Martin Bailey

Visitor Figures 2020: top 100 art museums revealed as attendance drops by 77% worldwide

The Art Newspaper's annual survey shows how the pandemic had a devastating impact on museums around the world—but there were some silver linings

Emily Sharpe and José da Silva. With additional reporting by Martin Bailey. Research conducted by Federico Florian and Victoria Stapley-Brown
Podcastspodcast

Benin bronzes: looted treasures will return to Nigeria at last

Plus, the newly discovered Van Gogh is sold and artist Rana Begum on Tess Jaray

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. with guest speakers Catherine Hickley and Martin Bailey. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Henrietta Bentall

The astonishing tale of how a US vice president’s Van Gogh work ended up in Iran

Vincent’s print—inscribed “At Eternity’s Gate” by the artist—went from Nelson Rockefeller to Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art

a blog by Martin Bailey

National Gallery London: new details of development plans revealed

A 1960s office block behind the Sainsbury Wing will be demolished to make way for a new building to provide more exhibition space

Boris Johnson says Van Gogh’s Sunflowers 'lifts the soul'—as the London masterpiece is unveiled in Australia

Britons will have to wait a bit longer to enjoy the painting as Covid-19 delays the National Gallery’s international tour, now on its final stop in Canberra

a blog by Martin Bailey

Bought for around $1,000, now worth $10m: where was the newly unveiled Van Gogh landscape hidden away?

Montmartre windmill painting is on view with Sotheby’s for the first time since it left the easel

a blog by Martin Bailey

Pissarro predicted that Van Gogh 'would either go mad or leave the Impressionists far behind'

Fresh evidence of Camille’s admiration for Vincent: an unpublished document reveals he owned the Dutch artist’s portrait of their paintseller friend Père Tanguy

a blog by Martin Bailey

'Building on our strengths': National Gallery London unveils plans for £25m upgrade

Refurbishment, to be partly completed for the museum's 200th anniversary in 2024, will encompass the lobby of the Sainsbury Wing, a new research centre and improved outdoor space

British Museum hires curator to research history of its collection, also covering contested objects such as the Parthenon Marbles

"Issues such as the role of the slave trade and empire… will be relevant to some of the research undertaken," a museum spokeswoman says

Hockney and Van Gogh paintings meet in Houston for exhibition on the joys of nature

Despite Covid-19, the show will open with works now safely flown across the Atlantic

a blog by Martin Bailey

Seller of $92m Botticelli also collected Van Gogh

Sheldon Solow’s Rhône riverscape is worth $40m—but what will happen to it now that the billionaire New York collector has died?

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh’s Japanese girl could fetch record $10m at auction

A Provençal drawing coming up at Christie’s New York is based on a painting in Washington, DC

a blog by Martin Bailey

Is Van Gogh hiding at the back of this Toulouse-Lautrec drawing?

In this rare depiction of Vincent, now in a Hiroshima museum, he is observing a raucous cabaret in Paris

a blog by Martin Bailey

A lost Van Gogh self-portrait had the most extraordinary frame that included his much-loved sunflowers—here it is reconstructed

The painting—which went missing in a German salt mine during the war—was given a gilded frame with swirling lines

a blog by Martin Bailey

This Picasso photo puzzle has stumped experts. Can you help solve it?

The identity of those posing with the master remains a mystery a century after the picture was taken

Treats for Van Gogh fans in 2021: exhibitions, museum openings and books

We look ahead at the events to enjoy this year—assuming coronavirus doesn't scupper them

a blog by Martin Bailey

Art in 2021—treats include Dürer blockbuster, new Munch museum and Caravaggio anniversary

Influential works by Duchamp, Picasso and Mondrian also celebrate centenary this year

Barbra Streisand just bought a Van Gogh painting—once owned by Penthouse boss Bob Guccione—for a cool $4.5m

Californian-based singer and actress, now 78, has long collected art and design, starting with a Matisse in 1964

a blog by Martin Bailey

Why the Van Gogh Museum might never have existed—new research reveals how the family collection was nearly sold off

In 1911, the Kröller-Müller couple tried to acquire 200 of Vincent’s paintings and 600 drawings

a blog by Martin Bailey

Victoria and Albert museum to close for two days a week due to coronavirus financial crunch

Visitor numbers will take years to recover with a drastic impact on income, the London institution reports

Rex Whistler’s Tate Britain restaurant mural is ‘offensive’, ethics committee says, threatening closure

Tate now faces the dilemma of what to do with a room decorated by a major early 20th-century artist

Poignant Van Gogh watercolour of a windmill coming up for sale

Sheltering from a rainstorm at the mill, Vincent and his brother Theo made a teenage pact

Hunt still on for a Van Gogh self-portrait lost deep in a salt mine during the Second World War

The Magdeburg masterpiece may have been burned at the end of hostilities—but some believe it might have been looted and survive

a blog by Martin Bailey

A separated pair: the story behind Van Gogh’s famed empty chairs

An insight into what the two paintings reveal about Vincent's life with Gauguin in the Yellow House

a blog by Martin Bailey

Did alcohol withdrawal really cause Van Gogh’s mental crises?

Vincent was allowed 42 units of wine in the asylum—three times more than today’s recommended limit

a blog by Martin Bailey

First look at David Adjaye's planned museum for Benin City

Ghanaian-British architect is working with the British Museum and Nigerian organisations to show “the most comprehensive display in the world of Benin Bronzes”

New book solves the mystery of Van Gogh's lost harmonium portrait

Vincent scrunched up a study for a second portrait of Marguerite Gachet, the daughter of his Auvers doctor

a blog by Martin Bailey