Martin Bailey

The Harvest: painted in a single summer's day, here's why this is Van Gogh’s finest landscape

Vincent needed to recover from his intensive work with a stiff drink and his beloved pipe

a blog by Martin Bailey

Gambling den identified in drawing by Albrecht Dürer

Expert matches painter's journal entry detailing trip to Zum Spiegel in Aachen with sketch which is currently on show in major exhibition

Exclusive: Rescued from an attic, lost Van Gogh landscape surfaces in Japan—here it is in colour

Vincent's watercolour of a Dutch meadow with cows was exhibited once, in 1903, and is known only from a small black-and-white photograph

a blog by Martin Bailey

London's National Gallery appoints architect Annabelle Selldorf for its major renovation

First phase of the work is due to be completed by May 2024, in time for the gallery’s 200th anniversary

Albrecht Dürer's wonderful Renaissance road trip explored in major travelling exhibition

Five centuries after the German artist took a year-long journey around the Low Countries, his remarkable journal and drawings go on show in Aachen before travelling to London

Van Gogh’s self-portraits: what do they really reveal?

An exhibition at London’s Courtauld Gallery will be the most comprehensive ever held of Vincent's paintings of himself

a blog by Martin Bailey

When the US was accused of ‘plundering’ Berlin’s museums: new show reveals murky history

An exhibition opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum reveals how 14 major museums found themselves caught up in a “morally dubious” ­tour of Germany's art treasures after the Second World War

How Van Gogh helped set up a brass band in his village

Dutch trombonist discovers documentary evidence revealing that Vincent supported a musical group which still plays today

Opening of London’s V&A East Museum delayed again because of pandemic

The Victoria and Albert Museum outpost is now due to open in 2025 but its open storage space is still on track for 2024

Cash-strapped museums unable to stop treasures from leaving UK

Export licences likely to be granted on Italian roundel and German reliquary as institutions struggle with the fallout of the pandemic

A new Van Gogh work discovered hidden in a book

Reproduced here for the first time: a trio of sketches from Vincent’s village—designed as a bookmark

a blog by Martin Bailey
Arlesfeature

Destination Arles: must-see art and culture spots while on pilgrimage to the new LUMA creative campus

From Roman architecture to medieval streets that inspired Van Gogh, the historic city in the south of France is becoming a go-to destination

In partnership withLUMA Arles

Discovered: American couple buys a picture by Van Gogh’s friend Edmund Brooke for $45 in antiques shop

Vincent was fascinated by his Australian colleague’s links with Japan—and together they painted landscapes in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise

a blog by Martin Bailey

Looted Maqdala objects—pulled from rural English auction at the last minute—will be returned to Ethiopia

Busby auction house confirms it has "negotiated a settlement" after Ethiopian officials requested the return of items stolen by British troops in a brutal 1868 battle

Will the Queen return her Benin bronze? How the African treasure was looted not once, but twice

The 17th-century oba head was plucked from the Nigerian National Museum and given to Elizabeth II as a thank-you gift

A Degas bought by the Van Gogh Museum sparks off an ethical debate: are female nudes OK?

The controversial pastel stars in a show of new acquisitions in Amsterdam

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh 'immersive experiences': a guide to the global battle now reaching London

Presenting a vivid insight into Vincent’s art, Van Gogh Alive opens today in Kensington Gardens

a blog by Martin Bailey

India’s 'vaccine prince' has a Van Gogh landscape in his living room

Adar Poonawalla, who runs the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccine producer, claims to have the finest collection of European art in the sub-continent

a blog by Martin Bailey

What it's like to visit museums now—and how Covid-19 has fundamentally changed them long term

Coronavirus restrictions have dramatically altered the visitor experience, but the changes run deeper than mask-wearing and one-way systems

How a Van Gogh painting was stolen from a Cairo museum—not once, but twice

The Khalil Museum, with its fabled Impressionists in a mansion by the Nile, has reopened after an 11-year renovation—without Vincent’s flower still-life

a blog by Martin Bailey

Irises: anniversary of Van Gogh’s finest garden picture, painted on his first morning in the asylum

Monet asked how the artist who made this exuberant masterpiece could possibly be unhappy—and a century later it became the most expensive work at auction

New discoveries about Van Gogh’s olive grove paintings revealed in upcoming Dallas and Amsterdam exhibitions

In Provence, Vincent loved the gnarled trees with a passion that rivalled his beloved sunflowers

Van Gogh's $30m riverscape with an absinthe-coloured sky comes up for sale at Christie’s

The story of Le Pont de Trinquetaille—with the young female mudlark and the ruffians from the red-light district

a blog by Martin Bailey

Scottish university claims Benin bronze bought for £750 is worth £500,000—but is that now really the case?

Aberdeen University is returning its looted 18th-century oba head to the Nigerian federal government

Van Gogh’s unknown period: his life in a remote Dutch heathland region

A new study and a 2023 exhibition will reveal how Vincent’s art developed in Drenthe—an escape from city life and his lover Sien

a blog by Martin Bailey

David Hockney follows in Van Gogh’s footsteps, painting fleeting spring blossom

Martin Gayford’s book pays tribute to Britain’s greatest living artist before an exhibition at London’s Royal Academy

a blog by Martin Bailey

Dutch police arrest over Van Gogh smash-and-grab raid: how long until the landscape is recovered?

The suspect is linked to a Frans Hals theft, which should help track down paintings from two museums

a blog by Martin Bailey

Who bought the €13m Van Gogh? Britain’s second richest family

Montmartre painting was auctioned twice by Sotheby’s, after a bidder failed to have the necessary cash

a blog by Martin Bailey

British Museum hit hardest by 2020 lockdown among UK’s big museums

Major UK institutions lost 78% of their visitors due to the pandemic last year, our research reveals