Iran war and culture in the Gulf, the Whitney Biennial, Rembrandt discovery

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of the Iran war on Gulf tourism, reviews the Whitney Biennial, and features a Rembrandt painting's new attribution.

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 Arabian 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. 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, 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. Whitney Biennial 2026, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 8 March-23 August Rembrandt’s The Vision…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Luke

Guest: Melissa Gronlund

Topics covered

• Iran war
• Middle East
• Whitney Biennial
• Rembrandt
• art and culture
• tourism
• museum exhibitions

Keywords

• Iran war
• Whitney Biennial
• Rembrandt
• art tourism
• Rijksmuseum
• Middle East culture
• Vision of Zacharias

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Art Newspaper, Rijksmuseum, Whitney Museum of American Art

Books & works: Vision of Zacharias in the Temple

Places: Iran, Israel, Arabian Gulf

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