NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From the MoMA expansion to ‘artwashing’ ill-gotten wealth: the major museum moments of 2019
We look back at the biggest stories of the year
NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From a Paris inferno to the Leonardo tussle: the art world's top stories of 2019
We look back at the major events that made the headlines this year
NewsCultural policy
‘Listen to children, tax big auction sales’: Bob and Roberta Smith’s constitution of the arts
As UK political parties launch their manifestos, the artist sets out his own guidelines for art world equality
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
It's official: French tycoons finalise €300m donations for fire-ravaged Notre Dame
Foundation secures funds from Bernard Arnault and François Pinault towards the reconstruction of the cathedral
NewsClimate Change
V&A director Tristram Hunt defends sponsorship from fossil fuel companies
The former Labour MP sides with Science Museum group's director Ian Blatchford in saying companies such as BP can 'be part of the solution' to climate change
NewsFunding
Funding for culture to rise by 4.1% according to UK government's spending review
Treasury says there will be “over £300m to support the UK’s world-class national museums and galleries” in 2020-21
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
NewsLaw
Sacklers in talks over multibillion-dollar settlement of opioid crisis lawsuits
Proposed settlement calls for family's company Purdue Pharma to file for bankruptcy and become a public trust distributing profits
CommentMuseums & Heritage
Collectors are now collecting museums, not the other way around
Seats on boards offered by major museums are increasingly being used to serve the narrow agendas of the ultra-rich
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
NewsMuseums
Building on credit: why museums like Lacma use bonds to fund ambitious expansions
Being rated by a credit agency can help an institution secure support for costly construction projects—and avoid over-extending itself
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
V&A to mount major Iran exhibition in face of US sanctions
Museum’s director Tristram Hunt says securing loans and sponsorship is “more of a challenge” as tension grows between Trump and Tehran
NewsArt Basel 2019
Artist Alexandra Pirici demands compensation for underpaid performers
The system of dividends is a way to address the "immense amounts of unpaid or underpaid labour" that support the art world, she says
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
Louvre struggles to gain loans for Leonardo show
High-level diplomacy is being used to secure the artist’s most important works for blockbuster anniversary show in Paris
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Director of Pinault Collection proposes controversial 90% tax breaks for Notre Dame donors
But Pinault family says it is not seeking tax relief for its €100m donation towards the reconstruction effort
NewsSackler Trust
‘Like being married to a serial killer’: Hito Steyerl denounces Sackler sponsorship of museums
German artist urges art world to rally against cultural funding from embattled family at opening of her show at Serpentine Sackler Gallery
NewsMuseums & Heritage
São Paulo's new millionaire governor João Doria proposes massive cuts to culture budget
Museums and cultural institutions in the Brazilian state prepare for closures and cancelled programmes
NewsFunding
Art venues have half the budget of science museums for temporary exhibitions, new report finds
Research by UK startup Vastari delves into hidden economics of museums' special shows
NewsSackler Trust
Sackler Trust charity in UK suspends all new gifts
The move is a “face-saving” measure says US photographer and activist Nan Goldin
NewsFunding
New £150,000 grant to ‘embolden’ museums goes to Whitworth and Van Abbemuseum
Award from Outset Partners will support Arte Útil project to queer collections and work with local communities
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Jerwood Gallery in Hastings to lose British art collection by November
Almost 300 Modern and contemporary works will be withdrawn amid funding dispute with the Jerwood Foundation
NewsControversies
Nan Goldin’s anti-opioid activist group storms New York museums
Pain held demonstrations at the Guggenheim and the Met over the weekend
NewsBeirut
Beirut Museum of Art vows to carry on as honorary chairman Carlos Ghosn remains in jail
Museum board says fundraising campaign to build delayed private museum is not dependent on the scandal-hit auto executive
Comment
The recent protests at the Whitney show museum trustees’ dealings cannot be ignored
