Category: visual

The 9/11 memorial building required hard work from thousands of people, but the NYT says its background is “at least partly the story of Mr. Arad’s evolution from a hot-headed 34-year-old novice whose design bested some 5,200 others to the more sanguine and battle-tested — if still perfectionist — architect he is today.”

Who plucked 150 pieces from the British Empire Museum’s collection and offered them for sale? And did the trustees ever see checks for £115,000? A police report says the director thought it “could be politically embarrassing that the museum was selling the items.” Indeed.

“Police said the artwork dated from 1618, but did not give the name of the work or provide further details. Two people, both Greek, have been arrested.”

“One of the biggest challenges, Bonnie Pitman says, remains how to present artworks for enthusiasts who like to learn everything — without frustrating the independents who may find all that extra information distracting.”

“Investigators are refusing to return a purported Rembrandt drawing that was stolen from an auction at an upscale hotel and then recovered last month, citing questions about [both] the authenticity and ownership of the piece.”

“A gallery has discovered four paintings by Otto Dix, the German expressionist whose art chronicled the horrors of World War One, the depravity of the Weimar Republic and was labeled ‘degenerate’ by Adolf Hitler.”

“The 2011 Carbuncle Cup for Britain’s “ugliest new building” has been awarded to the £600m MediaCityUK. This concatenation of anaemic buildings is the controversial new regional headquarters of the BBC, and home to the media studies faculty of Salford University.”

“Concern is mounting about the fate of large numbers of works of art owned by Norwegian government ministries or lent to them … following the terrorist ­attack in Oslo on 22 July. The buildings damaged in the bombing contained works by artists including Munch, Christian Krohg and Anne Katrine Dolven.”

“Singapore-based photographer Qi Wei offers up this beautiful series of images showing ‘exploded flowers’ – flowers which have been carefully disassembled and then photographed in a way that honors their radial symmetry.”