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
NewsOpenings
Revamped, renamed, reopened: Musée Ingres Bourdelle honours Montauban's masters
After €13m expansion, French museum brings together works by painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and sculptor Emile-Antoine Bourdelle
NewsRussia
Russian museums follow Putin’s call for satellites in the regions
The Hermitage has opened a branch in Siberia, the Pushkin is renovating a Constructivist landmark in Samara and more agreements are in the works
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
NewsMuseums & Heritage
KAWS joins board of American Folk Art Museum
The contemporary artist is among four new trustees elected
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
NewsAccessibility
How to make museums more accessible for disabled people? Ask them
Research groups have designed new technologies and initiatives for the V&A, Kunsthistorisches Museum and Thyssen-Bornemisza
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Brighton Pavilion gets its glitter back as fanciful treasures return on long-term loan from the Queen
More of the startling objects collected by George IV will return from Buckingham Palace in early 2020
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
Major Jon Rafman show planned for Hirshhorn Museum
And Mickalene Thomas goes Pop in NYC
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
NewsMuseums
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston names new director
Hesse McGraw has served at San Francisco and Nebraska art institutions
NewsMuseums
Freer/Sackler rebrands its identity as the National Museum of Asian Art
Museum officials say the decision is unrelated to protests over the Sackler family's ties to Purdue Pharma
NewsMuseums
'Xavier Bray, end low pay!': Wallace Collection staff fight for London Living Wage
Museum is in discussion with trade union after 'final offer' 1.5% salary increase was deemed too low
NewsMusee du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac
Quai Branly to send fragment of feather belt worn by first King of Tahiti back to Polynesia
Rediscovered maro 'ura will go on show at Museum of Tahiti and the Islands on long-term loan from 2021
NewsObituaries
Stephen Garrett, inaugural director of the Getty and the Hammer, has died, aged 96
“Bon vivant” took over at museum villa and expanded its mission after J. Paul Getty died in 1976
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
What will cultural philanthropy look like in the 21st century? A new forum aims to find out
A survey of 500 art world professionals conducted by the Arts Funders Forum could help museums stay relevant to new patrons
AnalysisChina
Why museum partnerships between China and the West are booming
Cultural institutions have embraced mutual benefits of collaboration, despite challenges of communication and censorship
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
Cuzco paintings meet colonial Cuban culture in Allapattah
Founders of museum of Latin American art believe they may also have a work by Raphael
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
New art space in Basel will offer free shows
The opening exhibition of the Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger, during next year's Art Basel fair, will focus on Caribbean artists
NewsTurkey
Court ruling converting Turkish museum to mosque could set precedent for Hagia Sophia
Decision that Kariye Museum must become a Muslim house of worship again could imperil its Byzantine art and have repercussions for other early Christian monuments
NewsMuseums
Michael Rakowitz wants to pause his video work at MoMA PS1 as a protest against museum's ties to 'toxic philanthropy'
"It's censorship", the artist says of curators' denials to suspend work that is part of show on the artistic legacy of the Gulf War
NewsHungary
Budapest’s green mayor puts brakes on €250m New National Gallery
Local politicians block construction on cultural quarter backed by right-wing government, citing “enormous impact on environment”
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
NewsUffizi galleries
Hong Kong plans 2020 Botticelli exhibition in unprecedented deal with Italy's Uffizi
This is the first time the Florentine museum has formed a long-term partnership with a foreign institution
NewsRestitution
Cambridge college returns Benin bronze to Nigeria
Statue of a cockerel was looted by the British in 1897 from the Court of Benin
NewsArtists
Noguchi Museum launches digital archive about the globe-trotting artist’s life and career
Online trove includes 60,000 photographs, manuscripts, records and drawings and an updated catalogue raisonné
NewsHong Kong
Hong Kong Museum of Art to reopen in spite of escalating violence of pro-democracy protests
Launch of revamped government-run museum to go ahead as planned following $119m facelift
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
NewsArt crime
Thieves steal priceless Baroque jewels from Dresden museum
After breaking in through a window at the Green Vault, the intruders grabbed three royal jewellery ensembles containing diamonds and pearls
NewsChina
Guangzhou museum given three days’ notice to evacuate before demolition
Privately funded Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art says its forced closure follows “a long period of disputation” with the local authorities
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
NewsParis
Special delivery: Musée de la Poste reopens in Paris—with art to boot
Museum's little known, 6,000-strong Modern and contemporary art collection includes a ball gown made of 2,000 stamps
NewsArtists
Former factory in Iraqi Kurdistan stirs hope for cultural tourism
From studio spaces to museums, a future complex holds the promise of galvanising artists
NewsExhibitions
Terra Foundation plans 2024 sequel to Art Design Chicago
Yearlong 2018 effort drew 2.5 million people and brought attention to overlooked artists
NewsMuseums
German parliament approves institute for photographic legacy based in Dusseldorf
Government says institute is necessary to address “considerable backlog in securing the visual memory of our society”
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
NewsPolitics
What is art for? Why, to help sell arms, silly!
October saw full deployment of culture in Russian and French political and commercial diplomacy with Saudi Arabia
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
The French general’s advice to Notre Dame's chief architect: ‘Just shut up!’
