Category: visual

In 1978, seven paintings, including a still life by the French impressionist Paul Cezanne now worth tens of millions of dollars, were stolen from a Massachusetts house. “The theft set off an international investigation that led to Monaco, Geneva, London and — finally — to a retired lawyer.”

“A giant inflatable dog turd created by the American artist Paul McCarthy was blown from its moorings at a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a window before landing in the grounds of a children’s home.”

“The American Association of Museums is also recommending rigorous research into the history of any new acquisition. It would allow anonymous donations, but only where the donor can provide a full history of the work. The association released a set of guidelines for its 3,000 members Monday, after working on them for two years.”

“The FBI says pieces from an extensive art collection found in the New York home of a dead dealer were stolen in the 1960s and ’70s. Investigators said Monday that at least 20 works of art in William Kingsland’s collection were stolen.”

“The largest hurdle could be money. The job’s salary range was raised in April to between $164,800 and $193,900, but that range still pales in comparison to the earnings of several of those who run similar organizations.”

“Like many architects, Adrian Smith — who collaborates with his partner Gordon Gill on all of the firm’s designs — is fond of saying that he wants to make buildings responsive to their context. That can be a problem in the emirates: most of the time, he concedes, there is no context, at least in the form of surrounding buildings, to respond to. As a result he has turned to a larger context.”

“The relationship between smog and architecture is not one that critics or scholars — or architects themselves, for that matter — have traditionally given much thought. But in the pollution-clogged Chinese capital, the link is nearly impossible to ignore.”

The fall of iconography in Obama art will coincide with his election or defeat. Come November, he’ll become a real, sturdy subject for art.

Like all Polaroid cameras, the 20×24–a sophisticated, refrigerator-sized model introduced in the ’70s and favored by Chuck Close and Julian Schnabel for large-scale portraiture–faces swift obsolescence. Investor Daniel H. Stern and visual artist John Reuter have launched an enterprise to manufacture the film and accessories that will keep the cult cam in business even after Polaroid Corporation discontinues production on instant photography film next year.

“For better or worse, it really does matter where you are and the quality of the building is going to have an impact on you. The problem with really unsuccessful architects is that what they do hangs around for a very long time – this will probably be with us for another 300 years. In other words, architecture is a serious business, and I do think that it impacts on our state of mind.”