An image of an angel with a face resembling the right-wing Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been erased from a fresco in a Rome church after officials at the Vatican complained about the controversial work. buff.ly/4WQLhks

A new exhibition, Empire of Light: Visions and Voices from Afghanistan (until 30 May), at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Doha shines a light on Afghanistan’s history and art from pre-Islamic times to the present day. buff.ly/7Qt5wuS

A Van Gogh autumn landscape was painted on top of an entirely different scene of a church tower, according to conservators at Rotterdam’s Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, where the restored painting is now on show. www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/02/06/v...

The National Museum Cardiff is mounting a major survey exhibition of one of the most famous artists in its collection, Gwen John (1876-1939), nine decades after it invested just £20 on a painting by an artist then almost unknown.

Princess Pea, the alter ego of the artist Natasha Preenja, has been awarded the inaugural Swali Craft Prize, presented by the Chanakya School of Craft in partnership with India Art Fair. buff.ly/nCl64Y8

As the art world eyes up its future in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is looking to its past with several exhibitions and sales that focus on the Kingdom’s Modern art history and its pioneering artists. buff.ly/P85ETB7

The fourth Lahore Biennale, scheduled to open in January 2027, will focus on “the vitality of society and culture across borders”, according to a release—a poignant topic in a year that marks the 80th anniversary of the independence of Pakistan and the Partition of India buff.ly/BDw8pTu

The curators of an ambitious new quadrennial in Qatar—entitled Rubaiya Qatar—have revealed more details about the exhibition which opens in November across the Qatari capital Doha, featuring more than 50 artists and over 20 new commissions. buff.ly/8udH3Ss

Thaddaeus Ropac—long one of the only international mega-dealers without a permanent New York presence—announced on Wednesday (4 February) that the gallery will open what its namesake dealer describes as “a project space” in Manhattan. buff.ly/dM9Sqvq

The hot ticket at the inaugural Art Basel Qatar fair this week was a conversation on patronage with the country’s most prominent collector, Sheikha al-Mayassa, the sister of the current emir of Qatar and chair of Qatar Museums. buff.ly/iziRrnh

In Mexico City, the go-to neighbourhoods to see contemporary art have long been Condesa, Roma and San Miguel Chapultepec, where many of the city’s galleries are located. However, over the past five years, Santa María la Ribera has emerged as a place to encounter the art scene. buff.ly/34F16jM

South Asian art continues to grow in prominence via landmark exhibitions and sales, a phenomenon that is reflected at the India Art Fair (IAF) in New Delhi, whose 17th edition (5-8 February) will be its largest yet, with 87 galleries. buff.ly/0FMhnEo

After the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto decided to nix the acquisition of a work by Nan Goldin over charges that the Jewish American photographer is “antisemitic”, there have been growing calls for the resignation of the trustee who instigated the decision, Judy Schulich. buff.ly/6KtZOpc

As Art Basel Qatar draws all eyes to the Gulf’s art market, Sotheby’s second sale in Saudi Arabia provides an early bellwether. Held on Saturday (31 January), the auction demonstrated a strong appetite for regional masters, but a lukewarm reception to more global offerings. buff.ly/WWZDf6U

Returning to Mexico City’s Centro Banamex for its 22nd edition, Zona Maco (4-8 February) is the centrepiece of Mexico City Art Week 2026. buff.ly/hSXG4T8

Art Basel Qatar has departed from convention for its first outing in the region. 87 galleries are spread across multiple venues. Galleries were asked to bring only one artist, and the presentation eschews stands in favour of a more open-plan layout. buff.ly/3rkPgdH

The UK artist Sonia Boyce, who won the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, will present a new work at University College London (UCL) next year as part of the college’s bicentenary celebrations. buff.ly/Bxayg2d

The National Gallery in London is planting its flag on 20th-century art with the announcement of Patrick Elliott as its new curator of Modern paintings. Elliott spent 36 years at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh as the chief curator of Modern and contemporary art. buff.ly/NTCkRsF

India’s leading private art museum, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in New Delhi, has appointed Manuel Rabaté as its first chief executive and director. He joins from the Louvre Abu Dhabi, where he has served as the inaugural director since 2016. buff.ly/iJbHcD7

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC is celebrating 250 years since the founding of the US by inviting 50 digital content creators to reinterpret works from the museum’s collection on social media. buff.ly/b8fxZkK

The flood of material from the estates of deceased collectors sold in New York’s November auctions looks set to become the norm in years to come, as the demographic bulge of the acquisitive Baby Boomer generation passes away. buff.ly/AKlBzQU

The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston announced this week that it will lay off more than 30 employees, nearly half of whom hold unionised positions. www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/30/m...

