NewsConservation & Preservation
From lockdowns to looting: how Covid-19 has taken a toll on world's threatened heritage sites
Sites of major importance—many in regions already ravaged by conflict—are contending with security problems and funding shortfalls
NewsConservation & Preservation
Volunteers plan to return ‘Albert Hall of the North’ to its glory days
After years of neglect, ornate Victorian auditorium in northern seaside town of Morecambe is being saved
NewsArchitecture
Berlin’s residents rally to save city’s Brutalist building that was once a laboratory for animal experiments
Thousands signed petition to protect bleak concrete structure—nicknamed the Mouse Bunker—from demolition
NewsAmedeo Modigliani
Revealed: the secrets behind Antonia, Modigliani’s ‘most complex work’
Researchers at C2RMF give an exclusive preview of their forensic study of all the artist's works in French museum collections
NewsConservation & Preservation
New hope that Istanbul orphanage—Europe's largest timber building—can be saved from ruin
After decades of neglect, a fundraising drive could restore Prinkipo Orphanage as an environmental research centre
NewsNagorno-Karabakh
Metropolitan Museum of Art appeals for protection of cultural heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh
Plea comes as Azerbaijan moves to take control of swaths of territory under a Russian-brokered peace deal
NewsJoan Miró
Miró Labyrinth meanders towards restoration at south of France's Maeght Foundation
Conservation project tackles damage to Joan Miró's terraced maze of sculptures and ceramics in grounds of Modern art museum
NewsRestoration
The potato head of Palencia: defaced Spanish statue latest victim of botched restoration
Conservation professionals have questioned why Spain's heritage is continually handed over to those with no formal training
NewsArchitectural History
New York preservation group launches online mapping tool to champion former haunts of artists and activists
Organisation hopes the city will protect former home of Jackson Pollock and other buildings south of Union Square by designating a new historic district
NewsHeritage
Unexploded bombs: the major hitch in this German castle's restoration
Gardens of the Babelsberg Palace in Potsdam must be probed for undetonated explosives before further renovations can take place
NewsMuseums & Heritage
An invitation to sponsor a tile: keeping a roof over Jane Austen’s village home
Donations have poured in from all over the globe since the museum appealed for aid
NewsMonuments
Mellon Foundation announces $250m grant to 'reimagine and rebuild' US monuments and memorials
Amid increased unrest over memorials since the Black Lives Matter protests erupted, the grant will help fund new storytelling spaces across the country
NewsConservation & Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation lists 11 most endangered historic sites in US
Locations range from the Chicago church where Emmett Till’s body was viewed, galvanising the civil rights movement, to a ‘Hall of Waters’ in Missouri
NewsConservation & Preservation
As the world contends with Covid, World Monuments Fund makes a bet on sustainable tourism
Taking a lesson from how the pandemic dispersed crowds, the organisation selects seven sites for preservation and promotion
NewsVenice
New laser-scanning project will allow Venice to live on forever as a digital avatar
A team of scientists are digitally mapping the entire island of San Giorgio in a mission to preserve the sinking city as combinations of 0 and 1
NewsBeirut
Unesco, Icom and Louvre rally to help Beirut as museums tackle extensive explosion damage
A coalition of international museums and heritage organisations are working to provide expertise to Lebanese institutions
FeatureGrand Egyptian Museum
'Grand Egyptian Museum will be finished this year': behind the scenes of the giant $1bn project
We take a tour of Egypt’s vast antiquities museum—the future home of Tutankhamun’s treasures—before its long-awaited opening in 2021
NewsRussia
State Russian Museum staff decry damage to antique picture frames
Petition to museum management raises alarm over frames in "critical condition" from improper storage
NewsConservation & Preservation
Turkish government on collision course with Unesco over turning Hagia Sophia into mosque
President Erdogan’s plans to convert the museum have drawn fire from Greece and the US
NewsKeith Haring
Once hidden, Keith Haring’s Amsterdam mural is ready for restoration
Conservators will repair paint losses and weatherproof a work that the artist executed “in a sort of frenzy” in 1986
NewsRestoration
Furniture restorer disfigures Murillo’s 17th-century Virgin Mary—and charges owner €1,200
Spain’s art conservation community say the country needs to better regulate the industry
NewsConservation & Preservation
Menokin preservation project offers a literal window onto layers of Virginia history
Structural glass replaces missing walls and floors of a 1769 house, exposing indelible links to slavery
NewsMosul
Unesco's plan to ‘revive spirit’ of devastated Mosul gets under way
Initiative involves local communities in rebuilding their historic landmarks and neighbourhoods
NewsConservation & Preservation
‘A resting time for the art’: with museums shut, US conservators seize on strategies to safeguard their collections
Experts embrace a blend of remote monitoring and on-site tours, while marvelling at diminished levels of dust
NewsConservation
Getty Conservation Institute helps museums rethink stringent guidelines on conservation
New initiative helps institutions move towards a more tailored and sustainable approach to maintaining collection environments
NewsConservation & Preservation
Flooding threatens Mies van der Rohe’s minimalist Farnsworth House in Illinois
Site braces for another onslaught of heavy rain starting this weekend
NewsConservation & Preservation
The master's hand: a treasured Vermeer gives up its secrets
Extensive testing of the Frick’s Mistress and Maid proves that it was not finished by someone else
NewsConservation & Preservation
Gainsborough's newly restored Blue Boy awaits the end of lockdown
Closed by coronavirus, Huntington Library posts online video reflecting on 18-month conservation treatment of dazzling portrait
FeatureConservation & Preservation
Digital technologies allow us to create precise copies of artefacts—but what does this mean for the idea of 'authenticity'?
