Latest

Tracey Emin: 'Racist behaviour is dividing our country'

As her landmark Tate Modern exhibition opens, the artist discusses the rise of Reform UK and the British Museum's "terrible colonial past"

Anny Shawabout 7 hours ago

How four Los Angeles artists are doing a year after the wildfires

Kelly Akashi, Christina Quarles, Adam Ross and Kathryn Andrews, all of whom lost their homes in the Eaton and Palisades fires, reflect on the last year

Scarlet Chengabout 22 hours ago

Berlin cathedral opens newly renovated crypt to house coffins of Prussia’s ruling dynasty

Display of sarcophagi of the Hohenzollerns, which span 500 years, includes a new exhibition

Catherine Hickleyabout 8 hours ago

Australia’s coal city flexes culture muscle with major gallery expansion

Redevelopment makes Newcastle Art Gallery biggest regional collection in New South Wales

Elizabeth Fortescueabout 7 hours ago

Row erupts in Italy over rights to the face of ‘Prince of Laughter’, the comedian and actor Totó

Relatives of the late performer, who is inextricably linked with his hometown of Naples, claim businesses there are cashing in on his image

James Imamabout 7 hours ago

Frieze Los Angeles 2026

Are we seeing the demise of statement stands at art fairs?

The waning adventurousness in these spaces speaks to important shifts in the trade over the past two decades

Tim Schneiderabout 24 hours ago

Is it finally time for the Guerrilla Girls to remove their masks?

A new Getty show on the activists’ legacy points to the power and limits of anonymity

Jori Finkelabout 21 hours ago

End of the line for Bergamot Station, Santa Monica’s arts hub?

The city is eyeing the site, home since 1994 to more than a dozen galleries and arts nonprofits, as a possible location for state-mandated housing development

Frieze Los Angeles reflects the city’s resilience

The fair’s seventh edition gathers the local community of dealers and artists, along with dozens of international galleries, while fostering a convivial atmosphere

12 must-see exhibitions in and around Los Angeles during Frieze

From the latest additions to Judith Baca's "Great Wall of Los Angeles" at Jeffrey Deitch and "Monuments" at Moca and the Brick, to the Julia Stoschek Foundation's epic pop-up show of video art and medieval creation stories at the Getty

Art market

Minneapolis gallery launches mutual aid colouring book in response to Ice operations in the city

The gallery Dreamsong launched the project—which will also be available on its Frieze Los Angeles stand—to support Minnesotan immigrants and a rapid response fund

Art Basel reveals exhibitors for Swiss fair’s 2026 edition

The firm's hometown fair will feature 290 exhibitors from 43 countries and territories

Sotheby’s hikes buyer’s premiums as auction houses test new fee structures

In a recalibrating market, auction houses are carefully balancing much needed fee revenue with compelling deals for both buyers and sellers

UK artist resale right at 20: how successful has the pioneering scheme been?

Challenges loom but artist royalties on secondary sales now apply in 90 countries

Sotheby’s to sell around £2m of art to support the Royal Academy in London

The auction will provide crucial financial support for the institution, which last year was looking at axing 60 members of staff as part of a cost-cutting drive

Museums & Heritage

Architect Edwin Lutyens’s bust removed from Indian president's house as government reshapes nation’s image

The move is part of ongoing contestation over India’s architectural heritage

Cyrus Najiabout 8 hours ago

2,000-year-old inscriptions found in Valley of the Kings offer fresh insight into Indian presence in Ancient Egypt

The inscriptions show that people from different parts of India interacted with Greeks and Egyptians in Egypt in the 1st-3rd centuries AD

Los Angeles museums on the cusp of new golden age

Could the city’s cultural cachet soon match that of New York? A slew of multi-million-dollar projects, from dramatic new museums to major renovations, suggest that it could

Helen Stoilasabout 18 hours ago

New leaders of France's Louvre and Orsay museums announced

Christophe Léribault will replace Laurence des Cars following her resignation and Annick Lemoine will take up the vacant position after the sudden death of Sylvain Amic

Vincent Noce1 day ago

Louvre director Laurence des Cars resigns in wake of heist and ticketing scandal

Des Cars had pursued a costly renovation and expansion plan even as staff went on strike to advocate for tackling more urgent issues

Exhibitions

Monumental commissions and pioneering women artists take centre stage at Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026

“In Interludes and Transitions” includes more than 25 commissions and works by Samia Halaby, Etel Adnan, Pacita Abad and Kamala Ibrahim Ishag

Rawaa Talassabout 8 hours ago

Rose Wylie: ‘It’s very, very fragile where a painting ends. All the time it sits on a precarious edge’

After beginning her career in the 1950s, and then taking 25 years out to raise a family, the artist finally hit her stride in the 2000s. Now, she is the first female painter to have a show in the main galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts in London

Venice exhibition of US artist Hernan Bas will tackle issue of mass tourism

“The Visitors” includes more than 30 new paintings of youths who represent “cliches of the contemporary tourist”

South Africa pavilion will be empty at 2026 Venice Biennale, culture ministry says

