After months of delay, Boston’s Museum of Fine Art has decided to share with the world information about artwork it has that may be suspected of being stolen. The MFA will post information about these works on the internet. – Boston Globe
Trustees of The Boston Museum of Fine Art met last night to approve a plan to which would reveal which pieces of artwork in its collection may have been stolen by the Nazis during WWII. While the “plan” is still a mystery to the public, the MFA is expected to make a statement sometime today, and may announce some of the names of the questionable pieces as early as next month. – Boston Herald
No, it wasn’t the mega-expensive tribute to vanity that walked off with the honors in this year’s London Civic Trust awards for excellence and innovation in urban design, architecture, and restoration. The big prize went to architect Roland Paoletti and a civic work infinitely more practical – his extension of the London Underground’s Jubilee Line. – The Times (UK)
So what did you expect, already? This year’s Whitney Biennial is the product of a committee of curators, and the results are – BORING. (this isn’t good). – New York Times
No, it’s not a pretty sight at all. Australia’s top auction houses are elbowing one another out of the way for the right to sell the $10 million Mertz collection of Australian art which will return to its homeland after 35 years in the U.S. “It’s an extraordinary collection of iconic Australian images,” said Sotheby’s Managing Director Paul Sumner. The sale’s expected to be the most lucrative art auction Australia has ever seen: “Whichever firm wins will not only earn more than $1 million in commissions but will have the chance to sell the last big collection of Australian art still in ‘private’ hands.” – Sydney Morning Herald
A stone sculpture by Berlin artist Alexander Polzin is at the center of a fiery debate in Israel. The culmination of seven months as an artist-in-residence working on a massive block of red Sinai granite, his sculpture “Der Steinhändler” (the trader of stones) has been attacked repeatedly. The attacks are presumed to be religiously motivated, by Orthodox Jews opposed to Polzin’s violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt not make for yourself a graven image.” – Die Welt (Germany)
Once the sole obsession of film buffs, collecting vintage film posters has become a big business over the last 10 years. Christie’s is holding its vintage film poster auction Monday, and fans – “who get their kicks from having a slice of cinema history on their living room walls” – are already speculating about record-breaking prices. “The undoubted highlight is the chance to bid for rare original ‘Casablanca’ posters, including Pierre Pigeot’s steamy exotic 1942 design.” – The Guardian
While closed to the public for renovation, the National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of American Art in Washington, DC are already feuding over how to allocate space when the building they share reopens in three years. At least there’s time to duke it out. – Washington Post
The Whitney Biennial opens today and one can’t help but be struck by the cool detachment of much of the work. “It is not indifference to connecting with viewers but a prevailing sense that the artists’ responsibility is more to themselves and their work than to some theory or some agenda of activism or career ambition.” – San Francisco Chronicle
While Sotheby’s and Christie’s have been embroiled in a complicated federal antitrust investigation, Phillips auction house – with a solid reputation in London, but usually modest sales in the U.S. – has reported that their New York business has exploded. Their spring sale of Impressionist and modern art is poised to set an all-time revenue record for the 206-year-old firm. “Phillips sees an opportunity to crack what for decades has been a virtual duopoly that controlled more than 90 percent of the worldwide auction market.” – New York Times
