Category: visual

“The two worn leather-bound volumes, described as No. 6 and 8 of nearly 100 such albums compiled by the Third Reich, are filled with pictures of mostly 18th-century French art. They join 39 similar albums that are already at the National Archives. The material, which was used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials after the war, was amassed by the Third Reich’s Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg unit. That group was assigned at Hitler’s behest to appropriate ‘ownerless’ art collected by prosperous Jews in France and transport much of it to Germany.”

The Vanderbilt family is selling a J.M.W. Turner masterpiece that was considered “one of the finest watercolour-drawings in the world.” “Bamborough Castle” — which was believed by many in the art historical world to be lost — has been in the family’s collection since 1890, when Cornelius Vanderbilt purchased it. But at a time when art prices, especially prices for Turners, are soaring, the family has decided to sell.

“Next week, the new artwork to occupy Traflagar Square’s fourth plinth will be unveiled. Eager art enthusiasts or random tourists can get a glimpse of what’s taking place under the tarpaulin right now: Thomas Schütte’s Model for a Hotel 2007.”

“Manhattan law-enforcement officials searched the Upper East Side home of Lawrence Salander on Oct. 30 as part of a criminal investigation of the 58-year-old art dealer.”

“The master of fine-arts degree has long been sufficient for artists seeking to teach at the college level. But significant change may be on the horizon, as increasing numbers of college and university administrators are urging artists to obtain doctoral degrees. Pushing artists toward doctoral programs fundamentally changes their focus and goals. The Ph.D. says to the university, ‘I am committing myself to academe,’ whereas the M.F.A. primarily reflects a commitment to developing one’s skills as an artist. Requiring studio artists to become researchers as well would diminish their ability to keep one foot in the exhibition world.”

Milwaukee’s Man at Work museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering , which opened to the public Saturday, “seems to have stumbled into a complex, controversial subject that the museum world has been coming to terms with for decades: When is it appropriate to exhibit art produced under the Nazis? How open should a museum be with its visitors about Nazi connections? What are the moral responsibilities of artists working under repressive regimes?”

“San Francisco-based First Republic is one of the largest creditors of embattled New York dealer Lawrence Salander and his Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, accused in about two dozen lawsuits of defrauding customers and failing to repay tens of millions of dollars of debt. The bank has not been accused of wrongdoing. First Republic has lent a total of $59 million to Salander and his wife, Julie, his Upper East Side gallery and to an investment fund that said it arranged to buy all of Salander- O’Reilly’s Renaissance art.”

The Italian Culture Ministry and the Princeton University Art Museum signed a deal yesterday for the return of eight disputed antiquities to Italy – Rome’s latest coup in its efforts to recover treasures it says were looted from the country.

Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art names Madeleine Grynsztejn as its next director. “Grynsztejn, 45, will be the seventh person, and the first woman, to lead the 40-year-old MCA when she arrives in March. Until then, she will complete her duties as senior curator of painting and sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she has worked since September 2000.”

“In recent years, of course, women have become more visible in the profession. Their ascent has had a subtle impact on architectural practice, including a new emphasis on collaboration and a breakdown of traditional boundaries between architects, landscape specialists, fabric designers and graphic artists. But whatever optimism the panelists tried to muster about the future, we should all be appalled by the pace of progress.”