Category: visual

In an age of terror fears, Washington, D.C. has become a virtual fortress, and Blair Kamen says that “in this struggle between armor and aesthetics, armor is invariably emerging the victor, marring public buildings and public spaces that symbolize the ideals of democracy and help hold together a diverse, often-fractious society.”

“There is mounting concern among scholars that the appointment of religiously conservative Shiite Muslims throughout Iraq’s traditionally secular archaeological institutions could threaten the preservation of the country’s pre-Islamic history.”

A case in US courts is a battle over art looted by Nazis. “The case pits an ailing, elderly German baroness in Providence against a wealthy Canadian foundation created to benefit three universities in Canada and Israel. And it involves a Jewish lawyer in Boston who has helped Jewish families recover art lost during the Holocaust, but who now represents the baroness in a dispute over whether she possesses art stolen by her Nazi stepfather — and whether she broke the law by taking the painting to Germany in search of an overseas court sympathetic to her position.”

There have been so many designs for the site of the World Trade Center. The latest were unveiled last week. “A first impression is that, while none is dazzling, the three together would restore a much-needed jolt of verticality to the sheared-off lower Manhattan skyline.”

“The global resurgence is not just a real estate phenomenon. It is a creative revival, representing at its best a rethinking of the tall building that goes well beyond the cosmetic gesturesapplied like so much rouge to the decoration-slathered postmodern towers of the 1980s. But something has changed, something fundamental: In many skyscrapers around the world, fear has joined form, function and finance as an integral part of the skyscraper equation.”

New tax law in America may make art collectors less willing to donate to museums. “This may be a calculation remote from most people’s lives, but museum directors say they depend on this intricate system of financial incentives to stimulate people’s generosity and attract works that the museum could never afford to buy. If the balance between the advantages of donating versus selling shifts, wealthy individuals will be much less likely to give a valuable painting or sculpture away.”

The man who pulled off the biggest art theft in Austria has been sentenced to four years in jail. “Robert Mang stole the 16th century gold sculpture the ‘Saliera’ (Salt Cellar) from a glass showcase in Vienna’s Art History Museum.”

Score one more fight for that ultimate underdog, Rocky. “The 8-foot bronze statue of the fictional film character won another fight yesterday – over its own meaning and worth – when [Philadelphia’s] Art Commission voted 6-2 to move the statue to a patch of lawn near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Supporters maintained that the statue had stood the test of time and had become a beloved symbol of inspiration for Rocky fans. The two opponents felt the statue was unnecessary at that location – the museum steps themselves provided the magic and inspiration.”

How did the Pompidou Museum damage an artwork from a show of Los Angeles art last spring? A museum investigation assigns the blame: “A restorer was called in to glue the metal ring in place, but her instructions to let the glue set for 24 hours were ‘misinterpreted’ by a Pompidou employee who hung the work that same day. It fell from the wall that night.”

The museum has contacted the artists “to see if they would be interested in remaking the works as they are reproducible in the technical sense. We would, of course, assume the costs of the study and the fabrication.”