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Nan Goldin protesting with P.A.I.N. in the courtyard of the Louvre in July 2019.

Museums must stop turning a blind eye to dodgy donors

US museums have long relied on wealthy individuals, but the sources of some of that wealth makes this increasingly untenable

17 Dec 2021
The M+ Museum in Hong Kong.

Is the M+ Museum still a good idea?

In Hong Kong’s increasingly repressive political climate, can the M+ Museum sustain the cultural optimism it once promised?

22 Nov 2021
A carved-oak falcon that probably adorned Anne Boleyn's apartments at Hampton Court Palace. Photo: Paul Fitzsimmons/Marhamchurch Antiques

The Tudor art lurking behind our wallpaper

A carved-wood falcon linked to Anne Boleyn and wall paintings in Hertfordshire and Yorkshire are exciting discoveries for our understanding of Tudor England

18 Nov 2021
Did Rubens really paint the National Gallery’s Samson and Delilah?

Is AI really ready to solve the problems that have had art historians stumped?

It’s still early days for the authentication of artworks by artificial intelligence – and experts will always be needed to interpret the findings

Participants driving over Westminster Bridge at the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Poetry in motion – a guide to racing antique cars

As the London to Brighton Veteran Car run celebrates its 125th anniversary, Apollo asks what it’s like to take a museum piece out on the road. Poop poop!

2 Nov 2021

Should museums be dabbling in NFTs?

Bernadine Bröcker Wieder and Douglas McCarthy consider what museums are really selling when they mint NFTs – and what serious collectors want

25 Oct 2021

‘He found the extraordinary everywhere’ – a tribute to Atta Kwami (1956–2021)

The Ghanaian artist’s vivid prints, paintings and architectural structures were inspired by inner-city life in Kumasi

21 Oct 2021
Cece Bibby (left) painting the name ‘Friendship 7’ on John Glenn’s Mercury spacecraft in 1962.

Outer space – the final frontier for the art market?

Objects that leave Earth may reach astronomical prices on their return – but there are other reasons for sending art into space

A view of the reader's desk inside the bimah in Bevis Marks Synagogue in 2015.

Britain’s oldest synagogue is safe for now – but developers still threaten its future

Bevis Marks has seen off the latest threat to its existence, but such a significant site deserves much better

15 Oct 2021

Is this a golden age for art galleries?

Georgina Adam and Andrew Russeth wonder if changing circumstances might not suit bricks-and-mortar galleries down to the ground

27 Sep 2021
Maggie Cheng in never-before-seen-footage from Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000).

Wong Kar-Wai gets nostalgic

The director’s sale of unseen footage from ‘In the Mood for Love’ reminds us that the Hong Kong of his films is fast disappearing

21 Sep 2021

Street smart – how to own a piece of London’s West End

A set of Misha Black’s famous street signs is going under the hammer – and it’s the closest most of us will get to owning some prime London property

10 Sep 2021
Illustration: David Biskup

Does the art world have a sense of humour?

Susan Moore and Niru Ratman wonder if anyone is still enjoying themselves

31 Aug 2021
Big Self-Portrait (detail; 1967–68), Chuck Close.

Boundary issues – the uneasy art of Chuck Close

It was always a mistake to take the painter’s portraits at face value, writes Nancy Princenthal – and we shouldn’t have any illusions about the man either

30 Aug 2021
The building now home to the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi, shown in a 19th-century photo.

Georgia’s greatest museum has been saved from demolition, apparently – but for how long?

The fate of the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi remains uncertain, with curators ordered to evacuate its vast collection within six months

11 Aug 2021
Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade in ‘Quills’ (2000).

How the Marquis de Sade became a pillar of the French establishment

The state has just shelled out €4million for the libertine’s most notorious work – how times have changed

10 Aug 2021
Courtesy Thomas Dane Gallery; © Phillip King

‘He transformed how sculpture is made’ – a tribute to Phillip King (1934–2021)

The British artist was a titan of modern sculpture – and following his example, it would never be the same again

6 Aug 2021
Bass instincts: Pennie Smith’s legendary photo of the moment Paul Simonon smashed his guitar on-stage, on the cover of the ‘London Calling’ album.

How a smashed-up bass guitar became the ultimate punk rock relic

The Clash bassist’s pulverised instrument can now be worshipped at the Museum of London

3 Aug 2021
Stained-glass window for the Salon Arabe in the Sursock Museum, in the workshop of Maison Tarazi.

A year after the blast, Beirut is in crisis – but look hard, and there are small signs of hope

With chaos in Lebanon and Beirut in crisis, the resilience of the city’s artists and heritage workers is something of a miracle

30 Jul 2021
Installation view of ‘Re-Entanglements: Colonial Collections in Decolonial Times’ at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge.

What should happen to colonial collections that weren’t looted?

Museums should lead conversations about archives and artefacts gathered in former colonies – and not leave the objects gathering dust

29 Jul 2021

The saga of the Salvator Mundi is catnip for film-makers

Two documentaries on the ‘lost Leonardo’ have found the story’s sensationalism irresistible – but hard facts are as absent as the painting itself

29 Jul 2021
Plaque (16th–17th century), Benin City. Photo: © Trustees of the British Museum, London

We need a fair and formal process for restitution claims – but what would that look like?

As calls grow for the return of objects acquired during the colonial era, the assessment of claims requires an independent process

21 Jul 2021
Sir Nicholas Goodison (1934–2021)

Remembering Sir Nicholas Goodison (1934–2021), the City grandee with a scholar’s eye for the decorative arts

Nicholas Goodison had a distinguished career in the City – but he will also be remembered for his scholarly and philanthropic contributions to the arts

20 Jul 2021
Bone age: the engraved phalanx from Einhornhöhle.

The cultural lives of the Neanderthals

The discovery of an engraved bone in Germany offers yet more evidence that our distant cousins were creatively minded

15 Jul 2021