Category: visual

“Brandeis University announced that it will form a committee to consider the future of its Rose Art Museum, which university trustees voted to shut down on Jan. 26 with the goal of selling art to raise money.”

“Anne Lyles, Tate curator and authority on the work of Constable, and writer and critic Martin Gayford, have confirmed that a portrait of Ann Constable, Constable’s mother, is by the artist. They have also provisionally re-identified a portrait of Constable’s father, Golding Constable that was previously thought to depict his schoolmaster.”

“The new Frank Gehry-designed Art Gallery of Ontario, designed as an impregnable fortress against the harsh Canadian weather, is already showing cracks in its armour. Recent visitors to the newly reopened and much celebrated Toronto gallery have been shocked to find condensation fogging up and streaming down many of its outer windows, while buckets dot its famed Douglas fir central staircase, catching errant drips.”

“China said France has tarnished its own ‘good tradition’ by permitting the sale of two Qing Dynasty bronzes that were taken by foreign troops in 1860. ‘The auction will not add anything positive to the good tradition of the country in which it was hosted,’ said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman of China’s legislature and ex-foreign minister, at a Beijing press conference, ahead of the annual meeting of lawmakers.”

“Art exhibitions without exhibits are nothing new. Nothing has been a recognised art form for half a century. But the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris can claim a cultural first this week: a retrospective exhibition of 51 years of exhibitions without exhibits by nine different artists. How can a museum retrospectively exhibit nothing? With great care. The 500-page catalogue costs €39 (£34).”

“As the United Nations complex in New York undergoes a $1.9bn renovation, the international body’s extensive, eclectic art collection is to go on view in a temporary structure [assembled] to accommodate the UN during the makeover process.”

“Nine artworks painted by the Kray twins in prison have been sold for a total of £17,125 – triple their estimate. Ronnie and Reggie Kray, who ran a gang in London’s East End in the 1950s and 1960s, were both jailed for life for murder in 1969. The works were painted during the 1970s when the pair were in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle Of Wight.”

“The time has come for anyone who considers themself a real work of art to apply for much more than 15 minutes of fame: one whole hour of monumental grandeur, alone on top of the empty granite plinth in the corner of Trafalgar Square.”

“Art historians from Russia and Germany urged their governments to help track down treasures looted by Soviet and Nazi troops during World War II. About 120 museum representatives and art historians from both countries met in Moscow to agree on steps to improve access to archives so that they can better document what was lost in the war-time trophy-hunting spree.”

“Tacoma is the town that art built. [Dale] Chihuly, a native son, is key. But he had help. Before art moved in and took over, the place was minor league with a major inferiority complex. Its reputation for organized crime, pollution and cheesy weirdness undermined efforts to lift the gray fog of its depression.” Things are different now.