Museums

Bible museum founders may have illicit antiquities from Iraq

Federal investigators have seized more than 200 cuneiform tablets imported from Israel by the Green family

Shop 'til you Pop art: Lebanese retail tycoon opens museum-mall in Beirut

At Tony Salamé’s $100m Aishti Foundation, visitors can see a major show of abstract works or shop in a string of luxury boutiques

UK museums on heightened alert against attacks

Arts Council England and the Scottish Council on Archives warn of increased theft danger

Picasso Museum reborn—again

After a troubled renovation, Paris museum unveils rehang and new exhibition programme with a contemporary twist

Three years late but with the entire human story in its sights

Revamp of Musée de l’Homme will chart humanity’s story from prehistory to the present—and future

Charity begins at home: National Gallery of Art acquires Ochtervelt genre painting

The Dutch picture depicts a wealthy burgher’s child dispensing alms to a beggar boy and sold for a record $4.4m at auction last year

UK debut for Calder's most complex mobile

The 12-foot sculpture has not left Brazil since Calder gave it to the Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil in São Paulo, in 1948

Palace Museum puts 2,500 on blacklist for ticket scalping and unlicensed tours

But without adequate camera surveillance, the site’s historic objects are still at risk of vandalism

National Portrait Gallery plans Cézanne show to follow Alberto Giacometti

New director Nicholas Cullinan says expect to see the gallery "trying out a few new things"

Tate seeks new sponsor for Frieze purchase fund

Outset bows out after acquiring 100 works

China show for Vuitton museum

Beijing's Ullens Center to help co-organise Paris exhibition

Art is a weapon as Russia and US fight cultural war

Relations worse than ever after federal US judge imposes $43.7m fine over Jewish Orthodox library

Top London shows during Frieze week

Our pick of the city's must-see exhibitions—just the tonic to avoid art-fair fatigue

Prizesnews

New art prize and public garden to mark Hepworth Wakefield’s fifth birthday

The collector David Roberts is backing the £30,000 biennial award for contributions to sculpture

Museumscomment

The slow death of regional museums in Europe

In the face of radically reduced state support, museums must embrace a new model of funding for the future

Private fortunes drive Beirut’s museum boom

Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano and David Adjaye get involved as donors step in to fill the funding gap

London's National Gallery fully reopens after 111-day strike

Union members reached agreement with gallery over work conditions

Lars Nittve to leave M+ just as building work in Hong Kong begins

Swedish director steps down having laid firm foundations for museum in West Kowloon

Centre Pompidou president promises pop-ups in Korea and China

Exhibitions on the Beat Generation, Beirut and Arte Povera also in the pipeline

Celebrating the civilisations Isil seeks to destroy

Detroit Institute of Arts unveils new gallery devoted to the Ancient Middle East

The Broad: as big as its founders’ influence

The art in Los Angeles’ new private museum is as titanic as the funding

Getty brings ancient athletes face to face

Intimately related bronze figures are on show together for the first time

Colchester’s flagship arts centre on the brink

The £27m, Viñoly-designed Firstsite gallery faces closure without regular government funding

Featuresfeature

Agents of change: how dynamic directors have transformed the UK’s regional scene

Funding cuts spell trouble for the UK’s smaller museums and galleries, but their directors are making great strides through imaginative programming, striking buildings and links with their national peers<br>