The Week in Art
by The Art Newspaper
Latest episode
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Lagos Biennial, Constantin Meunier
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Lagos Biennial, Constantin Meunier
About this podcast
From breaking news and insider insights to exhibitions and events around the world, the team at The Art Newspaper picks apart the art world's big stories with the help of special guests. An award-winning podcast hosted by Ben Luke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 399 episodes
- Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Lagos Biennial, Constantin Meunier · 58 minAs Tate Britain opens Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury, a major show exploring these pivotal figures in British Modernism in a new light, Ben Luke visits the show…
- Sydney Powerhouse scandal, heritage destruction in Lebanon, Dan Flavin · 1 h 0 minThis weekend, Powerhouse Parramatta, a vast new arts and technology museum, opens in Sydney, Australia. But its unveiling is shrouded in allegations of misconduct relating to the…
- Edward Hopper biography, Kvareli Foundation in Georgia, Marisa Merz in Turin · 1 h 6 minAs a biography of Edward Hopper is published, containing a wealth of new material, Ben Luke speaks to its author Louis Shadwick about his quest to find the truth behind the…
- Art Basel Paris opens and closes amid protests, Latin American culture wars, a Chinese celestial map · 1 h 6 minAs protests engulf Paris, the Art Basel fair opened this week in the French capital and then it was announced that the fair would conclude on Friday, and not open as scheduled…
- Frieze in London, Tarek Atoui at Tate Modern, Sienese sculptor Francesco di Giorgio · 1 h 1 minIt’s Frieze week in London, and as usual we take the opportunity to take the temperature of the market in London, and more widely, at the fair. Joining Ben Luke in the tent in…
- Palestinian artists after the ceasefire, Robert Ryman, Katherine Hubbard · 1 h 14 minSaturday, 10 October, marks the first anniversary of the ceasefire in Gaza. It has not put an end to the bloodshed, with figures released in August by the United Nations Human…
- Renoir and Love in London, political storm around Kanal in Brussels, Ronald Moody · 54 minThe French painter Auguste Renoir continues to divide critical opinion, something acknowledged by the curators of the new exhibition, Renoir and Love, at the National Gallery in…
- Cezanne in Paris, Taryn Simon in New York, Magritte in London · 1 h 3 minAt the Grand Palais in Paris a new exhibition explores Paul Cezanne’s influence on artists from his own time to now. In Paris, Ben Luke speaks to Xavier Rey, the director of the…
- Giotto restored in Florence, Biennale de Lyon, Remedios Varo · 1 h 11 minAfter a four-year restoration, the Bardi Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, in which Giotto depicted scenes from the life of St Francis of Assisi in the early…
- The Bayeux Tapestry, damaged heritage in Iran, Tschabalala Self’s Trafalgar Square sculpture · 46 minIt is one of the museum events of the century so far: the Bayeux Tapestry has been lent from its dedicated museum in Bayeux in Normandy, France, to an exhibition at the British…
- What did you miss? Summer art world news and what’s coming up · 1 h 9 minIn this first episode of the autumn season, we are focusing on the news you might have missed in a busy couple of months in the art world in July and August. The Art Newspaper’s…
- Frida Kahlo at Tate Modern, the Brexit effect, a Renaissance tarot deck · 1 h 2 minThis last episode of the current season begins with Frida Kahlo. Tate Modern in London this week opened Frida: The Making of an Icon, an exhibition that began at the Museum of…
- Art Basel in Basel, Pierre Huyghe interview, James Turrell · 1 h 8 minKabir Jhala, The Art Newspaper’s art market editor, joins Ben Luke to discuss this year’s Art Basel, the big sales and the wider mood music. Pierre Huyghe has an exhibition at…
- Pan-Africanism in London, the health benefits of art, Barbara Hepworth · 58 minThe exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica began its life at the Art Institute of Chicago before travelling to Museu d’art contemporani de Barcelona…
- Yemen heritage, US flags at the National Gallery in Washington, Felix Gonzalez-Torres · 45 minAfter years of civil war and continuity violence, Yemen’s heritage has suffered hugely, with buildings damaged across the country and antiquities looted. Yet across the country…
- Smithsonian Women’s Museum chaos, Oliver Beer and Rufus Wainwright, Jasper Johns in Bilbao · 52 minThe Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. has faced unprecedented scrutiny and government interference since President Trump came to power. Now, its long cherished plans…
