Participating Artists and Curators Push Back on Venice Biennale’s Relocation of Israeli Pavilion, Call for Exclusion of Russia, Israel, and US

Seventy-three artists and curators participating in the main exhibition of the 2024 Venice Biennale have issued an open letter objecting to the organizers' decision to relocate the Israeli national pavilion to the Arsenale. They argue this move creates an intimidating atmosphere contrary to the late curator Koyo Kouoh's vision of "radical solidarity" and will necessitate a heightened security presence. The signatories, which include key curators tasked with realizing Kouoh's exhibition, also call for the exclusion of Israel, Russia, and the United States from the event, citing their governments' alleged commission of war crimes.

Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ Could Leave Madrid for the First Time in Over 30 Years

The Basque regional government has formally requested a temporary loan of Pablo Picasso's 'Guernica' from Madrid's Museo Reina Sofía to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for a period from October 2026 to June 2027. This would mark the painting's first movement since 1992 and is timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the bombing of Guernica. The request faces strong opposition from the Reina Sofía, which has released a conservation report stating the monumental canvas is too fragile to travel.

Titian's ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ to get a refresh with bank conservation grant

Bank of America’s annual art conservation program has awarded grants to 18 projects this year, including the restoration of Titian’s *Bacchus and Ariadne* (1520-23) at the National Gallery in London. The painting will be removed from display next month for conservation work that involves placing it on a new fabric support and repairing paint loss. Other funded projects include Rembrandt’s *The Night Watch* at the Rijksmuseum, bronze palms at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, *Gaki Zōshi* at the Tokyo National Museum, Matisse’s *La Négresse* at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and works at the Museo de Arte de Lima and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

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President Donald Trump has initiated a controversial overhaul of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., renaming it the 'Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts' and appointing himself chairman. Following the dismissal of long-time president Deborah Rutter and the installation of a board led by Richard Grenell, the institution has pivoted toward conservative programming, leading to a 93% to 57% drop in ticket sales and high-profile boycotts from artists like Philip Glass. The center is now slated for a two-year closure starting after July 4 for major renovations, a move that has sparked alarm among preservationists and political figures.

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Arts Council England announced the results of the 2024-25 Cultural Gifts Scheme and Acceptance in Lieu initiatives, through which 32 artworks valued at nearly $80 million entered public collections. Highlights include Edgar Degas's pastel *Danseuses roses* (ca. 1897–1901) donated to the National Gallery, paintings by Max Liebermann and Max Pechstein given to the Ashmolean Museum, a historic desk used by Prime Ministers Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill acquired by the National Trust, and 77 photographs by Bill Brandt donated to Tate. The report covers transfers from April 2024 to March 2025.

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The Smithsonian Institution has been forced to close its 21 museums in Washington, D.C., indefinitely due to a continuing U.S. government shutdown that began on October 1. The National Gallery of Art had already closed the previous weekend. The Smithsonian had initially used its own funds to stay open, first planning to close on October 6 and then extending operations through October 11, but the ongoing shutdown—stemming from disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over health care policy—has now made closure unavoidable. The shutdown also threatens upcoming programming, including a planned Grandma Moses survey at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and a portraiture competition exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which has already been postponed.

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President Donald Trump had lunch with Lonnie G. Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, on Thursday, according to the New York Times. This meeting comes amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and the Smithsonian, including a White House list denouncing specific artworks—such as a painting of refugees at the US-Mexico border and Amy Sherald’s portrait of a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty—and an executive order claiming the institution has been influenced by “divisive, race-centered ideology.” Trump has also called for a legal review of Smithsonian displays, though his authority over the institution is unclear. The lunch was described as “productive and cordial” by a White House spokesperson, but no details of the discussion were released.

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Amy Sherald, the painter who canceled her exhibition “American Sublime” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in July due to censorship issues, has broken her silence in a MSNBC article. Sherald canceled her September show after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), depicting model and performance artist Arewà Basit as a Black transgender Statue of Liberty. In her op-ed, Sherald explains that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives played a role, and she cannot comply with a culture of censorship targeting vulnerable communities.

