BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
The most famous bedroom in art history: secrets of Van Gogh’s nocturnal life
A story of changing wall colours, a pair of pillows, wartime bombs and the hunt for a lost bed
NewsNational Gallery
Conservative party donor John Booth appointed chair of London's National Gallery
Philanthropist succeeds Tony Hall, who stepped down following row over Princess Diana interview
FeatureBooks
Book extract | The story behind Van Gogh's portrait of Doctor Gachet's daughter in the Kunstmuseum Basel
In this adapted extract from his new book Van Gogh’s Finale, Martin Bailey examines the portrait of Marguerite Gachet in the Kunstmuseum Basel
NewsExhibitions
Basel's Beyeler Foundation scores coup for Goya show
Exhibition dedicated to the Spanish artist opens next month with a display of 75 paintings including a prized painting from Madrid’s Prado museum
PreviewExhibitions
Pissarro, the ‘hidden leader’ of Impressionism, reassessed at the Kunstmuseum Basel
This major exhibition comprises nearly 200 works by the multicultural artist who remained an outsider in Paris despite his central role in the movement
NewsDiscoveries
Did this mysterious Dutch painter inspire Vermeer?
The story of enigmatic artist Jacobus Vrel will be told in an exhibition scheduled for 2023 and in a book published this month
PreviewExhibitions
Must-see institutional shows during Art Basel
From unseen drawings from Kara Walker's personal archives to a fresh take on Camille Pissarro as the leader of the Impressionists
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
New Van Gogh discovery: first version of despairing man that was bought for £6—and then hidden away for more than a century
The artist titled the drawing "Worn out" in English because he wanted to work for a London publisher
NewsAppointments
Nadine Dorries named UK culture secretary
The right-wing politician, who appeared on the TV programme I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, replaces Oliver Dowden
NewsThefts
French decorative art stolen from 17-century country home in Sussex—for second time
Police appealing for information after five items, including a pair of Sèvres vases and a clock with a bronze figure of Apollo, were taken from Uppark on the South Downs
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Where was Van Gogh originally buried? We still don’t know
In an extraordinary scene, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Vincent’s skull was held aloft and moved in 1905
NewsRestitution
Maqdala treasures looted by British troops returned to Ethiopia in 'largest single restitution'
At the ceremony in London, the Ethiopian ambassador renewed calls for museums to return Maqdala objects
NewsJohannes Vermeer
First Cupid, now a wine glass? More revelations emerge from restored Vermeer painting in Dresden
Major restoration on Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window shows a large studded goblet later covered by a green curtain
PreviewExhibitions
Recently restored Cupid joins nine Vermeer masterpieces for blockbuster show
Dresden exhibition will include Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window along with key international loans and works by other Dutch Golden Age artists
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s mysterious Wheatfield with Crows—what does it really mean?
Long assumed to be Vincent’s final painting, this foreboding scene is also full of life
NewsFakes & copies
Tate’s Tahitian Gauguin is suspected fake
Catalogue raisonné rejects unusual part-painting, part-sketch, as expert says the “colonial” nature of the composition is not the artist’s style
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Caught: the drug baron who claims to have bought €20m stolen Van Gogh paintings for 'their artistic value'
Arrested in Dubai, the story of Mafia suspect Raffaele Imperiale confirms long-suspected links between the drugs trade and art theft
NewsRestitution
Looted 2,700-year-old bricks—discovered in Swiss warehouse—are returned to Iran
Before the discovery of the more than 50 painted blocks, “the richness of Mannaean civilisation had not been appreciated”, expert says
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Secrets of the two unknown Van Gogh Sunflowers
One has been always been hidden away in private collections and will fetch a fortune when it emerges; the other was destroyed by an American bomb
InterviewAfghanistan
'Do leopards change their spots?': Taliban threat to heritage in Afghanistan could be worse than in 2001
In an exclusive interview with The Art Newspaper, a very well-informed anonymous source tells us how museums are protecting their collections as militants sweep the country
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Ten surprising facts about Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, his greatest masterpiece
From a brothel garden to Nazi leader Hermann Göring’s fake—all part of the sunflower story
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Exuberant Van Gogh landscape—featuring his beloved olive and cypress trees—could well make $40m at Christie's New York
Always hidden away in private collections, the painting will probably sell to a someone in the Far East
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Discovered: a very early photograph of the trees in Van Gogh’s final picture, painted just hours before he fired the fatal shot
On the anniversary of Vincent’s death, his picture can be seen as “a suicide note in colour”
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
The Harvest: painted in a single summer's day, here's why this is Van Gogh’s finest landscape
Vincent needed to recover from his intensive work with a stiff drink and his beloved pipe
NewsAlbrecht Dürer
Gambling den identified in drawing by Albrecht Dürer
Expert matches painter's journal entry detailing trip to Zum Spiegel in Aachen with sketch which is currently on show in major exhibition
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Exclusive: Rescued from an attic, lost Van Gogh landscape surfaces in Japan—here it is in colour
Vincent's watercolour of a Dutch meadow with cows was exhibited once, in 1903, and is known only from a small black-and-white photograph
NewsMuseums
London's National Gallery appoints architect Annabelle Selldorf for its major renovation
First phase of the work is due to be completed by May 2024, in time for the gallery’s 200th anniversary
PreviewExhibitions
Albrecht Dürer's wonderful Renaissance road trip explored in major travelling exhibition
Five centuries after the German artist took a year-long journey around the Low Countries, his remarkable journal and drawings go on show in Aachen before going to London
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s self-portraits: what do they really reveal?