- New York auctions, James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain, Edvard Munch · 1 h 14 minThis season’s much anticipated auctions in New York have brought some records and eye-popping prices, including for works by Jackson Pollock, Constantin Brancusi and Mark Rothko…
- Frieze New York, the Cranach in Hitler’s Munich apartment, Ajamu X · 51 minThe latest edition of Frieze New York is open now and we hear all about this year’s fair from The Art Newspaper’s editor-in-chief in the Americas, Ben Sutton, and our art market…
- Venice Biennale Special 2026 · 1 h 56 minIt’s Venice Biennale opening week and so, as ever, this episode is our Venice special. The Biennale comprises many aspects: an international exhibition that this year features…
- Zurbarán in London, the Carnegie International, Walter Sickert’s Ennui · 1 h 5 minThe largest career survey of the great 17th-century Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán since the 1980s opens this weekend at the National Gallery in London. It presents a more…
- Chernobyl 40 years on, Paula Rego at Munch in Oslo, Gluck’s flower painting · 57 minThis Sunday, 26 April, marks the 40th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Soviet Ukraine. It is the most serious disaster ever to occur in the nuclear…
- Museum openings: V&A East and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plus, William Blake in Dublin · 1 h 0 minTwo museum openings feature on this week’s podcast—V&A East in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In our 300th episode in 2024, Gus Casely Hayford, the director of…
- Marcel Duchamp at MoMA, Dorothea Tanning book, Leonora Carrington at the Freud Museum, London · 1 h 12 minThree artists who in different ways connect to the Surrealist movement are the subject of this week’s podcast. At the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the first major US survey…
- Should English museums charge tourists? Plus, Raphael at the Met and Senga Nengudi at the Whitechapel Gallery · 1 h 8 minThe UK government last week issued a response to a report ostensibly exploring the future of the funding body Arts Council England but containing an idea that has prompted much…
- Matisse’s explosive finale and a new chapter for Hong Kong? Plus, Schiaparelli and Dalí · 54 minThe Grand Palais in Paris this week unveiled an enormous exhibition focusing on the final 13 years of Henri Matisse’s life and work, a project conceived by the Centre Pompidou…
- New Museum extension opens, NextGen collectors, a Wardian Case in Oxford · 59 minThe New Museum in New York opens its new extension, designed by Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas of the architectural practice OMA, this week. Ben Luke talks to Massimiliano…
- Iran war: art communities and heritage in Iran, moderate recovery in the art market, Cannupa Hanska Luger at the Sydney Biennale · 53 minAs the war in the Middle East continues to rage, Ben Luke speaks to The Art Newspaper’s reporter on Iran and other countries in the region, Sarvy Geranpayeh, about the response…
- Iran war and culture in the Gulf, the Whitney Biennial, Rembrandt discovery · 55 minAs the war against Iran instigated last week by Israel and the United States continues to spread through the Middle East, we explore how it affects tourism in the Arabian Gulf…
- Venice Biennale details revealed, Beatriz González, Tracey Emin · 1 h 8 minFollowing the tragic death of Koyo Kouoh last May, the details of her final project—In Minor Keys, the international exhibition of the 2026 Venice Biennale—were unveiled this…
- National Gallery’s deficit bombshell, Simon Schama on birds and art, Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1 h 2 minAfter opening a major building project in May last year and announcing the details of another in September, which is due to open in the early 2030s, the National Gallery in…
- The US struggles with history, Stephen Friedman Gallery closes, Tudor Heart pendant acquired by the British Museum · 52 minOn 4 July 2026 the US will mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the nation’s founding document. But huge divisions in US society and culture are…
- Art Basel Qatar, Dürer portrait debate, Paula Modersohn-Becker and Edvard Munch · 56 minThe first Art Basel Qatar art fair is now open in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and The Art Newspaper’s art market editor, Kabir Jhala, joins Ben Luke to discuss its impact, as well as…
- Venice Biennale: South African pavilion scandal, Marian Goodman remembered, Paul Cezanne in Basel · 57 minThe South African culture minister, the right-wing populist Gayton McKenzie, is attempting to cancel the project for South Africa’s pavilion at the forthcoming Venice Biennale…
