Hockney banned in Paris
PLUS: Louvre tops global rankings
— In partnership with Cornflower
Friday 11 April 2025 | news from museums, galleries, heritage and art, including:
V&A fashion gallery gets glow-up 👗
Millennium masterpieces under threat 🏙️
BBC orders more hidden treasures 📺
Happy Friday.
I’m not that much of a fan of photography exhibitions. I think it has something to do with the fact that no matter how expertly curated or beautifully lit a show is, you don’t really need to be in a photo’s physical presence to appreciate it. They are flat images that look the same in a book or on screen.
But when I found out that Europe’s first comprehensive survey of American photography was coming to one of Europe’s greatest museums, my interest was very much piqued. Add in the fact this Rijksmuseum exhibition was also to be the first time the Dutch venue were showing their newly-amassed American photography collection, coinciding with a period when — shall we say — the USA is ‘in the news a lot,’ then suddenly everything about this show felt like a landmark must-see. And so I saw it.
What makes it such a fascinating show is that it avoids a pure focus on art photography. Here is the full spectrum of how the medium has represented and reflected 200 years of America — in advertising, news coverage, propaganda, landscapes, portraits. But also in a few globally-recognised shots like Robert Mapplethorpe’s self-portrait.
Of course, almost proving my initial point of why photography shows can be underwhelming, the best items here are certainly the historic pieces. The standout is one of the very first photographs ever of a human being, a self-portrait from 1840 (!) which is actually on loan from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. How can you not be in awe of a literal snapshot of two centuries ago?
I would heartily recommend a visit — and American Photography runs at the Rijksmuseum until 7 June.
I’d also recommend art'otel Amsterdam if you do visit — who kindly put me up on my trip. As the name suggests, the hotel mixes chic digs with contemporary art, and so I could make my culture-trip even more culture-filled. Not only does art'otel have a staggering 125 artworks by Dutch artist Atelier Van Lieshout on display throughout the building (yes, those are sperm sculptures floating in the courtyard), they also have their very own art gallery. Just last week local art fair group NOCKNOCK began their tenure curating it. The first exhibition has just opened.
You see art'otel as soon as you exit Amsterdam Centraal station, and you can reach it in 60 seconds. Yes, it’s that close. While it’s not a location I often stay in these days (the older you get, the farther out from the party-hard centre of Amsterdam you want to stay tbh), it was actually a really handy spot to get about — either by taking the 30-minute stroll south to the Rijksmuseum, or by getting on the metro (which is even closer than the railway station) to explore further afield.
With 55 sculptures by the American-Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi about to be installed in the Rijksmuseum Gardens for the summer, I am already itching to get back. See you there.
— maxwell
— In partnership with Cornflower
Working with Downton Abbey — yes really!
“When I started 14 years ago, the shop concentrated on Egyptian souvenirs,” Highclere Castle’s Sally Popplewell told me in a recent interview. “But I arrived as Downton Abbey took off.”
Yes, castles don’t get much more famous than Highclere. Hundreds of millions of people will instantly recognise it as the on-screen location for the hugely popular ITV drama series. It is the ‘real’ Downton.
For well over a decade, retail experts Cornflower have helped Highclere create bespoke and beautiful products for its many visitors. And their collaboration all started with catering to its Downton fame.
With the third and final Downton film coming later this year, Cornflower invited me to learn more about what makes their 12-year Highclere partnership so successful. And so I sat down for a chat with Sally, the Castle’s Retail Consultant, to get the lowdown.
Read my interview with Sally here. (You might nab some ideas for your own museum shop!)
Top stories 🚨
Louvre triumphs while Tate tails
The Louvre has retained its crown as the world’s most visited art museum. Numbers in 2024 were a slither down year-on-year — down 1%, to 8.7m — but it still topped the global visitor chart once more.
The Vatican Museums came second in the Art Newspaper’s annual rankings with 6.8m, while the British Museum was third with 6.5m — a ten-year high. NYC’s The Met was fourth.
Tate Modern retained 5th position in the list, despite numbers dipping 3% on 2023. With 4.6m visits, they’re still 25% down on pre-pandemic levels. This week Tate said their sluggish numbers were partly down to Brexit, and that 16-24 European visitors have halved from 609,000 in 2019-20 to only 357,000 in 2023-24. (Although even that only accounts for 252,000 of Tate Modern’s missing 1.5m visitors)
Other successes across the globe include the much-expanded Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia which saw a million more visitors (hitting 2.4m), and the CaixaForum Madrid which had a 45% leap in visits year-on-year. (Read more)
V&A fashion gallery gets Burberry glow-up
The V&A is to close its Fashion Gallery — so it can have a Burberry transformation.
The gallery is one of the museum’s largest dedicated permanent galleries but it will shut for two years from May for major renovations — the first since 1962. It will reopen in spring 2027 as The Burberry Gallery as part of a “multi-year partnership” between the brand and the South Kensington museum.
