of Van Gogh’s asylum
Signac, who offered to fight a duel over the Sunflowers, pays homage to his Dutch friend
NewsPolitics
Tom Watson, deputy Labour leader, wants to put 'creativity back at the heart of our classrooms'
Politician also says Brexit will have 'disastrous' consequences for creative industries
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Lack of space at the British Museum sees major loan of Assyrian collection to Getty
Since the closure of a basement gallery in 2006 there is little room to store the whole collection
NewsMuseums & Heritage
The William Blakes that got away—and why
As the Tate Britain show opens, we reveal the inside story of the Tate’s failure to acquire 19 watercolours from a portfolio that turned up in a Glasgow bookshop
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh's suicide: Ten reasons why the murder story is a myth
All the evidence suggests it was the artist who fired the fatal shot
NewsFunding
Funding for culture to rise by 4.1% according to UK government's spending review
Treasury says there will be “over £300m to support the UK’s world-class national museums and galleries” in 2020-21
NewsExhibitions
Bare necessities: would you brush up against naked performers to get inside Marina Abramovic’s 2020 London show?
Artist's famous nude performance—first done with Ulay—to be recreated in her retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts next year
NewsEthics
How ethical can museums afford to be? We ask five major UK art institutions about funding challenges
We find out how mounting public scrutiny of private money could affect the bottom line of London's National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery and the Tate
NewsMuseums & Heritage
UK's most valuable museum acquisition in a decade? National Gallery set to buy Gentileschi masterpiece
The Finding of Moses, currently on loan at the London museum, is owned by sofa-billionaire Graham Kirkham
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
'Immersive experience' at London's National Gallery to reveal secrets of Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks
X-rays showing artist's original composition reveal that angel and Infant Christ were positioned higher up
NewsMuseums
UK national museums lent almost half a million objects around the world last year
Most were scientific materials, but 69,000 went to cultural venues
NewsRestoration
Delicate seven-year restoration of altarpiece finally completed at London's National Gallery
The 16th-century work The Virgin and Child with Saints is now back on show in the museum
NewsAttribution
Hidden number discovered in conservation helps reveal painting is from Titian's workshop
Part of the Wellington Collection in London, the picture was originally believed to be by a minor north Italian artist
NewsMuseums
Dutch government gives money for new centre on Netherlandish art at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts
Prime minister takes the unusual step of pledging $200,000 to the US museum
NewsExhibitions
After the National Gallery, the Courtauld is the latest London institution to send masterpieces to Japan
Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is among the 58 works going on a Japanese tour this autumn
AnalysisPolitics
The artistic women in Boris Johnson's life
From his mother to his partners, the UK's new prime minister has been surrounded by people in the arts
NewsIvory
UK museums lose opportunity to buy rare renaissance casket
Cabinet of curiosities cannot go to US because of tough ivory regulations
PreviewExhibitions
Saint Louis bags bumper Paul Gauguin exhibition from one of the world's great collections
The show, which borrows works from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, travels from San Francisco’s De Young Museum where it closed in June
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Millinery mix up: scholar says Van Gogh Museum has mistaken hatted portraits of Theo and Vincent
Major exhibition at the Noordbrabants Museum in the Netherlands will show latest research in the confusing identity saga as Amsterdam museum renames work
NewsPolitics
What can the arts expect from next UK prime minister?
While Boris Johnson describes himself as a keen painter and Jeremy Hunt spent time as culture minister, the sector is likely to remain far down the agenda
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
A once-in-a-lifetime look behind Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
The Van Gogh Museum’s masterpiece has suffered from a 1960s restoration which involved the insertion of three long metal bolts
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s gun, 'most famous weapon in art history', sells for €162,500
The discovery of the revolver suggests it was suicide, not murder
NewsTroy
British Museum to finally display treasures of Troy in major exhibition—after failing to buy them 150 years ago
The Trojan antiquities went to Berlin after the London museum rejected an offer to acquire them
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s astonishing week in the asylum, 130 years ago—when he painted an olive grove and a starry night
By coincidence, both pictures ended up at New York’s MoMA, which is now planning a redisplay
NewsNational Portrait Gallery
Artists call for National Portrait Gallery to drop BP sponsorship
Gary Hume says funding for the arts is 'outweighed by the need to act urgently on the climate crisis'
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Gauguin blames Van Gogh over ear incident
Little known letter says he feared “a fatal and tragic accident”
NewsRaphael
After Leonardo, the spotlight is on Raphael for the 500th anniversary of his death next year
There will be a rash of shows on the Renaissance master, the largest will be in Rome
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
An insider’s travel guide to Van Gogh's Arles
Follow in the artist’s footsteps and discover the places that inspired his greatest paintings
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Gauguin exhibitions in Ottawa and London will feature tributes to Van Gogh
Tahitian still lifes of sunflowers are surrogate portraits of his Yellow House friend
CommentLeaders
Comment | Cupid ‘outing’ in Vermeer painting is the right move
The uncovered figure changes the composition of Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window
Martin Bailey