DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish President Michael D. Higgins joined a virtual celebration of Van Morrison’s 75th birthday on Monday, namechecking U.S. civil rights champion John Lewis and author James Baldwin in a spoken-word rendition of one of the Northern Irishman... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Thieves stole a painting by Dutch Golden-Age master Frans Hals from a small museum near the Dutch city of Utrecht on Thursday, police said, the third time the canvas has been stolen. The artwork, valued at 15 million euros ($18 million) b... More »
(Reuters) – Thieves stole “Two Laughing Boys” by Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals from a small museum near the Dutch city of Utrecht, police said on Thursday. The painting, dating from 1626, has been stolen twice before in its four-century history, includin... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Two decades of Maya Husseini’s work to restore stained glass windows destroyed in the Lebanese civil war was lost in an instant in the seismic port explosion in Beirut. “I can say that in this blast, 20 years of my professional life was on t... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Raphael probably didn’t like his nose, and replaced it with an idealised version in his famous self-portrait. That is the conclusion of Rome University scientists who produced a 3D computer reconstruction of the Renaissance master’s face from ... More »
HAVANA (Reuters) – Havana was once dubbed the ‘Paris of the Caribbean’ for its beautiful architecture, vibrant arts scene, and flourishing nightlife. Now it even has its own Eiffel Tower. The illuminated four-meter (13-ft) high replica by Cuban blacksmith Jorg... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A flock of 20,000 multicoloured origami birds has been installed in a cathedral in Brussels, Belgium, as part of a fundraising artwork that has paid for two COVID-19 units at a local hospital. Suspended from the ceiling of the medieval Cat... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A 9-tonne sculpture of a giant swirl of whipped cream with a cherry on top, as well as a fly and a drone, was unveiled on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth in London on Thursday. The sculpture by Heather Phillipson, entitled “THE END”, is the... More »
VALLETTA (Reuters) – It is the only property outside of Britain that Queen Elizabeth called home. A crumbling villa near Malta’s capital, Valletta, where the heir to the English throne lived between 1949 and 1951, is about to get a new lease of life as a museu... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Stuck at home during lockdown, Dutch researcher Wouter van der Veen finally found time to look through old postcards of the French village where Vincent Van Gogh died and made a remarkable discovery. One postcard showing gnarled roots and tre... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Some of Japan’s best-known artists are finding new avenues of expression in areas such as online communication and the environment, as the novel coronavirus outbreak sparks ideas as radical as renaming the country’s “Reiwa” imperial era. Five... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway began tearing down a landmark building adorned with giant murals by Pablo Picasso on Monday as part of efforts to rebuild government headquarters after a deadly far-right bombing. Oslo’s ‘Y block’ office building, with a Picasso drawing... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Works by Rembrandt, Miro and Picasso are being offered to entice life back to the auction world next week when Sotheby’s holds its first face-to-face sale since the coronavirus in London with a line-up from the Renaissance to the European Av... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Italy on Tuesday handed back to France a mural painted by British street artist Banksy which was stolen from the Paris Bataclan theatre, where militant Islamist gunmen killed scores of people in an attack in November 2015. In June 2018, Banksy... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – UNESCO must be notified of any change in the status of Istanbul’s sixth-century Hagia Sophia museum and the changes may have to be reviewed by its World Heritage committee, the United Nation’s cultural body said on Thursday. Turkey’s top admi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – With Britain’s coronavirus lockdown eased, sculptor Anish Kapoor can finally exhibit his work at Houghton Hall, one of the country’s best-known stately homes. Kapoor’s exhibition of 24 sculptures was due go on show thoughout the grounds and ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Several dozen Paris tour guides wearing masks and holding Mona Lisa portraits protested outside the Louvre museum on Monday for more support from the government to help them ride out the coronavirus crisis and a dearth of tourists. They gathe... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in the arts and hopes to allow outdoor and socially distanced performances at cultural venues as it tries to help a high-profile sector hit hard by the coronavirus. Spanning theatres in London’s West End... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s Uffizi gallery said on Thursday it was planning to pick out nine of its masterpieces for a project to highlight the part that Black people and culture played in the Renaissance. Under the “Black Presence” initiative, images of works in... More »
KOBLENZ, Germany (Reuters) – Forty-nine faceless figures stand on the lawn outside a German courthouse, facing the windows of a courtroom behind which two suspected members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security services are standing trial for torture ... More »
