NewsHumboldt Forum
Opening of Humboldt Forum delayed again as coronavirus lockdown extended—but you can view it online
New Berlin arts complex suffers renewed setback in its problem-beset opening plans
NewsMuseums
Why us? European museums cry foul over second lockdown
Shops remain open in many countries even as museums are plunged once more into Covid-19 deep-freeze
AnalysisThe Year in Review 2020
Museums 2020: the year of crashing revenues and anti-racism disputes
Turbulent year draws to a close with sector wracked by pandemic lockdowns and Black Lives Matter challenges
NewsMuseums
A date with Mona Lisa? A painting by Soulages? Louvre's fundraising auction offers all to the highest bidder
Online sale seeks to support a new space for art education and outreach that will open in the autumn of 2021
NewsUK politics
Spending Review: UK museums to receive £320m during ‘biggest economic decline in 300 years’
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces slight boost to culture department's budget, but some institutions face extended closure under new tiered system
NewsPrizes
London teenagers in cancelled prom outfits win Taylor Wessing Prize
Alys Tomlinson spent three months during lockdown taking the portrait of teenagers in the midst of their “lost summer”
AnalysisArt market
'One of the most shocking, tumultuous years on record': art market figures reflect on 2020—and guess at what 2021 might hold
The pandemic has ripped apart the industry as we know it this year but it has sparked innovation and conversation like never before
Newscoronavirus
Colourist painter and Royal Academician Philip Sutton opens new gallery—at the age of 92
Artist—who is now blind in one eye and lives in a sheltered care home—is launching a space in Bridport, England, to sell his own works
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art will shut down again amid spike in coronavirus cases
Move by Washington, DC museums comes amid a wave of new US closures
NewsArt Fund
Art Fund launches £1m crowdfunding appeal to help UK museums fighting for survival
After months without income due to coronavirus closures, new survey shows that museums are operating with just 25% of previous visitor numbers
CommentArt market
Pastures new: why some top gallery staff are moving on from longtime jobs
Without art fairs and hectic travel, the pandemic has transformed the way most of us work—and some are branching out rather than returning to their old lifestyle
NewsMuseums & Heritage
‘From bad to worse’: over half of US museums have laid off or furloughed staff, survey shows
Museums expect to lose an average of 35% of budgeted income this year, plus an additional 28% in 2021
NewsArt market
Frieze Los Angeles bids goodbye to Paramount Studios as art fair is postponed to July
Social distancing rules have limited the number of people on film sets creating a movie production backlog
Newscoronavirus
Russia sends Moscow’s museums into second lockdown until mid-January
Cultural workers voice frustration at mixed closure orders, as theatres, concert halls and restaurants are allowed to stay open
NewsArt market
Art Basel in Hong Kong postponed to May as coronavirus throws 2021 art fairs into disarray
Summer crush expected with Art Basel’s flagship show in Switzerland still scheduled for June and Taipei Dangdai moved back to July
NewsOpenings
Challenges overcome as Houston's Museum of Fine Arts completes $450m campus expansion
Delayed by just three weeks amid the pandemic, new Kinder Building will dramatically increase space for Modern and contemporary art
Outdoor sculpture
A breath of fresh air: The Clark opens its first outdoor exhibition
Known for its esteemed collection of European and American paintings and art historical research library, the institution's 140-acre meadow now features contemporary sculptures set against the bucolic landscape of the Berkshire Highlands in Massachusetts
FeatureArtists
Holiday gift guide 2020: artworks for every budget
From a £14.95 Fuck You 2020 bauble by Jeremy Deller to a £125,000 woodcut by Edvard Munch, we've assembled some our favourite stocking fillers
NewsPolls
A ‘snapshot in time’: how US museum directors viewed their world before the pandemic
In a sign of how drastically things would change, fewer than half prioritised online offerings in a wide-ranging survey
Newscoronavirus
Uffizi director Eike Schmidt has contracted coronavirus
Museum chief is asymptomatic and says he will continue working in quarantine
NewsArts funding
Will UK government furlough extension make museums rethink redundancy plans?
