War in the Middle East, the Whitney Biennial, and a newly-discovered Rembrandt in Amsterdam—podcast

The 400-year-old Golestan Palace reportedly sustained damage from a nearby missile blast
From breaking news and insider insights to exhibitions and events around the world, the team at The Art Newspaper picks apart the art world’s big stories with the help of special guests. An award-winning podcast hosted by Ben Luke.
As the war against Iran instigated last week by Israel and the United States continues to spread through the Middle East, we explore how it affects tourism in the Persian Gulf, of which art and culture more generally have been a cornerstone. One of The Art Newspaper’s Middle East correspondents, Melissa Gronlund, joins Ben Luke to discuss the latest news.
The 82nd biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York opens this weekend and our editor-in-chief in the Americas, Ben Sutton, and Elena Goukassian, our senior editor of museums and heritage, tell us what they thought of it.
Photograph by Darian DiCanno/BFA.com. ©
BFA 2026
And this episode’s Work of the Week is The Vision of Zacharias in the Temple (1633) by Rembrandt. Researchers at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam have demonstrated that the painting, which had previously been documented as a copy of a lost original, is in fact an authentic work by the Dutch master. We speak to Jonathan Bikker, the Rijksmuseum’s curator of 17th-century Dutch paintings, who was part of the team that secured the attribution to Rembrandt. The picture is now on view to the public at the Rijksmuseum.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple (1633)
Photo: Rene Gerritsen
Plus, an analysis of our museum visitor figures survey and a drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
We speak to the artist behind the extraordinary Wheatfield work and visit two new shows in the Netherlands. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
Ben Luke hears about ‘Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art’ at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C, discusses the cultural impact of a brutal crackdown in Iran and takes a look at a landmark 1958 installation by Louise Nevelson