An exhibition at London’s Courtauld Gallery will be the most comprehensive ever held of Vincent's paintings of himself
NewsMuseums
When the US was accused of ‘plundering’ Berlin’s museums: new show reveals murky history
An exhibition opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum reveals how 14 major museums found themselves caught up in a “morally dubious” tour of Germany's art treasures after the Second World War
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
How Van Gogh helped set up a brass band in his village
Dutch trombonist discovers documentary evidence revealing that Vincent supported a musical group which still plays today
NewsV&A East
Opening of London’s V&A East Museum delayed again because of pandemic
The Victoria and Albert Museum outpost is now due to open in 2025 but its open storage space is still on track for 2024
NewsBritish Museums
Cash-strapped museums unable to stop treasures from leaving UK
Export licences likely to be granted on Italian roundel and German reliquary as institutions struggle with the fallout of the pandemic
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
A new Van Gogh work discovered hidden in a book
Reproduced here for the first time: a trio of sketches from Vincent’s village that appear to have been designed as a bookmark
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
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Discovered: American couple buys a picture by Van Gogh’s friend Edmund Brooke for $45 in antiques shop
Vincent was fascinated by his Australian colleague’s links with Japan—and together they painted landscapes in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise
NewsLooted art
Looted Maqdala objects—pulled from rural English auction at the last minute—will be returned to Ethiopia
Busby auction house confirms it has "negotiated a settlement" after Ethiopian officials requested the return of items stolen by British troops in a brutal 1868 battle
NewsBenin Bronzes
Will the Queen return her Benin bronze? How the African treasure was looted not once, but twice
The 17th-century oba head was plucked from the Nigerian National Museum and given to Elizabeth II as a thank-you gift
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
A Degas bought by the Van Gogh Museum sparks off an ethical debate: are female nudes OK?
The controversial pastel stars in a show of new acquisitions at the Amsterdam institution
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh 'immersive experiences': a guide to the global battle now reaching London
Presenting a vivid insight into Vincent’s art, Van Gogh Alive opens today in Kensington Gardens
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
India’s 'vaccine prince' has a Van Gogh landscape in his living room
Adar Poonawalla, who runs the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccine producer, claims to have the finest collection of European art in the sub-continent
AnalysisMuseums & Heritage
What it's like to visit museums now—and how Covid-19 has fundamentally changed them long term
Coronavirus restrictions have dramatically altered the visitor experience, but the changes run deeper than mask-wearing and one-way systems
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
How a Van Gogh painting was stolen from a Cairo museum—not once, but twice
The Khalil Museum, with its fabled Impressionists in a mansion by the Nile, has reopened after an 11-year renovation—without Vincent’s flower still-life
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Irises: anniversary of Van Gogh’s finest garden picture, painted on his first morning in the asylum
Monet asked how the artist who made this exuberant masterpiece could possibly be unhappy—and a century later it became the most expensive work at auction
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
New discoveries about Van Gogh’s olive grove paintings revealed in upcoming Dallas and Amsterdam exhibitions
In Provence, Vincent loved the gnarled trees with a passion that rivalled his beloved sunflowers
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh's $30m riverscape with an absinthe-coloured sky comes up for sale at Christie’s
The story of Le Pont de Trinquetaille—with the young female mudlark and the ruffians from the red-light district
NewsRestitution
Scottish university claims Benin bronze bought for £750 is worth £500,000—but is that now really the case?
Aberdeen University is returning its looted 18th-century oba head to the Nigerian federal government
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s unknown period: his life in a remote Dutch heathland region
A new study and a 2023 exhibition will reveal how Vincent’s art developed in Drenthe—an escape from city life and his lover Sien
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
David Hockney follows in Van Gogh’s footsteps, painting fleeting spring blossom
Martin Gayford’s book pays tribute to Britain’s greatest living artist before an exhibition at London’s Royal Academy
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Dutch police arrest over Van Gogh smash-and-grab raid: how long until the landscape is recovered?
