Russia-Ukraine war

On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Art Newspaper looks at the human and cultural costs of the conflict, the art world’s efforts to support displaced institutions and individuals, and how Ukraine’s built and artistic heritage has been used to tell the opposing narratives of war.

Hermitage Amsterdam gets new name and three new museum partners

The museum, which broke ties with the St Petersburg museum after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will now be known as H’art

Russia's 'Trinity' icon to stay at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral for another month

Andrei Rublev’s 15th-century work, which was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church last month, will also no longer be restored at the State Tretyakov Gallery

Mediareview

Artists who stayed in Ukraine navigate cultural war and actual warfare in new documentary

“Rule of Two Walls”, showing at the Tribeca Film Festival, follows artists in Ukraine after the launch of Russia’s invasion

Devastating dam collapse in Ukraine has apparently flooded house museum of late artist Polina Rayko

The self-taught painter's image of a dove has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance following Russia's 2022 invasion

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

Russian authorities confirm that famous 'Trinity' icon will be transferred to church despite protests from restorers and art historians

The announcement that President Putin will return Andrei Rublev’s masterpiece has sparked criticism from experts due to its fragile condition

A pioneering Ukrainian American modernist’s wartime imagery gains new relevance

Janet Sobel has gained belated recognition for developing drip painting before Jackson Pollock, but a new exhibition at the Ukrainian Museum in New York focuses on her work during the Second World War

Putin now orders return of Russia's most precious icon to the church

Following the restitution of the silver Nevsky sarcophagus last week, the handover of Andrei Rublev's 15th-century Trinity has sparked concerns among conservators

Fire damages Russian cultural centre in Cyprus

Moscow officials describe that blaze as a "terrorist attack"

Leaderscomment

Now is the time to honour not censor Russia’s dissident artists

The director of the Zimmerli Art Museum, which is home to the world's foremost collection of Soviet nonconformist art, says recent calls to censor all Russian art in light of the war in Ukraine oversimplify the issue

Ukrainian artists reflect on Russia’s war at Expo Chicago

Kyiv-based Voloshyn Gallery is showing works by two emerging Ukrainian artists on its stand at Expo Chicago

Pro-Putin Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky speaks out again in support of war in Ukraine

The veteran Russian museum chief tells Kremlin newspaper that war is “a means of cultural exchange”

Unesco chief vows to help rebuild Ukraine’s heritage and culture—but $6.9bn investment is needed

Audrey Azoulay met President Zelensky and toured sites in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Odesa during an official visit to the country this week

What has happened to visitor numbers at Russian museums since the start of the war?

As Russia leaves the world cultural stage following its invasion of Ukraine, we look at how its art institutions have reacted

Inaugural New York fair for Ukrainian artists wants to show that the country is ‘a solution, not a problem’

The event, called I Am U Are, is demonstrating that Ukraine’s creative industries are alive and kicking despite Russia’s invasion

How one year of Russian sanctions have shaped the art market

Businesses urged to tighten approach to client background checks as US subpoenas auction houses for sales records

US authorities seek forfeiture of $75m in luxury real estate linked to sanctioned Russian collector and the former director of his museum

Vladimir Voronchenko, the founding director of the Faberge Museum, has been indicted and named in a civil forfeiture complaint against billionaire Viktor Vekselberg as part of US efforts to crack down on sanctions evasion

US imposes sanctions on Russian culture minister

Olga Lyubimova, who has served as Russia’s top cultural official since 2020, was sanctioned by the European Union late last year

Ukraine benefit exhibition blossoms in Los Angeles

A pop-up exhibition in aid of Ukrainian relief efforts has opened in Los Angeles following a stint in New York

Moscow museum director removed after complaint against institution’s lack of ‘traditional Russian spiritual and moral values’

Zelfira Tregulova, who has headed the State Tretyakov Gallery since 2015, will be replaced by Elena Pronicheva, who has links to Vladimir Putin

US authorities subpoena auction houses in effort to crack down on violations of Russian sanctions

Prosecutors in New York are seeking auction house sales information going back years in order to track potentially illicit transactions by sanctioned Russian collectors

Art trade benefits as wealthy Russians flock to sanction-free Dubai

The emirate, currently a haven for 'half of Moscow', is enjoying a post-pandemic economic boom

Russian artist flees LGBTQ crackdown

Yulia Tsvetkova was acquitted on charges of distributing gay ‘pornography’ but strict new laws have forced her to leave the country

Exhibitions in 2022: the best shows and major trends of the year

Big hitters were the subject of major shows, from Donatello in Florence to Faith Ringgold in New York and Alice Neel in Paris

Museums and heritage in 2022: industrial unrest, climate protests and damage to historic artefacts in Ukraine

New and refurbished museums open in Antwerp, Los Angeles and Sydney as Italian archaeologists make the "discovery of a generation" in a hilltop town in Tuscany

The Year in Art: We take a look at 2022’s biggest stories—and what they mean

Plus, our writers sit down to discuss their favourite works of the year

Hosted by Ben Luke. With guest speakers Louisa Buck, Kabir Jhala and Benjamin Sutton. Produced by David Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
Sponsored byChristie's

How the war in Ukraine reveals the heightened politics of Unesco

Boycotted Russia resigned as chair of the World Heritage Committee last month

Police detain group attempting to steal Banksy mural from Ukraine wall

The work is one of seven the artist created in war-torn areas of the country last month

The last hurrah? Art world excess at Art Basel Miami Beach

Plus, UK culture cuts and Ukrainian Modernism in Madrid

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. With guest speaker Anny Shaw. Produced by David Clack and Henrietta Bentall
Sponsored byChristie's

Ukrainian Modernist masterpieces transported from Kyiv under missile fire find refuge in Madrid exhibition

Survey show at Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza will open with an address by President Zelensky and a symposium calling for a European cultural deal with Ukraine

Sophia Kishkovsky. With additional reporting by Kabir Jhala