KINSHASA (Reuters) – In central Kinshasa, freshly painted murals show traditional idols wearing medical masks or applying hand sanitiser, part of an art initiative to counter public disbelief in the face of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping Democratic Republic... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – A French artist has painted a large biodegradable fresco on the lawn of the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva, marking Friday’s 75th anniversary of its founding. Saype, who was born Guillaume Legros, created the “World In Progr... More »
JORDAN VALLEY, West Bank (Reuters) – Amid the barren hills of the Jordan Valley, Palestinian artist Khadeeja Bisharat paints scenes of bulldozers and demolitions, a reflection of fears of what may happen to her isolated Bedouin community if Israel annexes land... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – There won’t be any moshing going on, but entertainment company Live Nation Entertainment are rolling out a series of gigs across the UK where fans can be together to get their fix of live events from the safety of their own designated area. ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Boarded-up shops, a depressing sight for New Yorkers after looters infiltrated anti-racism marches in the city’s trendiest neighborhoods, are being transformed into canvases of hope with paintbrushes wielded by a small army of artists. The... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Filmmaker Ava DuVernay is urging writers, dancers, poets and other artists to help make the names of abusive police officers as well known as their victims. Media company ARRAY, founded by DuVernay, has launched the Law Enforcement Acco... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Many directors would have been devastated when their plans to show their first feature at the Cannes Film Festival were wrecked by the spread of COVID-19. But Lebanon’s Jimmy Keyrouz said he took heart from the themes of his movie “Broken Ke... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian artist Jozsef Szurcsik lost four of his friends in a matter of weeks to COVID-19 and the tremendous pain and grief he feels has transformed his art. Szurcsik, who teaches at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and is one of the... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Brussels added to its large collection of murals on Thursday with a newly commissioned work in memory of African-American George Floyd, whose killing by police has sparked global protests against racism and police violence. Belgian-Congole... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Days into nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, demonstrators began to fill a tall fence in front of the White House with posters, flowers, paintings and photos in honor of black men, women and children who have lost thei... More »
(Reuters) – Protests against racism triggered by the death of African American George Floyd have inspired art around the world, from murals in Syria and Pakistan to graffiti in Nairobi. At the Berlin Wall, a large portrait of Floyd is seen alongside yellow blo... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s culture minister has hailed a U.S. court ruling over a disputed ancient horse figurine as a major victory that may help Athens and others fighting to reclaim antiquities. Lina Mendoni said Tuesday’s ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Co... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Stuck at home with school suspended, Nguyen Doi Chung Anh made the most of a lockdown in Vietnam by using art to demonstrate tragedy, resilience and chaos in the world’s battle against the coronavirus. The work of 10-year-old Chung Anh shows ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Airways will sell at least 10 works of art that normally hang in its executive lounges, a source said, turning to pieces by famous artists like Damien Hirst to raise millions of pounds to help it through the coronavirus pandemic. The... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – A group of artists climbed ladders up one of the many blast walls snaking through the Afghan capital Kabul this week to paint a mural of George Floyd in solidarity with the anti-racism protests kindled by his death in police custody. Floyd, a... More »
ROME (Reuters) – A mural by secretive British street artist Banksy stolen from the Bataclan theater in Paris, where Islamist gunmen killed 90 people in 2015, has been found in a farmhouse in central Italy, police said on Thursday. The work, one of a series of ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A tiny statuette of a bird carved from burnt bone about 13,500 years ago reveals the origins of Chinese art, embodying a style different from prehistoric three-dimensional artwork by people in other parts of the world, researchers said o... More »
GRADISKA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who died in a helicopter crash in January, has been honored with a giant mural commissioned by sports enthusiasts and painted on the side of an elementary school building in northern Bosnia. “K... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Dancers from Britain’s Royal Ballet have made a short film in which they perform in London’s deserted streets to the sounds of The Rolling Stones, a project designed to highlight the plight of the arts during the global coronavirus pandemic.... More »
(Reuters) – A massive “Black Lives Matter” mural was painted in yellow letters on a street near the White House on Friday, ahead of expected large demonstrations on Saturday to protest racism and police brutality in the United States. The huge mural occupies t... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – An art gallery in Paris has sought inspiration in ancient China to help it enforce social distancing, by providing hats with winged extensions for visitors. The colourful papier-mâché hats are modelled on headgear from the Song dynasty, which... More »
