NewsRestoration
There be dragons (again) after £5m Great Pagoda renovation at Kew Gardens
Eighty of the gaudy monsters have been recreated for the 18th-century tower at London's royal botanic gardens
NewsRestitution
Ethiopia claims Ten Commandments tablet hidden in Westminster Abbey
Sacred object taken by British troops in the 19th century is concealed inside an altar
NewsExhibitions
British Museum show focuses on Assyrian antiquities targeted by Islamic State
Loans likely to come from Iran—but works from the Met would not meet London museum's strict borrowing guidelines
NewsAfrican art
Contested Asante trophy head to shine in new Wallace room
Seized during the Ashanti war and long held by the London museum, the prized Ghanaian work is to be displayed in a new permanent gallery
NewsArt market
Art dealers slam proposed European Union licence regulations
Revising import controls on cultural goods could impact negatively on trade, dealer organisations say
NewsControversies
Beatrix Ruf, former Stedelijk Museum director, cleared of alleged conflicts of interest
Report commissioned by Amsterdam city council finds that she complied with Dutch regulations
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Revealed: Van Gogh's failed attempt at art dealing
New book argues that artist bought Japanese prints “not for pleasure but to deal in them”
NewsCultural policy
UK permits Nazi-looted Meissen figure to leave for Japan despite spoliation claim
There appear to be no winners in what the Arts Council refers to as an “extremely unusual” case
NewsExhibitions
Andrew Lloyd Webber to lend works to Tate Britain’s Edward Burne-Jones show
The musical impresario, who has long collected Victorian artists, is understood to be anonymously lending half a dozen works by the Pre-Raphaelite
NewsExhibitions
Lee Bul work at Hayward Gallery catches fire hours before private view
The fire was quickly contained and no one was hurt a spokeswoman said, but the public opening could be delayed
NewsExhibitions
From Cleopatra to Banksy: satirist Ian Hislop to co-organise British Museum show on subversion
Private Eye editor will select 100 objects highlighting dissent down the ages
NewsRestitution
Ethiopia toughens position on Maqdala treasures calling for full restitution
Ethiopian ambassador Hailemichael Afework Aberra told The Art Newspaper podcast his government wants the seized artefacts returned, not given back on long-term loan as proposed by the V&A
Podcast
Podcast episode 28: the battle over Ethiopia's treasures
Martin Bailey speaks to Hailemichael Aberra Afework, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the UK, about the artefacts seized by the British army at Maqdala, go behind the scenes of the Sony World Photography Awards with judge Gareth Harris and ask Richard Parry about his plans for Glasgow International
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
Ethiopia calls on British Museum to return Maqdala treasures on loan like the V&A
Ambassador made request at display opening in South Kensington
Podcast
Podcast episode 26: Wrap star Christo and the most popular shows of 2017
We speak to the Bulgarian-born artist about his grand project for the Serpentine, and look at our annual survey of visitor figures
NewsAttribution
National Gallery in London accused of altering attribution of Hermitage's 'Leonardo' for 2011 blockbuster show
Leading scholar says gallery's own curators believed Madonna Litta to be by Boltraffio, a pupil of the master
NewsArt's Most Popular
Is the UK museum boom over?
Analysis of government data and our own figures reveals a steady decline in visitors since 2014
NewsExhibitions
Revealed: the profits of staging a touring exhibition
Usually highly secret financial data on Burrell Collection's travelling show disclosed for forthcoming Glasgow City Council meeting
NewsAttendance
Why visitor numbers at two of London’s major museums have plunged
Fewer blockbusters the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery meant UK audiences stayed away
NewsConservation
Bayeux Tapestry to be conserved in London?
The British Museum has the space and facilities to restore the embroidery, which is returning to England for first time in 940 years
NewsConservation
Egyptian ibis mummy holds clues to crooks behind ancient clothing caper
Scroll hidden in animal mummy may lead to the discovery of more old texts
Podcast
Podcast episode 18: What's the future for ivory antiques?
