Controversies

Boris Johnson accused of corruption after backing exhibition proposed by a Conservative party donor

Former Tory Vice Chairman David Brownlow provided funds for a controversial makeover of Johnson's flat at 11 Downing Street

Swiss parliament urged to take action on Nazi-looted art amid Kunsthaus Zurich controversy

Zurich museum's displays of the collection of arms dealer Emil Georg Bührle have prompted criticism and a national debate

Catholic church's proposed redesign of Notre Dame interior provokes outrage

Plans to revamp the fire-ravaged cathedral with contemporary art and multilingual projections of Bible quotes have been compared to Disneyland

Monumentscomment

Letter | Would you keep public monuments honouring the late Jimmy Savile?

No one would argue that removing statues of the sex criminal is “cancelling culture”, yet this logic is routinely used to defend monuments of slavers, argues one of The Art Newspaper's readers

Sasha Simic

'Taliban-like minority working to undermine the Western world': uproar after French Academy in Rome moves to remove tapestries linked to colonialism

After a media campaign, French art historians and scholars sign a petition accusing the Villa Medici of "cancelling culture"

Tate Britain director defends museum against accusations of ‘cancelling Hogarth’

Critics round on exhibition’s alternative interpretations of Hogarth paintings, describing them as "wokeish drivel"

London museum wants to move controversial slaver statue to 'less prominent space'

Museum of the Home trustees vote to relocate the sculpture after UK government pressured them to keep it

Humboldt Forum to remove medallion honouring far-right donor

Ehrhardt Bödecker’s family requested the removal after his “militaristic, anti-democratic and in some respects, radically right-wing and antisemitic” views became public

Removal of Welsh slave trader painting from National Museum Cardiff is ‘censoring history’, says BBC broadcaster

Newsreader Huw Edwards will now be invited to the museum to hear more about the reinterpretation process

Giant tribute to the Queen gets green light—but locals call 55m-high sculpture ‘invasive’

Artist Simon Hitchens says work planned for Northumberland moor is "inspired by the rugged and undulating landscape" but local campaign group says it is too "industrial"

Italian photographer dropped from prize after accusations he identified rape survivors in India without consent

By publishing full names alongside images, Marco Gualazzini stands accused of breaking child protection laws and putting his subjects in danger

Plaque added near controversial Cecil Rhodes statue polarises critics and academics

Oxford professor and curator Dan Hicks calls the sign an “embarrassment”

Book Clubinterview

‘Caravaggio was a major-league asshole’: the long tradition of scandal in art

According to Noah Charney’s new book, infamy in the art world—be it contrived drama to drum up publicity or genuine artistic rivalry—is as old as art itself

Male-centric and whitewashed: major photography brands Fuji, Canon and Kodak scramble to diversify following criticism

Camera companies pledge to promote more women, LGBTQ and photographers of colour in response to online pro-diversity campaigns

Whitworth Gallery in Manchester U-turns on decision to remove pro-Palestine statement after Forensic Architecture threaten to pull work

Exhibition addressing the use of tear gas in Palestine adjusted to “give voice to different perspectives” following intervention by Israeli legal groups

Israelnews

Manchester gallery accused of provoking racial discord over exhibition on environmental effects of Israel-Palestine conflict

Cloud Studies by Forensic Architecture on show at the Whitworth Gallery has been criticised by the UK Lawyers for Israel

Queen Victoria statue defrocked after ex-politician Nigel Farage blasts public art project addressing UK’s slavery history

Right-wing commentator says he is "tired of this endless conversation about the UK's complicity with slavery"

Macba in Barcelona dismisses key curatorial staff shortly after appointing new director Elvira Dyangani Ose

Museum's move to sack Tanya Barson and Pablo Martínez prompts art world backlash on social media

Podcastspodcast

Should the Science Museum stop taking money from oil companies?

Plus, Michael Landy's exhibition at Firstsite and artist Shahzia Sikander on a manuscript miniature

Sponsored byChristie's

'It has given legitimacy to transphobia': Students angered by Royal Academy's apology to artist Jess de Wahls

Royal Academy Schools, the London museum's art college, have taken to Instagram to express their dismay

‘One thing is clear to us now, we should have handled this better’—Royal Academy apologises to artist Jess de Wahls over transphobia row

The London museum says that pulling her work from their shop because of her views "betrayed our most important core value—the protection of free speech"

Royal Academy gift shop will not stock work of artist accused of transphobia

London museum posted an Instagram story explaining reasons for withdrawing items by Jess de Wahls

'In solidarity with the Palestinian people', photographers withdraw their works from Prix Pictet show in Israel

Prize-nominated artists Shahidul Alam and Gideon Mendel will not show their works at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv

'Geffrye must fall': Labour MP Diane Abbott leads protests demanding slaver statue be removed from London museum

Former UK shadow home secretary led protests at the Museum of the Home in Hoxton, which reopened to the public at the weekend

Imperialist statue must go: defying college's decision, more than 350 Oxford University academics demand Cecil Rhodes be removed

Oriel College's plan to keep the sculpture of "racist" 19th-century British mining magnate "does not reflect the Oxford we represent", say staff in a letter

Too woke? National Trust chair Tim Parker steps down

Rebel group of members planned to depose heritage chief following row over controversial research into charity’s historic ties to slavery

Christoph Büchel’s controversial migrant boat finally returns to Sicily after 2019 Venice Biennale display

The vessel was on loan from the town of Augusta, which intends to turn it into a memorial for the hundreds of migrants who died on board in 2015

After staunch criticism, Science Museum defends oil company Shell’s sponsorship of its climate exhibition

Director Ian Blatchford says that the Science Museum Group "retains editorial control" over London show

France's planned slavery memorial on hold over debate about naming 200,000 freed slaves

Shortlisted proposals by artists including Adrian Piper, Julien Creuzet and duo Sammy Baloji and Emeka Ogboh did not adequately adhere to the requirements, campaign group says