Category: visual

“To speak of the contemporary art scene in the Middle East as if it were one, or as if the region itself were a monolith, has become increasingly problematic and untenable of late, particularly as outside interest in the field has so markedly increased, and even more so in the UAE, where it is possible to imagine more complex exchanges among artists of Arab, Iranian, African and South Asian origin.”

“The series of events set off by this robbery will seem more like classic American cinema than true crime: a journey into the world of underground art dealing that will lead the main characters from the South of France to the coast of Spain to the suburbs of South Florida.”

“All 23 of the job cuts announced Thursday were to union staff, leaving non-unionized senior managers untouched, though some senior staff left voluntarily in recent months as part of a restructuring plan to adapt to the AGO’s newly renovated Dundas Street site. The gallery has also instituted a salary freeze for all managers and senior executives and cut back on travel and consumption.”

“Perched on a hillside overlooking a ravine, the five-floor, 18,000-square-foot house-cum-concert hall looks like an accordion in motion, with undulating walls of wood and floor-to-ceiling glass. A series of wooden “fins,” staggered at irregular intervals, frame panoramic vistas of the ravine. As visitors descend into the house, the fins disappear and the views widen.”

“The 60-by-45 cm painting shows Leonardo wearing dark robes and a black, feathered hat, but is damaged by scratches to the paint. Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of a museum dedicated to Leonardo in his hometown of Vinci, said the image is consistent with a depiction of the artist found in a 17th-18th century portrait kept at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.”

“Virtually all the big men in the party acquired substantial art collections. Göring had his art agents hunt down paintings all over Europe. There were several hundred pieces in his gallery at Karinhall, including works by Dürer, Cranach, Fragonard and Boucher. By the end of the war, he had collected 1375 paintings, 250 sculptures and 168 tapestries. Hitler, too, surrounded himself with paintings in all of his residences – including Cranachs, Dürers and Holbeins.”

“The Yankees have replaced the supermax prison look of its old home with pompously self-regarding limestone, monumental archways, carved eagles, and the team name incised in gold leaf.”

“UBS AG, the Swiss bank hit hard by the financial crisis, said Wednesday it has closed its ‘art banking’ department, which helps rich clients buy and build collections. The department was created in 1998 and provided customers with research on prices and artists, and consulted them on estimates, transport, storage, restoration and inheritance of art works.”

“For more than four years, sculptures by the inventor of the mobile adorned the grassy, tree-dotted Calder Garden…. Yesterday morning, the last piece was carted away, and the Calder Garden was no more. The plot will now be just a park maintained by the city. The sculpture garden’s funding by the Pew Charitable Trusts, announced as $5 million in 2001, simply expired, officials explained.”

“James August, an independent occupational health and safety consultant, said past policies for dealing with asbestos-containing materials had ‘serious deficiencies. . . . Smithsonian Institution safety policies have in all likelihood resulted in significant, albeit avoidable, asbestos exposure to building service workers.’ Daniel O. Chute, a certified industrial hygienist, said the institution’s asbestos control policy was sound.”