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The White House published an article on its website denouncing a range of artworks, exhibitions, and objects at the Smithsonian Institution, continuing President Donald Trump's protest against the museum network. The list included previously criticized shows, such as one about sculptures as signifiers of power at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture's displays on 'white dominant culture.' It also named new targets: a painting of a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty by Amy Sherald (which was pulled from a National Portrait Gallery show due to alleged censorship), Rigoberto A. González's 2022 painting 'Refugees Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas,' a stop-motion portrait of Anthony Fauci commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, and a papier-mâché Statue of Liberty from a workers' rights protest. The administration also objected to wall texts at the National Museum of the American Latino and the National Museum of American History's LGBTQ+ History display.

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The Elizabeth Street Garden in New York City has filed a federal lawsuit seeking protection under the Visual Artist Rights Act (VARA) to prevent its destruction for an affordable housing project called Haven Green. The lawsuit, filed by law firms Siegel Teitelbaum and Evans and McLaughlin and Stern, argues that the garden is a unique work of visual art and landscape architecture created by the late Allan Reiver and his son Joseph Reiver, and should be legally protected as a sculptural work. The garden received a temporary stay after eviction papers were served last fall, but the city plans to build 100% deeply affordable senior housing on the site, claiming the project will provide over 15,000 square feet of public space.

Picasso’s Guernica is the ultimate emblem of the horrors of war. It has no place in Spain's partisan squabbles | María Ramírez

A political dispute has erupted in Spain over the potential temporary relocation of Pablo Picasso's iconic anti-war painting *Guernica*. The president of the Basque Country, Imanol Pradales, has formally requested the work be moved from Madrid's Reina Sofía museum to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for several months in 2027, framing it as a form of "reparation" for the Basque people. The Spanish government has rejected the request on conservation grounds, while conservative politicians have used the proposal to attack Basque nationalism.

V&A Pulls Catalog Materials Due to Chinese Censorship Laws

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has admitted to removing maps and images from two exhibition catalogs following censorship demands from a Chinese printing firm. Documents revealed that C&C Offset Printing flagged content in the catalogs for the exhibitions "Music Is Black" and "Fabergé: Romance to Revolution" as violating Chinese law. The censored items included a 1930s map of British trade routes and a photograph of Vladimir Lenin, which the printer claimed could not be produced under Beijing’s strict regulations.

Is Chinese Censorship Reaching Inside Britain’s Museums?

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has come under fire following reports that it altered exhibition catalogues to comply with Chinese government censorship. To reduce production costs, the museum utilized printers in China, which are subject to Beijing’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) regulations. Consequently, the museum removed historical maps and an image of Vladimir Lenin from publications for the "Music is Black" and "Fabergé: Romance to Revolution" exhibitions after they were flagged by Chinese authorities.

Work by Edgar Degas among £59.7m haul of art donated to UK public collections in exchange for tax benefits

Works by Edgar Degas and Ben Nicholson are among the artworks donated to UK public collections through the government's Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) and Cultural Gifts Schemes (CGS) between April 2024 and March 2025. The total value of objects gifted reached £59.7 million, settling £39.3 million in tax. Degas's pastel *Ballet Dancers* (1888) was allocated to the National Gallery in London, settling £7.9 million in tax, while three paintings by Ben Nicholson went to Kettle's Yard in Cambridge and a fourth to Pallant House Gallery. Other donations include 73 photographs by Bill Brandt to Tate, a Vanessa Bell still life to the Charleston Trust, and works from the Radev Collection.

Louisiana State Museum reaccreditation decision delayed until June 2027

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) has tabled the reaccreditation decision for the Louisiana State Museum (LSM) system until June 2027. While the system’s ten sites remain accredited during this period, the delay indicates that the AAM requires the institution to address specific concerns regarding its governance and operational structure. The LSM, which oversees significant cultural assets like the New Orleans Jazz Museum and the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum, has recently navigated a period marked by lawsuits, public controversy, and unfavorable audits.

