As social divisions grow, they are becoming important forms of social infrastructure where people can encounter different perspectives. In many cases, their roles are also expanding as museums help the public engage with the pressing questions of our time. - The Conversation
As part of what they say are cost-saving measures, the federal government of Belgium and regional government of Flanders plan to move the entire collection of Antwerp’s Museum of Contemporary Art to a similar institution in Ghent — which reportedly doesn’t have enough room for the additional artworks. - The Guardian
One of the major items in the Louvre–Nouvelle Renaissance renovation plan is the construction of a separate entrance and gallery for the huge number of people who want to see the famous portrait. Workers at the museum are urging management to spend that money on repairing the building’s crumbling physical plant instead. - Artnet
Here's a look at 15 landmark architecture projects scheduled for completion in 2026, including museums, performing arts venues and a face-shaped tower. - Dezeen
“The incident occurred on Monday morning, when the man approached the monument in Paris’s 8th arrondissement — with Joan of Arc dramatically riding a horse in mid-gallop — and committed a crime captured by a security camera.” - ARTnews
“The strike initially launched last month was suspended over the festive period, but staff have now voted overwhelmingly to walkout over working conditions leaving the world's most visited museum partially open.” - Euronews
A trio of prominent museum openings is expected in Los Angeles in 2026. Perhaps the most anticipated is the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. - The Art Newspaper
“Firewood stacking can be a folk art, with master stackers using different-colored or -sized pieces to make patterns on the side of a straight stack. There’s even an annual contest in Norway—one of the world capitals of wood stacking—for the most artful woodpiles.” - Slate
Biagio da Cesena, the Papal Master of Ceremonies, and Venetian satirist Pietro Aretino hated the fact that Michelangelo was putting so many naked people on the Sistine Chapel’s wall, saying the painting belonged in a public bathhouse. Bad idea to publicly attack a high-profile artwork while the artist is still working on it. - Artnet
In 1873, Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway was taken to London by its commissioner. It remained overseas until last year, when a couple of American art collectors acquired it — then sent it to a museum because it wouldn’t fit through the door of their home. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“In a good museum, it’s a lot about imagination. You don’t want to spell things out. We are complex. History is complex, and history has both triumphs and it has dark pages.” - The Times
The Vondelkerk, a 154-year-old Gothic Revival church which had been deconsecrated and run as a concert and events venue in recent years, ignited shortly after midnight. The flames were fanned by strong winds, and the tower and roof of the building collapsed. - The Telegraph (UK)
By no means is all of this bad art actually from 2025, though a fair bit of it is. In fact, one choice (this writer’s personal favorite) has been on display in Philadelphia for more than a century, and it just keeps on looking god-awful. - Artnet
In the U.S., a tense political climate and moves by the Trump administration to exert more control over the country’s cultural institutions is creating new challenges for museums, both financially and ideologically. - Artnet
The (let’s say) unfortunate ways in which the Louvre’s inadequate security and deteriorating physical plant were revealed, a major gallery abruptly shutting down, two different arguments involving Vincent van Gogh, dissension among the heirs of one of Europe’s great art mystics, and, as usual, the Parthenon Marbles. - Artnet
