The Headlines

IF THE RIGHT SIZE FITS. One could be forgiven for thinking, at various points over the past year, that the global art industry was approaching an existential breaking point, Tim Schneider writes in the Art Newspaper. A steady drumbeat of gallery closures and a handful of underwhelming auction results has created an atmosphere of persistent unease. It’s natural to worry that the downturn might be permanent. After two decades in the business, however, Schneider is confident the market will recover. The more pressing question is not whether it can return to its pre-2023 peak, but whether it should. Many experts argue that the recent turbulence is less a collapse than a necessary correction, an overdue right-sizing of an industry that overextended itself during years of speculative growth that failed to materialise on schedule. Painful as this has been for those affected, the reckoning may leave the sector leaner, wiser, and better prepared. 

WHERE IS GADDAFI’S VW BEETLE? The National Museum of Libya, home to Africa’s most significant collection of classical antiquities and housed within Tripoli’s historic Red Castle, reopened on Monday after ...