Museums & Heritage

Austrian government to propose law on returning museum objects acquired in a colonial context

Calling out the injustice of colonialism and following it up with "serious debate and concrete actions" is Austria’s responsibility, says culture secretary

A maritime museum shifts its focus to ocean health

The Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut is foregrounding ocean ecology in its first contemporary art exhibition, with new commissions by American painter Alexis Rockman

Gender balance redressed as Tracey Emin creates new 'every woman' front doors for the National Portrait Gallery

The 45 portraits, cast in bronze, have been installed on the entrance to the newly restored London museum

How New York's Hispanic Society is reinventing itself

As the Hispanic Society Museum & Library reopens after a six-year renovation—and two-month strike—its leaders are re-imagining its founder's legacy

Elena Filipovic announced as the new director of the Kunstmuseum Basel

Filipovic joins from the Kunsthalle Basel and will replace Josef Helfenstein

A director's tour of the newly renovated National Portrait Gallery in London

Nicholas Cullinan shows us around the new-look museum after its three-year closure

SFMoMA acquires architectural capsule from Tokyo's famed Metabolist tower

Architect Kisho Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower was demolished last year, but 23 of its distinctive pods were preserved

MFA Boston settles ownership dispute with Jewish dealers’ heirs over a painting Hitler wanted for his Führermuseum

"Customers Conversing in a Tavern" (1671) by Dutch Golden Age painter Adriaen van Ostade is up on display after a six years of research and negotiations

Metropolitan Museum to open interactive learning centre for children in September

The new facility will bring science-based material exploration, art activities and countless forms of play to the museum's youngest patrons

How to see every painting by Johannes Vermeer

Missed the blockbuster show at the Rijksmuseum? Fear not, we present an insider’s guide to seeing all his 36 paintings across the globe, from London and New York, to Braunschweig and Tokyo

Germany has the most private contemporary art museums in the world, new report reveals

According to the art collector data company Larry's List, the burgeoning private museums sector now comprises 446 institutions worldwide, 111 of which have opened since 2016

Largest museum union in the US ratifies its first contract

More than 500 workers at the Carnegie Museums in Pittsburgh voted to ratify their first contract after 18 months of negotiations

Pop-up museum commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre opens in New York

A similar institution in Hong Kong was forcibly shuttered in 2021 following the passage of the city’s restrictive security law

German city restitutes a Renoir to the heirs of a Jewish banker and buys it back

View of the Sea from Haut Cagnes will in future be displayed with information about its former owner, Jakob Goldschmidt

‘We charge you with ecocide’: climate protesters call for ouster of Museum of Modern Art board chair at gala

Activists urged the New York museum to distance itself from board chair Marie-Josée Kravis and her husband Henry Kravis due to their ties to the fossil fuel industry

Metropolitan Museum to return $550,000 in donations from FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange

The institution will return funds donated by the defunct exchange and hedge fund led by Sam Bankman-Fried prior to its untimely collapse

Britain's oldest piece of carved wood discovered in layer of peat

The large piece of oak is around 6,000 years old–2,000 years older than Stonehenge

US art museums generate $52bn in well-being benefits annually, study finds

Every museum visit produces $905 in social benefits per visitor, according to a study conducted at 11 art institutions

Reina Sofía Museum and Whitworth Gallery appoint new directors

The art historian Manuel Segade will join the Madrid institution while Tate international art curator Sook-Kyung Lee takes the reins in Manchester

Germany returns artefacts—including a Venetian jewellery box stolen in 2006—to Italy

The recovered items also include a Corinthian bronze helmet and four Roman-Byzantine gold coins

Fragile Trinity icon installed at Moscow cathedral in time for Pentecost

President Putin ordered the transfer of the medieval masterpiece from the State Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Orthodox Church despite protests from restorers

Smithsonian picks architect for $130m Bezos Learning Center on Washington, DC's National Mall

The new education annex of the National Air and Space Museum will be funded through a $200m gift from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos

As Israel is rocked by protests, a West Bank cultural centre seeks to 'represent the Palestinian struggle'

The artistic institution Dar Jacir was established by the Bethlehem-born artist Emily Jacir to give creatives from Palestine an outlet

Vermeer blockbuster officially breaks record at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum

The recently-closed exhibition drew 650,000 visitors in its four month run

The British Museum and BP's sponsorship deal will end after 27 years

The museum has been under pressure for more than a decade to break off its affiliation with the oil and gas corporation

Picasso—questioned, but not cancelled: we speak to the curators of the Brooklyn Museum show

Plus, the damage to heritage in Italy following the devastating floods and Ellsworth Kelly's Spectrum work

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack, Aimee Dawson and Julia Michalska
Sponsored byChristie's

Biden administration bans fuel and mineral extraction within ten miles of ancient Pueblo sites in New Mexico

The lands withdrawn from future oil, gas and mining claims around Chaco Culture National Historical Park include more than 4,700 known archaeological sites

Ashmolean Museum in bitter, 20-year dispute over Augustus John works

Heirs claim they were loaned and want them back; the museum says decision not yet made

Museum lawyers weigh in on diversity initiatives, joint acquisitions and more at industry conference

The annual gathering organised by the American Law Institute and co-sponsored by the Smithsonian took place recently in Philadelphia