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Artnet News published its 'Museums in Crisis' series, a global investigation into pressures facing cultural institutions. Key takeaways include: Western museums face a funding and political crisis, with U.S. institutions losing hundreds of millions in federal support (including $428 million from the National Endowment for the Humanities) and European museums like those in Berlin facing cuts of €130 million. Corporate sponsorship is increasingly risky due to ethical scrutiny, with the U.K.'s Museums Association urging institutions to avoid ties to fossil fuels or human rights abuses. China's private museums are at risk of downsizing or disappearing due to economic slowdown and lack of public funding.

An Old Man Whose Egoscentrism Knows No Bounds

"Ein alter Mann, dessen Ich-Sucht keine Grenzen kennt"

More than 30 current and former jury members of the Stiftung Kunstfonds have issued a formal protest against German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer, accusing his office of political interference and intimidation. The controversy stems from reports that the ministry requested lists of all jury members across various art institutions and bypassed jury decisions to exclude specific recipients from awards based on intelligence service reports.

V&A Museum Has Acquiesced to Censorship Requests from Chinese Printer: Report

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) reportedly complied with censorship demands from its Chinese printing firm, C&C Offset Printing, to alter exhibition catalogues. Internal emails revealed that the museum removed a photograph of Lenin from a Fabergé exhibition book and altered historical maps to align with Chinese government standards after the printers flagged them as "sensitive." Staff noted that while they were aware of contemporary geopolitical sensitivities, the restrictions had expanded to include historical imagery, forcing last-minute editorial changes to avoid production delays.

Prominent German Art Foundation Accuses Top Culture Official of ‘Attempted Intimidation’

Jurors from the Kunstfonds Foundation, a major German contemporary art funding body, have accused Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer of attempted intimidation and political interference. The conflict erupted after Weimer requested the names of the independent jury members, a move the foundation views as a threat to artistic freedom. This follows a separate controversy where Weimer reportedly consulted domestic intelligence to exclude bookstores with left-wing leanings from a national award.

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The United Kingdom has imposed a temporary export bar on Claude Lorrain's masterpiece "Landscape with Rural Dance" (c. 1640), valued at £9 million ($12 million), to prevent it from leaving the country. The painting, which has hung at Woburn Abbey for over 250 years, is being sold by the Duke of Bedford to fund a major renovation project. The export bar, recommended by a reviewing committee that deemed the work of "outstanding aesthetic importance," gives UK institutions until April 15 to express intent to acquire the painting for the nation.

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Germany's Stuttgart Higher Regional Court ruled that Ravensburger, a German toy manufacturer, can continue using Leonardo da Vinci's *Vitruvian Man* (c. 1490) in its puzzles, dismissing a claim by Italy's Culture Ministry and the Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia. The Italian plaintiffs had sought a licensing agreement under a domestic cultural heritage law, arguing that commercial use of the image required their authorization, even outside Italy. The ruling reverses a 2022 Venice court decision that had ordered Ravensburger to stop production. The Italian parties may appeal to the German Federal Court of Justice.

White House launches review of Smithsonian museums and exhibitions

The White House has launched a comprehensive internal review of the Smithsonian Institution, targeting eight of its museums including the National Museum of American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Hirshhorn Museum. A letter signed by senior White House officials Lindsey Halligan, Vince Haley, and Russ Vought demands extensive documentation, curatorial materials, and exhibition schedules within 30-, 75-, and 120-day deadlines, with the stated goal of aligning programming with President Donald Trump's directive to "celebrate American exceptionalism" and remove "divisive or partisan narratives." The review follows Trump's March executive order reshaping the Smithsonian, which had already led to the resignation of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet and the cancellation of artist Amy Sherald's traveling exhibition after the museum allegedly sought to remove her painting of a non-binary transgender person.