V&A Director Tristram Hunt said the museum and Burberry were both “pillars of British fashion” and that they were “hugely honoured to display the Burberry name above one of the very greatest fashion galleries in the world.” The gallery’s temporary exhibition space — which has just finished hosting a Naomi Campbell retrospective — is already shut, and will be redeveloped alongside. (Read more)
Meanwhile, the museum tomorrow opens its blockbuster Cartier show — and the first seven weeks of the run are already sold-out. This week’s opening parties were attended by celebs including Paul Mescal and Emma Corrin. (Read more)
UK news 🇬🇧
Richard Long commission at National Gallery 🪨
The first previews of the National Gallery’s £85m revamp have landed. Director Gabriele Finaldi revealed in a tour with the Times two bits of news. One is that the overhauled Sainsbury Wing will feature a major new commission by land artist Richard Long, referencing the landscapes in the collection. The other is that none of the 1,000 paintings on show at the reopening will be moved or lent for “at least” a year. (Read more)
Hackney Museum gets lottery overhaul 💰
North London’s Hackney Museum is to undergo a major overhaul thanks to a £2.2m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The permanent galleries will be fully redesigned, and new temporary exhibition spaces will be created. The museum will close later in 2025 for over a year, in order for works to begin. “The new displays will be imaginative, interactive and immersive with opportunities for hands-on learning and play” according to the Council’s culture cabinet member. (Read more)
Millennium masterpieces under threat 🏙️
For the first time, "millennium-era buildings" feature on a list of Britain’s most at-risk post-1900 structures. Conservation group the Twentieth Century Society say Sheffield's former National Centre for Popular Music is one of three 2000-era buildings at risk of demolition. Director Catherine Croft said these buildings were a “product of an era where unprecedented public funding delivered some ambitious and extraordinary projects,” adding “they are simply too good to lose." (Read more)
Tate to return Nazi-looted painting 🖼️
A 17th-century painting that was looted by the Nazis and that has been in Tate’s collection for three decades is to be returned to the descendants of its former Jewish art collector owner. Henry Gibbs’ Aeneas and his Family Fleeing Burning Troy was taken as "an act of racial persecution" the Spoliation Advisory Panel has concluded. Maria Balshaw, Tate’s director, said: “It is a profound privilege to help reunite this work with its rightful heirs.” (Read more)
Global news 🌎
France 🇫🇷
David Hockney’s biggest exhibition of his career has opened to rave reviews in Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton (The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones said it moved him to tears). But, Hockney was not happy that bosses of the Paris Metro banned the exhibition’s poster from appearing on the network because he was holding a cigarette. He called the decision “complete madness” and “dismal.” (Read more)
Bahrain 🇧🇭
One of the largest stained glass installations in the world has been unveiled at Bahrain International Airport. The vast and spectacular work — titled Concordia — has been created by British artist Sir Brian Clarke, the leading global artist in the medium. The vast 34x17m piece features 127 intricately handcrafted glass panels. Clarke said “everything I have ever learned about stained glass is in some ways is expressed in this window.” (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸
Ten museums across America will display masterpieces from the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington in a project marking the 250th anniversary of the USA. The gallery is covering all expenses, from transportation and installation to conservation and training services, plus the costs of marketing campaigns. Highlights include the Anchorage Museum in Alaska showing works by O’Keeffe and Rothko, while the Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan will be showing paintings by Botticelli. (Read more)
News in brief
Corporate partners to the rescue?
Are corporate partnerships the answer to the financial issues facing museums? In the brand new episode of the Arts & Culture podcast, three experts — including Queer Britain co-founder Joseph Galliano-Doig MBE — thrash it out. (Listen here)*
Face exhibition flourishes
The National Portrait Gallery’s Face magazine exhibition is a success. 28,000 people saw it in its first month, with 14% of visitors being under 25. Nostalgia is hot property right now for sure. (More)
More Storehouse spaces announced
The V&A East Storehouse will open next month with the newly-revealed Foyle Creative Centre, a suite of studios and workshops to engage the public and students in real-world design. They’ve been funded by a £2m grant from the Foyle Foundation. (More)
Smells like one not to miss
The world’s most expensive guitar — which Kurt Cobain played in Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged show — is to be displayed in Britain for the first time. It stars in a Royal College of Music Museum exhibition on the famous gig. (More)
BBC orders more hidden treasures
Beloved British actor Toby Jones is the new narrator of the BBC’s Hidden Treasures of the National Trust series. Jones takes the reigns in the just-announced third series, which will feature objects including the dolls’ house that inspired Beatrix Potter. (More)
Making money at Downton Abbey
How does an attraction’s shop cater to visitors with interests as varied as wild meadows, ancient Egypt and Downton Abbey? Well I’ve found out. Dive into my interview with the ‘real’ Downton Abbey and their retail success*. (Read here)
*This is sponsored
👀 Last week’s most clicked news story
— Villagers turn on vicar for turning 15th century church into 'lighthouse' by rendering tower bright white
📊 Last week’s poll results | Which 2026 Tate Modern blockbuster are you most excited for?
— Tracey Emin 22%
— Frida Kahlo 78%
📊 This week’s poll
— Thanks for reading to the end. If you found today’s edition useful, please donate to support this publication for the future.
"They are flat images that look the same in a book or on screen." -- no, no, no - theres much more to a great photograph than that. The photographers chosen medium and format is a creative decision. As a trustee of a significant collection of working class documentary photography we know the power of an original print and of a curated exhibition viewed as part of a collective experience - amber-online.com