A public spat between officials erupted this week in Paris over the reconstruction of the fire-ravaged cathedral and whether its historic spire should be restored as it was or a new spire built in its place
AnalysisClimate Change
Three ways museums can face up to the climate crisis
No issue is more relevant—and relevance is the cultural sector’s current leitmotif
NewsMuseums & Heritage
The Huntington Library acquires two collections of US slavery and abolition records
The historic documents highlight the complexities of documenting America’s "peculiar institution"
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Opening new galleries and showcasing its sphinx, Penn Museum rebrands its image
Museum at the University of Pennsylvania will open 10,000 sq. ft of reimagined spaces
NewsAcquisitions
Whitney Museum acquires 88 works by biennial artists
The works, by 40 artists, are among 250 that have entered the collection since the spring
NewsMuseums
Meadows Museum in Dallas teams up with local and Madrid opera companies
Opera sets will evoke the museum’s collection, and soloists will perform at the museum
NewsAcquisitions
Jayne Wrightsman leaves over 375 works of art and $80m to the Met
From European paintings to the decorative arts, the patron and her oil tycoon husband, who both served as trustees for decades, gave the New York museum more than 1,275 works in all
NewsRussia
Moving to the suburbs: vast museum collections centre destined for 'New Moscow'
State Tretyakov Gallery among 23 Russian museums planning to store and show works near former killing field Kommunarka
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
InterviewFrom the archive
From the archive | Louvre pyramid architect I.M. Pei on the church-like museum he designed for the Goulandris collection
In this 1994 interview, he reveals how he likes art to be displayed, such as natural lighting for Impressionists
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Goulandris collection of Modern masterworks finally revealed in new Athens museum
Dream museum of collectors Basil and Elise Goulandris brought to life almost three decades after original proposal
NewsSmithsonian Institution
Interview | Lonnie Bunch on founding the Smithsonian's African American history museum and drawing inspiration from Lincoln
As his new book is released, the new secretary of the Smithsonian Institution talks of extending its reach beyond Washington
NewsOrazio Gentileschi
London's National Gallery launches public campaign to fund last £2m to buy Orazio Gentileschi masterpiece
The 17th-century painting The Finding of Moses was painted in London for Charles I and represented the birth of Charles II
NewsDigitisation
Google and Lin-Manuel Miranda team up on a project to share Puerto Rican art online
Digitisation effort draws on works from four institutions in a push for cultural preservation
BlogIn the frame
Building Bridge-s: Solange Knowles curates a two-day programme of performances, films and talks at the Getty Center in Los Angeles
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Los Angeles's Marciano Art Foundation lays off staff trying to unionise
The private museum cited low attendance records over the past few weeks in a short letter to nearly six dozen workers who recently announced they voted to join a union
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Former Stedelijk director Beatrix Ruf will head to Moscow's Garage Museum
The German curator was previously accused of conflicting interests between the Amsterdam museum and her private consulting work
NewsChina
Museum dedicated to Picasso and Giacometti to launch in Beijing
Paris-based institutions Musée National Picasso and the Fondation Giacometti will open space in 798 district next June
Comment US politics
Museums must engage more with Indigenous peoples
There is a direct connection between how predominantly white curators have categorised Indigenous peoples as part of “natural history” and how we are misrepresented in contemporary art spaces
NewsNational Portrait Gallery
London’s National Portrait Gallery to close for three years with ‘some job losses’
Museum plans to send 300 portraits a year on tour around the country during £35.5m redevelopment
NewsExhibitions
Women artists take over museum schedules in 2020 to coincide with US presidential election
Coalition of curators organise events and exhibitions of art by women at 50 museums
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
NewsMonuments
Orlando chooses its memorial to Pulse shooting victims
More than three years after the massacre, a winning design has been selected for a $45m museum and memorial campus, but some survivors and victims’ families would rather it stay unbuilt.
NewsMuseums
A US-China-Arab partnership: Lacma, Yuz Museum and Qatar Museums team up on exhibition projects
The Los Angeles and Shanghai institutions say their joint foundation is still in progress
NewsPolitics
London's Roundhouse turns down £1m Sackler grant
The arts and performance venue has refused to accept a £1m grant from the Sackler Trust because of risk it would "distract from its work with young people"
NewsMoMA expansion 2019
MoMA gears up for its next big collection rehang
After grand expansion, New York museum is already planning to swap out more than 700 works next spring
NewsMuseums
Lucas Museum names a Met department chairman as its new director
Sandra Jackson-Dumont will take over in January as leader of George Lucas’s $1bn project in Los Angeles
NewsGrand Palais
Paris to build temporary venue near Eiffel Tower to host Grand Palais's shows when it closes in 2021
Culture chief Chris Dercon says the new space will hold events during the museum's three-year refurbishment, including a collaboration with Unesco
NewsParasol Unit
Parasol Unit to close east London gallery
From next spring the foundation will hold exhibitions "in whatever part of the world I feel the dialogue is needed”, says founder Ziba Ardalan
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
NewsGES-2
Russian billionaire's huge Moscow art hub—designed by Renzo Piano—will open in September 2020
Leonid Mikhelson says that the "frightening" cost that he had initially anticipated for the GES-2 complex has doubled
PreviewExhibitions
Celebrating a French artist who captured a young America
New-York Historical Society profiles the intrepid Baroness Hyde de Neuville
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
NewsMoMA expansion 2019
Dissecting a gallery in a remade MoMA
Among the most striking examples of the museum's more global and inclusive approach is a gallery with the theme War Within, War Without
ReviewExhibitions
Three Boston exhibitions confront migration and displacement
From thermal heat maps to diagrams outlining escape routes for undocumented immigrants
CommentPrivate Museums
The Marciano masquerade is exposed
The art foundation, which has closed its doors, was never more than the shell of a museum
Jori Finkel