This week: Germany announces that its museums will send the Benin bronzes back to Nigeria: will other nations follow? We talk to Catherine Hickley, who broke the story of Germany’s planned restitution of the bronzes in The Art Newspaper this week, and to Dan Hicks, whose book The Brutish Museums tells the story of British colonial destruction and looting that led to the bronzes’ collection by museums across the world. You can read Hicks's reaction to Germany's announcement here and hear our earlier podcast with him about the legacy of colonialism here.
Vincent van Gogh’s Scène de rue à Montmartre/Montmartre Street Scene (Impasse des Deux Frères et le Moulin à Poivre) (February-April 1887) Courtesy of Sotheby’s/ArtDigital Studio
Also, a Van Gogh painting, which had never been exhibited, has just been sold at auction. We ask The Art Newspaper’s Martin Bailey about the painting and discuss his latest Van Gogh blog in his Adventures with Van Gogh series, about the tragic lives of Vincent’s sisters.
And in this episode’s Work of the Week, the artist Rana Begum talks about Always Now (1981), by the painter Tess Jaray. Begum's inaugural show at Kate McGarry gallery in London opens on 30 April (until 22 May).
The Week in Art podcast by The Art Newspaper is available every Friday on our website and all the usual places where you find podcasts. This podcast is sponsored by Christie's.