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Ben Lewis

@theuniversalben.bsky.social
1.4K followers 5.3K following 531 posts

Telling stories about art within the bigger picture of soc, econ and pol. Last Leonardo, Art Bust, Art Safari – Books. Podcasts. Documentaries www.benlewisprojects.com #arthistory

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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Why has there been a surge in thefts of art and antiquities from museums across Europe? Theories and explanations in my new @storycopod podcast with super(art)sleuth @arthur_brand and James Kirkwood landing today #artcrime #museums #renoir #cezanne #matisse #mauriziocattelan
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Ashmolean Museum, Oxford @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This atmospheric watercolour is by John Sell Cotman who was born in Norwich in 1782. Although largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Cotman is now considered to be one of the most distinctive British 19th-century watercolourists and the leading artist of the ‘Norwich School’.
A watercolour of a ruined house by John Sell Cotman.
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
What a terrible shameful decision it is to cancel eccentric genius Galliano’s Met Show. How pathetic this cancel culture is. So he talked some racist crap 15 yrs ago. He apologised, he’s been as good as gold since then. What ever happened to forgiveness? www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026...
theguardian.com
Met Gala exhibition honoring John Galliano is cancelled after backlash
Fashion designer was convicted of hate crime by French court in 2011 after series of racist and antisemitic remarks
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
RIP the dottiest contemporary artist of them all www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97
From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced vivid paintings, sculptures and vast installations that often drew on her experience of hallucinations
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Sounds like a ln important book www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Ukrainian Lessons by Charlotte Higgins review – when art and war collide
A vivid and hopeful study of how culture endures in the midst of extreme violence
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Seems like female artists can also ‘objectify’ the female body! Is this ‘the female gaze’? www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/08/12/t...
theartnewspaper.com
The author of a new book on Lavinia Fontana’s erotic art reveals all
The Italian scholar Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo tells us about new discoveries and why the Bolognese painter was an innovator in her field
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Silence cannot be announced
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H I Sutton @covertshores.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Underrated post
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
My theory is that Trump was pranked by disgruntled secret service agents. There was no credible threat from Iran
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Way i see it - 3 is a hatrick. They must know something we don't.
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Free Lucy Letby www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/7421...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
We need to talk about Lucy Letby
A new book highlights the inconsistencies behind the nurse’s conviction. When will the establishment give us doubters a hearing?
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I admit it, I am a massive succailure. I invented this new word - succailure - in a new podcast, because it seemed the only way to explain the ups and downs of my career in docos and art. Maybe I am not the only one? #succailure See my new podcast @storycopodcast
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The Odyssey was pleasantly portal-free
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Mr Natural @neilmatheson66.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
George Callaghan (b.1941 Northern Ireland) Path to the Harbour. Acrylic on canvas.
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
And how many Netflix documentaries also are about a murdered woman? Something I have long wondered and felt uncomfortable about www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
theguardian.com
Nine out of ten bestselling novels in UK have one thing in common: a woman is murdered
Author Wendy Jones highlighted the trend in an Instagram post: ‘What is going on here?’
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Ben’s Jazz House A playlist I have been compiling for ten years @listigeplaylists.bsky.social open.spotify.com/playlist/2T8...
open.spotify.com
Ben's Jazz House
Playlist · Ben Lewis · 585 items · 9 saves
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Finally someone’s nailed the Aboutaams and Phoenix Fine Art! Quite breathtaking antiquities trafficking sleuthing from Erin Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social hyperallergic.com/why-do-so-ma...
hyperallergic.com
Why Do So Many Museums Hold a Convicted Antiquity Dealer’s Treasures?
After The Met returned a Roman bust connected to Phoenix Ancient Art, the question of what will happen to other works sold by the gallery to dozens of US institutions remains open.
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Music Box Theatre @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Happy 100TH BIRTHDAY to the king Mel Brooks, who wore a fake extra finger to his handprint ceremony🥳🎂🥳
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
#Starmer is to #Burnham as Smith was to #Blair. Discuss #makerfield
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Just what I’ve been waiting for www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
Wombles set to return after 27 years as IP deal opens door to comeback
Litter-picking creatures emerge from underground for global franchise targeting nostalgic adults and gen Alpha
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Joe Hage funds Hepworth show at Courtauld. Surely a gambit to add Hepworth Estate to his portfolio of clients incl. estates of Sir Brian Clarke, Zaha Hadid and Francis Bacon + living artists Hirst and Richter. www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/06/11/i...
theartnewspaper.com
Influential art world figure Joe Hage moves from the shadows to take top billing
The founder of Heni art services is behind a major Barbara Hepworth show at London's Courtauld Gallery
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
RIP David Hockney (19372026), grumpy exponent of a pretty kind of beauty and 20th-century modernist in tune with the isms of 100 years ago #davidhockney unherd.com/2026/06/davi...
unherd.com
David Hockney's defiant pleasure
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Max Chavez @maxchavez.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The absolutely incredible Mercado Abelardo Rodríguez (1934) by Antonio Muñoz, filled with mural work by students and contemporaries of Diego Rivera (and overseen by Rivera himself).
