In a culture war even museum labels and wall texts are on the front line.

The Smithsonian in particular has found itself in the middle of a political fight - losing staff and shows as a result - and the latest blow came courtesy of a letter from the White House to long-serving secretary Lonnie Bunch.

It announced a review of current and future exhibitions and said written material from websites to wall captions would be checked to "assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals."

The institution has been given 75 days to provide a full inventory of its permanent collections as part of what the White House described as an effort to "celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions”.

In a statement, the Smithsonian said its “work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research and the accurate, factual presentation of history" and said it would "collaborate constructively with the White House".

It comes after the loss of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet who resigned after President Trump said he was going to fire her. The gallery then hit the headlines again after Amy Sherald canceled a planned exhibition over fears her painting of a transgender Statue of Liberty would be censored.

Sotheby's is selling a $9.5 million Mark Rothko, but it is not one of his works but the New York studio where he made them.

His former Manhattan apartment and studio, where he made the paintings for the Rothko Chapel in Texas, is back on the market courtesy of the real estate wing of the auctioneers.

The listing for the property, which includes five bedrooms and four bathrooms, describes how Rothko reimagined "the dramatic volume of the space" for his studio and also flags up another famous name who set foot inside - it was at one time a recording studio used by Elvis Presley amongst others.

The number of historic manuscripts saved from destruction at the hands of Islamist radicals in 2012 by being smuggled out of Timbuktu in Mali by library staff who hid them in rice sacks. Earlier this week, the first batch was brought back to the city where a homecoming ceremony celebrated their safe return.

Maps created for novelist Ursula Le Guin's imaginary worlds are going on show in a new exhibition.

The writer began every story by drawing a map and a selection of them can be seen in The Word for World: The Maps of Ursula K Le Guin at the Architectural Association's (AA) London Gallery.

Le Guin, who died in 2018, wrote science fiction and fantasy stories and novels for adults and children and is one of the few writers to be published in their lifetime by the Library of America which preserves the nation’s literary heritage.

AA Director Ingrid Schroder said the maps "ground and give life to the worlds in her novels, as well as frame the philosophical questions they raise".

The show runs from October 10 to December 6.

German artist Heinz Mack's new foundation has made its first public donation of work - giving a major sculpture to Harvard.

It donated the 1960 work Light Relief, made of hand-embossed aluminum on hardboard, which will go on show in the Busch-Reisinger Museum from October.

The work is typical of his experiments with material and light during his time with the artist collective Zero which he founded with Otto Piene in 1957.

1 - Art collector Christophe de Menil, who counted Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning as friends and was an early patron of Frank Gehry, has died aged 92. The daughter of collectors John and Dominique de Menil, she founded the family museum in Houston. Her grandson, photographer Dash Snow, died in 2009 aged 27.

2 - Sotheby's is opening its new Madison Avenue HQ on November 8 with an exhibition ahead of its Modern and Contemporary art sales later that month. The Marcel Breuer-designed building was originally built for the Whitney Museum and has also provided a temporary home for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Modern art and The Frick Collection’s Old Masters.

3 - Bridget Riley has worked with the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate on England's south coast on a new exhibition examining her whole career. The show, which includes work from the 1960s to the present day, will open on November 22.