Category: visual

Stealing valuable works of art seems like a sucker’s play. With the art world on the lookout for stolen art, selling what you stole is highly problematic. “Nevertheless, art theft can be an extremely lucrative endeavor. Interpol has estimated that it is the fourth most profitable crime in the world, behind drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal arms trading. Recovering stolen art is a tricky endeavor.”

Contemporary art is booming in China. But who is choosing art to be shown? Before 1980, curators were unheard of in China. “Not until in 1993 when a curator from the famous Venice Biennial came to China, did we know that holding an exhibition needs a curator. From then on, as more and more contemporary artists went overseas to give shows, this word and this function became better understood.”

For the past few years Tate Modern has been the preeminent modern art museum. But the new Museum of Modern Art will reclaim the title soon. “As a theatre of contemporary art, Tate Modern is exceptional. But as a place where we can learn why Picasso matters, it fails – and wants to fail. A couple of weeks from now, Moma will once again be the place to learn about 20th-century art. Maybe Tate Modern can never tell the story of the modern world’s art as well as Moma; but it could try.”

A Yale architecture student is suing architect David Childs, claiming that Childs stole his design and used it for the Freedom Tower at the site of the World Trade Center. “Thomas Shine says he created his “Olympic Tower” for a Yale architecture class and presented it in December 1999 to a panel of jurists that included Childs. Shine says Childs complimented the design in a Yale architecture magazine: “It is a very beautiful shape. You took the skin and developed it around the form – great.”

The Victoria & Albert Museum used to care deeply about architecture. Then came 1909, and a rough century… “Now it is all change again. Architecture is back. For a start, the V & A is taking its own building, its primary architectural exhibit, seriously. An intelligent new master plan that works with rather than against the building and should culminate in the restoration of the astonishingly rich South Court, carved up and hidden in an outrageous act of vandalism in 1949.”

Why wasn’t Munch’s “The Scream” insured before it was stolen? It was “not insured against theft because the city of Oslo has decided it is simply too expensive—the collection is of enormous value. We’re insured against fire and water damage but not against robbery.”

International experts on ancient rock art in Africa say the paintings are in danger of being destroyed. “These early works of mankind have survived the continent’s harsh weather, but not, increasingly, Africa’s burgeoning population.”

The Metropolitan Museum has made its most expensive purchase ever – more than $45 million for a painting by the early Renaissance master Duccio di Buoninsegna no bigger than a sheet of typing paper. In reporting the acquisition, the Met would not discuss price beyond confirming that it was the most costly purchase in its history. (In such deals, buyers are often legally bound not to reveal the sale price.) But art experts familiar with the deal, insisting on anonymity for fear of jeopardizing the sale, said the price was $45 million to $50 million. That would top the Met’s previous record purchase, of Jasper Johns’s “White Flag” (1955) for more than $20 million in 1998.”

“Sotheby’s says its third quarter losses were less than a year ago because of some high-profile sales. The “hammer price” of goods sold at auction was $194m (£105m) in the summer when sales were brisk. Auction and related revenue surged 48% to $42.9m. For the quarter, it reported a consolidated net loss for continuing operations of $28.3m, compared with a loss of $29.5m a year ago.”

A plan proposed by Italian legislators would legalize private ownership of archaeological treasures. Archaeologists are horrified by the idea. “At present, all antiquities found in Italian soil are deemed to be the property of the state and are meant to be handed over to the authorities. But under the proposed legislation, treasure hunters who declare their finds can keep and own them if they pay the state 5% of the object’s estimated value. Supporters have argued that it would bring to light previously hidden treasures.”