The suspect is linked to a Frans Hals theft, which should help track down paintings from two museums
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Who bought the €13m Van Gogh? Britain’s second richest family
Montmartre painting was auctioned twice by Sotheby’s, after a bidder failed to have the necessary cash
NewsNazi Germany
We reveal the chilling history of a Nazi tapestry hidden in the Louvre probably made with gold from Jewish victims
The woven hanging bears a slogan from Hitler's Mein Kampf
NewsVisitor Figures 2020
British Museum hit hardest by 2020 lockdown among UK’s big museums
Major UK institutions lost 78% of their visitors due to the pandemic last year, our research reveals
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
The tragedy of Vincent van Gogh’s youngest sister Willemien—a feminist who spent 38 years in an asylum
New book explores the extraordinary story of the three Van Gogh sisters
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
The astonishing tale of how a US vice president’s Van Gogh work ended up in Iran
Vincent’s print—inscribed “At Eternity’s Gate” by the artist—went from Nelson Rockefeller to Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art, a new book by Donna Stein reveals
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
New research reveals how a grasshopper got stuck—leaving its mark in Van Gogh's painting on a summer’s day in Provence
The new Nelson-Atkins Museum catalogue tells the full story of the Olive Trees
NewsNational Gallery
National Gallery London: new details of development plans revealed
A 1960s office block behind the Sainsbury Wing will be demolished to make way for a new building to provide more exhibition space
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Boris Johnson says Van Gogh’s Sunflowers 'lifts the soul'—as the London masterpiece is unveiled in Australia
Britons will have to wait a bit longer to enjoy the painting as Covid-19 delays the National Gallery’s international tour, now on its final stop in Canberra
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Bought for around $1,000, now worth $10m: where was the newly unveiled Van Gogh landscape hidden away?
Montmartre windmill painting is on view with Sotheby’s for the first time since it left the easel
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Pissarro predicted that Van Gogh 'would either go mad or leave the Impressionists far behind'
Fresh evidence of Camille’s admiration for Vincent: an unpublished document reveals he owned the Dutch artist’s portrait of their paintseller friend Père Tanguy
NewsBuilding projects
'Building on our strengths': National Gallery London unveils plans for £25m upgrade
Refurbishment, to be partly completed for the museum's 200th anniversary in 2024, will encompass the lobby of the Sainsbury Wing, a new research centre and improved outdoor space
NewsBritish Museum
British Museum hires curator to research history of its collection, also covering contested objects such as the Parthenon Marbles
"Issues such as the role of the slave trade and empire… will be relevant to some of the research undertaken," a museum spokeswoman says
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Hockney and Van Gogh paintings meet in Houston for exhibition on the joys of nature
Despite Covid-19, the show will open with works now safely flown across the Atlantic
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Seller of $92m Botticelli also collected Van Gogh
Sheldon Solow’s Rhône riverscape is worth $40m—but what will happen to it now that the billionaire New York collector has died?
NewsFakes and forgeries
Expert warned Getty Museum that its newly purchased Gauguin sculpture was a fake, new article reveals
The Los Angeles institution confirmed the work was not authentic last year
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s Japanese girl could fetch record $10m at auction
A Provençal drawing coming up at Christie’s New York is based on a painting in Washington, DC
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Is Van Gogh hiding at the back of this Toulouse-Lautrec drawing?
In this rare depiction of Vincent, now in a Hiroshima museum, he is observing a raucous cabaret in Paris
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
A lost Van Gogh self-portrait had the most extraordinary frame that included his much-loved sunflowers—here it is reconstructed
The painting—which went missing in a German salt mine during the war—was given a gilded frame with swirling lines
NewsPablo Picasso
This Picasso photo puzzle has stumped experts. Can you help solve it?
The identity of those posing with the master remains a mystery a century after the picture was taken
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Treats for Van Gogh fans in 2021: exhibitions, museum openings and books
We look ahead at the events to enjoy this year—assuming coronavirus doesn't scupper them
NewsOpenings
Art in 2021—treats include Dürer blockbuster, new Munch museum and Caravaggio anniversary
Influential works by Duchamp, Picasso and Mondrian also celebrate centenary this year
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Barbra Streisand just bought a Van Gogh painting—once owned by Penthouse boss Bob Guccione—for a cool $4.5m
Californian-based singer and actress, now 78, has long collected art and design, starting with a Matisse in 1964
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Why the Van Gogh Museum might never have existed—new research reveals how the family collection was nearly sold off
In 1911, the Kröller-Müller couple tried to acquire 200 of Vincent’s paintings and 600 drawings
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Victoria and Albert museum to close for two days a week due to coronavirus financial crunch
Visitor numbers will take years to recover with a drastic impact on income, the London institution reports
NewsTate Britain
Rex Whistler’s Tate Britain restaurant mural is ‘offensive’, ethics committee says, threatening closure
Tate now faces the dilemma of what to do with a room decorated by a major early 20th-century artist
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Poignant Van Gogh watercolour of a windmill coming up for sale
Sheltering from a rainstorm at the mill, Vincent and his brother Theo made a teenage pact
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Hunt still on for a Van Gogh self-portrait lost deep in a salt mine during the Second World War
The Magdeburg masterpiece may have been burned at the end of hostilities—but some believe it might have been looted and survive
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
A separated pair: the story behind Van Gogh’s famed empty chairs
An insight into what the two paintings reveal about Vincent's life with Gauguin in the Yellow House
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Did alcohol withdrawal really cause Van Gogh’s mental crises?
