Art News Archives

Whitechapel Gallery Appoints Gilane Tawadros As New Director

The Whitechapel Gallery has announced that curator and writer, Gilane Tawadros, has been appointed their new Director.

Otto Dix Watercolours From The Gurlitt Hoard Auctioned

Ten years after the Gurlitt Hoard (“Schwabing Art Trove”) hit the headlines worldwide, two important watercolours by Otto Dix will go under the hammer at Ketterer Kunst

Donald Baechler Seminal NY 1980s Painter Dies Age 65

Donald Baechler, who died in April, was one of the most promising artists of the 1980s.

Andy Warhol Marilyn Breaks 20th c Auction Records – Art Fund Museum Of The Year Shortlist Announced – Sackler Name Removed From National Gallery London And Guggenheim

Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn made double history last night as the most expensive pCostly Costly painting ever sold by a US artist and the most costly 20th-century work of art to sell at auction

Maurizio Cattelan Sued – New York Auction Industry Deregulation – Major Tate Liverpool Refurbishment

The Italian Conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan is being sued in Paris over intellectual property infringement.

Controversial Philip Guston Exhibition To Open In Boston – Art Gallery of New South Wales To Open In December – Professor Deborah Swallow To Step Down At Courtauld

After two years of indecision from museum directors both in the US and UK, The Philip Guston exhibition will finally open to the public in Boston on 1 May. On 21 September 2021, a statement quietly appeared on the website of the National Gallery of Washington. It announced the postponement of the “Philip Guston Now” […]

Hermann Nitsch Austrian Multidisciplinary Artist Dies Age 83

The Nitsch Foundation, has announced the sad news of Hermann Nitsch’s death at age 83 on April 18, 2022. Nitsch was known as a multidisciplinary artist, an actionist, painter, graphic artist and composer. He was unable to attend the opening of his show at the 59th Venice Biennale because of a serious illness. The exhibition […]

Golden Lion For Sonia Boyce GB and Simone Leigh US At 59th Venice Biennale

The 59th Venice Biennale’s top prize, the Golden Lion, has been awarded to Great Britain’s Sonia Boyce OBE RA for Best National Participation at La Biennale di Venezia 2022. The work for her exhibition ‘Feeling Her Way’ at the British Pavilion combined video and sound mounted on collaged installations and wallpaper. Simone Leigh from the US won the […]

French Culture Ministry Seize Russian Paintings Owned By Sanctioned Oligarchs Petr Aven And Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor

French Culture Ministry authorities have seized Pyotr Konchalovsky’s “Self-Portrait”, a painting owned by the Russian oligarch Petr Aven, a director of one of Russia’s largest banks. The painting was on view at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris as part of “The Morozov Collection: Icons of Modern Art.” The paintings will remain in France as […]

Turner Prize 2022 Shortlist Announced In Liverpool

In the early morning hours, I walked beside a tranquil River Mersey towards Tate Liverpool’s press launch, where there was an exciting buzz as we all anticipated the nominees of the Turner Prize shortlist for 2022. Helen Legg, Director of Tate Liverpool and Co-chair of the Turner Prize jury, announced the list of artists nominated […]

Glasgow’s Burrell Nearly 40 Years On Gets A New Look – Clare Henry

Back in 1983, on the day the Queen opened the famous Burrell, I reported enthusiastically for the BBC on its unique qualities.

Royal College of Art Still Number One In The World – Stolen Charles Darwin Notebooks Returned – Philip Guston Painting Expected To Break Records At Sotheby’s

The Royal College of Art (RCA), London, has been ranked the number 1 university for art & design internationally for the 8th consecutive year according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022 – the most significant worldwide survey of academic and industry opinion. The latest results demonstrate the College’s reputation by scoring 100% […]

Rembrandt Landscape Discovered In Berlin Museum Collection – Titian Penitent Magdalene To Be Auctioned In Vienna

A Landscape painting depicting an arch bridge thought to be the work of one of Rembrandt’s students, Govert Flinck, has been attributed to the master himself. “Landscape with Arch Bridge “was acceded into the Berlin collections in 1924, and up until the 1980s, it was always considered an original work by Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn. […]

UK And France Export Bar For Cézanne And Chardin Paintings

The UK Government has placed an export bar on ‘Ferme Normande, Été’ (Hattenville) 1882 by Paul Cézanne to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the painting. The privately-owned masterpiece had been on loan to the Courtauld Gallery in London since 1980. Valued at £10 million, the work was once part of […]

UNESCO Condemns 53 Ukraine Cultural Sites Damaged In Russia Invasion

UNESCO, the international body that assesses damages to cultural sites during crisis, has reported that 53 sites of international importance have been damaged since the Russian invasion. The assessment was made via the media, Ukraine officials, satellite imagery and monitors of the leading Ukrainian heritage sites and monuments. A UNESCO spokesperson said, “Our experts continue […]

Anish Kapoor Calls For Boycott Of Russian Owned Phillips Auctioneers – Damien Hirst Claimed Millions in Furlough Payments – Cecilia Vicuña Awarded Hyundai Commission At Tate Modern

The Turner Prize-Winning sculptor Anish Kapoor has called for a boycott of Phillips Auctioneers. In a statement published in the New York Times, he said, “Putin’s cronies are a legitimate target wherever they are.” “Phillips is as good a target as Chelsea football club,” he said, referring to the football team owned by Russian billionaire […]

No Surprises: Annual Art Basel Global Art Market Report 2022 Revealed

The Art Basel Market Report 2022 is a highly anticipated industry barometer.

