Museums & Heritage

Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC picks architects for major revamp of its building and plaza

The renovation, to be executed in part by the architecture firm that designed the building’s original construction in 1974, comes after a contentious project to renovate its sculpture garden

Letterscomment

'Move London's National Gallery entrance from Trafalgar Square to a side street? No!'

Architect Edward Jones weighs in on the museum's controversial redevelopment plans

Frances Morris to leave Tate Modern in April after seven years as director

London museum's first female chief, who was pivotal in diversifying the collection and programme, departs to pursue curatorial projects related to climate change and Modernism

Faith Ringgold and Barbara Earl Thomas created stained-glass windows at Yale addressing the university’s ties to racist practices

Suites of windows by each artist replace windows that glorified the antebellum South and the life of John C. Calhoun, a US president who supported slavery

Vladimir Putin’s martial law decree has given Russian forces ‘legal’ cover to loot art in Ukraine

In a move similar to the Nazis’ self-legalised art thefts, ancient gold treasure, paintings and Prince Potemkin’s mummified remains all risk being “preserved” by “evacuation”

Rubell Museum DC opens in former school, with a mission to champion ‘the unique role of artists as teachers’

Collectors Don and Mera Rubell, who also operate a museum in Miami, have added a major contemporary art space to the US capital’s cultural offerings

Leaderscomment

'National Gallery's plans will create an entrance fit for today’s public' says London museum's director

Gabriele Finaldi responds to criticism over the gallery's proposed redesign for the Sainsbury Wing

Eco activist attempts to glue his head to Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

Dutch police have arrested three people at the Mauritshuis in The Hague

After strike and with a hard-won new contract, Philadelphia Museum of Art employees go back to work

Following a contentious few weeks that capped two years of negotiations, workers and administrators are eager to move forward, even if some sore spots remain

Smithsonian selects preferred sites for long-awaited Latino and women’s museums

The site selections must be approved or rejected by the US Congress by the end of the year

Taliban government approves conservation work on historic synagogue in Afghanistan

Go ahead given to a restoration project to preserve two historic sites associated with the Jewish community that once resided in Herat

Former president Bill Clinton previews $155m expansion of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

The renovation spearheaded by Studio Gang, details of which were unveiled during a luncheon in New York, will open in the spring of 2023

Archaeologists restoring monument damaged by Islamic State discover ancient stone carvings unseen for millennia

The seven alabaster reliefs document the military conquests of the Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib

In response to energy crisis, Berlin museum turns off its Dan Flavin neon for first time in 26 years

The work normally lights up the facade of contemporary art gallery Hamburger Bahnhof

In Germany, climate activists throw mashed potato at most expensive Monet painting sold at auction

The protestors from Letzte Generation took inspiration from a recent stunt that saw Van Gogh's Sunflowers doused in soup

Lost star catalogue found hidden on the pages of a medieval manuscript

An excerpt from the work of ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus had been erased and written over

'We must accelerate efforts to protect Ukraine’s culture,' says British Council chief

Culture will be central to the country's recovery—enabling people to process trauma, share a common identity and articulate shared experiences

After San Francisco museum acquires Canaletto painting in pre-auction deal, Christie’s marquee Getty sale brings in $79.4m

A Japanese museum made a major purchase during an evening auction that also saw strong results for a diminutive dog portrait and enormous bird statues

Getty oil fortune heiress helped fund climate activists who have targeted artworks and museums

The granddaughter of the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty has donated millions to support activist groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil

Whitney’s Edward Hopper archive questioned amid major exhibition

A Baptist minister donated a vast archive of Hopper memorabilia to the museum but some question how he acquired the works

MoMA to stage major Ed Ruscha retrospective, spanning his text paintings to the infamous Chocolate Room

Works by the American artist are among the most iconic pieces in MoMA’s collection, yet he has never been the focus of a solo show there

Moscow's GES-2 House of Culture: the rise and fall of Russian billionaire's huge new art hub

Russia’s foray into international culture stalls as art complex that opened last year sees artists exit and change of direction

Louis XV's official mistress leaves the shadows, as restoration of her Versailles apartment reveals secretive life

Madame du Barry, whose life is the subject of a new Netflix film, was born into poverty and sold trinkets on the streets of Paris before joining court circles in her 20s

Philadelphia Museum of Art workers reach contract agreement, ending three-week strike

Following two years of negotiations and a historic strike by the museum’s unionised workers, employees and leaders agreed to a contract

Dutch foundation plans to open major new contemporary art museum in Amsterdam—with a familiar face as director

The Hartwig Art Foundation's institutional space will be run by Beatrix Ruf, the former director of the Stedelijk Museum

UK heritage minister says government has no plans to amend law that prevents museums from 'disposing' of objects

The 1983 National Heritage Act was debated in the House of Lords—but the issue of reform will be further discussed ahead of its 40-year anniversary in May 2023

Saudi Arabia reportedly building gallery to house Leonardo's Salvator Mundi

The painting has not been seen in public since it was allegedly bought by the Saudi Crown Prince for $450m in 2017—but the art historian Martin Kemp suggests it may soon be brought "into the light"

Modigliani’s hidden depths come to light as historians and conservators reveal new aspects of his technique

The Italian artist's paintings and sculptures were studied ahead of an exhibition at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia