Gareth Harris

Gareth Harris is the Chief Contributing Editor of The Art Newspaper

Too woke? National Trust chair Tim Parker steps down

Rebel group of members planned to depose heritage chief following row over controversial research into charity’s historic ties to slavery

Acclaimed Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Zanele Muholi shows end at Tate next week—but both are coming back

After runs punctuated by Covid-related delays, the exhibitions at Tate Modern and Tate Britain will return after their international tours

Paris news

Gaping hole opens up under Eiffel Tower in French artist JR’s new illusion

Paris trompe l’oeil piece launches ahead of vast exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in London next month

Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend

From Matthew Barney's American survivalist film to Emma Stern's "porn-adjacent" virtual avatars

London gallery hub Cromwell Place partners with Abu Dhabi Art fair to show emerging artists

Fair will show works by Emirati artists Hind Mezaina, Afra Al Dhaheri and Afra Al Suwaidi in South Kensington this June

Giuseppe Penone’s monumental tree rises from Venetian lagoon as Architecture Biennale opens

This year's exhibition in Venice brings together artists as well as architects to explore the question How Will We Live Together?

Oxford college will not remove controversial statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes

Independent commission recommends contextualising the sculpture instead

‘I’ll be back’: the return of AI art

After being pushed out by NFTs, machine-made art is making a comeback with London shows ranging from the "world's first ultra-realistic AI robot artist" to the first artificial intelligence ink artist

V&A confirms it will keep its focus on materials—but workforce will be reduced by 15% to cut costs

Following backlash over proposed chronological reorganisation of London museum, specialist departments will now remain

Fuelling culture war, UK government forms new 'retain and explain' board for controversial monuments

"Independence cuts both ways," UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden warns museums and heritage bodies

Bell foundry that cast Big Ben can be turned into boutique hotel, UK government says

Decision has drawn wave of criticism from culture and heritage professionals, accusing government of ‘money-grabbing philistinism’

Museum directors and art school leaders demand that UK government ‘scraps cuts to arts education’

"Art is essential to the growth of this country," say 300 art world figures and academics in open letter

Book Clubfeature

Sackler family: three takeaways from a new book about the dynasty’s rise and fall

The publication claims Nan Goldin may have been tailed by investigators and reveals how the Met lost out to the Smithsonian thanks to a lack of flattery from its director

Lootnews

Looted Libyan sculpture seized at Heathrow Airport heads back home with help from the British Museum

The funerary piece was illicitly excavated from the ancient city of Cyrene which is under threat from property developers

Prizesnews

For first time Turner Prize 2021 shortlist is made up entirely of artist collectives

From a Welsh community group to a neurodiverse arts hub in Hastings, the collectives' works will go on show in Coventry in September

‘Works made in Iran today are inextricably linked to the past’: collector Mohammed Afkhami on how art shaped his life

The Middle Eastern financier is bringing his collection to New York’s Asia Society later this year

Uproar as UK government plans to cut funding for arts education by 50% to prioritise 'high-value subjects'

Artists express concerns and the Public Campaign for the Arts launches a petition as the consultation on the planned budget cuts to higher education ends today

Book Clubinterview

Q&A | How a new John Craxton biography began its life in a Soho bar following a funeral

The writer Ian Collins says that after his chance meeting with the British artist his “life changed forever”

UK culture war heats up as arts professionals question veto of trustee appointment at Royal Museums Greenwich

Museums Association says government refusal to renew academic Aminul Hoque’s term is “worrying”, and the chair of trustees has resigned over the decision

Four artists shortlisted for Windrush monument at London’s Waterloo Station

Thomas Price and Jeannette Ehlers are in the running for public art piece honouring Caribbean pioneers

Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend

From Charles Gaines's Plexiglas grids at Hauser and Wirth to Rafał Zajko's frozen urine sculptures at PUBLIC

Korean museums to receive 23,000 works from Samsung estate in $11bn tax settlement

Lee Kun-hee, the Samsung Electronics chairman who died in October, leaves collection worth $2.2bn, including works by Monet, Dali and Chagall

Christie’s supports charity delivering art history lessons for students at UK state schools

Art History Link-Up chief says subject is a rare offer at state schools because of cuts and teacher shortages

Paris news

French historians up in arms over plans to install Napoleon horse skeleton above his tomb

Pascal Convert's sculpture is a replica of the remains of the emperor’s horse Marengo, which was captured by the British at the Battle of Waterloo

Lawnews

Tate Modern neighbours head to Supreme Court over 'relentless' invasion of privacy

Residents next to the London museum continue legal battle after losing case to close viewing platform that allows visitors to see inside their flats

Hans Rasmus Astrup—the intensely private founder of Oslo’s Astrup Fearnley Museet—has died, aged 82

The Norwegian collector took an “early chance” on Damien Hirst and in 2001 bought Jeff Koons’s Michael Jackson and Bubbles sculpture for a then record $5.6m

Colnaghi gallery to lead research into €1,500 painting now believed to be by Caravaggio

Established dealership will manage restoration and authentication of disputed work offered at auction for €1,500

‘Still much work to be done’: artists and US museums react to Derek Chauvin conviction in George Floyd murder trial

Former police officer faces up 40 years in prison, but systemic racism must now be addressed, says San Francisco Museum of Modern Art