Friday 28 August 2026
What’s happening in museums, galleries, art and heritage
Scroll for: Top stories 🚨 | UK news 🇬🇧 | Global news 🌍 | News in brief 🗞️
Happy Friday.
Farewell then, Yayoi Kusama, arguably the world's most famous contemporary female artist. She died two weeks ago aged 97, but her death was only announced yesterday.
She had a long and successful career — but it absolutely boomed in the 21st century.
She was hugely prolific even in these past few years. Her Infinity Mirror Rooms became Tate Modern's most-visited exhibition ever after running for three years from 2021 (and providing a much-needed post-Covid boost for the gallery.) But Interim Tate Director Catherine Wood said it was the gallery’s 2012 retrospective which turbo-boosted her fame in Britain. “Since then her reputation and a love for her work has just grown and grown,” Wood told the BBC’s Today programme yesterday.
Kusama's giant inflatable sculptures opened Manchester's Aviva Studios in 2023, and her 2024 exhibition at National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne become the best-attended ticketed art exhibition in Australian history.
Her largest ever permanent public sculpture was unveiled at Liverpool Street station in London in 2024 too, and of course, there was the Louis Vuitton collaboration at Harrods in 2023 which saw a giant life-like sculpture of the artist tower next to the department store and peer into the window. An even bigger one appeared in Paris at the same time. In retrospect, you can’t quite believe this collab was real. If it wasn’t for the photographic evidence (and the countless Reels) you’d think it was a fever dream.
In just two weeks time, a landmark retrospective covering the full seven decades of her career will open at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The Director Rein Wolfs said “The passing of Yayoi Kusama is profoundly sad news,” while the exhibition’s curator Leontine Coelewij said “The fact that she continued tirelessly to make new work until late in life is a testament to her extraordinary artistic strength.”
The museum says the upcoming retrospective “has now become a posthumous tribute celebrating Kusama’s life and work.” A visit will surely be the perfect way to say goodbye to one of the greats.
And just before getting onto this week’s news, a *self promotion klaxon*
It was an early morning visit to the newsagent for me after I discovered I get a mention in today's Times. The paper's Chief Art Critic Laura Freeman highlights this very newsletter in her column, referencing the recent edition where I dived into new research on how adults in the UK aged 35 to 54 with no dependent children
A huge thanks to Laura for flagging the newsletter (and for reading!) 🙏 And after also being featured in the Financial Times earlier this year, I'm going to bang my own drum and say that this is clearly the place to reach people who care deeply about what's going on with museums, galleries, art and heritage (including Times and FT writers, and YOU reading this right now!).
So tell your friends or colleagues to subscribe, to pitch me a story, and/or to sponsor a future 'maxwell museums' edition. And of course, donations are always welcome.
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— As a thank you, please consider donating to support this newsletter. Few readers donate, and every penny is gratefully received
Over 60 Bronze Age gold objects — described as the most important prehistoric trove in Europe — have been stolen.
In a four minute dawn raid on the Villena Museum in Alicante, thieves snatched the treasures in a “super-fast and super-professional” targeting, a spokesperson for the town council said. “They’ve taken most of the treasure,” the mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán told journalists, his voice breaking according to the Guardian. (Read more)
The raid happened just days after a sobering Europol report revealed that art thieves in Europe are committing more robberies and are increasingly focusing on precious metals, gemstones, and culturally significant artefacts, driven by high market demand and ease of illicit resale.
Europol also said the profile of offenders is changing, with museum thieves more ready to deploy violence, and more likely to have been recruited via social media on a “crime-as-a-service basis.” This really needs to be a wake up call. (Read more)
V&A East Museum and Storehouse, and Young V&A will each close for two days next week due to strike action.
On Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September, members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union and the Prospect union will walk out in coordinated, parallel disputes.
PCS want better pay and a cross-site policy to close public spaces when temperatures reached 30 degrees. Prospect demand a minimum 4% pay increase for staff earning above the Living Wage.
Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said: “Directors at V&A continue to demonstrate their lack of respect for the very people who make the museum what it is — its dedicated, highly qualified staff.”
The V&A said “we deeply regret that the Trade Unions have voted for strike action. We have been negotiating with them in good faith since February and have met the majority of their demands with a significantly improved offer, which we believe is fair, competitive and affordable.” (Read more)
A masterpiece by Rembrandt has become the most expensive object to ever be given a temporary export bar by the UK government in a bid to keep it in Britain.
Rembrandt’s Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet — painted in 1657 — is worth £71m, and its owner — who purchased it in a private sale at Christie’s last year — has applied to permanently take it out of the UK. It’s thought the painting has been in this country for around 300 years.
