CommentDiary of an art historian
'Autism made me an art historian. But museums must do more to welcome disabled and neurodiverse communities'
Museums were quick to implement Covid-19 safety measures and now they need to apply that same rigour to improving accessibility
CommentDiary of an art historian
Museums have hastily cut their staff to save money—what will happen when visitors return and they need them back?
With vaccines now being deployed and a return to normality on the horizon, institutions may find they have been shortsighted in letting their employees go
CommentDiary of an art historian
Auction houses have finally entered the Amazon age—and I’m addicted
I thought I’d kicked my online art and antiques buying habit but too much lockdown screen time has been my undoing
CommentDiary of an art historian
People see only 'silver tits' and 'bouffant pubes' now—but I predict Mary Wollstonecraft sculpture will become widely admired
One of the iron rules of art history is that the more derided a work of art at first, the more celebrated it will become
CommentDiary of an art historian
Is the UK seeing the emergence of a ‘Godfather approach’ to arts funding?
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has been ignoring the arm's length principle and offering museums unsolicited advice
CommentDiary of an art historian
I finally went to see some art—and caught Covid-19
A trip to the National Gallery was eerie and alien—although a newly restored Van Dyck painting briefly shook off my anxiety
CommentFunding
'Be commercially minded or lose future funding': UK government's threat puts museums in peril
In a letter leaked to The Art Newspaper, the culture minister Oliver Dowden tells directors they must raise their own funds during the pandemic—but how?
CommentDiary of an art historian
National Trust restructuring plans are ‘one of the most damaging assaults on art historical expertise ever seen in the UK’
Job cuts and planned repurposing of country houses will lead to a corporatisation of the nation's heritage sites
CommentDiary of an art historian
'When the politics change, so must the statues'
History can teach us a lot about how to—and how not to—deal with problematic historic monuments
CommentDiary of an art historian
Museums are about to reopen—but should they?
Social distancing measures mean a lot of money will be spent on a small number of visitors, institutions should be focusing on their online presence instead
CommentExhibitions
Must London always win? National Gallery of Scotland cancels Titian show for all the wrong reasons
By bowing out of the Renaissance blockbuster tour, the Edinburgh museum has not only let down the Scottish public but shown its priorities are misplaced
CommentDiary of an art historian
'Being an art historian now is easier and more productive than it’s ever been'
Publishers and libraries are extending their online access to help art historians put their period of enforced seclusion to good use
BlogDiary of an art historian
Mona Lisa, Rembrandt and Venus enjoy a well-earned rest during lockdown
After the coronavirus pandemic, we will need our museums' masterpieces as never before
Podcast
Coronavirus: dispatches from Italy and China
We speak to our journalists Anna Somers Cocks and Lisa Movius about their experiences of lockdown. Plus, we begin a new feature—Lonely Works—where we look at individual works of art that are now hanging unseen in galleries. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793
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
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
BlogDiary of an art historian
Disneyfication at the National Gallery? Plus, the problem with deaccessioning in the UK
The stigma around state museums selling works means that other institutions dare not buy them; and a frank review of the National Gallery's Leonardo exhibition
BlogDiary of an art historian
Why was the National Portrait Gallery so secretive about its closure?
The London museum will close between 2020 and 2023, but the announcement was buried in the fourth paragraph of a press release
BlogDiary of an art historian
UK national museums could learn a lot from their regional cousins
When it comes to having a historian rummaging in their stores, smaller institutions tend to be more enthusiastic and accommodating
BlogDiary of an art historian
When Britain divides, custody of its art must be shared fairly
If Scottish independence follows Brexit, what will happen to the national collection?
BlogDiary of an art historian
National Gallery should be ashamed of how it treated its educators
Court documents reveal that the museum took little action to rectify the education team's employment status
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?
BlogDiary of an art historian
The National Portrait Gallery's ethical dilemma
Plus, taking a stand on copyright
BlogDiary of an art historian
Our 17th-century female artists faced a double injustice
New exhibition on Joan Carlile, Mary Beale and Anne Killigrew opens in London this week
BlogDiary of an art historian
UK art charity has alienated its network of cheerleaders
The Art Fund is doing away with its volunteers
NewsDiary of an art historian
Perhaps even a Leonardo copy shows you’re rich and cultured
A version of the Mona Lisa by a follower of Leonardo da Vinci recently sold at Sotheby's for $1.69m
BlogDiary of an art historian
Speculation over Leonardo says more about us than the art
Facts seem no longer to matter with the famous picture
BlogDiary of an art historian
Scotland has just four per cent of the Royal Collection—it's time it got a fairer share
The Queen has seven Rembrandts, 29 Van Dycks and 52 Canalettos, yet not one is on long-term display in Scotland
BlogDiary of an art historian
Gran Torino offers Van Dyck, hot chocolate and the ghost of Il Duce
Turin has all the grandeur of Paris, but none of the haughtiness
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
BlogDiary of an art historian
Tate, WTF is up with you using Wikipedia?
