News

Declassified papers reveal Margaret Thatcher’s spirited campaign to get the Thyssen collection

But the British prime minister was thwarted by the baron’s Spanish wife and her sick dog, so the works ended up in Madrid

Russian and Syrian forces retake Palmyra from Isil

But culture experts remain cautious as extent of damage at the ancient site is assessed

Gustav Metzger, auto-destructive art trailblazer, has died aged 90

Lifelong activist was “one of the truly radical artists of the 20th century”, says Hans Ulrich Obrist

US mini-satellite could help to monitor destruction in Palmyra

As Isil retreats from ancient Syrian city US non-profit hopes to raise funds to launch "cubesat"

All you need is LOVE (and a good conservator)

The Indianapolis Museum of Art restores sculpture by Robert Indiana

Former Met curator speaks candidly about the New York museum's current challenges

George Goldner, who led the museum’s department of prints and drawings for two decades, says it needs to reassess its priorities

Hong Kong stays buoyant despite turbulence in the Western market

Art Basel in Hong Kong has turned the city’s fortunes around, art-wise, but the city’s cultural infrastructure still has some way to go

Central London to get a new arts hub by 2019

Cromwell Place is intended primarily for galleries but will provide space for non-selling exhibitions too

Sale of Pontormo portrait prompts calls for reform of UK export system

New York hedge-fund manager is the latest foreign buyer to refuse a matching offer from a UK museum

Chinese artists will be out in force at this year’s Venice Biennale

Pioneers and rising stars have been picked for the main exhibition by the Centre Pompidou curator Christine Macel

Trump’s travel ban denounced by curators and artists

Institutional leaders say such restrictions would have grave consequences on exhibitions, research and the future of cultural exchange

Metropolitan Museum director Thomas Campbell resigns

The news comes as the New York museum tackles financial problems, sheds staff, cuts down on shows and postpones a $600m project

Should Munich contemporary art museum reveal or obscure its Nazi history?

British architect David Chipperfield’s proposal to restore the Haus der Kunst sparks furore

Scholar accuses Musée d’Orsay of attack on freedom of expression

Van Gogh expert upset after essays dropped from French catalogue amid ongoing dispute over newly discovered sketchbook

Foundation uses crowdfunding to raise $65,000 to restore work by female Old Master

The Last Supper scene by the 16th-century nun Plautilla Nelli is due to go on show in 2018

Paul Walter, the voracious New York collector, connoisseur and bon vivant pioneered photography collecting, has died

He was able to focus on the rare and the unique, and this was something the others learned from

Laurence des Cars named new director of Musée d’Orsay

Head of Musée de l’Orangerie replaces Guy Cogeval who will run an affiliated research centre

The art fair is dead, long live the art fair

Already suffering from fair-tigue? A former director ponders how the format must evolve to survive