NewsMuseums & Heritage
Freshman art history student uncovers identity of Mughal miniature
Connections have been made between the Colby College Museum of Art’s Man with a Flowered Coat and portraits of the 17th-century commander Sayyid Muzzafar in international collections
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
NewsBooks
Prize-winning Gainsborough publication shines light on lives of painter's female sitters
New book, which reveals how the Old Masters influenced the 18th-century British artist, has won the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History
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
NewsDiscoveries
The story behind a student who discovered Edward Hopper's earliest paintings were copies
New research finds teenage artist's landscapes were based on a magazine for amateurs learning how to paint
PreviewExhibitions
Art historian Aby Warburg’s groundbreaking image atlas reunited in Berlin after nearly a century
The Bilderatlas Mnemosyne—once derided by Ernst Gombrich—will appear in its fullest form since Warburg's final presentation
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Hannah Gadsby: taking down art history's misogyny through comedy
From the High Renaissance to Picasso’s questionable moral compass, the Tasmanian comedian is bringing an exploration of art's patriarchy to a new audience
ReviewBooks
New Orientalists: a thoughtful book on the rise and decline of Western artists in the Middle East
There is plenty to enjoy in this account of a group of travelling painters who were not only accomplished but also determined, brave and hardy
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
BlogDiary
Have we entered the era of Cuomoceptualism? New York governor unveils surreal Covid-19 poster
NewsDiary of an art historian
Is art history becoming too woke?
Discussion around Yale's decision to pull its introductory survey course reveals unnerving trend for "morally appropriate" studies
ReviewBooks
The case is made for connoisseurs and their role in art history
The practice of connoisseurship, which, the author Frédéric Elsig argues, is a skill that can be learned, is examined in relation to 15th-and 16th-century painting
BlogDiary of an art historian
What can mysterious markings in stone teach us about British art?
Research for a new book begins with a pilgrimage to find prehistoric rock art in northern England
CommentEducation
‘Art history is a global discipline’
The head of Yale’s art history department explains the university’s decision to change its introductory survey course
ReviewBook Shorts
So you think you know your art? Brain teasers to test your knowledge of famous works
This puzzle book includes 36 of art history's best known pieces, from Botticelli’s Primavera to Van Gogh’s Starry Night
NewsArt education
Is art history under threat? UK universities see 28.5% drop in the subject in past decade
Latest figures show decline in first year students choosing humanities degrees in favour of business, agriculture and medicine
ReviewBooks
A neuroscientist's view: how Bacon's paintings shake up the nervous system
Publication focuses on what neuroscience and psychology bring to the table with the late artist's works
ReviewBooks
Demanding artists and receptive architects in book about design and function of the studio
This book shows how, from the end of the 19th century to the Second World War, artists collaborated with architects to craft an image of themselves
BlogDiary of an art historian
Did the buyer of the Salvator Mundi get played—or did we?
What better way to boost its star power than by making it "disappear" for a few months?