Vincent was allowed 42 units of wine at the asylum—three times more than today’s recommended limit
NewsMuseums
First look at David Adjaye's planned museum for Benin City
Ghanaian-born London architect is working with the British Museum and Nigerian organisations to show “the most comprehensive display in the world of Benin Bronzes”
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
New book solves the mystery of Van Gogh's lost harmonium portrait
Vincent scrunched up a study for a second portrait of Marguerite Gachet, the daughter of his Auvers doctor
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Two Van Gogh fakes in Washington? Strong evidence produced against early drawings at the National Gallery of Art
Revelations in new book about an attic discovery throw fresh light on Vincent’s decision to become an artist
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
In a moving letter, Van Gogh complains about quarantine after his forced removal from the Yellow House
New exhibition at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum is a unique opportunity to see Vincent’s correspondence, normally locked away in a vault
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Coveted Van Gogh bouquet to be sold at Sotheby's New York, valued at $18m
Chequered past: from the Bear Skin to the Nazis, a once-restituted painting is now coming up for auction
NewsMuseums
Scottish museum joins Tate in cutting ties with dealer Anthony d’Offay
Hundreds of works will be returned following harassment allegations dating back to 1997
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Gauguin and Van Gogh: their shared love of Japan revealed
“Beautiful women” in Gauguin’s rediscovered manuscript are now identified as by Kunisada—Vincent’s favourite Japanese printmaker
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Gauguin claims credit for Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: the revelations of a rediscovered manuscript
In Avant et Après—just acquired by London's Courtauld Gallery—Gauguin details his tumultuous time with Van Gogh
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Royal Academy of Arts considers selling Michelangelo marble to plug financial hole—and not for the first time
Some academicians argue that instead of cutting almost half of the institution's jobs, it should consider selling the Taddei Tondo—worth several hundred million pounds
ReviewExhibitions
The Big Review: Gauguin and the Impressionists at the Royal Academy of Arts
The London exhibition has many highlights, but viewing this long-planned show is unlike anyone could have envisaged before the coronavirus pandemic
NewsPaul Gauguin
Rediscovered Paul Gauguin manuscript written in his Polynesian hut reveals artist's hidden secrets
Original book with nearly 30 images has been acquired by London's Courtauld Gallery and will go on display next year
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh exhibitions return—exclusive news all the way up to 2024
From olive groves to peat moors: shows coming up in Dallas, Amsterdam, Detroit, Vienna, Assen, Columbus and Santa Barbara
NewsMuseums
Oxford museum removes 'racist' shrunken heads from display after 80 years
Exhibiting Tsantsas "reinforced racist and stereotypical thinking that goes against the museum’s core values,” says the Pitt Rivers Museum's director
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Which is the only museum in the world actively buying up Van Goghs? It’s in the hometown of Hieronymus Bosch
The Noordbrabants Museum’s latest acquisition is Head of a Woman, bought privately for €1.6m through Christie’s
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Art for the People: how a Van Gogh masterpiece ended up in an English village hall
In 1935 Samuel Courtauld lent Peach Blossoms to bring major paintings to the countryside—an inspiration for today
NewsBritish Museums
UK museums are back open—but visitors are staying away
Our data shows that most major London art museums had many available booking slots for next-day entry despite operating reduced capacity
NewsDiscoveries
A real Rembrandt? Study shows painting banished to storeroom is either by his studio or the master himself
A recent examination of the wood panel reveals that it is from the same Baltic oak tree as the panel of an authenticated work by the Dutch artist
NewsFakes & copies
Two US museums plan to investigate their Gauguins after amateur art sleuth says they are fake
French-born Gauguin enthusiast Fabrice Fourmanoir correctly identified a fake in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s earlier this year
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Van Gogh detective discovers exact spot of artist's last work, painted just hours before his suicide
The spot—in a village north of Paris—now has a plaque linking it to Vincent's death