GAZA (Reuters) – Every day Ammar Abu Shamalla adds a little colour to drab routine life in Gaza, loading up his camper van with pictures he displays and sells in the Palestinian territory’s streets and markets. He and wife Arwa, both jobless college graduates,... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – A Madrid flamenco bar that has played host to some of Spain’s top performers, including an early-career set from Grammy-award winner Rosalia, is shutting down as audiences dwindle in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. For nearly 40 years ... More »
WALENSTADT, Switzerland (Reuters) – Two Swiss conceptual artists are offering seven open air “hotel rooms” this summer across a “performance space” encompassing eastern Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Guests “perform”, without an audience, by spending the night... More »
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – If you’ve ever dreamed of being in the Sistine Chapel without feeling like you are craning your neck in a packed open-top tourist bus, now is your chance. The Vatican Museums re-opened to the public on Monday after being closed for nea... More »
BILBAO, Spain (Reuters) – Two dozen visitors queued to get their temperatures taken at the entrance to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum on Monday as it became the first of Spain’s major cultural centres to reopen its doors after a long lockdown due to the coronaviru... More »
ROME (Reuters) – An exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Renaissance artist Raphael will reopen on June 2 in Rome and its run extended until Aug.30, after it fell foul of the COVID-19 lockdown. The show at the Scuderie del Quirinale G... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian police on Monday charged a German student with breaking into a Sydney museum as security footage showed him allegedly taking selfies next to dinosaur exhibits. New South Wales (NSW) Police said that Paul Kuhn broke into the Austra... More »
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A new work by Chinese dissident artist Badiucao in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters shows the image of a lone man standing in the path of a tank taken on Tiananmen Square in 1989. But in Badiucao’s version of the photograph,... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A young boy chooses a nurse as the superhero he wants to play with over Batman and Spiderman in a new artwork by Banksy that encapsulates the gratitude Britons have felt toward the country’s National Health Service during the coronavirus cri... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Londoners locked out of galleries can find an alternative art fix on a wall under under some railway arches after street artist Lionel Stanhope painted a Caravaggio classic, updated for the coronavirus age. The Italian baroque master’s “Supp... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A grandiose mosaic depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials will not be put on display in a new military church after objections from the Kremlin leader, a church official said on Friday. Russia is building... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A London bus stop has been transformed into a children’s art gallery by a local resident who wanted to brighten the drudgery of lockdown life, creating a colourful community hub amid the anxiety and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. A hand... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Six dancers from the Dutch National Ballet headed out into the empty streets of Amsterdam this week to perform their parts in a piece of choreography inspired by the coronavirus lockdown. Each put on a solo performance out in the open, so... More »
NAIROBI (Reuters) – A six-foot image of a sad-eyed man, baseball cap askew and mask covering his nose and mouth is spray painted on a building in a Nairobi slum. Next to it are the words “Corona is real”. There are six other pieces of graffiti like it around M... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Banksy’s “Girl with a Pierced Eardrum” has been updated for the coronavirus era with the addition of a blue surgical face mask. The mural, a take on Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” but with a security alarm replac... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Wearing a dress she made of eight giant plastic inflatable roses over a wire structure and a headpiece crowned by a globe, Chinese performance artist Kong Ning is using fashion to draw attention to environmental protection on Earth Day. “Ro... More »
ZHELEZNOVODSK, Russia (Reuters) – When an art gallery in southern Russia closed its doors to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, one artist asked to self-isolate there rather than leave his place of work. Sergei Pronin had only just started work as an adm... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – From a bunch of radishes to a sleeping cat, Parisian Agnes Goyet has turned to her life indoors for inspiration as France’s coronavirus lockdown frees her up to pursue her hobby – art. Goyet, who normally works as a real estate manager, is am... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian life model Leigh Pitchford casually poses with a towel partly draped over his naked body, ready to be sketched by a group of art students in Sydney. Except, the class is empty, save for an art teacher and videographer. In an era o... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Street-artist Banksy has followed official advice to stay at home during the coronavirus crisis by creating a new artwork in his bathroom that shows his trademark stencilled rats running amok around the sink and toilet. The elusive artist po... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian brothers Nikita and Egor Zigura work on their sculpture of a giant fingerprint as art enthusiasts look on via a live-streaming internet link and make bids for the developing work. The online auction is part of a new “Stay Art Home” s... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – While making blinis one morning in self-isolation, Natalia Goroshko noticed one in her pan had taken the floppy form of one of Salvador Dali’s melting clocks. The 31-year-old Belarusian living in Texas placed three blinis in her kitchen to m... More »
