NewsMuseums
Main Museum’s mysterious closure serves as a cautionary tale about funding
Closure comes just weeks after three key staff members announced their departures
NewsRestitution
Met hands over an Egyptian coffin that it says was looted
Describing itself as a victim of fraud, museum says it cooperated with district attorney's investigation
NewsMuseums
Morgan Library & Museum plans $12.5m restoration of its library's exterior
New York institution plans to shore up its Neo-Classical façade and create outdoor spaces for the public
NewsControversies
Nan Goldin’s anti-opioid activist group storms New York museums
Pain held demonstrations at the Guggenheim and the Met over the weekend
NewsOpenings
Norton Museum of Art opens grand expansion
$100m project highlights museum's growing commitment to contemporary art
NewsMuseums & Heritage
National Museum of Scotland completes 15-year makeover revealing 'whole world under one roof'
The £80m masterplan has created 50% more public space and unveiled 6,500 forgotten objects
NewsAfrican art
Brooklyn Museum's detective work reveals original owners of African mask
Family elders give blessing to new exhibition of Yorùbá masquerade costume, stolen from Nigerian shrine room 70 years ago
NewsMuseums
Vancouver Art Gallery staff strike continues
Union boss calls museum's recent offer "an insult"
NewsRestoration
New York Botanical Garden’s landmark glass conservatory to close for renovation
$17.7m effort includes refurbishment of “palm dome” and two galleries
NewsOpenings
Giving back and looking forward: Hill Art Foundation opens in New York
Christopher Wool show kicks off rotating programme from Janine and Tom Hill’s collection
NewsMuseums
New York's MoMA to close for four months for renovation
Rethinking the Modernist canon, New York museum is changing the presentation of its permanent collection
NewsPrivate Museums
Grand opening of Russian billionaire’s power-plant museum is postponed to 2020
GES-2 will be part of Moscow's Museum Mile, linked to Garage, the Tretyakov and the Pushkin
NewsRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro's slave wharf museum gains ground
The Unesco-listed site is due to receive a museum of Afro-Brazilian culture
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
San Francisco’s Van Gogh is the real deal
The still life of fruit and chestnuts, until recently dismissed as a fake, was painted in Paris
NewsBanksy
Kerching! Banksy-note enters British Museum
Di-faced Tenner is artist’s first work to join the collection officially—unlike his 2005 cave painting prank
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
NewsMuseums & Heritage
New York architect Annabelle Selldorf to lead design of visitors centre in Beijing’s Forbidden City
When restoration is complete, the public will have access to Qianlong Garden complex for the first time
NewsFashion
Princess Margaret’s delicate Dior dress conserved for Victoria and Albert Museum show
Stains on the lavishly decorated gown—made for royal's 21st birthday—show that it had gone to some good parties
NewsAncient Egypt
British Museum teams up with Louvre for revamp of Egyptian Museum in Cairo
But the disputed treasure, the Rosetta Stone, will remain in London
News US politics
NEA, Smithsonian museums and National Gallery of Art to reopen
A temporary budget deal ended the US government shutdown on Friday, allowing state-funded arts organisations to get back to work
PreviewExhibitions
A careful collector’s gift of African objects and Modern art is celebrated in Detroit
New exhibition is dedicated to Margaret Demant—a passionate booster of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection
News#metoo
Student curators bring consent debate to Dartmouth College's renovated Hood Museum of Art
University is facing $70m lawsuit from seven women claiming that it turned a blind eye to sexual abuse and discrimination
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Dresden ballroom returns to gilded glory as part of €300m palace reconstruction
