Artnews

Rembrandt’s Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet (1657) is the subject of a temporary export ban. Courtesy UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport The United Kingdom’s government announced this week that it has put a temporary export ban on a Rembrandt painting valued at £71.7 million ($97.2 million). The painting in question is Rembrandt van …

UK Government Puts Temporary Export Ban on $97.2 M. Rembrandt Painting Read More »

People viewing the Bayeux Tapestry, which is making a rare journey back to England in 2026. Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. Good Morning! Ahead of its public opening, the British Museum privately hosted billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel for a VIP viewing of the Bayeux …

Tech Billionaire Gets VIP Viewing of the Bayeux Tapestry, London’s Science Museum Ends 25-Year Relationship with BP, The Met Faces Backlash Over Planned John Galliano Exhibition, and More: Morning Links for August 31, 2026 Read More »

Rina Banerjee, Contagious Migrations, 1999–2023 Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Artwork copyright © Rina Banerjee, courtesy the artist and Perrotin. The Baltimore Museum of Art has announced the acquisition of approximately 118 artworks over the past six months. The new additions to its collection—purchases, gifts, and promised gifts—span periods, cultures, and mediums, strengthening the …

Baltimore Museum of Art Announces New Acquisitions Read More »

Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head, 2009, by Chinese artist brothers Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang. Photo Carol M. Highsmith/Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Artist Gao Zhen, who was detained in China in 2024 on “suspicion of slandering China’s heroes and martyrs” over a satirical sculpture …

Artist Gao Zhen Receives Three-Year Prison Sentence for ‘Slandering China’s Heroes’ Read More »

Lisa Havilah attends the Australian Fashion Laureate 2024 at Sydney Opera House, Australia. Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage via Getty Images Just 10 weeks prior to the opening of Sydney’s latest cultural institution, Powerhouse Parramatta, its chief executive Lisa Havilah has stepped down amid ongoing “investigations into governance and procurement,” according to a statement released on …

Chief Executive of Sydney’s Forthcoming $915 M. Cultural Institution Steps Down Amid Ongoing Investigations, 10 Weeks Ahead of Its Opening Read More »

John Galliano and Anna Wintour in 2021. Dave Benett/Getty Images In a surprising turnabout, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art canceled a John Galliano exhibition that was due to open next spring, in what would have been the Costume Institute‘s big May 2027 show, held in tandem with the notorious Met Gala. The show had …

Met Museum Cancels John Galliano Exhibition Amid Controversy over Designer’s Antisemitic Comments Read More »

A tarp remains in place on the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on August 25, 2026, in Washington, DC. Lawyers for the center said a tarp originally set up outside during the removal of President Trump’s name will remain while crews conduct structural repairs. Photo Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The …

Kennedy Center Board Says It Will Delay Adding Trump’s Name to the Center by One Month Read More »

Exterior view of Merz Academy, Stuttgart, Germany, 2010. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons The Merz Academy in Stuttgart, Germany, has filed for insolvency, the academy announced on Wednesday. Classes, however, are expected to continue at the university, which offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs at the intersection of design, art, media, and technology. Monopol reported that the …

Germany’s 100-Year-Old Merz Academy Declared Insolvent Read More »

View of the exhibition “Mythologies: To Tell the Story of the World,” 2026, at the Musée Bonnat-Helleu, Bayonne, France. Photo Alexandra Urruty/Courtesy Musée Bonnat-Helleu, Bayonne Nicknamed the “Little Louvre,” a hidden gem of European masterpieces in France’s Basque Country was given a new lease on life last fall. Founded in 1891, the Musée Bonnat-Helleu in …

As Right-Leaning Politicians Attack Cultural Institutions, a Basque Country Museum Director Believes in a Different ‘Vision of the Museum Worth Fighting For’ Read More »

VENICE, ITALY – NOVEMBER 22: Italian artist Fabrizio Plessi attends his exhibition opening of “Getting Lost In A Glass Of Water” at Palazzo Barovier & Toso on November 22, 2025 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Roberto Serra – Iguana Press/Getty Images) Getty Images Fabrizio Plessi, a pioneer of video art, died on August 23 in …

Fabrizio Plessi, Pioneering Italian Video Artist and Experimenter, Dies at 86 Read More »