DAKAR (Reuters) – The mural stretched over 10 metres of wall in Senegal’s seaside capital Dakar shows a giant pair of hands reaching out for sanitiser, and a woman in hoop earrings and a facemask colored blue, red, gold and green. It is the work of RBS CREW, a... More »
LAREN, Netherlands (Reuters) – Thieves stole a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh early on Monday from the Netherlands’ Singer Laren Museum, which is currently closed to the public because of the coronavirus. The painting “Lentetuin”, or “Spring Garden,... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge cabaret, the Louvre museum and the Eiffel Tower were among top tourism landmarks that closed their doors on Friday after the government banned gatherings of more than 100 people to curb the spread of coronavirus. The... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A series of six paintings by the Venetian master Titian, commissioned by King Philip II of Spain and inspired by the works of the Roman poet Ovid, have been reunited for the first time in four centuries in an exhibition at London’s National ... More »
HAVANA (Reuters) – Dozens of renowned Cuban artists from across the political spectrum are calling for the release of dissident artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara who was arrested 10 days ago, decrying this as an outdated act of censorship. The 32... More »
HARARE (Reuters) – When Dominic Benhura started creating traditional Zimbabwean stone sculptures as a teenager four decades ago, he never imagined that art would bring him fame or fortune. Born to a peasant family in 1968 in Murewa, 90 kilometers northeast of ... More »
ROME (Reuters) – An exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Renaissance artist Raphael opens in Rome this week but the show risks being overshadowed by the coronavirus outbreak sweeping Italy. The Scuderie del Quirinale gallery has sold ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The Louvre museum in Paris shut its doors to art lovers and tourists for a second day on Monday as management held talks with workers over the risks associated with coronavirus. Queues quickly formed in the rain outside the world’s most visit... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s government appointed a new director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews on Thursday, as the ruling nationalists face accusations of politicizing museums to reflect their view of history. POLIN, which opened its main ex... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A French street artist’s interpretation of the Mona Lisa made of 330 Rubik’s Cubes sold for 480,200 euros ($520,680) on Sunday at a modern art auction in Paris, well above presale estimates of up to 150,000 euros, organizers Artcurial said. T... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece distanced itself on Wednesday from suggestions that it planned to drag a centuries-old dispute over the return of the Parthenon marbles into Brexit negotiations. Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Athens would keep up its campai... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Russian artist unveiled four giant paintings of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in central Istanbul on Saturday, saying he wanted to show the good ties between Ankara and Moscow despite differences over Syria and other issues. However ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Residents of a luxury London block who were trying to stop visitors to the neighboring Tate Modern art gallery from peering into their glass-walled apartments lost their case in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. The dispute began in 2016 whe... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – David Hockney’s Los Angeles pool painting “The Splash” fetched 23.1 million pounds ($29.9 million) at a sale on London on Tuesday, auctioneers Sotheby’s said, compared with a pre-sale estimate of 20 to 30 million pounds. The 1966 work is a s... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean social media erupted in celebration on Monday after the dark comedy “Parasite” became the first non-English language movie to win the Best Picture award, already having netted three other Oscars in a historic first for the countr... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A lost portrait of Charles Dickens and 25 of his unpublished letters will go on display for the first time after a major acquisition from a private collector. The Charles Dickens museum in London has bought a huge collection of objects belon... More »
