Category: visual

“Over that same decade, Cuno, 60, forged a reputation as an outspoken critic of efforts to curb the antiquities trade. In two books and many public appearances, he has called the efforts of foreign governments to regulate the trade in ancient art “nationalistic,” and has lamented the limits put on museums’ ability to collect art that has a murky ownership history.”

“The cash strapped Folk Art Museum will be able to eliminate its $31.9m bond debt and [New York’s Museum of Modern Art], which has first refusal on the sale, will be able to expand its exhibition space.”

“In Chapter 2 of a long story that is growing longer, the Metropolitan Museum of Art filed suit Tuesday in United States District Court in Manhattan seeking possession of a painting now in the hands of Robert Wylde, a British collector.”

“Wall Street’s charging-bull statue is the very epitome of financial strength. Outside the stock exchange in Italy’s financial capital is an equally unambiguous symbol: a giant marble middle finger.”

Guards saw a suspect leaving the area early on Monday but failed to stop him, a spokesman said. An investigation found nine pieces – all small Western-style, 20th-century gold purses and mirrored compacts covered with jewels – were missing from a temporary exhibition, on loan from the private Liang Yi.

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art will take over the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Marcel Breuer building in 2015, when the Whitney opens its new museum in Manhattan’s meatpacking district, according to the terms of a real estate agreement that the museum boards are pursuing.”

“More than 2.6m Sotheby’s shares were traded today, following the quarterly report to shareholders in which the company announced that, while total revenue increased by 17% in the first quarter thanks to sales of high-end works, its operating costs–which were trimmed drastically during the downturn–rose 16%. This impacted the share price, which fell 6.1% today to close at $43.71.”

“The art world never could keep a secret. Rumors are the beating heart of the tumultuous scene here, a kind of perennial self-fulfilling prophecy: Like Dorothy clicking together her red slippers and thinking of home, when some desired outcome is thought about hard and by enough people at the same time, it is willed into existence.”

Derrick Cartwright’s resignation came as a surprise to many on the board, said SAM board President Maggie Walker. “It was not something that everybody was wildly anticipating,” she said. “He sent us a letter of resignation over the weekend and here we are.”

“Cuno’s departure after seven years leaves a void at one of the country’s premier art institutions — a position that many expected Cuno to keep for life. It’s a shift in power that seems to have taken everyone in the industry by surprise, including Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas P. Campbell.”