Online book demonstrates the groundbreaking work by Factum Foundation to create high-resolution facsimiles but also raises questions of value
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Notre Dame's construction site to reopen next week
A team will enter the Paris cathedral site on Monday to make arrangements for around 50 construction workers to return from early May
NewsWilliam Shakespeare
The best may be yet to come for Shakespeare monument in Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's £30,000 appeal aims to restore ambitious sculpture of the Bard in grounds of his former home
Commentcoronavirus
With the coronavirus shutdown, smaller heritage sites such as the Mary Rose face a fight for survival
The charity that runs the historic battleship needs help from the government and the public, says its chief executive Helen Bonser-Wilton
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Notre Dame reconstruction halted because of stringent coronavirus measures
Plans to remove the scaffolding around the fire-damaged cathedral have been put on hold
NewsConservation & Preservation
Crowdfunding campaign launched to revive travel-worn Rockwells
Two works—the artist's famous Thanksgiving dinner scene, and a depiction of an African American girl being escorted by US Marshalls to school—have been on a national tour
NewsMuseums & Heritage
New York workers mount rescue operation for Chinese-American artefacts after fire
Salvaging effort focuses on the remaining 80 percent of the archives of the Museum of Chinese in America
NewsConservation
Both sides now: Tate Britain to show rare two-faced painting by Aubrey Beardsley
British illustrator’s only known paintings—on front and back of the same canvas—will be displayed for the first time in new exhibition
NewsDiscoveries
Newly attributed Artemisia Gentileschi painting of David and Goliath revealed in London
Restored work—with “Artemisia” signature—will be shown by conservation studio during major National Gallery exhibition
NewsConservation & Preservation
Restorers making headway in rehabilitation of Erbil Citadel
After setbacks related to ISIS's offensive, preservationists in northern Iraq report progress
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
V&A dusts off Louis Vuitton trunk of American beauty for handbags exhibition
New conservation brings society hostess Emilie Grigsby's travelling case into limelight after decades in storage
NewsClimate Change
Heritage on the edge: new Google project reveals climate change damage to Unesco sites
Digital visualisations gathered for online exhibit will be a “blueprint” for heritage managers planning climate adaptation in the future
NewsVenice
The cost of Venice's worst floods since 1966
We survey the multi-million-euro impact of the disaster on the city's cultural heritage sites—and the funds pledged for restoration so far
NewsMuseums & Heritage
After fire, Museum of Chinese in America hopes to salvage much of its collection
Curator says that conservators might be able to dry many wet objects in the museum’s archive
NewsConservation & Preservation
Puerto Rico prepares to assess toll of powerful earthquakes
A colonial-era church collapses and more damage to historic buildings is expected
NewsYemen
Museum restoration offers rare glimmer of hope in war-torn Yemen
Yemeni authorities and World Monuments Fund team up to repair ruined National Museum in Taiz
NewsRestoration
Ghent Altarpiece: latest phase of restoration unmasks the humanised face of the Lamb of God
Second stage of open-access restoration of Van Eyck brothers’ masterpiece strips away 16th-century overpainting to reveal an abundance of fine details
NewsConservation & Preservation
Geneva-based foundation Aliph directs $10m to heritage conservation projects in conflict zones
Sites targeted range from a Yemeni palace in ruins to a shrine destroyed by the Islamic State in Iraq
NewsConservation & Preservation
Tefaf awards conservation grants for a Wright interior and a colonial Bolivian painting
V&A and Lacma plan to stabilise and restore works to their original appearance
NewsConservation & Preservation
Science illuminates art in Detroit’s celebration of Bruegel’s The Wedding Dance
Conservators discover that the 1566 painting was once bluer and revisit the exposure of the notorious codpieces
NewsConservation & Preservation
Looted in Germany by Stalin’s brigades, a restored goddess goes on view at the Hermitage
Bronze sculpture gets new wings in a collaboration with Berlin’s Antikensammlung
NewsConservation & Preservation
Weaver uncovers hidden patterns beneath Old Master paintings
For artisan Helena Loermans, uncovering the intricate weaves of artists' canvases is like “a detective story”
NewsConservation & Preservation
Conserving canvas: from tear-mending to 'mist lining’, conservators share their techniques
Hundreds gather as the Getty convenes the first major international conference on the issue in 45 years
