Category: visual

“Much more than just a demonstration of what money can buy or an attempt to burnish a rich family’s name, Crystal Bridges is poised to make a genuine cultural contribution, and possibly to become a place of pilgrimage for art lovers from around the world.”

In short, before smartphones hit the scene, most people found themselves without a camera during unexpected photo opportunities. But now smartphones help ensure we always have an image-capture device at hand — and they’ve trained us to take more photos.

“From New Year’s Day under European legislation the UK’s art dealers and auctioneers must pay the heirs or estates of artists deceased within 70 years up to 4% of the sale price of each work they sell for more than €1,000 (£840). With Picasso, Matisse, Bacon, Lowry and Sickert all in this category, critics of Europe’s imposition of Artist Resale Rights (ARR) claim the EU directive will put London at a competitive disadvantage with top art works going instead to rival markets in New York, Geneva and Hong Kong, where no such levy applies.”

“Madame Tussauds, which considers itself the ne plus ultra of wax artistry — with the $25 ticket price to match — is trying to best its cheaper competitor, the Hollywood Wax Museum, with a new marketing blitz stressing the defects in its rival’s paraffin starlets, singers and comics.”

“Even those who buy solely for the love of art and excitement about a specific artwork tend, even in the backs of their minds, to consider the possible future resale value of their collections. With the likely profits diminished, younger collectors, and collectors of younger artists, will be less motivated to buy, however idealistically we may wish to see their passion for art for art’s sake.’

A Swiss art prize worth 25,000 euros (£21,000) has been cancelled amid controversy the organisers censored one of the nominees. Jerusalem-born artist Larissa Sansour claims she was taken off the shortlist for being “too pro-Palestinian”.

Witold Rybczynski: “The French firebrand Le Corbusier was one of my early heroes, and I thought something along his line [i.e., white concrete] would be just the thing. … I had to admit it was a little stark, especially when I added the delicately colored figures. The wall didn’t look much like a stable, but that was the whole point – it was a modern crèche.”

“This is now reaching crazy, epidemic proportions. That was a really important piece of public art in the capital. We are used to metal being taken off roofs, but when it (happens) to public art, it is really tragic.”

“A total of 317 artefacts, valued at €500,000, were found at a developer’s house on the outskirts of Rome. A number of illegally excavated works decorated the exterior of the property.”

“A Barbara Hepworth sculpture which is insured for £500,000 has been stolen by suspected scrap metal thieves from Dulwich Park in south London.”