The announcement comes after a court dismissed Gabrielle Goliath’s attempt to have her project reinstated—a ruling that has been met with anger by members of South Africa’s art world

UK exhibition celebrates the artisans throughout history who went to war

Fitzwilliam Museum’s new show "War Craft" examines art made on or near the front lines, often from materials found on the battlefield

A brush with... podcast

A podcast that asks artists the questions you've always wanted to

A Brush With... Veronica Ryan—podcast

Veronica Ryan talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack and Aimee Dawson1 day ago
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Books

Earthly delights: new book unravels the mysteries and enduring influence of rock art

A renowned expert reveals the range of techniques and aesthetics of rock art, and what it tells us about human development

New biography offers well-crafted story of Louise Bourgeois’s rich life

Knife-Woman is the fullest account to date of the life of one of the most influential artists of the last century

How Martin Parr’s defining photobook made a splash 40 years ago

‘The Last Resort’, which will be republished later this year, is the subject of a new show at the late photographer’s foundation

‘The good, the bad and the ugly’: a short history of how artists depict the female body

The author Amy Dempsey talks about her new book exploring the tension between overexposure and invisibility

The Week in Art

A podcast bringing you the latest news from the art world, every week

The US struggles with history, Stephen Friedman Gallery closes, Tudor Heart pendant acquired by the British Museum—podcast

Ben Luke speaks to our editor-in-chief, Americas, Ben Sutton about the disputes that have arisen as the US marks its 250 years since the Declaration of Independence—and hears about the demise of Stephen Friedman’s Gallery. Plus, the story of a heart-shaped pendant tied to Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Alexander Morrison and David Clack

The Year Ahead

Fair behemoths bet on Gulf plus new, bigger venues for Independent—a quick look at art fairs in 2026

Art Basel and Frieze are expanding in the Middle East while Art Cologne is reinstating its Mallorca edition

Venice, Sydney, Gwangju: the most interesting biennials to visit in 2026

Plus, full listings of the biennials, triennials and festivals taking place throughout the year

Art market 2026 predictions: underwhelming rebound and another Frieze fair

Our columnist gazes into her crystal ball to spot the major trends—from London regaining its lustre to AI fatigue—that are set to dominate the trade over the coming 12 months

Adventures with Van Gogh

Adventures with Van Gogh is a weekly blog by Martin Bailey, our long-standing correspondent and expert on the artist. Published every Friday, his stories range from newsy items about this most intriguing artist to scholarly pieces based on his own meticulous investigations and discoveries.

Epstein files reveal Leon Black as a key collector of Van Gogh works

The New York collector Black is revealed to have bought five of the artist’s pieces

See you, Searle: Guardian chief art critic bows out after 30 years

Adrian Searle has described writing for the paper as “an exhilarating ride”

David Beckham dutifully does the art rounds in Doha

Meanwhile film star Angelina Jolie also put in an appearance at Art Basel Qatar

Get your skates on: artist puts ice rink in Venice palazzo

Olaf Nicolai's "Eisfeld II" has taken up residence in an 18th-century banqueting hall

Sweet Jesus—Trump auctions off a Christ painting made in ten minutes

Work was created live by Vanessa Horabuena at Mar-a-Lago New Year’s eve bash

Opinion

Comment | Art is more than its original context

The place where we observe a work of art—and the feelings we have—play a crucial role in our experience

John-Paul Stonardabout 7 hours ago

Comment | Time for a rethink: women artists were never meant to merely be canon fodder

Exhibitions pairing Munch with Paula Modersohn-Becker and Maria Lassnig provide opportunities to subvert the established order

How do we stem the decline in students studying art history in the UK?

We need to reframe the subject as one worth knowing about, rather than focusing on its use

Art collective Cooking Sections’ food projects are helping save the planet

Art duo are delivering actionable ecological change through sustainable food production and consumption schemes

When it comes to restitution, how can museums solve a problem like inalienability?

Having a legal structure and policy that allows institutions to make moral decisions on returning objects is crucial

Obituaries

Renowned gallerist Marian Goodman has died, aged 97

The dealer was known for her support of conceptually challenging artistic practices, and credited with bringing key European figures like Gerhard Richter and Marcel Broodthaers to the US

Remembering Gathie Falk, Canadian artist whose singular practice sparked comparisons to Surrealism and Pop art

Shaped by the austerity of her Mennonite upbringing and the bustling Vancouver art scene of the 1960s and 70s, she developed a playful, poignant and exacting visual language

Beatriz González, indefatigable force in Colombian art, has died, aged 93

One of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century, she influenced the direction of post-war painting and helped shape Colombia’s museums as a curator, educator and mentor

Kathleen Goncharov, influential curator who helped many artists ‘realise their dreams’, has died aged 73

Alongside her work at organisations such as New York’s Just Above Midtown gallery and the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, Goncharov was also an artist

Remembering Erik Bulatov, the Soviet artist who reframed propaganda

The pioneering painter was known for his luminous skies and loaded slogans on power, space and freedom