Residential Palace complex, a casualty of Allied bombing in the Second World War, is due to be rebuilt by 2021
NewsMuseums & Heritage
After a decade of delays, Vancouver Art Gallery gets $40m boost for new building
The local philanthropic Chan family has reinvigorated the long-awaited expansion with an “unprecedented” gift
NewsConservation
Getty wraps up conservation effort at King Tutankhamen's tomb
Decade-long effort with Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities results in a ventilation and filtration system
NewsMuseums & Heritage
National Gallery of Canada director Marc Mayer bids adieu to Ottawa
After ten years at the post, he has plenty of accomplishments, including bringing Indigenous art into the canon, and few regrets
NewsAfrican art
Africa’s pre-colonial ‘crown jewels’ to find a home in new South African museum
Javett Art Centre at University of Pretoria will display 800-year-old gold collection excavated in the 1930s
NewsMuseums & Heritage
MacKenzie Art Gallery given 1,000 works by contemporary indigenous artists from Canada and the US
Collectors Thomas Druyan and Alice Ladner were drawn by the Saskatchewan museum’s dedication to indigenous and aboriginal art from around the globe
NewsHeritage
Lush historic gardens bloom once more in Agra, India
The World Monuments Fund announces the completion of a four-year conservation effort
NewsMuseums
New Museum staff hold rally in support of unionising
Petition to form union was filed with the National Labor Relations Board last week
NewsMuseums
Is an art Cold War thaw coming? US and Russian museum leaders and diplomats to discuss loan freeze
Public conversation to be held in February will address long impasse on museum loans
BlogIn the frame
Museums battle it out on Twitter to have the greatest BDE (ahem.. Big Duck Energy)
NewsAppointments & departures
Stedelijk Museum issues conciliatory statement insisting that feud with Beatrix Ruf is over
Unusual press release is latest twist in long-running dispute between Amsterdam institution and its former director
CommentRestitution
Eurocentrism still sets the terms of restitution of African art
A selective view of African cultural heritage continues the colonialist paradigm
NewsAppointments & departures
Marc-Olivier Wahler steps down as director of MSU Broad Art Museum
The Swiss curator is resigning from the Michigan institution for family reasons
NewsBritish Museum
British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head displayed upside down
Curators discovered old mistake during research for No Man's Land exhibition
InterviewMuseo del Prado
Prado at 200: director Miguel Falomir on the museum's reinvention and the death of the blockbuster
Released from the shackles of state control in 2003, the Madrid institution has reason to celebrate its bicentenary
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Delacroix and Beyoncé bring record-breaking Louvre visitor figures
After attendance dips, 10.2 million people flocked to the Paris museum last year
InterviewMuseums & Heritage
LA stories: Deborah Marrow looks back
The Getty Foundation’s leader, who retired in December, discusses her feminist credentials and the broader challenges in cultural philanthropy
NewsOpenings
Polish collector Grazyna Kulczyk unveils ‘off-grid’ private museum in Swiss Alps
Muzeum Susch aims to bring a “disruptive outlook” to the historic Engadin valley pilgrimage site
NewsAcquisitions
Why a six-ton scholar’s rock is making its way from China to Texas
A low-key request from the San Antonio Museum of Art director resulted in a big gift from Lake Taihu near Wuxi
CommentCultural policy
Mikhail Piotrovsky—Hermitage chief for 26 years—is an Old Master of diplomacy
Russian museum is pursuing global expansion with long-term plans under way for Barcelona and China
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Charles Dickens’s great expectations about his attire
The esteemed 19th-century author was also a renowned dandy whose passion for fashion increased with his fame and fortune
NewsMexico
What happened to all the art in Mexico’s presidential palace?
