Category: visual

“Police in Venice have recovered a canvas by the celebrated French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir that was stolen 25 years ago in Rome. A police spokesman told AFP on Wednesday that a resident of Treviso city, north of Venice, had doubts about the origin of the painting after consulting a list of stolen artworks.”

“There’s a very funny video ‘news clip’ online produced by the folks at The Onion, called ‘Prague’s Kafka International Named Most Alienating Airport’. In the report, travelers describe an airport where corridors lead nowhere, shuttle trains deposit people back where they started and gate B2 can be found in the F terminal. This is a little what trying to get your press pass feels like at the Venice Biennale.”

“French billionaire Francois Pinault has dramatically extended his Venetian empire of contemporary art this week, and given the city a new museum. Pinault’s foundation has taken over one of the most prominent buildings in Venice: the old customs house, or Punta della Dogana, just across the water from Piazza San Marco. Pinault … becomes by far the biggest contemporary-art presence in the hometown of Titian and Giorgione.”

“Yale University was sued by a man who says he’s the descendant of the former owner of a Van Gogh painting that was unlawfully seized during the Communist takeover of Russia in 1918 and rightfully belongs to him. … The painting, ‘The Night Café,’ was later sold to galleries in Europe and New York and eventually bequeathed to Yale in 1961, according to court papers filed May 21 in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut.”

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today seized a Pompeii wall panel fresco from a Manhattan auction house that was reported stolen in Italy 12 years ago. … The panel, rectangular with a white background depicting a female minister, white wash on plaster with a modern wooden frame, was previously located at the excavation office in Pompeii.”

“While building toward a major fall exhibition of its collection that it hopes will be a milestone in its recovery from recent financial and organizational turmoil, the Museum of Contemporary Art has let go the head of the department that’s most hands-on in minding the collection.”

“[Rolando] Briseño is one of eight artists commissioned by the San Antonio River Foundation to create site-specific art installations on and under the eight bridges spanning the new Museum Reach extension of the River Walk. The landscaped 1.33-mile stretch … opened Saturday.”

“A midwest architectural firm that has designed dozens of professional sports arenas could bump Frank Gehry and his glitzy arena vision from the Atlantic Yards project. Ellerbe Becket, a Missouri-based firm, was tapped last fall to reevaluate the extravagant arena design Gehry conceived for developer Forest City Ratner to lure the NBA’s New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn.”

“There is much to admire about the new Modern Wing: its sleek blond oak floors… But it leaves much to be desired in terms of audience-friendly, art-enhancing design.”

“Visits to some of Mexico City’s museums have fallen by as much as 90% since the outbreak of the H1N1 virus last month that prompted a near shutdown of numerous facilities, according to reports in the local media. Owners of some of the privately owned museums in the capital are seeking financial help from the government and say that if attendance doesn’t pick up, they may be forced to take ‘drastic measures’ such as cutting staff by half and opening for only three days a week.”