Petition launched calling for Southbank Centre staff to be reinstated in light of Chancellor’s announcement while Royal Academy confirms coronavirus funding snub
Newslayoffs
Keith Davis, senior curator at Nelson-Atkins, resigns to protest colleague's layoff
Museum’s drive to cut 36 jobs eliminated the position of photography curator Jane L. Aspinwall, who helped oversee acclaimed collection
CommentArtists
A message of hope from David Hockney for Lockdown 2: 'Remember, they can't cancel the autumn either'
UK’s leading artist sends two new images of hope
NewsArt market
London galleries to accommodate collectors ‘by appointment’ during second coronavirus lockdown
Some dealers say they will continue to hold private viewings for buyers, while opening hours are extended in the West End tonight
NewsMuseums
German museum chiefs say enforced November closure is 'wrong decision'
More than 40 directors sign an open letter to regional governments saying museums should not be included in month-long coronavirus lockdown
NewsMuseums
Museums and galleries to close across England as second coronavirus lockdown announced
Exhibition schedules disrupted and concerns raised over funding after institutions required to shut down until 2 December
NewsYayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama on 2020: ‘O demons of unwonted fate. We will stand and face you’
New publication—described as “most personal book to date”—will focus on artist’s use of language
NewsMuseums
Louvre and French museums close, while German museums await clarity in second coronavirus lockdown
Closing German museums would be “a hard blow for the institutions and society,” the country's museums association says
NewsArt market
Miami Beach launches residency programme to help artists and businesses in lieu of Art Basel tourism revenue
The initiative encourages property owners to lend their vacant spaces for free and offers $2,500 stipends to artists—but they may still need to pay rent
ReviewResidencies
New York artists find second chance in Governors Island residency programme showcase
The free residencies were part a multi-organisation initiative to replace the annual artist-run Portal art fair and other cultural programming cancelled due to Covid-19
Newscoronavirus
New York lawmakers to discuss the economic impact of Covid-19 on cultural institutions
"The arts and cultural sector has been especially hard hit," says Senator José Serrano
NewsArt fairs
ArtRio forges ahead, making it the first major event to take place in Brazil since the pandemic began
Marking the fair's tenth anniversary, a live event with limited ticketing for collectors continues even as Covid-19 cases climb
NewsArt market
From flat white to white cube: Lévy Gorvy opens gallery in former Pret a Manger in Mayfair
Firm now plans to extend its lease after Long Museum buys huge Tu Hongtao painting on show in the new space
NewsFunding
'Publicise your grants online': UK culture minister wades into row over rescue funding demands
Oliver Dowden confirms recipients were "encouraged" to acknowledge fund on websites and social media
Commentcoronavirus
Exhibitions need a perfect storm to succeed—but shows opening during Covid-19 are getting a disappointing drizzle
With no group student visits, no art-world private view, and limits on public access, the buzz of new exhibitions has potentially been short-circuited
NewsHeritage
Machu Picchu all to yourself? Japanese tourist gets special solo tour of ancient site
Culture ministry gives Jesse Katayama access after being stranded in Peru for seven months because of coronavirus
NewsFunding
First government grants for UK art spaces announced with £789,000 for London's ICA and £804,000 for Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Whitechapel, Whitworth, Mary Rose Trust and Photo London are also among the recipients for long-awaited Covid-19 rescue funds
NewsSingapore
Singapore art space prepares final show in Gillman Barracks after Covid-19 shortfall
NTU Centre for Contemporary Art to close physical venue in March, casting doubt on future of gallery district
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Nearly 450 heritage rescue grants announced from UK's £1.57bn cultural bailout fund
First funding round hailed as a "lifeline" for heritage sites and specialists reeling from the pandemic, but job losses continue
NewsNational Trust
National Trust—UK's largest conservation charity—to cut 1,300 jobs
The coronavirus-hit heritage body looks to save around £100m through redundancies
AnalysisArt market
A Covid success story: how the London Original Print Fair helped its 68 dealers keep selling
London’s longest-running art fair survives virus by going fully online and diversifying
NewsArt market
Tefaf Maastricht shifts back from March to May as Covid-19 disruption extends into 2021
The 34th edition of the Dutch art fair will run from 31 May to 6 June, two days shorter than normal, while the fate of Tefaf New York Spring hangs in the balance
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
NewsMuseum architecture
Space race: how the pandemic is pushing museums to rethink design
Experts predict bigger galleries, a stronger connection to the outdoors and an end to the expansion juggernaut
NewsShanghai
British-Chinese artist Gordon Cheung left out of pocket by Shanghai gallery
