Artnews

Sale of a “Stunning” UK Fossil Collection to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi Sparks Controversy

An ammonite fossil at Lyme Regis in Dorset, England. Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. A “stunning” British collection of 318 Jurassic fossils has been sold to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi in what some have described as a loss to the nation, the Guardian reports. The items were collected by UK fossil …

Sale of a “Stunning” UK Fossil Collection to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi Sparks Controversy Read More »

Low Salaries for the UK Arts Sector, Recovered Paintings in Brazil and Italy, and More: Morning LInks for August 14, 2026

Anicka Yi’s Turbine Hall installation at the Tate Modern in 2021-2022. Anicka Yi / Photography by Will Burrard-Lucas / Courtesy Tate Modern To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. Good morning! Police in Italy and Brazil have recovered nearly a dozen paintings stolen over the last year. London’s cultural sector is facing …

Low Salaries for the UK Arts Sector, Recovered Paintings in Brazil and Italy, and More: Morning LInks for August 14, 2026 Read More »

Renaissance Masterpieces Stolen from Sicilian Museum During National Holiday

Italy, Sicily, Messina, Regional Museum, inv. 548. Mondadori Portfolio Thieves have dealt a Sicilian museum a harrowing loss, stealing three of the five surviving devotional panels painted by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. The assailants broke into the Regional Museum of Messina, also known as MuMem, on Saturday evening, as the port city celebrated the …

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San Diego Museum of Art Lays Off 11 Employees, Citing ‘The Current Landscape’

San Diego Museum of Art. Wikimedia Commons The San Diego Museum of Art laid off 11 employees on Wednesday, August 5, citing “rising operational costs,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The layoffs affected departments across the museum, including programs, development, and exhibitions, and leave the total staff count at 118. The news comes six months …

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Before France Approved Bayeux Tapestry Loan, a British Official Had To ‘Get On His Knees and Propose’

France’s Culture Minister Catherine Pégard (4th L) listens to Michael Lewis (3rd L), lead curator of the exhibition, as she inspects the Bayeux Tapestry during a visit to its unveiling at the British Museum in central London on July 17, 2026, a week after the 11th-century artwork depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England arrived …

Before France Approved Bayeux Tapestry Loan, a British Official Had To ‘Get On His Knees and Propose’ Read More »

Colombia’s Museo de Arte de Pereira Closes due to Extensive Earthquake Damage

A painting hangs from a crumbling wall at the Museo de Arte de Pereira, Colombia, after Monday’s earthquake. Courtesy Alejandro Garces As workers race against the 72-hour, so-called golden window to rescue survivors from collapsed buildings following Monday’s devastating 7.4 earthquake in northern Colombia, the region’s museums are also in serious jeopardy. On Monday evening, …

Colombia’s Museo de Arte de Pereira Closes due to Extensive Earthquake Damage Read More »

‘The Last Museum’ Search Engine Serves Up Millions of Artwork Images from More Than 3,000 Institutions

Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Youth, 1842. Courtesy the National Gallery of Art The Last Museum, an online search engine without any names or credits attached to it, now offers up images of some 6.3 million artworks held in museum collections around the world, searchable by “theme, style, subject, vibes, or any description you …

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Unions Call V&A Director’s Absence from Contract Negotiation Talks ‘Shocking’ and ‘Disrespectful’

A general view of the three-story central Collections Hall inside the new V&A East Storehouse on May 27, 2025 in London, England. Getty Images Tristram Hunt, director of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), is on the receiving end of criticism from the two unions, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Prospect, which have …

Unions Call V&A Director’s Absence from Contract Negotiation Talks ‘Shocking’ and ‘Disrespectful’ Read More »

Top Executive and Senior Sales Director Leave Pace Following Gallery’s ‘Restructuring’

Dani Forest, left, and Amelia Redgrift, both of whom have resigned from senior positions at Pace Gallery. The shakeup at Pace Gallery isn’t over. Just two months after the gallery laid off roughly 50 employees in a sweeping restructuring, two of the executives who helped shape Pace during its years of rapid expansion are headed …

Top Executive and Senior Sales Director Leave Pace Following Gallery’s ‘Restructuring’ Read More »

Sharjah is Set for the Region’s First Contemporary Craft Museum

A rendering of the Irthi Museum. Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council The United Arab Emirates landscape is expanding once again, with Sharjah set for the region’s first contemporary crafts museum. The Irthi Museum will open in Sharjah’s Creative Quarter sometime in 2029 and house a permanent collection of contemporary crafts from across the Gulf, the Irthi …

Sharjah is Set for the Region’s First Contemporary Craft Museum Read More »