Samuel Reilly is a freelance writer in Edinburgh and a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews.

Visitors to the Petit Musée de la Récade inside the Centre for Arts and Culture in Cotonou, Benin, on 17 January 2020.

Private enterprise – the individuals who are taking restitution into their own hands

While museums deliberate about returning objects that were taken from their places of origin without consent, it is easier for individuals to act

1 Aug 2020

‘Her photographs appear as an eloquent reminder to passers-by of a life cut short’

Khadija Saye was among the 72 people who died in the fire at Grenfell in 2017. A series of self-portraits she made that year is currently on display near the tower

22 Jul 2020
Lonnie Holley in Birmingham, Alabama.

‘The truth is contagious’ – an interview with Lonnie Holley

The artist and musician first turned to sculpture after a personal tragedy, but his work is rooted in the history of the American South

16 Jun 2020
Yinka Shonibare, photographed at his studio in London in February 2020.

The wit and wisdom of Yinka Shonibare

The artist discusses his plans for a new residency in Lagos, and delves into the serious mischief of his sculptures

2 May 2020
The Silhouette of the Artist (1907), Léon Spilliaert. Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent. Photo: Hugo Maertens

Solitary refinement – the uncanny art of Léon Spilliaert

The Belgian Symbolist is at his spookiest and most original when he depicts reality

25 Mar 2020
Girl in a red kimono (detail; c. 1893), George Hendrik Breitner. Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Beyond TEFAF – more to see in and around Maastricht this year

As the art world makes for Maastricht, it’s worth casting an eye further abroad to the full range of events and shows across the region

5 Mar 2020
The Tourist(detai; 2019), Amir H. Fallah.

The Armory Show and beyond – around the galleries in New York

Highlights of the upcoming modern and contemporary fairs and gallery shows in the Big Apple

26 Feb 2020
(detail; 1969), Pat Douthwaite.Happiness is Green Shield Stamps

Highlights of London Art Fair – and beyond

Modern British art gets a strong showing this month, while Condo also returns to the capital

17 Jan 2020
Bateau ivre en détresse (detail; 1987) Jacqueline de Jong.

Freedom of movement – the lively paintings of Jacqueline de Jong

The artist’s canvases are full of colour and motion and an energetic sense of play

14 Jan 2020

The museum openings not to miss in 2020

The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is scheduled to open – finally – in the autumn, while in Oslo the Munch Museum returns in a smart new home

27 Dec 2019
‘The Coming Community’, installation view, Freelands Foundation, London, 2019.

Community spirit – an interview with Grace Ndiritu

The artist started out working with textiles – but has since broadened her focus to explore alternative communities

20 Dec 2019

School of rock – inside the new-look Aberdeen Art Gallery

After a £35m renovation and expansion, the granite city can finally display its collections in the manner they deserve

18 Dec 2019

Fine Arts Paris and beyond – what’s in store in the French capital this month

The fair underscores its links with the museum world in its third edition. Plus highlights from Paris Photo and Also Known as Africa

6 Nov 2019
Still from We Live in Silence (2017; detail), Kudzanai Chiurai.

‘I can’t not think of Brexit, in relation to declarations of independence’ – an interview with Kudzanai Chiurai

The Zimbabwean artist discusses his film ‘We Live in Silence’, screened at the opening of Goodman Gallery’s new London premises

31 Oct 2019
Installation view of DC Semiramis (2019) by Tai Shani at the Turner Prize exhibition at Turner Contemporary, Margate. Photo: David Levene; © Tai Shani

The Turner Prize has more of a purpose than it has had in years

Tai Shani, Oscar Murillo, Helen Cammock and Lawrence Abu Hamdan can be found in playful, reflective or forensic mode in Margate

25 Oct 2019

Beyond Frieze – what’s in store in London this week

With the British Art Fair joining 1–54, there’s more to see at this busy time than ever before

1 Oct 2019

Frieze week highlights: dried cod and the crispness of Caulfield

Joseph Beuys sculptures at Bastian and Patrick Caulfield at Waddington Custot are among the shows not to miss during Frieze Week

27 Sep 2019

‘I liked the idea of bringing sharp objects into a library’ – an interview with Sean Lynch

The artist discusses the allure of the 19th-century forger Flint Jack – who fooled museums and collectors with his brand-new prehistoric artefacts

26 Sep 2019

South Africa’s most established art fair has undergone a rapid rebirth

A sophisticated revamp means that Art Joburg is now a smaller, sleeker affair

19 Sep 2019
Opus 217. Against the Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones and Tints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890 (1890), Paul Signac. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Félix Fénéon – critic, collector, and champion of African art

The Parisian critic may have been an enigma who stayed out of sight – but he introduced African art to the French avant-garde

14 Aug 2019
Still Life (Natura Morta) (1949), Giorgio Morandi.

How Morandi made the Old Masters modern

The reclusive painter rarely left Bologna – but he pored over pictures of faraway masterpieces in books and journals

29 Jul 2019
Tuareg Rug (detail; 2018), Abdoulaye Konaté.

A pan-African event keeps its sights set on local scenes

A year-long travelling exhibition celebrates the continent’s leading artists

22 Jul 2019
Dido and Aeneas (detail; c. 1640s), Mortlake Tapestry Works.

What not to miss at London Art Week

Highlights of this year’s event include a long-lost tapestry commissioned by Charles I and dozens of drawings by Adolph von Menzel

26 Jun 2019
Untitled (1950–55), Seydou Keïta.

Frieze, 1–54, and more – what’s in store in New York this month

A large slice of the Big Apple is given over to the two contemporary art fairs this May

1 May 2019