Category Archives: Stories

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

January 20, 2023: Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in Tokyo are the subject of a legal claim in the US relating to Nazi loot.

The Art Newspaper’s London correspondent and resident Van Gogh expert Martin Bailey tells us why Sunflowers (1888-89) is at the centre of the dispute, 35 years after it was sold for a record price at auction, and why the heirs of the German Jewish banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who owned it until the 1930s, now value it at a staggering $250m.

Our editor-at-large Georgina Adam has just returned from Singapore, where the first Art SG art fair took place last week. How successful was this new event in the art market calendar, and what does it tell us about Singapore’s ambitions to become an art hub?

And this episode’s Work of the Week is Portraits in a Chinese Studio, a photographic work by the artist Grace Lau. In the project, which marks Chinese New Year, Lau is subverting the tradition of colonial 19th-century portrait studios in a shopping centre in Southampton on the south coast of the UK.Grace Lau: Portraits in a Chinese Studio, Marlands Shopping Centre, Southampton, UK, 21 January-12 February

News: NATO Leaders Meet To Arm Ukraine, New China Censorship, Lebanon Crisis

January 20, 2023: Defence leaders from dozens of countries and Nato meet at Ramstein Air Base to discuss arming Ukraine. Plus: China’s latest censorship crackdown and the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon.

Egypt Culture: A Look At 5 Ancient Craft Traditions

Insider Business – A traditional dyehouse, Fez hats and a thousand-year-old ancient hieroglyphs carving method have nearly disappeared in Egypt in recent decades. But five artisans are determined to keep their traditions alive. Here’s how they do it.

Video timeline: 00:00 Introduction 00:46 Tiles 07:13 Fez 14:40 Papyrus 22:13 Dyehouse 27:27 Stone Carving

News Stories: New Russia Military Strategy, Vietnam President Resigns, 2023 Art

January 18, 2023: How does Russia plan to change its military strategy in Ukraine? Plus: the resignation of Vietnam’s president, the latest art news and why a US county is still recounting ballots from the 2020 election.

News: Special Counsel For Biden Documents, Japan – U.S. Meeting, Kashmir Vote

What’s on the agenda for today’s meeting between the US president, Joe Biden, and Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida? Plus: voters in India’s contested Kashmir region will soon be able to vote for the first time; the head of one of the world’s largest oil companies becomes president of the Cop28 talks; and the latest business news.

News: Russia Claims To Capture Soledar, China-Taliban, Aid To Pakistan

Russia claims control of Soledar but Ukraine remains silent. Meanwhile, is China pulling away from Russia and turning towards the Taliban? Plus: Pakistan receives a pledge of $9bn (€8.4bn) from the international community and a roundup from Art SG.

News: Protests In Peru, Executions In Iran, 100-Year Flood In Australia

January 11, 2023: Tensions mount in Iran over imminent executions. Plus: Calls grow in Peru for President Boluarte to resign; Australia’s outback is hit by “a one-in-100-year flood”; political momentum grows towards reaching agreement on Northern Ireland protocol talks; a run through the day’s papers; and the latest business news.

News: New Weapons From West In Ukraine, Congress Attack In Brazil, EU-Japan

London, January 10, 2023Will new Western weapons help to turn the tide of the war in Ukraine? Plus: the latest on the attack on Brazil’s Congress; Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, visits Europe; and find out about Monocle’s latest paperback, ‘The Monocle Companion: Fifty Essays for a Brighter Future’.