Ten years on, defunct Other Gallery owes the artist almost £44,000 and has yet to return 16 works
NewsWhitney Biennial
Whitney postpones 2021 biennial by one year
Pandemic complicated organisational efforts by curators and stymied artists
NewsArt market
In search of la bella vita, Mendes Wood sets up in bucolic Italian villa
Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Cristina Canale, Vojtěch Kovařík, Paulo Nazareth and Brice Guilbert at Villa Era as clients seek a more rural art experience during pandemic
NewsProtests
Social media advocacy group calls for a boycott of all US museums in October
The @changethemuseum Instagram account is demanding rapid change to address inequality in institutions, but even with the support of the Guerilla Girls, their calls are being met with skepticism
Newscoronavirus
Worth every penny? Artist Jill Magid distributes 120,000 engraved one-cent pieces amid nationwide coin shortage in the US
Adding up to a single $1,200 Covid-19 federal stimulus check, the pennies will be circulated via small cash transactions at New York City bodegas
NewsResignations
MoMA PS1 and the Kitchen announce key leaders’ departures
Chief curator at MoMA PS1 cites coronavirus pandemic, “which moved me to think about the next chapters”
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Charity gives £2.5m Covid-19 rescue grants to 66 UK arts organisations including Tate and British Museum
Clore Duffield Foundation funds are designed to relaunch learning and community programming
NewsMuseums & Heritage
London's Victoria and Albert Museum set to cut at least 103 jobs to 'ensure its survival', director says
Museum says it is in "its worst financial position on record" because of coronavirus
NewsArts funding
Leading New York non-profit for socially engaged art lays off full-time staff and announces multi-year restructuring
Following the financial fallout from Covid-19, A Blade of Grass—which has supported activist artists such as Dread Scott and Simone Leigh—will also end its influential fellowship programme
CommentDeaccessioning
Done right, selling museum pieces can work—but probably not with Michelangelos
UK museums may deaccession collection objects with curatorial justification and transparency, but it cannot be treated as a quick financial fix
NewsPhilanthropy
Amid pandemic, foundations marshal $156m to support minority arts organisations in the US
Funds are intended to counter the devastation that the coronavirus has wrought in the national arts landscape
NewsVideo, film & new media
New Jersey artist residency turns their campus into a free drive-in theatre
Gardenship in Kearny Point has been hosting video art exhibitions and film screenings during the pandemic, including the Jean Michel-Basquiat cult classic Downtown 81 this weekend
NewsPhotography
Photographers fear steep costs and little payment for covering protests
A lack of protections for—and an increase in domestic dangers to—photojournalists is becoming increasingly visible amid the pandemic and political rallies
NewsRoyal Academy of Arts
London’s Royal Academy of Arts plans to slash 40% of jobs
Cuts have been announced as the institution aims to make savings of £8m a year and awaits news on government grant
NewsArt market
Controversy erupts over Fiac cancellation
Paris's major contemporary art fair has been scrapped due to Covid-19 fears, but galleries are divided over whether the decision was wise or "lacking courage"
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
NewsArt market
UK High Court ruling could be 'welcome news' for arts organisations denied Covid-19 insurance payout
Judgment this week ruled in favour of the Financial Conduct Authority's test case seeking clarification of policies as many insurers refuse to pay out during the pandemic
AnalysisArt market
The fairs are back in town: greater China reopens for business
Art021, West Bund Art & Design Fair and Art Taipei among fairs due to open in the region this autumn despite travel restrictions, shipping woes and Covid-19 fears
NewsArt fairs
Fiac cancelled as new travel restrictions are imposed across Europe
The Paris art fair had seemed defiant in the face of coronavirus but organisers say they could not “meet the legitimate expectations of its exhibitors”
NewsArt market
2021 art fair calendar already in flux after Taipei Dangdai moves from January to May
Delay and cancellation of events early next year prompts the question: will Frieze Los Angeles still take place in February?
NewsLabour
It is not just artists who are starving: how the US can rebuild its creative industry post-Covid
A proposal issued to both presidential campaigns by Americans for the Arts outlines a national strategy to put creative workers back to work
NewsArt market
Galleries cast doubt on the return of fairs in 2021 in latest Art Basel and UBS report
Covid-19 has forced galleries to cut staff by 33% on average as sales plummet 36% in the first half of 2020—and optimism is dwindling for next year
NewsExhibitions
Saatchi Gallery exhibits London’s graduate artists deprived of degree shows
The exhibition forms part of the education programme at the collector’s gallery which has now ‘transitioned into a charity’
NewsUnions
With unemployment at an historic high, America's art workers band together
Labour organising is building across the culture sphere. Could an industry-wide arts union be next?