ReviewBook Shorts
From Rivera and Kahlo to Ulay and Abramović—this story book tells the tales of art world couples
Famous and not-so-famous pairs of artists from Picasso and Gilot to Idris Khan and Annie Morris are quoted about how relationships work
ReviewBook Shorts
A collection of 50 contemporary artists’ favourite works of art
Book looks at what they like and how they think it helps their own work
AnalysisArchitecture
Notre Dame is unstable: a strong wind could make the walls collapse, independent report says
The current approach to its restoration fails to take account of the interconnected structural “engineering” of Gothic architecture
ReviewBook Shorts
Dead kings and queens and where to find them
A dictionary of the burial places of the English and Scottish kings and queens (and their relations)
Podcast
Ruskin and Gombrich: revisiting two art historical heavyweights
Amid a wealth of events celebrating the bicentenary of John Ruskin’s birth we reconsider the breadth of his achievements. Plus, we talk to two experts in E.H. Gombrich. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
NewsTate Modern
Tate partners with Hyundai to promote non-Western art
New research centre project means South Korean motor company is now probably the largest corporate sponsor of visual arts for UK museums
NewsGustav Klimt
Experts pour cold water on Klimt discovery in Hungary
Designer who unearthed the plaster relief attributes it to the Austrian artist
NewsCatalogues
Cataloguing Egon Schiele: a digital work in progress
Database allows scholars to make rapid connections between works
BlogDiary of an art historian
The public deserves to see restorations laid bare
London's National Gallery and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are both documenting repairs of major works—plus a personal conservation confession
NewsMuseums & Heritage
In a Met protest, an artist posts her own labels next to a Picasso and Gauguin
She calls on museum to incorporate misogyny into the art historical narrative
PreviewCollecting
Giampietro Campana assembled the greatest private collection of his age—then lost the lot
A new show at the Musée du Louvre reunites 500 of the collector's artefacts, showing his admiration for Italian art across the ages
NewsConservation & Preservation
Warship figureheads restored ahead of opening for new Plymouth arts complex
Royal Navy statues are being made shipshape and ready for installation at The Box, opening in 2020
CommentArt market
The all-powerful market is sounding the death knell for connoisseurship
Today, art history is increasingly being written by dealers and auctioneers to suit their own purpose
NewsThomas Gainsborough
Murders most foul: Gainsborough family revenge killings trigger reassessment of artist’s early years
New research reveals that two members of Thomas Gainsborough's family were killed over a financial dispute when the artist was a child
FeatureExhibitions
Beacons of empathy: the forgotten women who brought the Foundling Museum to life
The portraits of men in the London museum's picture gallery are being replaced by portraits of women who supported a vision to protect young children
ReviewBooks
Chicago’s art history, revised
An essay collection illuminates a rich and, ultimately, countercultural legacy
InterviewArt history
Reliving the dawn of Modernism in India
An art historian explores the importance of the pathbreaking Progressive Artists’ Group, the focus of an exhibition opening at Asia Society
ArchiveExhibitions
A long history of scholarship drives survey of Raphael’s drawings currently exhibited at the Ashmolean
Debate over attribution has marked modern scholarship on this great master, bringing nuance to the Oxford show
ArchiveExhibitions
Germany marks the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Theses
Several exhibits are taking place across the country, including the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin
ArchiveExhibitions
Winckelmann's impact on modern concepts of art history is celebrated in Weimar
The man who wrote art history is remembered 300 years after his birth
ArchiveExhibitions
Chinese institutions work with the Metropolitan for groundbreaking exhibition
'Age of Empires' explores the art of the Qin and Han dynasties
ArchiveExhibitions
Statens Museum for Kunst assesses how Northern Europeans interpreted Japan
Japanomania returns once more to Copenhagen as the exhibition looks at how Nordic artists used Japanese art in their own work
ArchiveCaravaggio
Books: Caravaggio's diametrically opposed contexts in conflict
Across two books, the master's work is interpreted in divergent, not diverse, ways
ArchivePhotography
Photo shows that made history
As a new book surveys landmark photographic exhibitions, museums are only starting to catch up with the digital revolution of the medium
ArchiveBooks
Books: Two books explore newer ways of seeing the world (and art) with varying degrees of success
Where Ossian Ward provides a handy guide, Charles Saatchi fails to impress
ArchiveBooks
Books: Have curators and collectors replaced critics? Paul Wood demystifies while Alistair Hicks disappoints
Two very different books speak to a worrying trend in the critique of art
ArchiveArt Basel
Art Basel follows Frieze’s lead with display covering art-historical endeavours
Survey, which will debut at Art Basel Miami Beach, uses Frieze Masters as its template
ArchiveBooks
Books: A far from academic set-up at the Académie royale
The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture promoted “diversity of manners” rather than stylistic unity
NewsExhibitions
More questions than answers after ‘miraculous’ Russian avant-garde show
Specialists express concern about lack of provenance for works by artists including Rodchenko and Goncharova in Italian exhibition
ArchiveCollectors
The forgotten collectors: Five significant 19th-century collectors
The contributions of tobacco heiresses and banking magnates explored
ArchiveNews
Great War memorials go online for first time
The project has already documented around 2,000 works
ArchiveActivism
Ethics and aesthetics: the increasing prominence of socially engaged art
Away from the glitz of record-breaking auction prices and extravagant art parties, austerity has given strength to a new movement of socially engaged artists
ArchiveBooks
Books: How Warburg helped to invent the exhibition—and the curator
The art historian’s collected writings include an illuminating essay drawn from his dazzling, lengthy lectures
ArchiveSan Francisco
How printmaking made Rembrandt an international star
New technology and growing middle class consumption opened up his works and those of his contemporaries to new markets
ArchiveForgeries
Books: The fake’s progress from a sign of genius to a nefarious act... and back again
The history and scholarship of art forgery, and a faker’s delighted account of a life of deception
ArchiveMoscow
How a group of dissident artists was almost catapulted to international stardom by a marketing error
The story of Moscow's underground art of the 1970s
ArchiveArt & Technology
Who’s in the picture? Anti-terror software might tell us
Face recognition software used to spot terrorists may be the answer to identifying unknown sitters in portraits.
