Nearly 200 artists, curators and art workers involved in this year’s Venice Biennale have signed an open letter protesting Israel’s inclusion at the event. Initiated by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) group, the letter was delivered to the biennale’s president and board on 17 March. ‘The Venice Biennale’s complicity with the attempted destruction of Palestinian life must end,’ said the letter, adding that ‘no artist or cultural worker should be asked to share a platform with this genocidal state’. Among the signatories are artists Alfredo Jaar and Cauleen Smith, as well as curators Rasha Salti and Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo. An earlier letter calling for Israel’s exclusion from the event was sent to organisers on 2 October 2025, which ANGA says went unanswered. In 2024, an open letter organised by ANGA protesting at Israel’s inclusion in the biennale received 24,000 signatures; the artist and curators representing Israel closed the national pavilion in protest at the Israel-Hamas war. This week’s news follows recent controversy surrounding the participation of Russia in this year’s biennale, with the European Commission threatening last week to withdraw funding if organisers allowed the country to participate. On Thursday, the mayor of Venice said that Russia should be involved in the event on the grounds that ‘art is open’, but added that the Russian pavilion would be shut down if it were to ‘carry out propaganda’.
The United States congress has approved legislation that seeks to make the recovery of Nazi-looted art easier for the descendants of victims, the New York Times reports. The new law, which was passed by Congress on Monday and will now be presented to President Trump, is an extension of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, which was passed in 2016 and gave claimants up to six years after locating or identifying a stolen artwork to file a claim. The act was designed to address museums who blocked claims by arguing that the statute of limitations had passed; however, courts have in certain cases still ruled against claimants, saying that the length of time that had passed since the work was originally looted made it difficult for current owners to mount an effective defence of their right to ownership of the work. This new extension seeks to close these types of defences. Criticism of the new law have come from the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), which said prior to the bill’s passage that removing traditional legal defences could ‘set a dangerous precedent by overturning fundamental principles of our legal system’.
The Museum Rietberg in Zurich will transfer ownership to Nigeria of 11 works looted from Benin, the museum announced on Friday. Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments first filed for the return of the objects from the museum – which is owned by the city of Zurich – in July 2024; their return, said the mayor of Zurich, Corine Mauch, means ‘admitting and actively rectifying past injustices’. Among the objects is a commemorative bronze head from around 1850 and an ivory tusk dating to the 18th century, reports the Art Newspaper, both of which are believed to have been taken from the Royal Palace of Benin City during raids by British forces in 1897. Though ownership of the works will be transferred to Nigeria, some will remain on loan to the museum, while the others will be returned to the country in the summer.
Restoration of a painting by El Greco owned by the Vatican has revealed the artist’s original work beneath a forged overpainting, Artnet reports. Since its donation in 1967 to Pope Paul VI from Spanish official José María Sánchez de Muniaín Gil, The Redeemer – a small painting of Christ – has never undergone restoration or scientific analysis. Its recent restoration, said Alessandra Zarelli, who worked on the project, revealed that El Greco’s original painting – dated to c. 1590–95 – had been concealed by an overpainting done by an unknown forger. The restoration also uncovered earlier, unfinished compositions by El Greco beneath The Redeemer, one reminiscent of Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Lawrence (c. 1580) and another of Saint Dominic in Adoration of the Crucifix (c. 1590). The painting is currently on show in the small exhibition ‘El Greco in the Mirror: Two Paintings in Dialogue’ at the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
Helen Legg has been appointed artistic director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the institution has announced. Legg is currently director of Tate Liverpool, where she has worked since 2018; before that, she was director of Spike Island in Bristol, joining from Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. Simon Wallis, secretary and CEO of the RA, said that Legg was ‘highly respected in the art world’ and has a ‘proven track record in delivering expectational exhibitions’. Legg will start her tenure at the RA in June. In other museum news, Madeleine Grynsztejn has announced that she will step down as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, at the end of this year. As director of the MCA Chicago for 18 years, Grynsztejn oversaw a $82m renovation and acclaimed exhibitions such as a Kerry James Marshall survey in 2016. ‘I’ve accomplished everything I dreamed of’, she told Cultured, adding that ‘we need to make room for a great next generation of leaders’. Her replacement is yet to be announced.
The London-based gallery Timothy Taylor is shuttering its New York outpost next month after 10 years in operation. ‘In light of current market conditions’ said founder Timothy Taylor in a statement to Artnews, ‘the gallery has made the decision to close its New York space and consolidate its operations while continuing our relationships with artists and maintaining our gallery space in London’. Founded in Mayfair in 1996, the gallery represents artists such as Alex Katz and Kiki Smith. It will maintain an office and viewing room in New York. ‘Our commitment to [New York], and to the artists we work with, remains unchanged’, said Taylor.
