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
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
NewsRestitution
British Museum considers loan of ‘invisible’ objects back to Ethiopia
Country has requested return of 11 tabots held in sealed storeroom that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes should only be viewed by its priests
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh's correspondence about famed Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta unearthed
Largely overlooked postscript suggests surprise friendship between the Van Gogh brothers and the young Belgian
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Virtually unseen Van Gogh painting comes up for sale in New York next week
Christie’s values the Japanese-influenced picture of the asylum garden at $25m
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
Italy secures loan of Leonardo da Vinci's Benois Madonna from Russia's Hermitage museum
There has been intense competition to borrow works by the artist during the 500th anniversary of his death this year
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Theo van Gogh is identified in mystery drawing now on show in London
Lucien Pissarro’s sketch in Tate Britain exhibition is the only depiction of the two brothers together
News
Regional institutions dominate shortlist for £100,000 Museum of the Year award
Northern Ireland's HMS Caroline and V&A Dundee among five finalists for the Art Fund's annual prize
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Exclusive: Van Gogh’s prostitute lover committed suicide—just as predicted
My new book recounts the untold tragedy of how Sien Hoornik drowned herself in a Rotterdam canal
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Two stolen Van Goghs go back on display after 14-year ordeal at the hands of Italian gangsters
Conservation at the Amsterdam museum has revealed a fake Vincent signature on the genuine seascape
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
London's National Gallery defends inclusion of Salvator Mundi in Leonardo show after criticism in new book
The curator’s attribution to the Renaissance master helped Christie’s achieve a world record price for the painting
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
I held the gun that probably killed Van Gogh—and here is its story
The revolver discovered by a farmer in an Auvers field comes up for auction on 19 June
NewsContemporary art
Wallinger's upside-down globe outside LSE angers Chinese students for portraying Taiwan as an independent state
British artist says colouring Taiwan differently from China was his "error"
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
What lies behind the auction of Van Gogh’s gun?
New details on “the most famous weapon in art history”
Podcast
Sackler sponsorship: take it or leave it? Plus, museum visitor figures
We examine the growing unease among British museums about accepting money from Sackler family members linked to the sale of the opioid OxyContin, and look at 2018's most visited shows and museums with Met director Max Hollein. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
NewsExhibitions
Tate to show $6m Blake watercolours that sold for £1,000 in a Scottish bookshop
Discovered after 165 years, eight of the 19 paintings will be included in the London exhibition in September
NewsSponsorship
Why is the British Museum still accepting tobacco sponsorship?
London institution has acquired 600 objects thanks to funding from Japan Tobacco International, makers of Benson & Hedges, Winston, Camel and Silk Cut
ReviewVideo, film & new media
Julian Schnabel’s Van Gogh film is moody and marvellous in spells—but gets two things crucially wrong
At Eternity’s Gate, based on the Dutch artist’s life, is released in the UK today
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Mystery of Van Gogh’s love affair in London
Did the Dutch artist fall for his Brixton landlady or her daughter?
NewsSponsorship
South London Gallery returned funding to Sackler Trust last year
Plus, Nan Goldin's show at the National Portrait Gallery is expected to go ahead after the trust and London museum decided not to proceed with a £1m grant
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Fake no more: poppy painting in US museum is by Van Gogh—and has a surprise under the surface
Still life at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, is authenticated after decades hidden in storage
NewsRestitution
London museum returns emperor's hair—taken by a British officer as a war trophy—to Ethiopia
The two locks will be buried at the monastery where emperor Tewodros' body was interred
NewsSponsorship
London's National Portrait Gallery and Sackler Trust to 'not proceed' with £1m grant
Mutual decision comes amid controversy over trust's connection to Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, a prescription painkiller linked to the opioid crisis
NewsOpenings
Basrah Museum unveils three new galleries in Saddam Hussein's former palace
Sumer, Assyria and Babylonia rooms open with support from UK government's Cultural Protection Fund
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Discoveries under the floorboards of Van Gogh’s bedroom in Brixton
Mysterious papers were found during the restoration of the south London house in Hackford Road where the Dutchman lodged
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