The Week in Art

Matisse’s explosive finale and a new chapter for Hong Kong? Plus, Schiaparelli and Dalí

The 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. The show includes abundant examples of the celebrated gouache cut-outs, his works for the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, and his final paintings, drawings, and illustrated books, among much else. Ben Luke interviews the exhibition’s curator, the Centre Pompidou’s Claudine Grammont, in Paris. The latest edition of Art Basel Hong Kong opened this week amid much uncertainty about the Hong Kong art world after a prolonged downturn in the Chinese economy. Yet, some commentators are suggesting that Hong Kong has turned a corner. The Art Newspaper’s chief contributing editor, Gareth Harris, has been in Hong Kong this week and tells us what he discovered. And for this episode’s Work of the Week, we focus on a related painting and dress. The painting is Salvador Dalí’s Necrophiliac Spring (1936), which was owned by the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli; the dress is the Tears Dress with Veil, from Schiaparelli’s Circus Collection of 1938, made with a fabric designed by Dalí. The painting and the garment are in Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which opens this weekend, and Ben talks to Rosalind McKeever, one of the three curators of the exhibition, about the pairing. Matisse 1941-1954, Grand Palais, Paris, until 26 July. You can read more on the show, and get the full details on a wealth of Matisse shows opening in various museums and galleries in 2026, on the website or app. Art Basel Hong Kong continues until Sunday, 29 March. Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 28 March-8 November ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

New Museum extension opens, NextGen collectors, a Wardian Case in Oxford

The 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 Gioni, the New Museum’s artistic director, and the co-curator of the inaugural exhibition in the new building, called New Humans: Memories of the Future. We then speak to one of The Art Newspaper’s editors-at-large, Georgina Adam, who has just published a new book NextGen Collectors and the Art Market. And this episode’s Work of the Week is an example of a Wardian Case, a wooden box with a glass cover developed by the physician Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in the early 1830s. This example is part of the exhibition In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Ben speaks to Shailendra Bhandare, co-curator of the exhibition. The New Museum and New Humans: Memories of the Future open on 21 March. NextGen Collectors and the Art Market, by Georgina Adam, Lund Humphries, £19.99 In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 19 March-16 August ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Iran war: art communities and heritage in Iran, moderate recovery in the art market, Cannupa Hanska Luger at the Sydney Biennale

As 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 of cultural communities in Iran and Lebanon, and the damage to heritage in both countries. The latest edition of the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report has been published and shows that the market has returned to growth. But the details show a more complicated story, which Ben explores with the writer of the report, Clare McAndrew. And this episode’s Work of the Week is VOLUME (III – White Bay Power Station, Australia) a new work by the Indigenous American artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. This sculpture and sound installation featuring seven ceramic dingo skulls is part of the latest edition of the Sydney Biennale in Australia, and has gained an unintended topicality due to a recent tragedy involving the death of a backpacker in Queensland. Ben speaks to our reporter in Australia, Elizabeth Fortescue, about the work and the wider context. Rememory: the 25th Biennale of Sydney, 14 March-14 June Save up to 50% on The Art Newspaper’s annual print and digital package with a new limited-time offer. Subscribe by 19 March to receive the April edition including our annual Visitor Figures guide and a special report on EXPO Chicago. In May, don’t miss our Venice Biennale Guide and map to must-see exhibitions and pavilions. www.theartnewspaper.com/subscriptions-MARCH50?promocode=MARCH50&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=MARCH50 [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/subscriptions-MARCH50?promocode=MARCH50&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=MARCH50] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Iran war and culture in the Gulf, the Whitney Biennial, Rembrandt discovery

As 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, of which art and culture more generally have been a cornerstone. One of The Art Newspaper’s Middle East correspondents, Melissa Gronlund, joins Ben Luke to discuss the latest news. The 82nd biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York opens this weekend and our editor-in-chief in the Americas, Ben Sutton, and Elena Goukassian, our senior editor of museums and heritage, tell us what they thought of it. And this episode’s Work of the Week is the Vision of Zacharias in the Temple (1633) by Rembrandt. Researchers at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam have demonstrated that the painting, which had previously been documented as a copy of a lost original, is in fact an authentic work by the Dutch master. We speak to Jonathan Bikker, curator of 17th-century Dutch paintings, who was part of the team that secured the attribution to Rembrandt. The picture is now on view to the public at the Rijksmuseum. Whitney Biennial 2026, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 8 March-23 August Rembrandt’s The Vision of Zacharias in the Temple is now on view at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Save up to 50% on The Art Newspaper’s annual print and digital package with a new limited-time offer. Subscribe by 19 March to receive the April edition including our annual Visitor Figures guide and a special report on EXPO Chicago. In May, don’t miss our Venice Biennale Guide and map to must-see exhibitions and pavilions. www.theartnewspaper.com/subscriptions-MARCH50?promocode=MARCH50&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=MARCH50 [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/subscriptions-MARCH50?promocode=MARCH50&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=MARCH50] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Venice Biennale details revealed, Beatriz González, Tracey Emin

Following 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 week by the collaborative team that will carry through her vision for the show. Ben Luke speaks to The Art Newspaper’s editor-at-large Jane Morris, about the show’s themes and strands and the artist list. The Barbican Art Gallery in London has opened a new exhibition of the work of the Colombian artist Beatriz González, who died in January, aged 93. Ben takes a tour of the show with its curator, Lotte Johnson. And this episode’s Work of the Week features in another major new London show: Tracey Emin: A Second Life, at Tate Modern. Our digital editor, Alexander Morrison, speaks to the outgoing director of Tate, Maria Balshaw, who has curated the Emin exhibition, about The Last of the Gold (2002), an embroidered blanket that has never been shown publicly until now. The Venice Biennale, 9 May-22 November. Beatriz González, Barbican Art Gallery, until 10 May. You can hear our interview with Doris Salcedo in which we discuss González’s influence on A brush with… Doris Salcedo, wherever you get your podcasts. Tracey Emin: A Second Life, Tate Modern, London, 27 February-31 August. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.