Gareth Harris

Gareth Harris is the Chief Contributing Editor of The Art Newspaper

Awardsnews

Singer RM from Korean boyband BTS named 'art sponsor of the year'

The Bangtan Boys musician was recognised for donating $90,400 to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul last September

UK government announces new laws to protect controversial historic monuments from 'woke worthies and baying mobs'

Proposed plans have been criticised as distraction tactics from the state's "lethally failed response to the pandemic and the consequences of a disastrous Brexit"

From mummies to mosques—new Google Arts & Culture initiative brings Egypt’s archaeological treasures to the masses

New online platform aims to turn traditionally scholarly subject into something "easily digestible and fun to explore"

Rejected Tintin cover design sets record for comic book art with €3.2m auction price

Sale of controversial 1936 painting criticised by organisation behind artist Hergé’s estate

Saga of Picasso murals ripped from Oslo building continues as heirs head to court

Family of artist Carl Nesjar—who collaborated on the works with Picasso—say they have a copyright claim and should help decide where the pieces are relocated

Giant painting of George Floyd murder displayed on Los Angeles billboard after being cancelled in Minneapolis

Advertising firms in Minneapolis—where Floyd was killed by police—refused to show the work saying it was too violent, but advocacy group says it will try again

Cate Blanchett is building her own art gallery at her English country home

Old outbuildings on the actor's estate will be knocked down to make way for the studio—and provisions will be made for the protected bats that live there

Storming of US Capitol: art world condemns police hypocrisy in pro-Trump riot

Artists Dread Scott and Glenn Ligon among cultural figures pointing out stark contrast in how law enforcement handled the mob compared with Black Lives Matter protestors

Closure of London's Florence Nightingale Museum fuels fears that the pandemic will force smaller UK institutions to shut

Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead is also under threat of closure as part of cost-cutting measures by local council

Is this ‘enormously powerful’ painting of Jesus Christ by El Greco? Spanish expert questions new attribution

Art history scholars disagree over possible discovery of work by Renaissance master, which is owned by private collector

Remembering Dante—Uffizi unveils online exhibition of 'Divine Comedy' drawings by Federico Zuccari

Florence gallery also planning vast exhibition dedicated to the poet in Forlì featuring works by Michelangelo

Book Clubpreview

A selection of 2021 art publications—Musa Mayer on her father, Philip Guston; Jean Dubuffet in the spotlight

A monograph on Catherine Opie, an analysis of museums in the 21st century and an overview of Joseph Beuys also make the grade

In memoriam: remembering art world figures who died in 2020

John Baldessari, Beverly Pepper, Irina Antonova and Christo were among those who died last year

Our guide to the top biennials and triennials coming up in 2021

Previews of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo, Prospect.5 and the 11th Liverpool Biennial—plus, lots of dates for your diary

A 'milestone' moment—US National Gallery of Art acquires 40 works by Black Southern artists

Works were purchased from Souls Grown Deep Foundation in a move that could ‘alter the canon of American art'

Spanish government sets January deadline to break deadlock over Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum collection

Culture minister wants to move the ‘red lines’ in negotiations with Baroness Carmen Cervera

Awardsnews

UK New Year’s Honours 2021: awards for artists Michael Landy and Denzil Forrester

Former Tate Britain chief Stephen Deuchar is knighted; curator Lesley Fitton and ceramicist Jennifer Lee also recognised

Vilified statue of Abraham Lincoln and kneeling slave removed from Park Square in Boston

Artist’s campaign and petition prompted dismantling of ‘Emancipation Group’ piece—but original still stands in Washington DC

Brexitnews

Art specialists pore over the Brexit trade deal—and deliver their verdict

Artist’s resale right, import VAT, red tape, and smuggling directives are addressed by our experts

Artist David Medalla—the kinetic art pioneer known for his Cloud Canyons foam sculptures—has died, aged 82

Tributes paid to Manila-born trailblazer who co-founded hugely influential Signals gallery in 1960s London

Numbers game: UK cultural emergency funds in the spotlight

Despite a £1.57bn pot, an algorithm-based grant-making process and complex criteria have left some major institutions empty-handed

Rehung and revamped Mona museum in Tasmania opens its doors after nine-month closure

Collector David Walsh’s celebrated subterranean gallery marks tenth anniversary next month

Ancient ‘fast food’ stall comes to light during Pompeii dig

Thermopolium snack bar is revealed in full, providing "extraordinary evidence of the Mediterranean diet', says director

Medianews

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye’s ‘human canvas’ piece inspired new body tattoo movie

‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’ is about a Syrian refugee who gets inked and exhibited in a Brussels museum

Curators responsible for Queen’s art collection lose their jobs in Covid-19 cost-cutting exercise

Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures post, held by Desmond Shawe-Taylor, will be ‘lost and held in abeyance’

Acquisitions round-up: European museums co-purchase El Anatsui sculpture from collector Uli Sigg

Woodland scene by Jan Brueghel the Elder heads to Washington DC; London’s National Portrait Gallery gets a Gainsborough via acceptance in lieu

Rector at Danish art academy steps down over royal bust drowned by artist protesting school’s colonial legacy

Row over plaster cast of monarch dumped in the canal escalates after Danish culture ministry steps in

David Hockney appoints Royal Academy curator Edith Devaney as his new managing director

Devaney, previously at the RA for 22 years, will oversee artist’s catalogue raisonné among other projects

Congolese activist who tried to seize an artefact from the Louvre is fined €5,000

Mwazulu Diyabanza says that “museums do not deserve respect” as restitution debate intensifies

Warhol, Oldenburg, Fontana: star works from Christo and Jeanne-Claude collection go on the block

Proceeds from the pieces sold at Sotheby’s Paris in February will go towards the artist duo's estate