Category: visual

“Bronze plaques, medallions and other pieces worth $25,000 have been stolen from seven Ottawa-area monuments in the past two months, mostly in the city’s core.”

“If large precincts of the art world are still in thrall to ‘novelty art,’ there is also a vital and increasingly prominent current of artistic practice seeking the rehabilitation of aesthetic canons and plastic techniques that were pioneered in the Renaissance and promulgated in the studios of the Beaux Arts.”

“The Fourth Plinth has popularised modern art at the expense of robbing it of what makes it modern in the first place. It has taken the excitement of British art a decade ago and co-opted it.”

“In an age of ever-expanding mega-museums, the restored gallery, which holds an exceptional collection of European art, stands out as a thoughtful alternative to high-design gigantism. When it comes to the essential character of an art museum, after all, there is a sweet spot between intimacy and impressive scale that the re-imagined house, at 55,000 square feet, comes remarkably close to hitting.”

“Holocaust historians are criticizing the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for its stance in an escalating legal dispute over the ownership of a valuable 1913 painting. The work, Oskar Kokoschka’s “Two Nudes (Lovers),” has hung at the MFA almost continuously since 1973.”

They’re to be dismantled. “It’s hard to argue with such a progressive agenda, but it’s harder to understand why these historic and much loved indoor display gardens, so dear to Ms. Duke’s heart, cannot coexist with the native plants and the bike trails. Yes, these glass buildings are now inefficient and cost a fortune to heat, but we are talking about one of the richest foundations in America — one that has committed ‘several tens of millions’ to this new greening of the park and part of whose mission, as stated on the front page of its Web site, is to preserve the cultural legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.”

“The potential prosecution of one of our most respected artists is no way to build a Creative Australia, and does untold damage to our cultural reputation. We should remember that an important index of social freedom, in earlier times or in repressive regimes elsewhere in the world, is how artists and art are treated by the state.”

“An East Hampton art gallery owner was led away in handcuffs Saturday after she refused to stop serving drinks at an opening bash for a celebrity photo exhibit.”

“Controversial plans by British film-maker Peter Greenaway to project a light show on to Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is at risk of being cancelled by Italian authorities, who fear the masterpiece could suffer irreparable damage.”

“Britain’s artistic community is battling against leading auction houses and dealers to bring in a law forcing the payment of a royalty on artists’ works for 70 years after their deaths — in line with writers and musicians. Most auction houses and dealers are opposed to the law — claiming that it would have a devastating impact on Britain’s £8.5billion art market.”