KAJIADO, Kenya (Reuters) – Two life-size lions crafted from scrap metal guard the entrance to the studio of Kenyan metal sculptor Kioko Mwitiki. Nearby a leopard, with holes in its metal body to mimic spots, crouches next to a giant elephant sculpture. Mwitiki... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – International art organization Art Basel on Friday announced the cancellation of its high-profile Hong Kong annual show next month as the city grapples with the coronavirus outbreak. The fair had been due to take place from March 19 to 21... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – The 29th edition of the Varna International Ballet Competition, the oldest ballet competition in the world, has been postponed due to insufficient financial support, organisers said on Thursday. A new date for the outdoor event, known in the ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – An image of the Mona Lisa made of 330 Rubik’s Cubes is going on sale in Paris, just down the road from Leonardo da Vinci’s original. The 2005 work by French urban artist Invader is expected to fetch up to 150,000 euros ($165,000) at the moder... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Tamara de Lempicka’s “Portrait de Marjorie Ferry” is expected to fetch up to 12 million pounds ($16 million) when it comes up for auction in London next week. The painting was commissioned in 1932 by the husband of British-born cabaret star ... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece will step up its campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from Britain and expects to win more support from European peers as Brexit sees British influence wane, the Greek culture minister said. Since independence in 1832, Gre... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Thieves stole bronze sculptures and etchings by surrealist artist Salvador Dali from a gallery in Stockholm in a smash and grab raid in the early hours of Thursday. The Couleur gallery, in Stockholm’s upmarket Ostermalm district, was hold... More »
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria (Reuters) – Stamen Karamfilov bends low over a canvas, adding the finishing touches to a woodland landscape – no mean feat considering the Bulgarian artist is almost totally blind. He initially gave up all hope of painting again when he sudde... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany on Wednesday returned three art works to a descendant of a Jewish French collector who owned them until his death in 1941 in Nazi-occupied France. Two of the pictures came from a trove of works held by Cornelius Gurlitt, which was di... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A rare Vincent van Gogh self-portrait, which had been contested as a forgery for decades, is a genuine work by the Dutch master, researchers have concluded after six years of study. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said on Monday that it ... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Authorities in the Italian town of Piacenza on Friday confirmed a painting found hidden in a wall of the local art gallery was by the Austrian master Gustav Klimt, ending doubts over its authenticity. Workers discovered the painting in Decembe... More »
DAKAR (Reuters) – Five towering wooden figures dwarf visitors to the “Lend Me Your Dream” exhibition at Dakar’s Museum of Black Civilisations. The sculptures of fire-darkened cedar stand in a circle, as if deep in conversation. The imposing work by Ivorian art... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – An 83-year-old former Spanish bank chairman was fined 52 million euros ($58 million) on Thursday after being convicted of smuggling a Pablo Picasso painting abroad after it was designated a national treasure. Jaime Botin, 83, ex-chairman of ... More »
(Reuters Health) – Older people who frequent art galleries and museums, attend the theater and concerts may live longer than those who don’t, a study in England suggests. Even after accounting for a wide range of other health and social factors, researchers fr... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British police have charged a man with criminal damage after a painting, reported by the BBC to have been by Spanish master Pablo Picasso, was attacked at a London gallery over the weekend. The incident happened on Saturday at the Tate Moder... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Ballerinas in white tutus danced scenes from Swan Lake on the forecourt of the Paris Opera on Tuesday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to scrap their special pension benefits. Backed by musicians from the Paris Symphony Or... More »
GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) – With a voice known to millions of Indian movie goers, Zubeen Garg crooned one of his old songs with patriotic fervor, but he is protesting against the government, not singing its praises. Like many people from India’s northeastern s... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Artist Simone Fugazzotto defended on Tuesday a widely criticized anti-racism campaign launched by Italy’s Serie A soccer league which features his paintings of apes. Racism has long plagued Italian soccer, with black players frequently target... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – At first glance the works of Singaporean artist Qixuan Lim have a familiar, edible appearance. But upon a closer look at the sardine tin – and it’s packed with tiny human hearts made of clay, cherubic arms and legs or other human body par... More »
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – They could be called the Vatican’s vampire prints – works by masters such as Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch and Salvador Dali so delicate that they usually lie dormant for years in dark storage in its museums. Now, 150 etchings, woodcuts,... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A cave painting found on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi, depicting human-like figures hunting animals, appears to be the earliest known pictorial record of story-telling, according to a study by a team of Australian and Indonesian researche... More »