A market entrance with the lower halves of mannequins.A mural of laborers, located behind a fruit stand.Large murals on wall and ceiling with mannequins in front.Large mural of Mexican laborers painted on a wall in a staircase.
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
The Sienese forger whom I have been writing a book about, icilio Federico Joni, used Winsor and Newton paint which became one way his fakes could be unmasked
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Free Lucy Letby www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Former boss at Lucy Letby’s hospital arrested on suspicion of perverting course of justice
Suspect is one of three ex-senior leaders also arrested last year on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
From Magnus Resch's art market newsletter: "The art market is up 4% this year. That’s the headline. But zoom out, and nothing has changed. The market is still roughly where it was ten years ago.... 1/2
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Un verre du vin rouge, svp. #manet #ai
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Pinturicchio, Annunciation, 1501, Santa Maria Maggiore, Spello. My first attempt at AI-ing art history #AIart️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ #artㅤㅤㅤㅤ #italy #renaissance
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Pinturicchio, Annunciation, 1501, Santa Maria Maggiore, Spello. My first attempt at AI-ing art history #AIart️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ #artㅤㅤㅤㅤ #italy #renaissance
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
It's a lonely job, but someone's gotta do it. "Lost friendships, professional exile, and a wall of institutional silence: deep inside the lonely battle fought by those who dare to stand up to the art world." plastermagazine.com/features/rub...
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Britain's great museums simply cannot afford to continue offering free entry to everyone. Let's put the on a sound financial footing, so they don't lurch from one crisis to another. My latest for @unherd unherd.com/newsroom/bri...
unherd.com
Britons don’t deserve to get into museums for free
One of the last taboos of the British Museum establishment has been broken. Earlier this week, Culture Minister Lisa Nandy proposed that the Government would “explore” the recommendations of a report…
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
#Artquiz 9. Name the contemporary painters of these two (details of) paintings. Do you think they are by any chance related?
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Happy Easter! Marcel Broodthaers, Leather Bag with Eggs, 1968 #easter #eastereggs #marcelbroodthaers #conceptualart
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
“To get the objects back, prosecutors made an agreement with the people accused of stealing them. The specifics of the agreement were unclear.” ie they paid a ransom or secured a shorter prison sentence for one of their mates. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/w...
nytimes.com
Ancient Artifacts Stolen in Dutch Museum Heist Are Recovered
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
How exactly?
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Happy Easter from Belgian ironic-conceptualist artist-poet Marcel Broodthaers. He knew you couldn’t disrupt the art market and discourses of contemporary art without breaking few eggs ‘Oval of Eggs, 1965 #easter #art #broodthaers
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
True. The only sensible and inevitable solution is to charge everyone to enter our major museums like every other country in the world does
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
'The murals are among more than 6,600 that have been identified, photographed and digitised in an ambitious project which launched in January 2024, the charity Art UK said.' 1/2
theguardian.com
Writing on the wall: Art UK digitises thousands of murals as street artworks go mainstream
From medieval church wall paintings to Liam Gallagher’s viral X post, charity has catalogued more than 6,600 pieces
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
It’s high time UK museums charged visitors an entry fee just like other museums around the world. unherd.com/newsroom/bri...
unherd.com
Britons don’t deserve to get into museums for free
One of the last taboos of the British Museum establishment has been broken. Earlier this week, Culture Minister Lisa Nandy proposed that the Government would “explore” the recommendations of a report ...
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Free Lucy Letby www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
David Davis says Cheshire police made ‘egregious’ failures in Lucy Letby investigation
Conservative former cabinet minister says nurse convicted of murdering seven babies has suffered a miscarriage of justice
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Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 22/03/2026
'R J Salmon dangles in a crate suspended from a crane to take an aerial shot of Fleet Street, London. 1929'
man in a crate hanging from a crane hook, high above the city, he has a camera to his eye
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Terrific review here. The closest we get to Matisse in Brit art history is Hockney www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Matisse, 1941-1954 review – hit after glorious hit in a show of life-enhancing genius
An epic collection of the artist’s final 13 years of work explodes with the stunning colours and spiky cutouts that redefined art
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Looks like Mr Safra wishes to sell his version of the #salvatormundi – known as the Ganay. Good luck with that.
countrylife.co.uk
A distinguished copy of 'Salvator Mundi' is now on offer — could it also be the truest to Leonardo da Vinci's vision?
One of the roughly 20 known versions of 'Salvator Mundi', executed by da Vinci's workshop, is being unveiled at TEFAF Maastricht, on the stand of British dealer Agnews Gallery.
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
RIP Jürgen Habermas, whom I quoted on a poster for a performance art event and happening I organised at university in 1986. "Those who proclaim the end of art... are impelled by the experience of resignation." #habermas #frankfurtschool
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Have they got him - errr - over a barrel?
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Free Lucy Letby www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Expert witness in Lucy Letby trial did not reveal hospital investigation into his medical work
Cheshire police and CPS say they were not told about inquiry into Prof Peter Hindmarsh before he gave evidence at nurse’s trial
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Ben Lewis @theuniversalben.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
This is not going to please the IP dept at Lego
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Dan Hicks @profdanhicks.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
This FOl enquiry for the Guardian has taken up a great deal of my life for the past 2 years. (1/3)
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