Category: visual

The Austrian parliament has agreed that all works of art stolen by the Nazis should be returned to their rightful owners. But is the policy really being carried out? – The Art Newspaper

Over the past 30 years Japan has built thousands of new museums, some of them by prestigious architects. But what baffles some visitors is the lack of collections to go inside. – The Art Newspaper

The Taliban reopened Afghanistan’s National Art Gallery in Kabul this week, but no art depicting human figures was allowed, in keeping with the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law. – Times of India (AP)

Georgia O’Keeffe has long been elevated to the role of secular American art saint, particularly by those in search of a great female artist to worship. New retrospective strips away decades of rhetoric to take a fresh look at the artist’s work. – San Francisco Examiner

An Old Master painting sold at auction in January was a rags to riches story. But now experts have come forward to say they had expressed doubts about the authenticity of the painting before it was sold. Why weren’t those doubts disclosed by the auction house? – New York Times

• Detroit Institute of Arts pays artist Jeff Bourgeau $12,500 in compensation for canceling his controversial exhibition last fall. – Detroit News

Why aren’t America’s museums interested in collecting the archives of its famous designers and architects? – New York Times

The new chairman of the British government’s new Museums, Libraries and Archives Commission has got the UK’s museum world in an uproar. He’s under attack for describing British museums as regressive, isolationist, afraid of change, and ignorant of technical advances. His critics contend he has only the vaguest idea of what museums are for, how they function, and what is actually happening in them today. “For someone who will be responsible for advising the government on the running of our regional museums, such ignorance gives cause for concern.” – The Telegraph (UK)

Britain agrees to go along with EU plan to grant artists resale rights on their work. Under the plan, artists would get a maximum of four per cent on the resale of their work on art worth up to £30,000, and smaller percentages for higher-valued work. British Art Federation chairman Anthony Browne says the damage to London’s galleries would be “colossal”. – London Evening Standard

• Plan could wipe out 5,000 jobs. – The Guardian

— names new chairman – a provocative New York rabbi and a founder of the museum. – Washington Post