The same old arguments in favour of ignoring the business dealings of trustees, of pretending museum programming can function independently of those funding it, cannot stand for long
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"
NewsFunding
Battle brews over Washington’s arts commission
The mayor’s plan to curtail the powers of the leading arts funder in the US capital could reduce its vital independence
NewsVienna
Albertina Museum director defends landmark gift of Essl collection
Klaus Albrecht Schröder says contemporary art acquisitions, criticised by Austrian Court of Audit, will fill a gap in country’s public museums
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Berlin’s Natural History Museum receives an eye-watering €660m of public funds for rebuild
Vast sum outstrips budget for reconstruction of city’s royal palace and creation of Humboldt Forum
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Victoria Sin plumbs watery depths for Gasworks fundraiser in London
NewsSponsorship
Imperial War Museum London receives 'generous' donation from Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich
The money will go towards new Holocaust Galleries due to open 2021
NewsRestoration
Urgent revamp of William Morris’s country home to go ahead after £4.3m grant
UK National Lottery award will also fund a new education centre at the Victorian designer’s 16th-century Kelmscott Manor
NewsSaudi Arabia
Columbia University cancels talk with Saudi artist Ahmed Mater amid scrutiny over the kingdom’s cultural funding
The Metropolitan and the Brooklyn museums have also decided not to use money from the Crown Prince’s arts organisation for related events
CommentLeaders
Funding the arts through the National Lottery is not a winning solution
Thanks to an austerity-induced accounting trick, lottery funding is replacing taxes
NewsArchitecture
Thermal spa developer buys Frida Escobedo's Serpentine Pavilion 2018
Structure will be re-installed as part of Therme Group's art and architecture initiative
NewsControversies
Conflict-of-interest scandal at publicly funded UK arts centre Firstsite
Chairman and trustee resigned amid investigation into more than £90,000 spent on consultancy firm they directed
NewsFunding
Will museums stop accepting Sackler money in wake of Massachusetts lawsuit?
Eight members of the family are being sued for helping to fuel the opioid epidemic through their pharmaceutical company
NewsResidencies
Emmanuel Macron orders radical review of France’s art residencies
The French President has commissioned a report identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the current programmes
AnalysisFunding
Lauded, but not loaded: being shortlisted for a major prize does not solve a museum's money worries
Being part of the Museum of the Year brings kudos and a big PR boost, but some finalists have still found the financial going tough
NewsCultural policy
German culture budget grows to €1.8bn
Newly-funded projects include abandoned department store that was the set for The Grand Budapest Hotel film
NewsConservation & Preservation
World Monuments Fund gives $1m for post-quake restoration of Mexican archaeological site
Monte Albán, the ancient capital of the Zapotec people, was damaged by earthquakes in 2017
NewsConservation & Preservation
Eight World Monuments Fund watchlist sites get $1m in grants from American Express
In many cases, the funding will be used to help prevent future damage, including public outreach and scientific research
CommentLeaders
Sydney’s flagship museum is entirely focused on building a costly extension. Why?
Unless the Art Gallery of New South Wales begins to focus more on exhibitions, there is every reason to believe that Sydney Modern will be a gigantic and costly flop
News
Kunsthalle Mannheim unveils €68m extension backed by German billionaire
Foundation of Hans-Werner Hector, one of the country's richest people, contributed €50m to the revamp
NewsFunding
UK museums suffer as Heritage Lottery grants plummet
Building projects are major casualties as emphasis shifts to supporting smaller, local initiatives
NewsPhilanthropy
Russian billionaire’s Peri Foundation will keep paying for culture after arrest
It is business as usual, says the organisation’s director, as its founder, Ziyavudin Magomedov, remains in custody awaiting trial on racketeering charges
News
Bridging the divide: Terra Foundation and Art Bridges fund collaborative programming between major art institutions and regional venues
The MFA, Boston and the Detroit Institute of Arts are the first institutions awarded grants in a $15m pilot programme
NewsPolitics
Is the EGO Act a lot of hot air?