NewsConservation & Preservation
Cold War-era mosaic sees light of day again in eastern Germany
Reappearance of a Josep Renau mural hints at a greater acceptance of East German public art
NewsRestoration
Fresh meat: painting restoration reveals that hunk of beef thought to be cooked was actually raw
The 17th-century work features in a newly opened exhibition on art and food at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge
NewsConservation & Preservation
Derelict iron flaxmill is brought back to life in Shrewsbury
Building was considered an audacious architectural experiment when it was built in 1797
NewsConservation & Preservation
Conservators to restore Michelangelo’s Florence Pietà in full view of visitors
Restoration will remove centuries of grime and stabilise the sculpture at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
NewsMuseums & Heritage
New Hampshire museum acquires a rare house by Frank Lloyd Wright
The 1957 home, the Currier Museum of Art's second Wright dwelling, is built in the “Usonian Automatic” style, with rectangular concrete blocks
NewsConservation & Preservation
Castle opening crowns £150m revival of Bishop Auckland
Millionaire Jonathan Ruffer’s ambitious regeneration of a small former mining town in northern England reveals 1,000 years of history and art
NewsConservation & Preservation
After a discovery, Rothko Chapel moves to shore up its walls
Lack of steel reinforcement results in a plan to insert rebar, delaying the reopening of the Modernist sanctuary
NewsConservation & Preservation
In a conservation triumph, a 15th-century tapestry highlights the age of chivalry
“It’s the most spectacular representation of a tournament of that time,” a Met curator says
NewsIraq
As protests rage in Iraq, experts say culture is key to long-term reconstruction
Iraqi culture ministry announces new national museum in Baghdad as Mosul restoration plan is extended to historic churches
NewsConservation & Preservation
Citing daunting threats, World Monuments Fund lists 25 endangered sites
Bears Ears in the US, a Peruvian valley near Machu Picchu and Notre Dame in Paris join the 2020 roster
NewsConservation & Preservation
Renaissance woman Plautilla Nelli's Last Supper unveiled after restoration in Florence
Seven-metre painting offers "canvas proof" that self-taught nun ran an all-female workshop in her convent 450 years ago
NewsConservation
Expert finds lost dress of Queen Elizabeth I in English village church
Rare 16th-century fabric to go on show at Hampton Court Palace after three-year study
NewsMusée du Louvre
Louvre director plots great collections reshuffle
Jean-Luc Martinez reveals his big plans for the museum and why 250,000 objects must leave Paris
NewsConservation & Preservation
Grant will help restore two long-lost frescoes in San Francisco
The project contrasts with a decision to cover up a controversial 1930s school mural in the same city
NewsConservation & Preservation
Poignant online videos showcase 20 sites from Alabama’s civil rights era
World Monuments Fund joins partners in launching an oral history project
NewsConservation & Preservation
Getty plans sweeping $100m initiative to promote the world’s cultural heritage
Projects will range from exhibitions about the classical world to conservation and excavations and a book about “heritage and mass atrocities”
NewsRestoration
Restorers discover shield fragment is 1,700 years old, making it the oldest German panel painting
Researchers at the Landesmuseum in Halle found fragments of paint on the ancient wooden object
NewsConservation & Preservation
Probing nine paintings, conservators in Amsterdam unlock Chagall’s secrets
Research project at the Stedelijk Museum sheds light on some of the artist’s techniques
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Laser scan may one day aid Notre Dame’s restorers
A 2010-12 effort to map every inch of the cathedral could help the post-fire reconstruction
NewsPhotography
Germany plans photography archive to preserve 'visual memory of our society'
Culture minister Monika Grütters enlists international experts to help create a central institution but critics question necessity and feasibility
NewsRenaissance
Science provides first deep dive into overlooked female Old Master Lavinia Fontana's work
After a grant enabled conservation on a much-loved painting, researchers at the National Gallery of Ireland are learning more about the artist’s technique
NewsConservation & Preservation
New York Public Library shores up its marble lions
Two-month conservation effort for the sculptures follows a public appeal to donors
NewsConservation & Preservation
San Francisco school board votes to preserve but conceal a controversial mural
Its 4-3 decision reverses an earlier vote to paint over a 1930s work that some parents and board members found racist and damaging to students
NewsInternational
Photography collective takes a stand against wildlife crime