- Smithsonian’s African LGBTQ+ exhibition, art and the Iran crisis, Louise Nevelson at the Pompidou Metz · 1 h 7 minThe Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. this week opens Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art, a new exhibition focusing on LGBTQ+ artists from…
- Hawai’i at the British Museum, a Venice palazzo for sale, Joseph Beuys’s Bathtub · 1 h 8 minAs the British Museum opens Hawaiʻi: a kingdom crossing oceans, Ben Luke takes a tour of the exhibition with the museum’s head of Oceania, Alice Christophe. We also hear about…
- The Year Ahead 2026: the big shows and the key openings · 1 h 12 minIt is the first episode of 2026. So we look ahead at the next 12 months with a guide to big museum openings, biennials and exhibitions. Ben Luke is joined by Jane Morris…
- 2025: our review of the year · 1 h 20 minAs always, the final episode of The Week in Art of the year is a review of the past 12 months. To look at the top stories, the big issues and the best art in 2025, host Ben Luke…
- Frank Gehry remembered, Serpentine and FLAG Art Foundation prize, Joan Semmel · 57 minFrank Gehry, the architect behind the Guggenheim Bilbao, Geffen Contemporary at MoCA, Los Angeles, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, among other museums and art spaces…
- Art Basel Miami Beach, Louvre crisis deepens, Helene Schjerfbeck · 53 minThe Art Newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Americas, Ben Sutton, and art market editor, Kabir Jhala, are in Miami Beach for Art Basel’s latest edition and discuss the top sales and the…
- The US Venice Biennale saga, Queer Islamic art in Oslo, Duane Linklater in Ottawa · 56 minAfter a delayed application process and an aborted initial commission, the US has at last appointed its artist for next year’s Venice Biennale: the Utah-born, Mexico-based artist…
- The $236m Klimt, Cop 30 and the art world, Caravaggio’s Victorious Cupid · 49 minGustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914-16) sold for the second highest price ever realised at auction at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday. It was the most notable of…
- Studio Museum in Harlem, Grand Egyptian Museum, Stanley Spencer · 1 h 8 minStudio Museum in Harlem, Grand Egyptian Museum, Stanley Spencer As the Studio Museum in Harlem opens in its first ever purpose-built space, a new building by the architects…
- MFA Boston returns enslaved artist’s work to his heirs, Wifredo Lam, Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Magi · 1 h 9 minThe Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, US, has agreed to return two works from 1857 by the enslaved 19th-century potter David Drake to his present-day descendants. By the terms…
- Gauguin “fake” is real, Mrinalini Mukherjee and her circle, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s head piece · 59 minThe authenticity of the final self-portrait by Paul Gauguin, made in 1903 and housed in the Kunstmuseum in Basel, was earlier this year called into question. Now, the museum has…
- Louvre heist: the fallout, RoseLee Goldberg on the Performa Biennial, Wayne McGregor on his new installation · 1 h 15 minIt is an event that has shocked the world and prompted a national reckoning in France: the robbery of eight jewels from the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre last Sunday. Ben Luke…
- Frieze in London, Hypha Studios and Renoir’s drawing for The Great Bathers · 55 minAmid much debate about the health of the art market, Frieze is back in London, with its two fairs, Frieze London and Frieze Masters. Ben Luke talks to The Art Newspaper’s art…
- Nigerian Modernism, Tehran’s art scene after the war, Wayne Thiebaud’s Cakes · 1 h 5 minTate Modern continues to explore the histories of Modern art beyond the European and North American canons that were once its focus. This week it opened the exhibition Nigerian…
- Who made ancient Egyptian art? Plus, Michaelina Wautier, Robert Rauschenberg’s Bed · 1 h 13 minA new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK, called Made in Ancient Egypt, reveals untold stories of the people behind a host of remarkable objects, and the…
- Museums and ethics, Fra Angelico in Florence, Cornelia Parker’s PsychoBarn · 1 h 8 minThe Art Newspaper’s chief contributing editor, Gareth Harris, has just published a new book, Towards the Ethical Art Museum, which explores a range of issues affecting museums in…
- Kerry James Marshall, National Gallery expansion, Picasso’s Three Dancers · 1 h 26 minKerry James Marshall: The Histories at the Royal Academy of Arts in London is the largest ever European retrospective of the work of the US artist and has been greeted with…