While Art Basel is new to Qatar—and to the Middle East—it enters an art field that has seen serious investment over the past 20 years. buff.ly/kAzYMMy

In this week's 'The Week in Art', we discuss the cancellation of Gabrielle Goliath’s pavilion and the artist’s attempt have the decision overturned, pay tribute to the lauded gallerist Marian Goodman, and hear about Cezanne’s famous ‘The Card Players’. buff.ly/fVkxaQV

Thousands of businesses and organisations – including galleries – across the United States will close on Friday 30 January as part of a nationwide shutdown to protest the violent actions of federal immigration enforcement agents. buff.ly/2rmUuW3

In the market for a crash pad after late nights during Art Basel Miami Beach? Look no further: units in a yet-to-be built, Frida Kahlo-branded luxury condominium development in Miami went up for sale this week. buff.ly/2ZZY2Oj

Next week, around 200 contemporary art galleries across Spain will close their doors to the public. The six-day strike, from 2 to 7 February, is their latest protest against the country’s 21% VAT rate for art sales, which gallerists say has hindered their success. buff.ly/tCYRhPW

From January, the 35% of visitors to the chapel from outside the European Union will be charged €22, compared to the EU ticket which varies, depending on the day, between €13 and €19. buff.ly/4bYiYeb

An ice rink has opened in Venice on the eve of the Winter Olympics in Milan (6-22 February), thanks to Olaf Nicolai, at the 18th-century Palazzo Diedo in Venice, home of the Berggruen Arts & Culture foundation (until 22 February). buff.ly/KDBYTCA

A film currently screening at Sundance Film Festival in Utah offers a unique look into the Harlem Renaissance. Once Upon a Time in Harlem gathers footage from a gathering at Duke Ellington’s home of some of the movement’s most important figures. buff.ly/FKIsM4q

Controversial plans to redevelop Belgrade’s former Yugoslav army headquarters into a luxury complex featuring a Trump International Hotel have collapsed, following the indictment of Serbia’s culture minister and other senior officials. buff.ly/wcjUECg

The long-awaited Kanal-Centre Pompidou gallery in Brussels—a vast new art hub rivalling other major European art centres such as Tate Modern—will open 28 November with ten shows including a 350-work exhibition drawn from the Centre Pompidou in Paris. buff.ly/E0kYr4c

Expo Chicago, the long-running Midwestern fair that was acquired by the media and event company Frieze in 2023, will return to Navy Pier’s Festival Hall this April, with around 130 galleries taking part, with a scaled-back gallery list. buff.ly/aDYOBQO

Frankfurt’s Städel Museum has acquired the Virgin and Child Enthroned (around 1320/1330), one of the most important works of medieval sculpture in Germany, made in Cologne for the altarpiece of the abbey church in Altenberg in the state of Hesse. buff.ly/8iuPvmV

Relying on a number of French sources, especially the archives of the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, Viollet-le-Duc: Drawing Worlds will span five decades of the polymath's life. buff.ly/Mt9x1jY

Anish Kapoor will exhibit around 100 architectural models and sculptures in a show, opening May 5, at the Palazzo Manfrin, where Kapoor launched his foundation in 2022. This is the second time the historical space will open to the public. buff.ly/6Nm9vYZ

The Austrian artist’s paintings are relatively rare “trophy pictures”, and prices have rocketed over the past 50 years. buff.ly/nbikwh3

The esteemed contemporary art dealer Marian Goodman died on 22 January, aged 97. Her eponymous gallery confirmed the news yesterday in a statement, adding that she passed “peacefully of natural causes”. buff.ly/ZTPrAXK

The Courtauld has announced plans for two new contemporary art galleries and a reading room at London's Somerset House, supported by a £10m gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The donation brings the Foundation's total support for the institution to £20m. buff.ly/xH89ONC

Institutions are analysing their relationship with audiences during a sobering time for many in the sector, with wider economic uncertainty and shifts in visitor—and donor—patterns. buff.ly/5RiVzy4

The Beirut-born artist and composer Tarek Atoui—known for his innovative performances featuring intricately engineered instruments—will take over Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall this autumn (13 October-11 April 2027). buff.ly/DHmSv8G

A rediscovered portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola, one of the most celebrated woman artists of the Italian Renaissance,is on public display for the first time in more than a century at the Winter Show in New York. Robert Simon Fine Art presents Portrait of a Canon Regular (1552). buff.ly/jpHsmKj

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Washington, DC, has announced the winner of its 2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The Brooklyn-based artist Kameron Neal will receive $25,000 and a commission to create a portrait of a living person. buff.ly/CYOR1i6

Brafa, Belgium's premier art and antiques fair, is one of the few such events to actually grow this year. Its 71st edition, which runs from 25 to 1 February following two preview days, boasts 147 exhibitors, 23 of them new. It has expanded physically too, with a third hall. buff.ly/9v7zgHV

Amid mounting financial issues, the Metropolitan Opera, the largest performing arts organisation in the United States, announced on 19 January that it would lay off 22 workers, temporarily cut executive salaries and explore a plan to sell its towering Marc Chagall murals. buff.ly/cbmeND3

The National Park Service (NPS) has removed an exhibit called “Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation” at the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The decision comes after president Trump to remove “corrosive ideology” from cultural heritage venues. buff.ly/ni1GGsk

Think of Alberto Giacometti and most of us will first conjure the Parisian avant-garde and existential angst. But there was another side to Giacometti, one rooted in his birthplace, the remote Swiss Alpine village of Stampa. buff.ly/IIGlrKD

World Monuments Fund and the furniture designer Knoll have announced that the 2026 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize will go to the Australia-based architecture firm Architectus for its work on the historic Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. buff.ly/Tmvf8GZ

When the touring Noah Davis survey first opened at Das Minsk, in Potsdam, in September, critics hailed the late American painter as “an artist of our time” who could balance social relevance with artistic independence. buff.ly/AQb1fUL

Naomi Campbell will offer a supermodel’s perspective on the intimate relationship between artist and muse in an essay for an upcoming exhibition of Pablo Picasso paintings being staged by Nahmad Contemporary in Switzerland. buff.ly/77KtfY7