A new law bans government-funded oil portraits of officials, but most paintings have been paid for privately for years
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's boozy reading raises funds for the Contemporary Art Society
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
CommentLeaders
The mirage of riches in museums’ vaults
Putting aside museum ethics, Martin Gammon looks at the financial viability of museums deaccessioning their collection as a quick fix for financial trouble
NewsFunding
Creative Scotland chief apologises for funding backlash—though questions remain
Arts funder grilled by Scottish parliament over controversial cuts in £99m grants programme
NewsFunding
Towner Art Gallery on England's south coast at risk as local council confirms funding cut
Critics of the move include the Art Fund and the broadcaster and Towner chairman David Dimbleby
News
New Art Fund report reveals 'shocking' state of UK museums funding
Price of Leonardo’s Salvador Mundi, which sold for £333m, represents over half of government’s total financial backing for museums last year
NewsPolitics
Trump wants to axe NEA and other culture agencies—again
The president’s 2019 budget includes a similar proposal to last year’s failed plan to defund America’s arts bodies
News
The Getty, the world’s richest museum, hunts for wealthy patrons
Some are concerned that new fundraising drive will lure donors from other Los Angeles institutions
NewsArtists
Artists back Nan Goldin’s call to hold Sackler family to account over US opioid crisis
"Maybe the Sacklers don’t care, but we should give them the chance to discuss solutions, and if they rebuff, then f*** them"—Jeremy Deller
AnalysisAmerican art
Native American artists garner recognition—at last
US and Canadian institutions are rethinking their approach to contemporary indigenous art
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach
Cuban artists crowdfund to create a ‘Havana Biennial for everyone’
Organisers vow to run their own exhibition after government postpones official event
NewsPrizes
Knight Foundation awards $2.5m in grants to realise 43 Miami art projects
Funding will help bring the Creative Time Summit to South Florida, back a show on the Cuban artist José Antonio Aponte, and finance a “wine club for art” subscription collecting service
CommentFunding
Culture is compromised by donations from the Sackler family: we must not accept any more of their money
Anna Somers Cocks on the revelations published in the New Yorker magazine
NewsFunding
Business as usual for museums funded by Sackler opioid money?
Beneficiaries of the family’s largesse deflect or ignore questions about the donors’ role in the drugs epidemic sweeping the US
NewsBiennials & festivals
Top Australian donors pull funding from Venice Biennale
Funders are furious about plans to exclude them from selecting the artist to represent the country
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Tate’s Art Now supporters circle launched with venom and elixir
NewsPhilanthropy
Agnes Gund’s Art for Justice Fund awards $22m in grants to activist groups and social programmes
As well as backing arts-focused initiatives, the money will help support organisations working to make changes in government policy
NewsFunding
Victoria and Albert Museum secures £15m endowment fund with Saudi donation
Non-profit Art Jameel throws weight behind London museum’s long-term funding campaign
NewsCaravaggio
Galleria Borghese launches Caravaggio research centre—with a little help from Fendi
Roman museum aims to become the primary reference for scholarship on the artist
NewsFunding
New York Foundation for the Arts expands its mentoring programme for immigrant artists
With a grant from the Ford Foundation, the ten-year-old initiative will now help artists in Detroit, Newark, Oakland and San Antonio
News
Horniman Museum crowdfunds for new World Gallery—with a little help from its walrus
South London institution wants visitors to feel emotional connection to anthropology collection
NewsDisasters & destruction
Mexican artists pitch in to aid earthquake victims
The well known Oaxacan artist Francisco Toledo, is working with others to collect food and supplies and open community kitchens
NewsBiennials & festivals
Documenta faces yawning €7m deficit, seeks financial help
Kassel city and the state of Hesse pledge to secure long-term liquidity
NewsDisasters & destruction
Museums in Houston reopen after Hurricane Harvey
The Museum of Fine Arts will offer three days of free admission
NewsFunding
NEH awards $39m in grants in last round of funding for 2017
The agency, which was targeted for elimination by the Trump administration, supports culture and history projects across the US
News
Threatened Walsall gallery saved by Arts Council grant
New Art Gallery Walsall plans to form partnership with local university
News
Bulk of V&A’s £50m extension sponsored by four donors
Exhibition Road project creates new courtyard, entrance hall and subterranean gallery
CommentMuseums & Heritage
'We are in a time of crisis: now is the time to assert our moral and ethical principles'
Cultural institutions need to decide what they stand for, says London's ICA director Stefan Kalmár
Stefan Kalmár