Category: visual

“Five iPads have been installed alongside a series of historic Buddhist sculptures in the temple, located in the Kyoto region, displaying images of the artworks in three-dimensional form.”

“Is there such a thing as German Impressionism? Didn’t everything begin in Paris with Manet, Monet, Degas, Cézanne and their colleagues? As the provocatively named ‘German Impressionist Landscape Painting: Liebermann – Corinth – Slevogt,’ at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, makes clear, the answer to both questions is an unequivocal ‘yes’.”

“It was then–and again later that evening when we witnessed further enactments of this same kind of warped prurient modesty/prudery in front of imposing ancient sculptures of male nude gods and mythic heroes–that I asked my husband, as much in disbelief as in indignation, how do the guards allow this?”

“Less than a month after Pompeii’s so-called House of Gladiators collapsed into rubble, portions of a garden wall at the nearby House of the Moralist fell down on Tuesday, prompting new calls to better safeguard the city buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.”

“Whether they had been found in an attic in Pinner or in a bank vault in Switzerland, the discovery of 271 unknown works by Pablo Picasso would count as one of the most important cultural events of the year.”

“The VAG wants to build a new gallery on city-owned land at the old Larwill Park site, using the address 150 Dunsmuir. The VAG wants the entire site. But city officials have indicated that because of a $48-million encumbrance (money borrowed against that land to fund renovations at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre across the street), the VAG would need to share the space – likely with an office tower.”

“Leading art critic Brian Sewell has said council-run galleries should sell off artworks to protect public services threatened by government spending cuts.”

“The treasure trove of 271 pieces includes lithographs, cubist paintings, notebooks and a watercolour and is said to be worth about 60m euros (£50.6m). Pierre Le Guennec, 71, reportedly says Picasso gave him the works as gifts.”

This year, galleries are back: Booth applications rose by 20% from last year. After robust fall auctions in New York, “we’re seeing people back in the market,” said Marc Spiegler, co-director of the Basel, Switzerland, fair and its sister event in Miami, now in its ninth year.

“A recent raid in Portugal has uncovered a large hoard of fake pictures” – some 130 canvases, each one with a forged authentication certificate. The artists being mimicked include Picasso, Mirò, Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec, Chagall, Kandinsky, Botero – and even Leonardo da Vinci.”