Category: visual

“Art has always been a cyclical market. This is hardly surprising: the products may be beautiful, but can rarely be considered essential and are often driven by fickle taste. According to art-sales-index.com, the value of paintings sold peaked in 1990 at $4.5 billion dollars. From there, economies around Europe and America shrank by less than one percent, but art sales collapsed to less than $1.5 billion in less than two years.” So what’s driving today’s prices? – The Art Newspaper

The British Museum threatens to institute a £1 admission charge to compensate for taxes it loses on its operations. The British government threatens to reduce the museum’s support if admission is charged. – The Art Newspaper

The Tate Modern takes to the internet with a commissioned piece that sets up a parallel Tate website universe. “Follow a link to the Tate Britain – a branch of the museum dedicated to 500 years of British art – and instead of grand Turner seascapes and Hogarth portraits, you’ll see close-ups of canvases collaged with mud, scabby skin, and baggy eyes.” – Wired

Chinese artifacts have been leaked illegally to the West for years, ending up in museums and collections around the world. Now “the Shanghai Museum has been quietly buying back treasures from dealer showrooms, mainly in Hong Kong. Nearly one third of the museum’s famed collection of bronzes was acquired over the past 10 years through purchases and donations.” – South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

Scotland is testing an ambitious new plan to make “information about almost every Scottish monument, museum exhibit or work of art available via mobile phones. All the background and trivia they ever wanted to know about a particular place or object will appear on the screens of their handsets.” – BBC

It’s been called Ontario’s longest-running “culture war.” A collector amassed a gallery of Group of Seven paintings and gave them to the province of Ontario in 1965. But gradually the patron was forced out of control of the collection, the gallery collected new work and became an important Canadian collection of contemporary art. Now the province’s premier wants to give control back to the patron and let him do away with the contemporary work. Critics are “going ballistic.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

A statue erected 100 years ago of composer Stephen Foster in his hometown of Pittsburgh shows him with a slave sitting at his feet. Now a campaign to either remove or explain the statue. – CNN

The theft and destruction of Cambodian artifacts is massive. Reporters come across a man in the jungle selling green ceramic bowls. “They were 1,000-years old and from a kiln on top of the mountain. The seller wanted 10,000 riels for each bowl – a mere $2.50. We asked the seller whether he was afraid of breaking the law, and he said he didn’t know there was any law. He had just dug them up in the jungle.” – Time Asia

Did Chase Manhattan bank help the German ambassador to France steal Jewish-owned artwork during the Second World War? The World Jewish Congress thusly accused the bank on Wednesday, saying that according to a U.S. Treasury Department report, Chase’s French branch was actively aiding Nazi Germany in securing assets. “There is evidence that German assets were placed at Chase, which were used in transactions involving Jewish looted art.” – Yahoo! (Reuters)

The 500 New York painted fiberglass cows and their “suburban cousins” in New Jersey and Connecticut won’t be off the streets until fall, when they’ll be auctioned off for charity. Here are seven reasons why that’s way too long a wait. – New York Times