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Bailout fail? Fewer than half of museums in England apply for government’s £1.57bn rescue package
Survey by The Art Newspaper also reveals that the Serpentine and Barbican have been left in limbo while the Southbank Centre is already £20m in debt
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Exhibitions during Covid-19: museums turn to 'virtual couriers' to protect unchaperoned art
To overcome travel restrictions, registrars are using Zoom and other technologies to monitor works on loan remotely
AnalysisBiennials & festivals
As crowds are banned, Riga’s art biennial transforms into a three-week live set for a feature film
Riboca2 shows “the fragility of our world, and our vulnerability within it”
NewsArt fairs
Art Basel cancels Miami Beach edition in December
The fair's organisers say they have "no other option" as Covid-19 cases in Florida stay stubbornly high and US travel restrictions remain in place
NewsBiennials & festivals
How to organise a biennial in the Covid era
Bangkok Art Biennale director on grappling with coronavirus constraints and displaying "sensitive" works
NewsBritish Museums
UK museums are back open—but visitors are staying away
Our data shows that most major London art museums had many available booking slots for next-day entry despite operating reduced capacity
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?
NewsMuseums
Whitney Museum cancels show following artists' accusations of exploitation
Many black artists objected to an exhibition after they discovered their work had been acquired by the museum through discounted sales to benefit anti-racism causes
NewsArt market
London's £20m Cromwell Place gallery hub to open on 10 October
Complex, housed in five townhouses in South Kensington, was due to open in May but the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown
NewsArt market
Photo London abandons socially distanced fair to go online
Decision "feels like natural progression for the market”, exhibitor says
Newscoronavirus
CoroNation: Ai Weiwei releases lockdown documentary about Wuhan
Film aims to show “surveillance, ideological brainwashing, and brute determination used to control every aspect of society” by China’s leaders
NewsTate
Ten artists who won Turner bursaries from Tate 'fully support' museum's striking workers
Open letter says that redundancies contradict Tate’s commitment to "champion the richness of art for everyone"
NewsArt market
It’s official: galleries and art fairs at risk of collapse can apply for UK’s £1.57bn rescue package
Priority will be given to institutions of regional and national significance
Newsreopenings
New York clears the way for the city's museums to reopen
MoMA, the Whitney, the Morgan, the American Folk Art Museum, the New Museum, the Guggenheim and the Brooklyn Museum announce plans to welcome the public, joining the Met and the New-York Historical Society
Commentcoronavirus
Business can and should help the arts through this crisis
The pandemic has laid bare the betrayal of the cultural sector, but corporations and individuals can alleviate the hardship
NewsExhibitions
Berghain—Berlin’s exclusive nightclub—to transform into huge art venue during pandemic
“Studio Berlin” offers a way to circumvent the toughest door policy in the world and see works by Olafur Eliasson, Wolfgang Tillmans and Anne Imhof
NewsMuseums
Tate will axe more than 300 jobs from its commercial arm next month
Director Maria Balshaw says the organisation has been left with “no option” but to resize as visitor figures and revenues plunge due to the pandemic
NewsEconomics
Covid-19 impact on US creative economy 'disproportionately' affects fine and performing arts, report finds
A new study from the Brookings Institution estimates losses of $150bn in creative industry revenue while calling for more federal support for cultural workers
NewsChina
National Museum of China exhibition commemorates country's fight against Covid-19
Open-submission show of professional and amateur art celebrates medical workers with propaganda posters and Socialist Realist statues
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Artist to create giant collaborative work from discarded NHS rainbows
NewsBritish Museum
After 163 days closed, British Museum will reopen on 27 August
The London museum, which will mark its reopening by showing a work by Grayson Perry, will enforce social distancing measures and a daily visitors cap
Newslayoffs
Met lays off 79 more employees and furloughs 181, as it faces a ‘very different’ financial picture
Museum hoped to reopen on 29 August but the prospect remains uncertain amid coronavirus restrictions
Newslayoffs
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston lays off 57 employees and says 56 more will take early retirement
The museum notes that the coronavirus outbreak will continue to affect it “in the long term”
NewsAcquisitions
Germany boosts art acquisition budget to €3m from €500,000 to support artists and galleries
Government plans to buy 150 works to help overcome the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic
NewsSouthbank Centre
'Brutal' planned redundancies at London's Southbank Centre called out in open letter
Signatories claim cuts will disproportionately affect Bame staff and question chief executive’s salary
NewsArts funding
UK government finally announces details of its £1.5bn funding support package for the arts
Museum trusts in Birmingham and York warn job cuts are in the pipeline
Blogcoronavirus
A right royal (socially-distanced) outing to London's National Gallery for the Duchess of Cornwall
Newsprizes and contests
UK’s largest art award Artes Mundi postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus
Challenge of transporting works and artists means £40,000 prize now scheduled for spring next year
CommentMuseums
A new kind of museum is emerging—here's what the future holds
International museum leaders are confronting manifold challenges in the wake of Covid-19 and innovating in six principal ways, writes András Szántó
András Szántó