ArchivePhotography
Books: A heavyweight volume trawls the archives of Magnum Photos to celebrate a once revolutionary, now dying technique
In between the (contact) sheets
ArchiveNational Gallery
Books: The National Gallery’s latest Technical Bulletin makes some great discoveries
The volume is a compendium of papers presented at the Gallery in September 2009
ArchiveLucas Cranach the Elder
Why the art world is crazy about Cranach
New technology is shedding light on an Old Master as the prolific, multi-talented artist enjoys a renaissance
ArchiveBooks
Books: Art not made by artists and trends in art production
When artists subcontract technicians to make the works they design, who’s the artist?
ArchiveBBC
Art in the media: Alastair Sooke inspires, Matthew Collings takes a swipe at Tracey Emin and Martin Creed fails to enlighten
Plus, Stephen Fry as Pope Innocent X
ArchiveBooks
Books in brief: British and Irish Art, 1945-51
Despite some factual inaccuracies, this is a refreshing and invigorating presentation that challenges assumptions
ArchiveFord Madox Brown
Books: A portrait of Ford Madox Brown through his four 'loves'
A study of the women who had the greatest impact on the life and work of Ford Madox Brown
ArchiveVictoria & Albert Museum
Books: The continuities in Medieval and Renaissance art at the V&A
A deep look into the remarkable objects now on display in the museum's recently opened galleries
ArchiveBooks
Books: What does Pre-Raphaelite mean?
This collection of essays questions how we understand the terms Pre-Raphaelite, Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Movement
ArchiveOpinion
Saving the ephemeral art gallery: The director of Tate Liverpool on preserving institutional history
'History is unpredictable, and we cannot know which obscure artist or minor exhibition may once be regarded as a groundbreaking historical event'
ArchiveBooks
Books: A girl’s own 18th-century art adventure as Grace Mashall strives to be a painter
The Fraud, by Barbara Ewing, spins a tale of lies and intrigue
ArchiveInterviews
Interview with Robert Storr: Most theory has little bearing on art
The critic and curator spoke to The Art Newspaper about the role of art theory, and what advice he is giving to his students in today’s artistic climate.
