Category: visual

The mystery lasted a long time, and criss-crossed the internet – partly because everyone wanted to buy a Bob Ross original. Good luck with that. (Also, come for the mystery, but stay for the tongue-in-cheek score to this short video.) – The New York Times

The kid who solved the mystery was simply obsessed – and lucky, thanks to a tweet, to find the right timeline. “‘The entire time I was trying to figure out who painted it, I thought it was from 1932,’ said Gordon, now 19 and a student at Amherst College in Massachusetts. ‘All my research was in that time period.'” Understandable … but wrong, as research showed. – Los Angeles Times

Um … indeed. “The big question is whether Los Angeles can pull it together to approach its public urban spaces in ways that are more cohesive and more mindful of human scale — and perhaps (just perhaps!) correct some of the errors of the past.” – Los Angeles Times

Storm King is big. Really, really big: “The art here is nestled amid 500 acres of verdant hills, exposed to the ever-shifting and unrelenting climate of New York’s Hudson Valley.” – The New York Times

“Scores of Beijing police, clad in riot gear and rain slickers, were seen yesterday marching artists out of the Luomahu, or Roma Lake, Art District ahead of its sudden demolition, purportedly under the auspices of China’s sweeping campaign against organised crime. Similarly, about 30 riot police moved into Beijing’s Huantie Art District on Sunday (7 July) to begin eviction of the several hundred artists with studios there.” – The Art Newspaper

Once the deal clears, Sotheby’s can provide cover for consignors who previously would have gone to Christie’s for hush-hush services—protected details surrounding guarantees and the complete discretion of a single-person owner, among others. And this “more flexible private environment” also means that decisions about hefty guarantees and costly talent acquisitions no longer have to be justified to shareholders, some of whom might be perturbed by big-ticket spending. – Artsy

Dating back 4,600 years, the site may also have been part of the inspiration for a key aspect of Greek religion – the idea that mountain tops were the dwelling places of the gods. The complex – on a mountain peak-shaped islet off the coast of the Aegean island of Keros (part of the Cyclades archipelago) – is totally changing archaeologists’ understanding of prehistoric Greece. – The Independent (UK)

“A criminal complaint filed in Manhattan state court said the smuggling was orchestrated by Subhash Kapoor, a New York art gallery owner who was arrested in Germany in 2011 and later extradited to India, where he faces similar charges. … Authorities described the case as one of the largest of its kind, saying the conspiracy began more than three decades ago and involved more than 2,600 recovered artifacts, including statues and ancient masterworks.” – Yahoo! (AP)

“Presumably you didn’t mean to insult these folks, who represent a core museum constituency. Every art museum serves two publics — an art public and a general public. After the affront, your interview puts a thumb on the scale for the latter.” – Los Angeles Times