Martin Bailey

Van Gogh’s Potato Eaters: Mistake or Masterpiece?

Amsterdam museum opens exhibition on Vincent’s early painting of a peasant family gathered for a meal

a blog by Martin Bailey

London’s Museum of Childhood to be renamed the Young V&A following £13m renovation

East End institution will no longer cater to adults “revelling in nostalgia” and rather be focussed on those aged up to 14 years old

Lubaina Himid creates work for UK government collection inspired by climate change and Black Lives Matter

Turner Prize-winning artist wins the annual Robson Orr TenTen Award, with 15 copies of the print going on display in official buildings

70 paintings in 70 days: Van Gogh’s astonishing achievement at the end of his life

A dramatic sunset over a château was one of Vincent's last landscapes—and one of his largest

a blog by Martin Bailey

Swiss landscape painting—once destined for Hitler’s Führermuseum—acquired by London’s National Gallery

Alexandre Calame’s Chalets at Rigi was sold in 1996 at an auction of unclaimed works with proceeds going to benefit victims of the Holocaust

Conservative party donor John Booth appointed chair of London's National Gallery

Philanthropist succeeds Tony Hall, who stepped down following row over Princess Diana interview

Booksfeature

Book extract | The story behind Van Gogh's portrait of Doctor Gachet's daughter in the Kunstmuseum Basel

In this adapted extract from his new book Van Gogh’s Finale, Martin Bailey examines the portrait of Marguerite Gachet in the Kunstmuseum Basel

Basel's Beyeler Foundation scores coup for Goya show

Exhibition dedicated to the Spanish artist opens next month with a display of 75 paintings including a prized painting from Madrid’s Prado museum

Pissarro, the ‘hidden leader’ of Impressionism, reassessed at the Kunstmuseum Basel

This major exhibition comprises nearly 200 works by the multicultural artist who remained an outsider in Paris despite his central role in the movement

Did this mysterious Dutch painter inspire Vermeer?

The story of enigmatic artist Jacobus Vrel will be told in an exhibition scheduled for 2023 and in a book published this month

Must-see institutional shows during Art Basel

From unseen drawings from Kara Walker's personal archives to a fresh take on Camille Pissarro as the leader of the Impressionists

Should the art world boycott China over its treatment of Uyghur people?

Plus, Van Gogh’s final months and master printer Kenneth Tyler on Helen Frankenthaler

Hosted by Ben Luke. with guest speakers Cristina Ruiz and Martin Bailey. Produced by Julia Michalska, Aimee Dawson, David Clack and Henrietta Bentall
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Nadine Dorries named UK culture secretary

The right-wing politician, who appeared on the TV programme I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, replaces Oliver Dowden

Theftsnews

French decorative art stolen from 17-century country home in Sussex—for second time

Police appealing for information after five items, including a pair of Sèvres vases and a clock with a bronze figure of Apollo, were taken from Uppark on the South Downs

Where was Van Gogh originally buried? We still don’t know

In an extraordinary scene, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Vincent’s skull was held aloft and moved in 1905

Maqdala treasures looted by British troops returned to Ethiopia in 'largest single restitution'

At the ceremony in London, the Ethiopian ambassador renewed calls for museums to return Maqdala objects

First Cupid, now a wine glass? More revelations emerge from restored Vermeer painting in Dresden

Major restoration on Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window shows a large studded goblet later covered by a green curtain

Recently restored Cupid joins nine Vermeer masterpieces for blockbuster show

Dresden exhibition will include Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window along with key international loans and works by other Dutch Golden Age artists

Van Gogh’s mysterious Wheatfield with Crows—what does it really mean?

Long assumed to be Vincent’s final painting, this foreboding scene is also full of life

a blog by Martin Bailey

Tate’s Tahitian Gauguin is suspected fake

Catalogue raisonné rejects unusual part-painting, part-sketch, as expert says the “colonial” nature of the composition is not the artist’s style

Caught: the drug baron who claims to have bought €20m stolen Van Gogh paintings for 'their artistic value'

Arrested in Dubai, the story of Mafia suspect Raffaele Imperiale confirms long-suspected links between the drugs trade and art theft

a blog by Martin Bailey

Looted 2,700-year-old bricks—discovered in Swiss warehouse—are returned to Iran

Before the discovery of the more than 50 painted blocks, “the richness of Mannaean civilisation had not been appreciated”, expert says

Secrets of the two unknown Van Gogh Sunflowers

One has been always been hidden away in private collections and will fetch a fortune when it emerges; the other was destroyed by an American bomb

a blog by Martin Bailey
Afghanistaninterview

'Do leopards change their spots?': Taliban threat to heritage in Afghanistan could be worse than in 2001

In an exclusive interview with The Art Newspaper, a very well-informed anonymous source tells us how museums are protecting their collections as militants sweep the country

Ten surprising facts about Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, his greatest masterpiece

From a brothel garden to Nazi leader Hermann Göring’s fake—all part of the sunflower story

a blog by Martin Bailey

Exuberant Van Gogh landscape—featuring his beloved olive and cypress trees—could well make $40m at Christie's New York

Always hidden away in private collections, the painting will probably sell to a someone in the Far East

a blog by Martin Bailey

Discovered: a very early photograph of the trees in Van Gogh’s final picture, painted just hours before he fired the fatal shot

On the anniversary of Vincent’s death, his picture can be seen as “a suicide note in colour”

a blog by Martin Bailey