Memorial Art Gallery admission will become free starting in 2027

The Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) in Rochester, New York, announced on May 13 that admission will become free for all visitors starting in 2027, eliminating its current $20 entry fee permanently. The museum, part of the University of Rochester, raised over $9 million through its "Free for All, Forever" campaign, surpassing its original target faster than expected. Key donations included a $1 million gift from Dr. Alexander A. Levitan and his wife Lucy K. Levitan, a $3 million donation from UR trustee Doug Bennett, his wife Abby, and the Sands Family Foundation, and $2 million from Mary Ellen Burris. Additional support came from anonymous donors, Kitty and Nick Jospé, and Sandy Hawks Lloyd and Justin Hawks Lloyd.

White House Bashes Smithsonian Museums, Exhibitions, as “Woke”

On August 21, the Trump administration published an unsigned article on the White House website attacking several Smithsonian museums and their exhibitions for promoting what it described as "woke" content. The article specifically called out the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and two planned institutions—the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women’s History Museum. It cited exhibitions and artworks addressing race, transgender identity, and immigration, including Amy Sherald’s painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which led the artist to cancel her solo show at the National Portrait Gallery after the museum sought to remove the work to avoid provoking Trump.

Yale University Art Gallery withdraws federal funding applications over anti-diversity regulations

The Yale University Art Gallery has withdrawn two federal grant applications submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for an upcoming exhibition on African art exploring the migration of Nguni peoples, scheduled for 2026. The gallery objected to new anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, which require that funded projects do not promote certain ideologies based on race or gender. The gallery will instead use Yale University's $46 billion endowment to cover the $200,000 exhibition costs. This follows a previous instance where the gallery opted out of NEA funding, and a separate $30,000 NEA grant for the exhibition "Nusantara: Six Centuries of Indonesian Textile" was rescinded, though that show will proceed with support from the Robert Lehman Endowment Fund.

Why ‘devastating’ climate control rules for museum collections need a rethink

Museums are rethinking decades-old climate control standards that dictate strict temperature and humidity ranges for preserving collections. These guidelines, originally based on 1970s research for paintings in London, have been widely adopted globally despite being designed for temperate climates. Conservator Caitlin Southwick of Ki Culture argues this is a "big misunderstanding," as the standards were never intended for diverse collections like stone in Brazil or tapestries in Italy. Climate control systems now account for 60-70% of a typical museum's energy consumption, creating high costs and carbon footprints.

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Eight preservation societies have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to halt a planned two-year closure and renovation of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The legal action alleges that the administration is bypassing federal historic preservation and environmental laws, as well as necessary Congressional approval, to fundamentally alter the modernist landmark. The suit specifically targets the administration's lack of transparency regarding the extent of the work, which plaintiffs fear could include demolition and reconstruction.

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Damascus University in Syria has begun strictly enforcing a 1974 ban on nude models in its fine arts departments—sculpture, painting, engraving, and printmaking—threatening students with a failing grade if they use nude figures. Fine arts dean Fouad Dahdouh issued the directive, citing ethical and societal values, despite being a practicing artist who himself has created artworks depicting nude figures. Students have pushed back, calling the policy a violation of academic freedom and organizing a peaceful protest.

Victoria & Albert Museum yields to Chinese censorship

Le Victoria & Albert Museum cède à la censure chinoise

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London removed a map and other content from its exhibition catalogues after its Chinese printer, C&C Offset Printing, flagged them as unacceptable to Chinese censors. The map, showing 1930s British Empire trade routes, was rejected by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) because it included Chinese territory and borders, requiring the use of state-approved maps. The museum also previously removed a map and a photograph of Vladimir Lenin from a 2021 Fabergé exhibition catalogue.

DHS Appropriates Japanese Artist’s Work in Racist X Post

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used a painting by Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai in a social media post without his permission. The agency cropped his 2017 untitled beach scene and overlaid it with the text "America After 100 Million Deportations," accompanied by a caption about national peace. Nagai, 78, expressed being "at a loss" and disappointed that a government agency would use his work to promote a political message he does not endorse.