It’s the second time an export bar has been placed on the work. Its previous owner withdrew a request to take it overseas in 2015, allowing it to be loaned to the National Museum Cardiff.
British museums and galleries now have four months to try and raise the cash to buy it and to stop its removal. This will be hugely difficult — it would be one of the most expensive purchases ever by a UK museum. In comparison, Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai was saved for £50m, and only because the National Portrait Gallery teamed up with the Getty to split the cost. (Read more)
BREAKING NEWS 🚨: Tapestry tickets
The next tranche of tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum will go on sale on 21 October at 10am. This will be for visits between January and March 2027. The news was announced tonight at Piccadilly Circus, where the famous screens debuted a new trailer for the exhibition starring museum trustee Claudia Winkleman. She plays a new employee, starting her first day as the head of security when Norman and Anglo-Saxon armies invade the venue. (Read more)
📺 WATCH | Claudia Winkleman stars in Bayeux Tapestry trailer
Burnham backs away from Parthenon return 🇬🇷
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has reversed from his previous calls for the Parthenon Sculptures to be sent to Greece. In an interview with the FT, Burnham said: “Ultimately it’s an issue for the British Museum, isn’t it?” adding that “Legally that’s where that issue rests, but I’m all in favour of using British cultural diplomacy.” A museum source (brutally) remarked that they expected this retreat: “There’s a difference between what you say as an MP and when you’re prime minister.” (Read more)
Bye bye to BP say Science Museum 👋
The Science Museum has ended its relationship with energy giant BP. The museum’s only remaining sponsorship agreement with the company will come to an end on Monday, “at the end of the current contract term” according to director Sir Ian Blatchford. The museum has faced continued criticism for its relationship with fossil fuel-companies. Campaign group Culture Unstained said “the museum has finally come to its senses and followed the rest of the culture sector in cutting ties to BP.” (Read more)
Resident row over Bowie home museum 🏡
Neighbours are fighting plans to restore David Bowie’s childhood home in south London which will open it as an attraction. A planning application says it expects 20,000 visitors annually, but residents say their quiet area will be “invaded” by hordes of his fans. They also say they only learned of the scheme when it was announced in January, and that meetings since have felt like exhibitions rather than consultations. The plans are "horrendous" according to the neighbouring pub landlady. (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸
A painting by Kehinde Wiley has been removed from the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic after being labelled “very woke” by the Trump administration official who leads the Art in Embassies programme. State Department officials now want to sell it, which it would “proudly do so” according to a spokesperson. They also said that Wiley “has been accused of sexual misconduct” and claimed he painted “violent and racist” depictions. Wiley has denied the accusations against him. (Read more)
China 🇨🇳
A prominent Chinese artist known for his sculptures satirising Chairman Mao, has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of slandering the country’s “heroes and martyrs.” The law under which he was convicted was passed a decade after the artworks were made. Amnesty International has condemned the conviction. The artist is a permanent US resident, but was detained on a trip to Beijing in 2024. The U.S. State Department said it has "significant concerns" over the case. (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸
Returning to Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai, it’s been revealed it’ll go on public display at the Getty Center in LA from 15 September. It marks its first ever showing in America, and it follows its 3 years of display in Britain. It’ll then move to sister-site the Getty Villa while the Center is renovated. There’ll then be a trip to Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art for a group exhibition on 18th century European portrait painting, before a return to the Getty for the LA 2028 Summer Olympics. (Read more)
Splendid things from Freddie Mercury
To mark the 80th anniversary of his birth, eight costumes worn by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will go on show across the V&A from October. Like Taylor Swift’s outfits in 2024, they’ll be displayed as a trail through the historic building. (Full story)
Kick off for Welsh football museum
The new Football Museum of Wales and Wrexham Museum will open to the public on Friday 25 September. The two museums are housed in a Grade II-listed building that’s been fully restored. (Full story)
Help save the Cinema Museum
London’s Cinema Museum has launched a crowdfunding campaign as “they have a chance to secure our home.” They need £500,000 to buy the building where its been housed for 25 years and to “end decades of insecurity.” (Full story)
— As a thank you, please consider donating to support this newsletter. Few readers donate, and every penny is gratefully received
👀 Last edition’s most clicked stories:
🥇 Photos found at Ground Zero mark 9/11 anniversary at Imperial War Museum
🥈 418 artworks sold by Reform-led Kent council
🥉 Data hack hits museums and galleries including the Foundling Museum
📊 Last week’s poll results:
Do the heatwaves make you more or less likely to visit a museum or gallery?
— MORE. They are often cool inside! 60% 🏆
— LESS. Too hot to even get there 40%
🗳️ This week’s poll:
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