ArchiveBooks
Books: Material culture and medieval "Hindu-Muslim" encounter
Objects of translation and the cultural interactions of Muslims and Hindus in the late 12th and early 13th centuries
ArchiveRestitution
Books: How we got the loot back from the Nazis
The story of the US Monuments Men
ArchiveBooks
Thomas Kabdebo's "Tracking Giorgione" reviewed
The author is hindered by his own technique
ArchiveBooks
Books: French culture under the Nazis
How artists and the arts fared under the Vichy regime and the German occupation of France, 1940-44
ArchiveExhibitions
The Cold War may be over, but it is still being fought in terms of its artists
With LACMA's “Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures” opening soon, the artistic heritage of Germany is again under the microscope
ArchiveFilms
Art in the media: Light and dark after the war at the Ferus Gallery and in the art of Georg Baselitz
Ostensibly disparate films illuminate art after the end of World War II
ArchiveWomen Artists
New York’s women on film
Chiara Clemente's "Our City Dreams" at Art Basel
ArchiveBooks
The Art of Domestic Life: This well-argued study considers the changing status of women in family portraits
'That’s no lady, that’s my wife…'
ArchiveBooks
Books: Two new books both fail to make a persuasive case for or against the status and quality of Modigliani’s art
Love him or hate him? Whatever…
ArchivePeter Paul Rubens
The real meaning of Rubens’ women
A new analysis suggests the artist was sending mixed messages in his work
ArchiveBooks
The art world’s Christmas reading
Artists, collectors, critics, museum directors and auction house executives pick their holiday books
ArchiveBooks
Books: Two books attempt to correct views of pre-Raphaelite art—held by no one
Traditional understandings of the brotherhood are addressed, again
ArchiveBooks
The new Dictionary of National Biography is much more comprehensive than the Victorian original it replaces
More artists, more women, more sex
ArchiveGlassblowing
The spread of Venetian glass-making techniques and styles across Europe, from the 15th to the 18th centuries
How cristallo conquered the continent
ArchiveArt & Technology
The story of the Thornham Parva retable shows how technology is increasingly influencing art history
Conservation and connoisseurship joined at the altar
ArchiveBooks
Klaske Muizelaar and Derek Phillips, Picturing men and women in the Dutch Golden Age
A review of the new volume on Dutch painting
ArchiveBooks
Germaine Greer’s synopsis of pubescent males in art is flawed, but fun
Beautiful boys—now available for women, too
ArchiveExhibitions
Modigliani and the artists of Montparnasse at the Albright Knox Art Gallery
Exhibition in Buffalo shows 60 works by the master
ArchiveBooks
Books: American art from Norsemen to Culture Wars
A well-written history of art in North America for students
ArchiveAmedeo Modigliani
Letter: Modigliani needs art historical approach
Dr Kenneth Wayne says scholarship is the way forward
ArchivePhilosophy
Danto explains why there are no constraints on what a work of art looks like today but why the critic has also become essential to its making
A commentary on the end of art
ArchivePublications
The publication of 'The splendour of Iran' is a landmark of the independence of native academics.
Archaeologically, architecturally and art-historically, Iran is very much on the move
ArchiveBooks
Peeling potatoes, painting pictures: women artists in post-Soviet Russia, Estonia and Latvia
Renée Baigell and Matthew Baigell's book reviewed
ArchiveBooks
Books: Latest assessment of Anselm Kiefer proves to be a book without a spine
An uncritical, adoring treatment of the artist has not served him well
ArchiveByzantium
"Women in purple: rulers of medieval Byzantium"
A review of Judith Herrin's new book
ArchiveLeonardo da Vinci
The public may decide the fate of Leonardo’s “Adoration of the Magi”
Antonio Paolucci states he will halt the Uffizi’s planned restoration of the painting if he hears convincing arguments as to why it should not take place
ArchiveTate Modern
Questionable curatorial decisions favour words over image in Tate Modern's new hang
Tate: Meeting Place or Museum?
ArchiveWalter Sickert
A new book explores Walter Sickert's innovative work as a printmaker
Nine years of painstaking research have revealed this technically adventurous side of the artist’s work
ArchiveBooks
The use of American art in the Cold War
This book reveals how the CIA’s promoted US artists as a way of stopping the spread of Communism in the years after World War II
ArchiveBooks
Books: Expanding on Hallmark's photographic collection
This second edition includes even more of the collection, providing a fine survey of the medium in America
ArchiveMedieval art
The Visual and the Visionary: Art and Female Spirituality in Late Medieval Germany
Medieval German women’s art and spirituality examined with too much of the gender-studies approach
CommentReligious art
Pope Francis, his crucifix and the Virgin Mary: miraculous or merely traditional?
Art history removes the numinous from art. At the Vatican’s Covid-19 blessing we saw it invoked again
Anna Somers Cocks