Category: visual

A judge allowed the Barnes Foundation to move to Philadelphia. But not all of the foundation’s requests were granted. “Not granted specifically, lawyers said yesterday, were changes to the indenture that would allow the Barnes to hold fund-raising events or special exhibitions at its proposed site on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, to be open any days and times it chooses, or to sell any of the artwork that it has in storage. It was unclear whether the judge left those requested changes out of his decree intentionally or unintentionally.”

A park facing the new towers set to rise at the Ground Zero site could wind up being more topographically interesting than planned if a new proposal for the towers’ parking garages goes ahead as scheduled. “The ramps, which will lead to underground parking and loading docks for the giant complex, will have to accommodate the headroom needed for buses and trucks. And because the land drops as it approaches the Hudson River, the west end of the park may end up as a berm 25 to 30 feet above street level.”

The shortlist for the fifth annual Beck’s Futures art prize, which honors contemporary UK artists, has been released, and it includes a lifesize sculpture of Jabba the Hutt surrounded by bikini-clad women. The prize is not restricted by medium, however, and the Jabba sculptor will be competing against painters, installation artists, and filmmakers for the pretigious prize.

A former French foreign minister has been accused of swindling the estate of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. “Prosecutors and the Giacometti heirs allege that Roland Tajan illegally kept back more than €1.22m of the auction’s total proceeds of €6.5m, shoring up his bank balance and hiving off a substantial sum in interest.”

An aggressive program of dam-building in Iran is threatening important archaeological sites. “There are currently 85 dams under construction across the country, part of a programme that the Iranian government promotes with a considerable amount of national pride. At least five dams, all in advanced stages of construction, have been identified as threatening sites of particular importance .”

More and more art looted in World War II is coming to market. “Since 1996, Sotheby’s and Christie’s alone have sold a combined total of about £140 million ($252 million at today’s exchange rate) of art returned to families from museums and private collections. As more and more art, primarily looted by the Nazis as well as the Red Army, is being identified and returned, it is becoming an increasingly important source of supply for the auction houses.”

Renzo Piano is currently the architect of the day, with numerous high-profile projects underway. “How has Piano landed so much work in New York? The same way he’s done it all over the world—with designs that are beautifully precise but never radical. Depending on your point of view, Piano is either the most corporate avant-garde architect in the world or the most avant-garde corporate one. Increasingly, his firm is the one museums and big companies call on when they want to bridge the gap between iconic, eye-catching architecture and a quieter, more pragmatic—and more affordable—approach.”

A Norwegian newspaper is claiming that the Munch paintings “The Scream” and “Madonna” have been damaged after they were stolen last summer. “Sources from both the art world and criminal sources say that at least one of the paintings has been seriously damaged. Witnesses said that both paintings received very rough treatment as the thieves removed them from their frames in the course of their escape. The “Madonna” is reportedly ruined.”

As European Union leaders gathered to debate allowing Turkey to join the EU, Denmark’s national symbol, the Little Mermaid sculpture perched on a rock at a Copenhagen pier, was draped in a burka and a sash reading “Turkey in the EU?” overnight.

A German artist is shutting down his controversial show depicting Hitler in response to “public outrage.” “Walter Gaudnek says his brightly coloured artworks aim to provoke people by showing Hitler as a human rather than a monster but Jewish community and local political leaders see the images as dangerous.”