Category: visual

“Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece Guernica, the jewel in the crown of Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum, has been given a flattering new look by the city’s principal gallery of Spanish modern art.”

“I absolutely support Bill Henson. I’m a parent myself and I abhor child pornography, but this is not child pornography. It’s artistic and creative.”

“Police raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, in inner-city Sydney, on Friday after a complaint from a member of the public, seizing 20 of Henson’s photographs, some of which include naked images of a girl and boy aged 13 and 12. They have said they will seek prosecution under state and commonwealth laws, alleging the photographs depicted ‘a child under the age of 16 years of age in a sexual context’.”

“The exterior walls of Tate Modern have been covered with six towering works of Street Art, all around 15 metres high. Each is by one of the world’s leading international street artists but there’s one figure who is glaringly absent – the most famous one of them all. Where’s Banksy? “

“Pallinghurst Resources LLP, which bought the rights to Fabergé last year, plans to mine the wealth of the Fabergé name by restoring the firm to its origins with the help of the Russian founder’s relatives, the firm told Reuters. In recent years, the Fabergé brand has been used to market cosmetics.”

Several priceless gold works of art by legendary Haida artist Bill Reid have been taken from the University of B.C.’s Museum of Anthropology in a daring theft.

A well-loved bronze sculpture in downtown Cleveland has been getting some restoration work from a local nonprofit firm. But midway through the work, a competing restoration firm has publicly complained that the sculpture is being treated improperly, and colored in a way that the artist never intended.

A major (and massive) Jeff Koons sculpture that was sold for $1.1m less than a decade ago is going up for auction again, and could fetch more than $25m. The piece, owned by Howard and Cindy Rachofsky of Dallas, will hit the block at Christie’s in London at the end of June.

“Sebastian Smee, formerly the national art critic at The Australian, will be the [Boston] Globe’s visual-arts critic, beginning Tuesday. Smee, 35, served as The Australian’s critic, based in Sydney, from 2004 until last month. Before that he worked in London, where he was art critic at the Daily Telegraph.”

“A gift to London from Sir Anthony Caro, Britain’s leading sculptor, has been declined. Millbank Steps, his largest and most ambitious work, is therefore up for sale for £2.5m. It has just gone on display at the New Art Centre at Roche Court, near Salisbury.”