“The FBI now has an entire team of agents devoted to art theft. … Though the job sounds like a sexy one — conjuring up images of an art collector storing fine works of art in a cave somewhere on the other side of the world — the reality is somewhat less glamorous. Museums in the U.S. have become so well-protected — so heist-proof — that museum thefts have become rare.”
Category: visual
More Artists Taking Back Control Of Their Art From Dealers
“Just a few years ago, when the art market was a less complicated place, the artist-dealer relationship was relatively straightforward. But in today’s increasingly complex art scene, where many artists are represented by several galleries worldwide and where production costs can spiral, artists say that they are having to ensure they are at the centre of the decision-making process by employing independent agents or setting up their own companies.”
Did The Brits Raise Enough Money To Keep Titian?
The National Gallery of Scotland and London’s National Gallery are poised to reveal whether Titian’s Diana and Actaeon has been saved for the nation.
The 15-Year-Old Photographer And Her Online Art Career
“On Flickr, nobody cares if White thinks algebra is beneath her. They’re following her art career, and it’s flourishing. Her name passes like a hot rumor, and her work is the fact that backs the rumor up.”
Art’s Super Detective
“For nearly two decades, usually masquerading as a crooked art dealer with links to the Mafia or the Colombian drug cartels, he has run undercover sting operations, luring criminals into selling him stolen works of art. Protecting his identity means the difference between life and death.”
Dave Hickey Does The Art Market
“So think of the art world as a beach and money as the surf. Waves roll in but they always suck back out, leaving a few masterpieces, taking some beach with them. When a really gnarly monster rolls in, the best we can hope is that it will leave some beach behind and a few treasures in the sand, along with the wreckage and the bodies–because the wave will suck away.”
I.M Pei’s Islamic Museum – An Optimistic World View
“Now, at 91 and near the end of a long career, Mr. Pei seems to be enjoying the kind of revival accorded to most serious architects if they have the luck to live long enough. But the museum is also notable for its place within a broader effort to reshape the region’s cultural identity.”
‘A Machine That Makes Canadians’
Marc Mayer, the new head of the National Gallery of Canada, has a big goal for the institution as it emerges from a period of chaos: “You should go in there feeling mildly Canadian, and come out feeling very Canadian. I think art can help us understand the story of how we ended up being one of the most advanced societies on Earth.”
How Sweden’s Climate Changed The World Of Design
Harsh winters meant Swedes were traditionally forced to enjoy the indoors: furniture, rugs, glassware and ceramics become exceptionally important when it is 30 degrees below outside.” And Sweden’s egalitarian society “meant that when the first design movements began in the early last century, their appeals could be addressed to the whole population, not just a special interest group.”
Crusading Against Starchitecture
“Joshua Prince-Ramus is waging a holy war against the sculptors, starchitects, and fey theoreticians of his profession. And in the process, he’s actually building things.” He tells students: “I’ve never seen a client give a shit about my personal vision. I had to figure out how to piggyback what my vision was onto their issues.”