Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Jan 27, 2026 visibility 27 link 13 artists

london courtauld new contemporary art galleries blavatnik

London’s Courtauld Gallery will open two new contemporary art galleries at its Somerset House campus, funded by a £10 million ($13.8 million) gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The top-floor spaces, originally built as a display area for the Royal Society in the 18th century, are expected to debut in 2029. The donation brings the foundation’s total support for the Courtauld to £20 million ($27.5 million), following earlier backing for the museum’s 2021 renovation. The new galleries will be programmed in part by students in the Courtauld’s curating master’s program and will host exhibitions connecting historical and contemporary art.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 19 link 15 artists

william dobson acquisition

A rare self-portrait by 17th-century British painter William Dobson has been jointly acquired by London's Tate and the National Portrait Gallery for £2.37 million ($3.2 million), setting a new record for the artist. The painting, considered the first known self-portrait by a British-born painter, was created in the late 1630s and last sold at Bonhams London in 2016 for just over £1.1 million. It will go on view in London before embarking on a national tour in 2026.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

blenheim palace restoration graffiti

Conservators at Blenheim Palace in the U.K. have discovered a mysterious dossier of names and phrases scratched into the ceilings of the Great Hall and Saloon by past workers, dating back to the 19th century. The graffiti was found during a £12 million ($15.9 million) restoration project led by OPUS Conservation, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Blenheim Foundation, which is also repairing paintings by Baroque artists James Thornhill and Louis Laguerre. The palace is now asking the public for help identifying the individuals behind the markings, which include names like "W Smith 1888" and "T Harwood Plasterer 1843."

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Aug 19, 2025 visibility 24 link 14 artists

barbara hepworth sculpture uk national collection

The Hepworth Wakefield and Art Fund have successfully raised £3.8 million to acquire Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture *Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red* (1943). The wood and string artwork, previously in private hands and rarely seen publicly, was sold at Christie’s in London last March for £3.5 million. A temporary export bar imposed by the UK government gave the museum time to raise funds, with the deadline set for August 27. The funding came from over 2,800 donations and major grants, including £1.89 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £750,000 from the Art Fund, along with private support.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Apr 1, 2026 source 3 sources visibility 22 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

Charity Art UK digitises nearly 7,000 murals across country

Charity Art UK has completed a major digitisation project, recording nearly 7,000 murals and street artworks across the UK. The Murals Digitisation and Engagement Programme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, created an online database of over 21,000 public artworks, capturing everything from medieval church paintings to contemporary 2025 murals, with the help of a network of 90 volunteers.

newspaper The Art Newspaper Also: Colossal, The Guardian open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 16 link 5 artists

Museum Moves 1 – 7 May 2026

Tate has appointed Daisy Desrosiers as its Britton Family Curator at Large, North America, based in the US, focusing on developing North American art in Tate’s collection through research and acquisitions. Meanwhile, Lycia Lobo, chief operating officer at the Design Museum, has been confirmed as chair of the board of trustees of Chiswick House & Gardens Trust. Several new exhibitions are opening across UK museums, including 'Colour' at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter, 'Aleksandra Kasuba: Shelters for the Senses' at Tate St Ives, 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, and 'Helios' by Luke Jerram at National Museum Cardiff. Additionally, the Museum of Archaeology at Palace Green Library has received a £217,844 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for gallery redevelopment.

newspaper Museums + Heritage open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 26 link 7 artists

Art Fund launches UK-wide touring programme

Art Fund has launched a UK-wide touring programme called Going Places, backed by £5.36 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Julia Rausing Trust. The first exhibition, *Making Her Mark: A Celebration of Women in Art*, opened at Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance, featuring over 60 works from three museum collections alongside community responses. It will travel to Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum and Kirkcaldy Gallery through 2027. The programme plans 12 major touring shows over five years, with six already scheduled, including exhibitions on green spaces, journeys, radical living, art and nature, and community making.

newspaper Museums Association open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 16, 2026 visibility 19 link 2 artists

First Constable 250 exhibition to open this month at Christchurch Mansion

Ipswich Borough Council has announced a major year-long celebration marking the 250th anniversary of John Constable's birth, centered at Christchurch Mansion. The program launches on March 28 with 'Constable: A Cast of Characters,' an exhibition featuring over 100 artworks and personal artifacts—including the artist's paint box and his wife's wedding ring—that explore the social circle and patrons who influenced his career. The celebration will culminate in the historic return of 'The Hay Wain' to Suffolk in July 2026, marking the first time the masterpiece will be exhibited in the county it depicts.

newspaper ipswich.gov.uk open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 14, 2025 visibility 14 link 1 artist

‘The Hay Wain’ to go on show in Constable's home county for the first time

John Constable's iconic painting *The Hay Wain* (1821) will be exhibited in Suffolk, the artist's home county, for the first time in 2026 as part of the 250th anniversary of his birth. The work, on loan from the National Gallery in London, will be shown at Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich from 11 July to 4 October 2026, within the exhibition *Constable: Walking the Landscape*. It will be reunited with preparatory sketches from the Ipswich collection and accompanied by loans from the Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the National Galleries of Scotland. Two additional exhibitions at Christchurch Mansion—*Constable: A Cast of Characters* and *Constable to Contemporary*—also form part of the broader Constable 250 project, which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and supported by the Weston Loan Programme.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Jul 21, 2025 visibility 20 link 8 artists

