Category: visual

Thanks to San Francisco’s percent-for-art ordinance, $11.1 million of the $840 million main terminal expansion project will go to commissioning original artwork in the airport. Sponsored by the San Francisco Public Art Commission, many of the works deal with “the romance of travel, with themes such as meeting and greeting loved ones, saying goodbye, facing the unknown and the technology of flight.” – San Jose Mercury News

What kind of art can you buy online these days? “Curious about the growing and radical phenomenon by which people are buying art they can’t see from sellers they can’t see, I decided to shop for art online and assemble my own art collection. My budget: an even $1,000.” – New York Times

For only the second time ever, the British Royal Family has its portrait painted as a group (in honor of the Queen Mum’s 100th birthday). “It soon became clear it would be impossible for six people with engagement diaries as full as those of his sitters to pose together. Therefore, he was obliged to draw them separately.” – The Telegraph (UK)

A competition to design Sydney’s new Museum of Contemporary Art prompted confusion from the Japanese architect who thought she had been the job three years ago. Instead she got this reply: “I am concerned that Sejima does not know. If she is not being proceeded with, I think she should be encouraged not to abandon Australia altogether and perhaps consider the invitation to continue with a different employer.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“Performance artists” Yuan Cai and Jian Ji Xi walked naked across London’s Westminster Bridge with slogans written all over their bodies. The pair last “performed” at the Tate earlier this year when they jumped onto Tracey Emin’s bed. – BBC

London’s museums are booming these days. But outside the capital it’s quite a different story. “It is no secret that many of our large regional museums – Bristol, Exeter, Cheltenham, Leeds, Leicester and, most important of all, Glasgow – are in serious financial difficulties, as indeed are many university museums.” – The Telegraph (UK)

“All over London, the words ‘make it new’ have lately been applied to museums.” Art has the new buzz of the 21st Century. – New York Times

Discovery of a long-hidden Leonardo fresco behind a Vasari painting in the Palazzo Vecchio has  put Florence’s art solons in a difficult spot. “Councillor for culture, Rosa di Giorgi, is not planning to rip the later fresco off the wall without strong evidence that the Leonardo is in good condition, for as she said ‘Vasari may not have been Leonardo, but he is still Vasari’.” – The Art Newspaper

The most visible art in New York this summer is of the animal kind – from the Koons giant dog to cows on parade. – New York Times

It’s been about a year since the online art-selling companies launched in a big way, promising to revolutionize the way is sold. How’s business? “Looking back one year later, that boat looks something like the Titanic: imposing but doomed.” – Auctionwatch.com (Art & Auction Magazine)