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‘We are on the brink of a different world’ – Caroline Lucas MP turns to curating

The Green Party MP takes her pick of the Towner Art Gallery’s permanent collection – and hopes it will spur others to climate activism

What’s new at Sutton Hoo?

Mound Two at Sutton Hoo.

The archaeological site’s redeveloped exhibition spaces aim to offer a window on to the early Anglo-Saxon world

Cecilia Alemani appointed artistic director of the 59th Venice Biennale

Cecilia Alemani who has been appointed director of the 59th Venice Biennale.

Art news daily: 10 January

A riveting souvenir of the Eiffel Tower

Workmen riveting the bases of the Eiffel Tower in place using hydraulic power in c. 1888.

The monument has been celebrating its 130th birthday by peddling limited edition rivets – yours to own for just €525 apiece!

Acquisitions of the Month: December 2019

L'Âme brisant les liens qui l'attachent à la terre (1821–23), Pierre-Paul Prudhon.

A late allegory by Pierre-Paul Prud’hon and an early English piece of porcelain are among this month’s highlights

Why the National Trust is trading in its Maori meeting house for a newer model

Hinemihi

The decision to exchange the historic carvings of Hinemihi at Clandon Park for new examples is admirable – and creative

Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall given to National Heritage Collection

Carrawburgh Roman Fort.

Art news daily: 9 January

A legal guide to the new anti-money laundering rules in the UK

Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive has passed into UK law. What impact will it have on the British art market?

Trump backs away from military confrontation with Iran

US President Donald Trump makes a statement on Iran at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida, on 3 January, 2020.

Art news daily: 8 January

The art galleries branching out – with shows about trees

View of the garden of the Fondation Carter – Theatrum Botanicum by Lothar Baumgarten. Photo: Luc Boegly

At the Fondation Cartier and soon at the Hayward Gallery, art really does grow on trees

The Kariye Museum in Istanbul – a Byzantine masterpiece under threat

Mosaic of the Enthroned Christ and the Donor, Theodore Metochites above the entrance to the naos of the Kariye (Chora) Museum, Istanbul.

A court recently ruled that the ancient site be reconverted into a mosque, casting the fate of its well-preserved mosaics and wall paintings into question

Activists in Berlin attack controversial Holocaust memorial

Photo: Michele Tantussi/Getty Images

Art news daily: 7 January

International organisations condemn Trump’s threat to target Iranian cultural sites

US President Donald Trump makes a statement on Iran at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida, on 3 January, 2020.

Art news daily: 6 January

Life was a cabaret – the Roaring Twenties in Cairo

A postcard showing the Kursaal Casino and Music Hall, which was on Alfi Bey Street in the Ezbekiyya district of Cairo.

Most traces of the city’s early 20th-century nightlife have now disappeared. Only the shells of former casinos and theatres hint at this bygone era

Has the Sarr-Savoy report had any effect since it was first published?

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The Sarr-Savoy report one year on. Illustration: David Biskup

It’s been a year since the publication of a groundbreaking report calling for the restitution of African cultural heritage in French museums. How has it been received?

Haul of shame – the ‘trophy art’ taken from Germany by the Red Army

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The Abduction of Ganymede (detail; 1635), Rembrandt van Rijn.

Their existence is no longer a secret, but the status of many of the works seized after the Second World War remains unclear

The sculptor who found favour with Lorenzo de’ Medici – Bertoldo di Giovanni at the Frick, reviewed

The Pazzi Conspiracy (Lorenzo de’ Medici) (1478), Bertoldo di Giovanni (obverse on left from Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Glorence; reverse on right, promised gift to the Frick Collection, New York)

He is best known as the pupil of Donatello and teacher of Michelangelo, but the Florentine sculptor has more than enough accomplishments of his own

Lawrence Abu Hamdan receives 2022 Future Fields Commission

Art news daily: 3 January

The fine art holdings of Claes Bang’s Dracula

Claes Bang as Dracula.

A new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel has Castle Dracula kitted out with silver, tapestries, and suitably sinister portraits

Animal instinct – George Stubbs at MK Gallery, reviewed

Horse Devoured by a Lion (exhibited 1763), George Stubbs. Tate, London

The painter’s forensic study of his subjects allowed him to portray them with a startling emotional depth

Alasdair Gray (1934–2019)

Alasdair Gray (1934–2019).

Art news daily: 2 January

Casting an eye over the year ahead in photography

The young Susi Korihana Theri swimming, infrared film, Catrimani, Roraima (1972–74), Claudia Andujar.

A new festival in Melbourne and a survey of Claudia Andujar in Paris are among the events to watch out for in 2020

Art anniversaries to look out for in 2020

The Mass at Dordrecht (c. 1650), Aelbert Cuyp. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

From Renaissance painting to Romantic poetry – expect celebrations of Raphael, Piranesi, Wordsworth and more

The politics of pregnancy and the future of painting – contemporary art highlights in 2020

Within Reach (detail; 2019), Jordan Casteel.

Highlights in the year ahead include a spate of shows around the theme of maternity and a survey of recent figurative painting