Martin Bailey

Basrah Museum opens against the odds in Iraq

New museum is housed in a converted former palace of Saddam Hussein

Is this the very first readymade?

Three million years before Duchamp, an ape-like humanoid in Africa found a stone that is now going on display for the first time at the British Museum

Tate buys portrait by one of Britain's earliest female artists

Work by Joan Carlile was discovered in a country auction

Scottish government bets big on V&A franchise in Dundee

Costs double but funders keep faith with design museum

In pictures: Sir John Soane’s Museum unveils £7m restoration

Architect's former home now has more exhibition space and is integrated with adjacent buildings

Rijksmuseum to reveal ‘truly sensational discovery’ of Brazilian animal drawings by Frans Post

Dutch landscape artist's notes describe six-banded armadillo as "good to eat, tastes like a chicken”

V&A director Martin Roth to leave in the autumn

Under his leadership, the museum attracted a record number of visitors and was crowned Museum of the Year

London's National Gallery seeks Treasury’s help to buy £30m Italian Old Master

Fundraising is complicated after aristocratic seller paid inheritance tax on portrait by Pontormo

Cleaning of Chandos Portrait could confirm what Shakespeare looked like

The relic-like painting of the Bard, which hung in the Duke's Theatre in the 1660s, was the first work donated to London's National Portrait Gallery upon its founding

London mayor Sadiq Khan ditches Olympicopolis name, but presses ahead with East London cultural hub

Politician is determined to develop arts project on Olympic site in Stratford

National Trust acquires rare Isaac Oliver miniature for record £2.1m

Work depicting aristocrat as a young poet will remain on view at Powis Castle in Wales

Polynesian sculpture admired by Picasso and Henry Moore far older than previously thought

Carbon-dating reveals wooden figure of A’a carved on Rurutu 250 years before arrival of Captain Cook

British artist, once said to be worth nearly £100m, to auction works after going bankrupt

Andrew Vicari made bold claims to be the official painter to the King of Saudi Arabia but remains “largely unknown in Britain”

Tate adds Reynolds's aristocratic portrait to national collection

Painting of Fredrick Howard will remain at Castle Howard in Yorkshire<br>

Royal Museums Greenwich secures Armada Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I

The acquisition was made possible by a £7.4m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, one of the largest it has ever made

This is what the planned V&A East building in Olympicopolis will look like

Detailed images reveal the design for the new museum outpost in east London

Name of mystery woman who received Van Gogh's ear revealed for first time

Gabrielle Berlatier was a farmer's daughter who kept her traumatic encounter with the artist a secret

Featuresfeature

Unveiled: Rodin’s adoration of a young english actress

Sybil Mignon Cooke left a touching wreath at the sculptor’s London memorial during the First World War. A new cache of letters, analysed here for the first time, reflects the extent of their affection

New show reveals grisly details behind Van Gogh’s mutilated ear

The exhibition in Amsterdam focuses on the artist’s mental illness and includes the revolver that he used to kill himself

Brexit: what it could mean for the arts

Leading figures speak out about concerns for the future after UK votes to leave European Union<br>

Francis Bacon's great gambles—both in art and in the casino—on show in Monte Carlo

The artist regarded his losses on the roulette table as “an expense related to painting”

Mystery over Bosch's piper

Dutch artist's famous painting, The Haywain, shows musician playing bagpipe incorrectly. Could he be based on a previous print?

London Zoo to auction off unseen animal paintings by Agasse

Proceeds from sale at Christie’s in London will benefit work on wildlife

Brexit: dismay and concern after historic decision to leave EU

Artists, institutions and art market respond to referendum result

Water and sewage leaks close basement displays at Rotterdam’s Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum

Objects were evacuated to higher ground as heavy rains cause serious threat of flooding

Quai Branly celebrates ten years with homage to Jacques Chirac

Controversial ethnographic museum was a grand project of the former French president

Vitra opens first permanent home for landmark designs

Herzog & de Meuron’s ‘depot’ houses 400 key items of furniture