Martin Bailey

Unknown masterpiece? Picture 'likely' based on lost Vermeer to be unveiled in Antwerp

A Young Woman with a Wine Glass and a Musician playing a Tenor Recorder could be a copy of a work by the great Dutch painter

Only joint letter from Van Gogh and Gauguin—recording their brothel visits—comes up for sale

Vincent describes his artist friend as having the “instincts of a wild beast”

a blog by Martin Bailey
Maria Balshawinterview

London's Tate museums set to open early August—here's how it will work

Director of the Tate, Maria Balshaw, tells us about financial concerns, coordinating openings with other institutions, and how many visitors they are expecting

Now stuck in Japanese lockdown, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers will not return to UK until next summer

Londoners will have to wait even longer to see the National Gallery’s 60 touring masterpieces

a blog by Martin Bailey

London’s Southbank Centre may stay closed until April next year due to massive financial pressure

Arts centre, which includes the Hayward Gallery, has already used up its reserves amid the coronavirus crisis

Executed by the Nazis: the story of Vincent van Gogh’s brave great-nephew

This month the Van Gogh family pays tribute to Theodoor, the 24-year-old student who faced a firing squad in 1945

a blog by Martin Bailey

UK government appoints commissioner to get culture sector 'back up and running'

Neil Mendoza is heading up a taskforce to help revive the arts after the coronavirus pandemic

Van Gogh Museum to reopen on 1 June, but with only a tenth of its usual visitors

Closure is having a catastrophic impact on the finances of the museum, which normally gets half its income from ticket sales

a blog by Martin Bailey

The astonishing tales of how the Sunflowers survived the Second World War

To mark VE Day, we investigate the fate of Van Gogh’s masterpieces under Hitler and Churchill

a blog by Martin Bailey

Two trunkloads of fake Iraqi antiquities seized by UK customs

The international market is now “absolutely awash” with forgeries, says British Museum curator who examined the hoard

Home sweet home: renting the Yellow House, the high point of Van Gogh’s life

Vincent’s sunny abode had a spare bedroom, awaiting Gauguin’s arrival

a blog by Martin Bailey

Royal Academy of Arts cancels Angelica Kauffman and Paul Cézanne exhibitions amid coronavirus crisis

As the London institution announces its revised exhibition schedule, we reveal the international knock-on effect triggered by the changes

Van Gogh experienced lockdown—how did isolation impact on his art?

The artist once told his sister that isolation was “sometimes as hard to bear as exile”—but was necessary “if we want to work”

a blog by Martin Bailey

Did Van Gogh cut off his whole ear? Or only a part?

Key witnesses had different memories, so sorting out myth and reality is a challenge—but the truth would give valuable insight into the artist’s psyche

a blog by Martin Bailey

A concise guide to Van Gogh’s adult life: how the artist celebrated his birthday over the years

From family gifts of cufflinks and chocolate to his darker days in the asylum, a look at where Vincent was and what he was doing on 30 March each year

a blog by Martin Bailey
Podcastspodcast

Art theft: are museums safe under lockdown?

Plus, Laura Cumming on Breugel. Produced in association with Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. , with guest speaker Martin Bailey. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

In recent decades 28 Van Goghs have been stolen in the Netherlands—but all have been recovered

Detectives are intensifying their investigation into the latest crime, at Laren’s Singer museum, which was committed this week on the artist’s birthday

a blog by Martin Bailey

How Van Gogh’s handwritten texts were tragically chopped up

The artist copied poems and hymns into an album that belonged to his London landlady; our investigations reveal that, around 100 years later, an unknown perpetrator cut the pages into pieces in order to make a quick buck

Van Gogh’s trusty pipe: how the artist believed that smoking helped his art

Vincent lay in bed, puffing away and dreamily composing his pictures

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh’s theory on Degas’s success with female nudes

A three-volume set of The Letters of Edgar Degas—including ten with references to the Van Gogh brothers—is due to be published in April

a blog by Martin Bailey
Titiannews

Titian’s poesie reunited at London's National Gallery—but is it with the right Danaë?

Renaissance specialists are divided as to which painting is the one commissioned by Philip II of Spain: the one at London's Apsley House or the one at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid

Tacita Dean’s ancestors brought a Van Gogh painting to England in 1896—now she wants to track it down

The UK artist is on the hunt for the Parisian restaurant scene, now with a secretive Texan collector

a blog by Martin Bailey

Tate Modern employee tests positive for coronavirus

London museum says staff member does not work in a front-of-house role and all affected areas have been deep cleaned

Zambia claims Rhodesian Man, the 250,000-year-old fossilised skull at London’s Natural History Museum

Negotiations are ongoing, but the Foreign Office says releasing 1972 documents on the claim “would harm UK relations with Zambia”

Unknown Dürer drawing to be sold by London dealer

One of very few examples in private hands, the work from an American collection is coming to the market via Agnews

Great lovers of Van Gogh: Swiss couple's private collection goes on show in Vienna

The Albertina mounts a display of the Hahnlosers' relatively unknown treasures

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers caught up in Tokyo coronavirus quarantine

Japanese government instructs national art museums to close for two weeks — shutting the door on London’s National Gallery travelling show, on the eve of opening