A largely emptied Los Pinos opened to the public on 1 December, leaving many in the country wondering where the collection of paintings and decorative objects went
NewsMuseums
Artist duo Hesselholdt & Mejlvang says Danish museum did not pay them
The artists showed in a group exhibition and delivered two lectures at Aros Aarhus Art Museum
NewsConservation
Cai Guo-Qiang’s explosive art, preserved for the ages
Getty scientists explore the artist’s use of gunpowder and other materials for a definitive new book
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Herculaneum’s museum of relics finally opens its doors, 44 years on
Inaugural show presents jewels and precious objects excavated in the early 20th century alongside more recent discoveries
NewsConservation
Restoration for early Renaissance pulpit will get the big-screen treatment
The 1301 carved pulpit will undergo a two-year intensive monitoring programme
PreviewThe Year Ahead 2019
Top ten new museums and major extensions due to open in 2019
A MoMA expansion, the opening of the Humboldt Forum, the unveiling of the National Museum of Qatar and a new Bauhaus Museum are just some of the highlights of the year ahead
NewsOpenings
After year-long rain check, Rijksmuseum Schiphol prepares to reopen
Airport branch of Amsterdam museum closed in January due to a leaky roof
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"
NewsExhibitions
London's National Gallery plans major Artemisia Gentileschi show in 2020
Exhibition of Europe’s greatest female Old Master will include museum's freshly conserved acquisition
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”
NewsTechnology
Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery develops blockchain app to bring Russian art to the world
Digital initiative will invite users to explore and sponsor more than 190,000 works in the collection
NewsBrazil
Brazil’s National Museum closes the year on a poignant note
With partnerships with the Smithsonian and Google as well as donations, the institution soldiers on
NewsHeritage
Restorers of Nîmes arena expand their sights
Conservation effort now includes passageways and interior
NewsHeritage
How pioneering climate-change science dated one of Britain's oldest houses
Landmark Trust's restoration finds that oak timber used to build Welsh house was felled in the winters of 1418-19 and 1420-21
NewsExhibitions
Berlin's 200-year-old replica workshop finds a niche at new Museum Island hub
First-ever exhibition on the Gipsformerei, which copies works for museums and Jeff Koons, will open the James Simon Gallery next summer
NewsExhibitions
Revamped UK gallery gets major Paula Rego retrospective that will tour to Scotland and Ireland
MK Gallery in Milton Keynes will also host a George Stubbs survey
InterviewMuseums & Heritage
The women taking charge in the Gulf's rising art scene
With many of the region’s museums, fairs and festivals under female leadership, we talk to three key decision-makers
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Staff at State Russian Museum take legal action to halt renovation
Senior employees claim the $17m project threatens the Mikhailovsky Palace building and its collections
NewsMuseums
DR Congo to request restitution of works from former coloniser Belgium
Country's president Joseph Kabila made the announcement ahead of opening of revamped Africa Museum outside Brussels
NewsMuseums
Protesters stream into Whitney, calling for removal of board vice chairman
They assailed the trustee's business ties to the tear gas fired by US border agents
FeatureMuseums
You have to renovate to accumulate: three South Florida museums expand in very different ways
The Norton Museum of Art, the Boca Raton Museum of Art and the Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College show that museum expansions can take different sizes and forms
NewsMuseums
Pitzhanger Manor, the country estate of Sir John Soane, to open in west London next Spring
The English architect’s “jewel box” weekend retreat has been restored to its original condition
NewsMuseums
Italian court says Getty Museum must surrender prized bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth
The Los Angeles institution counters that it will keep on fighting to maintain the linchpin of its collection
NewsAppointments & departures
Galleria Borghese director Anna Coliva reinstated after suspension over gym visits
Decision to take case to court prompted a public outcry and an online petition
NewsUnesco
Goodbye Venice, goodbye Ravenna, goodbye Ferrara, goodbye Carthage?
Many World Heritage Sites around the Mediterranean are at grave risk from sea-level rise by 2100, report says
NewsAmedeo Modigliani
Forensic examination of all Modigliani works in French museums gets under way
Comprehensive analysis of 29 pieces from ten institutions could be “the best weapon against forgery”
NewsMuseums
Cambridge Museums to pilot LGBTQ+ tours
Visitors at the Polar Museum might learn incidence of homosexuality among penguins
CommentAntiquities & Archaeology
The Met’s antiquated views of antiquities need updating
The new Greek and Roman curator at New York’s Metropolitan Museum should rejuvenate its displays with honest, better stories
Elizabeth Marlowe