Bill Viola’s complete moving-image works and a William Dobson self-portrait: the latest museum acquisitions

Tate and the National Portrait Gallery in London have jointly acquired William Dobson's rare self-portrait (circa 1635-40) for £2.4 million, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The painting will debut at Tate Britain in November before touring the UK. Separately, the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, will digitize the complete moving-image works of Bill Viola, following a donation of over 200 works by the Viola-Perov Trust. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has acquired a monumental Tiffany Studios stained-glass window by Agnes F. Northrop, originally installed in a San Antonio chapel, for its campus expansion opening in 2026.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 20, 2025 visibility 9

great baddow iron age coin hoard chelmsford museum

The Great Baddow Hoard, the largest recorded collection of ancient gold coins in the U.K., has been acquired by the Museum of Chelmsford five years after its discovery. Unearthed by metal detectorist Shane Wood on private land in Great Baddow, Essex, the hoard comprises 933 gold coins and fragments dating to 60–20 B.C.E. The museum secured the £300,050 ($400,590) trove with major funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and smaller contributions from other organizations. Wood was convicted in 2021 for failing to declare the treasure under the Treasure Act 1996, and the reward was paid to the landowner instead.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Mar 11, 2026 visibility 17 link 2 artists

Snuffboxes stolen in Paris daylight robbery to go on display at V&A

Five 18th-century gold snuffboxes recovered after a violent daylight robbery in Paris are set to go on public display at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The objects were stolen in November 2024 from the Musée Cognacq-Jay during a high-profile heist that targeted pieces from the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, the Louvre, and the UK Royal Collection. Following an extensive police investigation and delicate restoration work by Parisian goldsmiths to repair damage sustained during the theft, the items will headline the opening of the V&A’s newly revamped Gilbert Galleries.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 6, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

Victoria & Albert Museum to expand Gilbert Galleries to explore looting and provenance

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London will revamp its Gilbert Galleries, dedicated to the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, expanding from four to seven galleries. Set to open in March, the redesigned space by Citizens Design Bureau will include a new room focused on Nazi and Soviet looting and provenance research. Highlights include 200 gold boxes, micro-mosaics, and two silver-gilt gates looted from Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery after the Russian Revolution, acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1935. The expansion is part of the V&A’s Future Plan development programme, funded by the Gilbert Trust for the Arts and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 3, 2026 visibility 15 link 5 artists

Nasce a Londra il Quentin Blake Centre: spazio creativo dedicato al disegno e all’illustrazione

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will open in May 2026 in London's Clerkenwell district, housed in the historic New River Head waterworks complex after a £12.5 million restoration led by Tim Ronalds Architects. The centre will preserve Sir Quentin Blake's archive of over 40,000 works and feature a library, public gardens, creative labs, and three inaugural exhibitions: "Quentin Blake: Performance," "Queer as Comics" celebrating LGBTQIA+ comics, and "MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like…" by British-Sri Lankan illustrator Murugiah.

newspaper Artribune open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Feb 6, 2026 visibility 13 link 1 gallery

Open Call for Contemporary Art Commissions for the V&A South Kensington's new South Asia Gallery

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has issued an open call for contemporary artists and designers to create new carved wooden panels for a 19th-century coffered ceiling from a temple in Kochi, South India, which will be the centerpiece of its redesigned South Asia Gallery at South Kensington. The ceiling, measuring 6 by 1.7 meters and originally comprising 45 panels, has been in storage for over 70 years; more than half of its panels are missing. The commission invites applicants to replace the lost panels with sensitivity to the original materials, design, and craftsmanship, integrating them into the restored structure. Expressions of interest are due by 28 February 2026.

newspaper Victoria and Albert Museum open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 1, 2025 visibility 10

Opening date announced for major Birmingham attraction

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery will reopen its history galleries to the public on Friday, May 2, 2025, after a five-year closure that began during the pandemic. The 850-square-meter refurbished exhibition chronicles Birmingham's history from medieval times to the present day, featuring unique objects and installations. The phased reopening of the museum began in October 2024, and the history galleries were developed with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

newspaper Birmingham Live open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 15 link 1 artist

Landmark £5.36m UK touring art exhibition to conclude in Edinburgh

A landmark £5.36 million UK touring art exhibition, "Earthly Paradise: Radical Living in the UK," part of the Going Places scheme coordinated by Art Fund, will conclude at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh from March to September 2028. The exhibition is one of several initiatives under Going Places, which also includes "Making Her Mark: A Celebration of Women in Art" launching April 30, 2026 at Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance, touring to Kirkcaldy Galleries in 2027, and "Communities of Making" at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery exploring Scottish wool traditions, plus "New Faces New Focus" at Aberdeenshire Farming Museum.

newspaper Yahoo News UK open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Dec 27, 2025 visibility 21 link 1 gallery

Closure of Side gallery quayside space in Newcastle sparks social media backlash

Side gallery, a historic venue in Newcastle that has showcased documentary photography and film since 1977, will not reopen at its Quayside location after closing in 2023 due to lost revenue funding from the Arts Council of England (ACE). Managing director Laura Laffler of Amber Film & Photography, which runs the gallery, announced the decision after exhausting all avenues for continued funding, including a failed £1.3 million National Lottery Heritage Fund bid and the collapse of ACE's Grantium platform. The closure has sparked backlash on social media, with some donors to the 2023 #SaveSide crowdfund—which raised £67,278—feeling misled about the funds' purpose.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original