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
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
Philanthropy, but at what price? US museums wake up to public's ethical concerns
Daniel Weiss, Adam Weinberg and other museum leaders speak out following the fallout from the resignation of the Whitney’s vice chairman and the ongoing Sackler affair
BlogDiary of an art historian
The National Portrait Gallery's ethical dilemma
Plus, taking a stand on copyright
NewsWhitney Biennial
Four artists withdraw their work from the Whitney Biennial
The move follows on-going calls for the resignation of the museum board's vice chairman
AnalysisEthics
The only way is ethics: the art world's 'networks of undue influence'
Ethics specialist Piergiorgio Pepe claims the power in the art industry is still held in the hands of a few
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
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
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
NewsSponsorship
Tate to stop accepting donations from the Sackler Trust
The move follows a mutual decision by the National Portrait Gallery and the Sackler Trust to not proceed with a £1m grant
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Moscow residents petition Garage Museum to reject sponsorship from property developer
Activists say PIK Group's high-rise developments are environmentally unsafe and only aimed at making "super profits"
NewsEthics
University of North Carolina rejects plan for museum to house toppled Confederate statue
UNC Chapel Hill seeks another solution to preserve Silent Sam, described as a “monument to white supremacy”
AnalysisThe Year In Review
2018 in museums: big ethics questions dominate the field
Museums are facing greater scrutiny over sponsorship and the artists they choose to display
Analysis
Museums too: what should institutions do when artists are accused of abuse?
As the #MeToo movement grows, US museums find themselves embroiled in ethical dilemmas
CommentLeaders
Retain or return? It’s complicated
The complex issues behind returning cultural goods to their place of origin
NewsEthics
Should museums display human remains from other cultures?
Vienna’s Weltmuseum criticised for displaying a trophy head
NewsArt market
Sex still sells—but scandal-hit artists may not
Galleries forced to decide whether to work with artists accused of sexual harassment
News
Former Spanish museum director accused of overpaying for art
News
Judge orders destruction of convicted artist’s ‘indecent’ collection
Police say it is an offence to view the works seized from Graham Ovenden
NewsExhibitions
Almost one third of solo shows in US museums go to artists represented by five galleries
Survey reveals prevalence of Pace, Gagosian, David Zwirner, Marian Goodman and Hauser & Wirth in exhibition programming
ArchiveTate Britain
Hundreds of national museum workers on zero-hours contracts
Questions raised about the ethics of employment terms usually associated with discount stores and fast-food chains
ArchiveLawsuits
Collector Steven Brooks says Sotheby’s sold him Nazi art
Uncertainty over whether the work—once owned by Goering—was looted has apparently left it unsaleable
ArchiveExhibitions
V&A strengthens ties with Qatar by showing pearls exhibition from Doha, despite ethical concerns
Museum closes a cultural gulf
ArchiveBenin Bronzes
Benin mask withdrawn from Sotheby's auction
Cancellation follows accusations that the object was looted, although no formal claim has been made
ArchiveArt dealers
Dealers are collectors, too, whether this is a problem comes down to a question of integrity
Some things are for sale. And some aren’t
ArchiveExhibitions
Directors say OK to collectors’ shows
In response to The New Museum's current exhibition
ArchiveExhibitions
New Museum show of trustee's collection is an insult to scholarship and curators
Private-collector museums
ArchiveMuseums & Heritage
Museums lending to commercial galleries: The debate
Director of the Rose Art Museum examines both sides of the argument
ArchiveRestitution
British Museum, V&A, British Library and more face restitution claims as Ethiopia moves for Maqdala treasures
Treasures lost in the punitive sacking of Maqdala are subject to restitution claims
ArchiveDenver Art Museum
Denver Art Museum art-share deal under investigation for breaching deaccessioning guidelines
Billionaire collector was given a half share in a Charles Deas painting in exchange for funding a Thomas Eakins acquisition
ArchiveAcquisitions
A look at the ethical and economic problems underlying museum acquisitions
Museums should beware of being used as marketing tools by collectors
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
UCL damned over handling of looted Aramaic antiquities
A report which concluded that ancient bowls on loan from a Norwegian collector “must have been illegally excavated in Iraq” has not been made public
ArchiveExhibitions
Eclectic collector’s show raises questions at Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Visitors are confused and staff suggest that museum is neglecting its artistic mission
ArchiveJune 2005
'The art trade is the last major unregulated market'
Is it time for reform? Murky dealings came to light in 2005 as more collectors began to enter the scene—and brought their cases to court
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
Studying unprovenanced antiquities: The question of Schøyen's incantation bowls
University College London has set up an inquiry to examine the origin of “looted” bowls on loan from a Norwegian collector
ArchiveRestitution
Recent developments in restitution claims in Russia prove that some art theft is 'legitimate'; when it is committed by a government that is recognised by nations around the world
Unlike the heirs of Nazi victims, the descendants of collectors whose art was appropriated by the Bolsheviks are unlikely to have it returned
ArchiveEthics
Oslo: Buddhism’s “Dead Sea Scrolls” for sale to Norway
Saved from Afghanistan by top collector, the manuscripts pose an ethical problem
ArchiveMuseums & Heritage
How The Met and the Louvre are complicit in the illegal art and antiques trade: Interview with Manus Brinkman
Museums must set the standard for collectors and dealers, says Manus Brinkman Secretary General of the International Council of Museums
ArchiveCultural policy
From primitive to art back to ethnology: too much zeal, says leading collector
Eugene Victor Thaw on the transformation of tribal art
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
Don’t just berate the thieves: look at the museums and excavators too
In the last of our series which publishes talks given in London this summer, Professor Sir John Boardman, Lincoln Professor Emeritus of classical archaeology and art at Oxford, singles out three areas for concern.
ArchiveForgeries
French association of Bronze-founders establish code of ethics
An attempt to combat the damage being caused by forgeries and unauthorised castings
ArchiveEthics
The place of scholars in the commercial art market: how to avoid shameful infections and a diminution of the truth?
It is pointless to pretend that the commercial art world and the worlds of research do not interpenetrate each other. Here we look at the relationship, present and past, and ask ourselves, in what respect is the art historian any different from the lawyer who sells his opinion?
CommentMuseums & Heritage
Why it is vital to promote cultural inclusion at New York's institutions
The arts sector must engage in constant dialogue with communities, says the city's commissioner of cultural affairs
Tom Finkelpearl