We explore what new ivory regulations will mean for the art world and meet the 2017 Election Artist Cornelia Parker
Museums
Van Gogh Museum hunts four lost Gauguin paintings for new exhibition
The pictures were made during the artist's visit to the Caribbean island of Martinique
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
Museums race to secure loans for 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death
Venues across Europe ramp up requests as multiple shows are planned for 2019
NewsDisasters & destruction
'A loss as great as Palmyra': Syrian temple of Ain Dara severely damaged by Turkish forces
Iron Age structure was targeted in campaign against Kurdish separatists
NewsRijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum Schiphol closes following week-long rain leak
Three buckets were used to collect dripping water close to Golden Age paintings
PreviewExhibitions
Royal Academy of Arts reunites masterpieces from Charles I's collection—many for first time since his execution
Exhibition will include paintings by Titian, Mantegna and Van Dyck
Tate Britain
Video: The Art Newspaper meets Alex Farquharson
The director of Tate Britain reveals his plans for a major rehang and picks his favourite works in the collection
NewsVincent Van Gogh
New Vincent van Gogh drawing discovered
Unearthing of Montmartre sketch leads to authentication of second work
PreviewExhibitions
Van Gogh in Japan: research uncovers a two-way affair
Survey of Dutch master’s admiration for, and influence on, Japanese art is most ambitious yet
NewsPublic art
Licence to show art: what hangs on the walls of MI6, the UK's Secret Service
We track down the works of art that British agents spy at their London HQ
NewsExhibitions
British Museum sends treasures to Mumbai for grand exhibition of Indian history
Encyclopaedic show was inspired by former director Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects
NewsArt market
Christie's releases condition report on Leonardo's Salvator Mundi
Pre-auction assessment offers more evidence that painting is original Leonardo but also reveals problems posed by painting’s wooden panel
NewsArt market
From £45 to $100m: Leonardo heads to New York
Salvator Mundi will break Old Master auction record as seller dispute rumbles on
NewsThree to see
Three to see: London
From the British Museum's Lion Man to Matisse's studio studies at the Royal Academy
NewsVincent Van Gogh
Grasshopper found in Van Gogh painting
Insect was presumably already dead as paint shows no signs of a struggle to escape
PreviewExhibitions
Prehistoric Lion Man points towards earliest notions of religion in new British Museum show
Earliest surviving figurative sculpture, carved from mammoth tusk, is among 160 objects in Living with Gods
NewsIlluminated manuscripts
Francois I’s Book of Hours has left Britain as Louvre starts to raise £8m to buy it
Renaissance manuscript with gold binding is being sold by London jeweller
NewsExhibitions
Massive Van Gogh show opens in Italy
Exhibition including 124 works is largest in Europe and America in almost 30 years
NewsNational Gallery
UK’s restitution powers to be extended indefinitely for Nazi-era loot
New legislation will remove legal restrictions that prevent many museums from deaccessioning works
NewsFrida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo’s wardrobe coming to the Victoria & Albert Museum
Show featuring Mexican artist’s distinctive clothing, unseen for 50 years, is among highlights of museum’s 2018 programme
News
Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques Unit heading for closure
Detectives have been redeployed to work on Grenfell Tower investigation
NewsExhibitions
Five of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers to be reunited on Facebook
Willem van Gogh, the great grandson of Theo, the artist’s brother, will also speak in the presentation
NewsObituaries
Former V&A director Martin Roth has died aged 62
After heading museums in Britain and Germany, he became more politically engaged
News
Gold breastplate given to the Queen is unveiled at Buckingham Palace
Pre-Columbian treasure, presented by Panamanian president in 1953, could date from as early as AD700
News
Tate Impressionist blockbuster reunites six of Monet’s Houses of Parliament pictures
UK entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword is lending a Sisley painting of the Thames
News
What the V&A’s director actually said about digitisation
Contrary to media reports, Tristram Hunt says museum is "very passionate" about unlocking its collections online
NewsExhibitions
Royal Academy of Arts to stage its greatest spectacle
Show in 2018 will celebrate 250 years of the world’s most prestigious open exhibition
News
Bulk of V&A’s £50m extension sponsored by four donors
Exhibition Road project creates new courtyard, entrance hall and subterranean gallery
News
Entire body of UK public sculpture to go online by 2020
Art UK to digitise nation’s 170,000 publicly owned sculptures in three-year operation
NewsExhibitions
Beyeler to reunite Giacometti and Bacon
Swiss museum to stage show on the artists, who first met in the early 1960s, in time for Art Basel in 2018
News
The Getty gets £24.5m Parmigianino after no UK museum tries to match price
Export bar lifted on Italian Mannerist painting that has been in Britain for 250 years
News
UK election upset leaves prime minister’s Brexit strategy in disarray
Remainers celebrate as Theresa May aims to lead minority government
News
UK election could trigger a cultural bonanza
Both the major political parties make big promises about new money for the arts
News
Monet to be star of London’s National Gallery next year
Exhibition of French Impressionist will be joined in 2018 by shows on Thomas Cole, Ed Ruscha, Mantegna and Bellini
NewsAppointments
Maria Balshaw starts as overall Tate director
Former Manchester director will focus on “event-driven” culture, such as performance
NewsExhibitions
Rare loans from Hermitage Museum—including ancient lumps of cheese—to feature in British Museum's Scythian show
September exhibition will feature antiquities that have never left St Petersburg before
NewsExhibitions
Prince Charles to support exhibitions about his two art-collecting predecessors
Buckingham Palace and Royal Academy shows reunite works for the first time in nearly four centuries
News
Will the Royal Academy give Michelangelo's masterpiece the setting it deserves?
Loan to National Gallery sparks internal debate about upgrading display of Taddei Tondo on its return
News
Labour Party promises £1bn extra in culture funding over five years
Published ahead of the general election in June, the UK opposition party’s manifesto includes strong support for the arts
News
What might have been: the Victoria and Albert Museum's never-built tower
London institution's first director, Henry Cole, designed the landmark in 1868
Comment300
Then & Now: the V&A and Queen Woyzaro Terunesh's wedding dress
The story behind the garment
Martin Bailey