Internationally renowned photographers join forces to publish a crowdfunded book in English and Mandarin that raises awareness of China’s illegal trade in animals
NewsConservation
A Wall Street lobby restored to its former glory
A vast Art Deco mosaic celebrates the artistry of its overlooked creator
ArchiveNational Trust
National Trust wrongly accused of asset-stripping while government fails to keep its word
The Trust is negotiating endowments with the Treasury for five major country houses in its care
AnalysisAntiquities & Archaeology
A Getty lifeline for classical mosaics in the Middle East and North Africa
As the Getty winds down its decade-long Mosaikon project, it leaves behind a legacy of expertise in a region threatened by looting and political unrest
NewsConservation & Preservation
Microsoft aims to harness AI for heritage projects
From languages to historic artefacts, the company will use technology to preserve and celebrate traditional cultures
NewsConservation & Preservation
Moscow Kremlin Museums say ‘bravo!’ to restorers
State regalia, Russian icons and decorative pistols go on show in exhibition celebrating the hidden craft of conservation
NewsUnesco
In a first, Unesco gives Frank Lloyd Wright buildings World Heritage status
US architect's distinctive designs are among 29 cultural sites recognised for their “outstanding value to humanity”
NewsVenice
Dramatic speech in Baku challenges Unesco’s support for damaging Venice cruise ship decision
The non-governmental organisation Europa Nostra recommends that the World Heritage Committee put the lagoon city on the endangered list
NewsConservation & Preservation
Going undercover: Scotland's leaky Mackintosh treasure shielded by 197-tonne chainmail box
Hill House in Helensburgh has been covered to protect it from the rain while National Trust makes conservation plans
CommentVenice
The Turkish shareholders in the port of Venice want to keep cruise ships coming—and the mayor supports them
The World Heritage Committee is meeting in Baku and intends to dodge declaring Venice endangered for the third time
NewsVenice
Solid evidence that Venice's Mose mobile flood barriers have serious conservation faults
Repair work is estimated to take ten years, calling the operational date of 2021 into question
NewsConservation & Preservation
Aliph global protection fund announces 14 projects across multiple war zones
The Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, Syria’s Raqqa Museum and Mosul libraries all safeguarded
NewsConservation & Preservation
Getty shores up Peruvian church in an earthquake zone
The preservation project could serve as a prototype for saving other earthen buildings
NewsConservation & Preservation
Conservators restore Africa’s first animated film in colour
Nigerien pioneer Moustapha Alassane’s stop-motion work Samba the Great is being screened in Bologna
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
NewsConservation & Preservation
British Library shares conservation experts with Palestinian Museum
New partnership will preserve the Birzeit museum’s most ‘at-risk’ objects on paper
ReviewConservation & Preservation
Quarries, quarrels and a lesbian affair: the life of sculptor Mary Spencer Watson
The Dorset farmhouse in which she lived with her father, the portrait painter George Spencer Watson, has been recently restored by the Landmark Trust
NewsConservation & Preservation
Conservation project channels thinking of Angkor’s original builders
World Monuments Fund completes restoration of the eastern half of Phnom Bakheng temple
NewsConservation & Preservation
Ugo Rondinone’s day-glo desert installation Seven Magic Mountains gets a fresh coat of paint
The popular public art work has been restored with the aim of keeping it Instagram-ready through 2021 or longer
NewsFilms
Victorians in pictures: British Film Institute digitises archive of over 500 early silent films
Conservation experts carefully cleaned the fragile and flammable nitrate film so each frame could be individually scanned
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
NewsConservation & Preservation
Eileen Gray’s and Le Corbusier’s architectural gems reopen after extensive restoration
A Modernist villa and hut in the south of France feature wall paintings by Le Corbusier
NewsArchitecture
Nazi site in Nuremberg to be preserved but not restored
German city launches €85m plan to prevent further decay of infamous rally grounds
NewsExhibitions
Virtual reality tour offers glimpse of François Pinault’s long-awaited, grand Paris gallery
Exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice shows Tadao Ando’s designs for the Bourse de Commerce building
CommentMuseums & Heritage
US needs monuments celebrating African American history, not Confederate statues
Telling America’s overlooked stories is fundamental to building a true national identity, says preservationist Brent Leggs
Brent Leggs