Mega Dealer Ivor Braka Sued By Artist Collection Societies – Mariupol Museum Levelled – Artist Steve McQueen Knighted

The Art dealer Ivor Braka is being sued by artists’ resale rights groups for not paying royalties to living artists or their estates. The Artists’ Collecting Society (ACS) and the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) have challenged the dealer in a rare court case. The suit is expected to set a legal precedent for […]

Should The V&A Close Their Fabergé Egg Exhibition – Tate And RA Sever Relations With Russian Billionaires – Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams Cancel Russian Art Sales

Whenever you hear the name Fabergé, you think of opulent, lavish, jewelled, decorated, and, let’s face it, kitsch, Russian Imperial eggs. Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution opened on the 20 November 2021 at the V&A London. It is set to run until 8 May; however, should we be selling tickets to a show that […]

Russian Raphael Painting Withdrawn From London Show – Jeff Koons Loses Another Court Battle – Metropolitan Museum To Deaccess $30m Picasso Bronze

One of the centrepieces of the National Galleries’ long-awaited Raphael exhibition has been withdrawn due to the escalating war in Ukraine. Raphael’s The Holy Family, part of Russia’s State Hermitage Museum collection, in St Petersburg will not be exhibited. This is a direct result of the situation that has arisen due to Russia’s invasion of […]

Ukraine Goes Ahead With Venice Biennale Pavilion – Russian Art Collector Roman Abramovich Slapped With U.K. Sanctions – Katharina Fritsch And Cecilia Vicuña Win Golden Lions

The organisers of the Venice Biennale have confirmed that the Ukraine pavilion will go ahead as planned this April.

Grenville Davey Turner Prize Winning Sculptor Dies

Grenville Davey, the Turner Prize-winning sculptor, has died at age 60. He was born in Launceston, Cornwall, in 1961 and studied at Exeter College of Art and Design until 1982, graduating from Goldsmiths College in 1985. He won the Turner Prize in 1992 for the continuing development of his sculpture, as seen in shows held […]

Artist Support Pledge Focuses On Raising Money For Ukraine

The Artist Support Pledge platform has successfully raised over £30m for artists during the pandemic. The cancellation of art fairs and gallery exhibitions created a void filled by a simple hashtag. It was a lifeline to many artists worldwide. In response to the war in Ukraine, Artist Support Pledge founder Matthew Burrows along with artist-curator […]

Restituted Franz Marc Painting Achieves £42.6m At Inaugural Christie’s Shanghai Sale – Ukraine Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Bombed By Russia – Jerwood Donates £5m Gallery To Hasting’s Contemporary

Christie’s has launched the inaugural 20th/21st Century: Shanghai to London sale series with staggering results. This pioneering cultural dialogue between two major international art hubs, live-streamed from Christie’s in Shanghai and London with incorporated salerooms in Hong Kong and New York proves you can sell from anywhere. The sale series coincides with Christie’s new gallery […]

War Invades 59th Venice Biennale Russia Quits – Ukraine On Hold

Updated: Artists Alexandra Sukhareva and Kirill Savchenkov and curator Raimundas Malašauskas have pulled out of the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The invasion of Ukraine has put cultural exchange between Russia and the world in jeopardy. The Milk of Dreams was the title of the 2022 Venice Biennale Russian pavilion exhibition. This name was […]

Roy Lichtenstein Widow bequeaths Artist’s Studio To The Whitney – Large Roman Mosaic Unearthed In London – Art Basel Announces Spring Exhibitors List

The widow of Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein has announced that the Lichtenstein family has donated the late artist’s studio building to the Museum. The Whitney, who since moving downtown in 2015 has been a neighbour of the studio, operating four blocks north on Gansevoort Street, will adapt the space to serve as the first permanent […]

National Portrait Gallery Severs Sponsorship With BP

The National Portrait Gallery has announced the end of its partnership with bp. The London Gallery confirmed that they would not extend beyond December 2022, when their current contract ends. The partnership spanned more than 30 years, with the oil company sponsoring the Gallery’s Portrait Award, one of the longest-running cultural events in London. The Gallery is […]

Dan Graham Groundbreaking Conceptual Artist Dies Age 79

The artist, Dan Graham, has died over the weekend in New York. Graham’s influence over the past half-century as a writer, photographer, architect, sculptor, filmmaker and performance artist is a great loss to the contemporary art world. Since the 1960s his groundbreaking endeavours in video, installation and audience participation – including such legendary and confrontational […]

The Upside Of Macklowe’s Toxic Divorce – Sotheby’s Settlement Auction

Last November’s Sotheby’s sale of 35 works from The Macklowe Collection was nothing less than historic, realising $676.1 million, the highest value single-owner auction ever staged. Its success is a homage to the art of collecting in its highest form. Now, this spring, Sotheby’s will offer 30 more blue-chip works from this celebrated collection. Furthermore, […]

UK Tax Authorities Probe NFT Fraud – Tate Decision On Racist Rex Whistler Mural – Jeff Koons Designs $360k BMW Supercar

UK tax authorities have seized three Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) as part of a probe into a suspected VAT fraud involving 250 alleged fake companies. Sceptics fear NFTs are a pyramid scheme HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have arrested three people on suspicion of attempting to defraud it of £1.4m. The authorities said it was the […]

Carmen Herrera Cuban American Artist Dies Age 106

Carmen Herrera (1915 – 2022) The Cuban-born, American artist has died at the age of 106, only months before her May birthday. She died peacefully in her sleep at her apartment and studio in New York, where she had lived and worked since 1967, for much of that time with her husband Jesse Loewenthal, who […]

Ai Weiwei Takes Anti Vax Stance On Instagram

The Chinese dissident artist/activist Ai Weiwei has recklessly posted an anti-vax video on his Instagram account. In the reposted media, Mr Ai promotes a group of old men dancing and playing instruments with the caption, “Me and my friends living off-grid after refusing the vaccine.” His caption underneath the video reads: “#RunForOurRights #treadmill In defence […]