Once an expert authority on Van Dyck, the museum now has nothing more to say about him than a link to an unverified website
BlogDiary of an art historian
Criminal thoughts about a Rubens portrait and watching Nanette on my summer art detox
Rubens’s portrait of his daughter Clara Serena gave me the urge to steal a painting
NewsDiary of an art historian
Diary of an art historian: at last, some common sense for the abolition of image fees
Birmingham Museums Trust takes the lead and places images in the public domain, but who will follow?
BlogDiary of an art historian
Do not allow art to cleanse crimes
The art world has yet to tackle issues around works like Picasso’s $115m child-prostitute portrait
BlogDiary of an art historian
Design or colour? Look to Titian
A shoestring trip to La Serenissima—and a thumbs-up for Simon Schama
BlogDiary of an art historian
Are Old Masters old fashioned?
How to bring new audiences to older art displays
BlogDiary of an art historian
The National Gallery’s issue of trust
I only found out by accident how well off the museum really is
FeatureTEFAF Maastricht 2018
Lessons in collecting from the court of Charles I
He relied on advisers such as Van Dyck to guide his acquisitions. How different is the art of connoisseurship today?
BlogDiary of an art historian
How abolishing museum image fees could boost audiences
New research shows that image licensing is barely profitable for some UK museums
BlogDiary of an art historian
Stop reading, start looking: today’s art history students are not getting a grounding in connoisseurship skills
When I put an image of a well-known Titian on the screen, only one of 40 could identify the artist
BlogDiary of an art historian
How to identify a wreck
Better public understanding of condition requires greater access to digital images
NewsArt market
Re-discoveries lead London Old Master auctions
New £7.3m record for Joseph Wright of Derby painting tops December sales in London
BlogDiary of an art historian
The reproduction fee hustle
Museums’ licensing demands are a pernicious tax on scholarship
NewsAuctions
London poised to regain Old Master crown from New York
Sotheby’s offers its most valuable Old Master sale in London, and a Guardi painting at Christie’s could break records
NewsFairs
How to spot a knackered picture
As collector's flock to Maastricht for Tefaf, here is our guide to recognising a painting's hidden qualities
Comment
Local collections should be nationalised to halt sell-offs
A stroke of a ministerial pen saved Liverpool’s collections 35 years ago—the same needs to happen again
NewsAuctions
Goya, Constable and Brueghel headline Old Master auctions in London
Tefaf New York proved there is life in the market—can this week's sales do the same?
NewsObject lessons
Object lessons: best of London's Old Master auctions
From a poetic Claude landscape to Rubens's masterpiece depicting biblical incest, here's our pick of this week's sales
Comment
Brexit: “We have chosen the way of Hogarth over Turner”
Bendor Grosvenor says Britain leaving the European Union could be costly for the arts and art market
NewsFairs
Sexy, spotless and sure: the three golden rules of desire
As far as a painting’s hammer price is concerned, other, less noble considerations matter a great deal more than the picture’s intrinsic quality
NewsFairs
There's life in the Old Masters yet, as recent sales show
As Tefaf Maastricht prepares to open its doors, Bendor Grosvenor debunks the myth that the market is dying
NewsArt market
Slim pickings from Old Masters sales in a lukewarm London
Most of the consignments this season were really not up to scratch, with Christie’s, in particular, taking something of a beating
NewsArt
Flattering portrait of Henry VIII helps Sotheby’s dominate Old Master auctions
Work from Hans Holbein’s studio was a highlight of London’s sale season
NewsAuctions
Surfacing on the market: Henry after Holbein
Sotheby’s, London, Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale, 8 July
NewsVenice Biennale
Why La Serenissima is painting’s spiritual home
These five masterpieces, still in the Venetian spaces they originally filled, mark a watershed in Western painting
CommentHeritage
Ickworth House revisited: a stately home stripped bare
Why the National Trust's strategy of decluttering grand interiors is deeply flawed
CommentDiary of an art historian
Boo to NFTs! Hang on, think of no customs fees
As Brexit makes buying anything from Europe almost impossible, purchasing questionable digital art is almost tempting
Bendor Grosvenor