The 21st edition of Contemporary Istanbul (23-27 September) will bring together more than 70 galleries from 24 countries when it returns to Tersane Istanbul, the restored Ottoman shipyard complex overlooking the Golden Horn. buff.ly/QSPIknf

The UK government has placed an export bar on a rare work by the Renaissance sculptor Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi, known as Antico, valued at £4.6m. The 20-centimetre high Seated Nymph piece, dating from around 1503, is made of bronze. buff.ly/PGYwjFq

A celebrity in his own right who also created riotous portraits of many famous and powerful people, Max made images that became inseparable from the legacy of the Summer of Love and countercultural movement. buff.ly/I6TWRmQ

On Friday (18 September), around 1,500 members and supporters of the organisation Hands Off the Arts formed a human chain around the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. buff.ly/TZbAOvN

This month, Christie’s Hong Kong posits that artistic dialogue can continue past an artist’s life with the first-ever pairing of the Modern Chinese master Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) with British painter David Hockney (1937-2026). buff.ly/oEA59Ox

As Christie's continues to celebrate 40 years of operating in Asia, its exciting line-up of September sales offers renowned global artists alongside those with strong markets in the region. buff.ly/3BIMKvD

Newly identified cave markings at eight sites in Ireland suggest that the country was inhabited by humans thousands of years earlier than originally thought. They could also constitute the first known cave art in Ireland from the last Ice Age. buff.ly/ubPXgxc

The Kröller-Müller Museum, which owns pictures donated by the greatest private collector of Van Gogh, has just hung all of its 88 paintings by the artist for the first time since 2003. buff.ly/gZMUvxF

The Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (Malba) has chosen the Mexican architect Frida Escobedo to design a long-planned expansion that will double its exhibition space. buff.ly/kTyViTl

Ben Luke learns about Giotto’s revitalised depictions of the life of St Francis of Assisi in the Basilica of Santa Croce, speaks to the curator of the Biennale de Lyon, and explores a painting by surrealist Remedios Varo on view in a major retrospective at the Louisiana Museum. buff.ly/8sd5Tnv

Property moves by the largest galleries may signal adaptation rather than retreat in an unsettled art market. buff.ly/x1mViOx

The Toledo Museum of Art has formed a new institutional partnership with the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, which will see five objects from a private collection returned to Ethiopia. buff.ly/i3ErdQJ

Monet: Painting Time will be the first Tate Modern exhibition to focus on the French Impressionist. The exhibition, which explores the passage of time across Monet’s oeuvre, is partly sponsored by Anthropic, which sponsored another Monet show earlier this year. buff.ly/puEtJbH

Now at Nam-Seoul Museum of Art, Sook Jin Jo: That’s How the Light Gets In presents the artist’s first comprehensive survey in South Korea. It features more than 100 works and archival materials from four decades of her medium-spanning practice, including four new commissions. buff.ly/3Kju4fS

One of Madrid’s most high-profile museums, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, has announced plans to open a second space in the city that will house a contemporary art collection donated by the philanthropist and collector Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza and her heirs. buff.ly/HVYDEbo

The eight winners of the 2026 Governor General Awards, one of Canada’s most prestigious arts awards, were announced today. An exhibition featuring works by all eight recipients of this year’s awards will open in New Brunswick this autumn. buff.ly/3TPSWmL

Nearly 200 works by around 100 Iranian artists will go on display at Ab-Anbar Gallery in London this month, in an unusually large collective exhibition aimed at giving younger artists international exposure at a time when Iran’s art scene is increasingly isolated. buff.ly/TlrrFiJ

Russia’s most valuable religious and artistic treasure, the early 15th century Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev, is in danger following the reported breakdown of a climate control capsule in which it was installed. buff.ly/Uof9BXn

Ellie Rines Gallery’s inaugural Tribeca opening fell on a muggy Wednesday in September, two weeks before The Armory Show and on the unofficial back-to-school night of the city’s art world. buff.ly/3l7Jm1w

The founders of the alternative art fair Basel Social Club are launching a new project in Japan, as part of Art Week Tokyo. Tokyo Jazz Club will take place 1-8 November in a former capsule hotel in the historic Jimbocho neighbourhood. buff.ly/Qu6KaAM

From Soho to Chelsea, established local galleries, newcomers and others are opening new spaces or relocating their businesses. buff.ly/cT6I1xJ

A new cultural centre is opening in Accra, Ghana, this October. Si Hene, located in a repurposed former pharmaceutical factory building, is billed as Ghana’s first membership-based cultural centre in the Ghanaian capital. buff.ly/TH4iQEL

“The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs”, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a formally uncommon documentary about the Shipibo-Conibo artist currently representing Peru at the Venice Biennale. buff.ly/qIJzW1P

For a city as iconic in the global imaginary as Hong Kong, there are surprisingly few broad histories of its art. Filling that gap is Oscar Ho Hing-kay’s Hong Kong Art: A Curator’s History (1987-2004). buff.ly/dg1PiH3

In the latest episode of A brush with…, Sunil Gupta shares insights into the themes that dominate his photographic practice. In this clip, he reveals what he thinks is the purpose of art after five decades of making work. buff.ly/VW3h0YD

Two oil paintings by the American artist Eastman Johnson have been recovered nearly 50 years after they were stolen. The Long Island-based art dealer Brandon Levine spotted the works in a private estate collection and contacted the Connecticut-based Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. buff.ly/Al04i1V

The UK government’s decision to grant regional mayors in England the power to introduce a "tourist tax" (Overnight Visitor Levy, OVL) has been welcomed by some UK cultural leaders who stress that revenue raised should be ring-fenced for arts and culture. buff.ly/JiVtWLh

Over half a century on from her last London commercial gallery show in London, the British artist Marlow Moss (1889-1958) is the subject of an extensive exhibition opening today at Ward Moretti at 12 Duke Street, St James’s. buff.ly/l5DKNg0

Mari Hong is arguably one of the most hardworking collectors from Asia. Each year, the Seoul-based art lover with a background in fashion design and marketing travels to five to seven major international art fairs and biennials that are at “the forefront of the global art scene”. buff.ly/ykl7W55

The first-century mosaic and accompanying fresco located beneath the Baths of Trajan in Rome welcomed its first visitors this past weekend. buff.ly/BQnBsdr