Category: visual

“After confirming that one of its most prized paintings had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II from an Austrian Jewish art collector, the North Carolina Museum of Art announced plans this week to give the painting back to its rightful owners, two sisters in Austria.” – New York Times

Cultural plunder has been going on for centuries. If the Elgin Marbles are finally returned to the Greeks, will the floodgates open with demands for other countries and museums to return what they took? – Salon

German conceptual artist’s proposal for a project for the courtyard of the German Reichstag has created a furor. – Die Welt

After six years of work, the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s Museum of Natural History is set to open its ambitious addition. “Designed by James Stewart Polshek and Todd H. Schliemann, the $210 million space is glass enclosed and luminous, a bright contrast to the heavy neo-classicism of the rest of the museum. – Newsweek

What’s happened to David Hockney? In the past decade “he has refused to simplify his signature style, choosing instead to interrogate the rules of representation and reproduction. He’s done photomontage art and fax art, and has written books on what it means to see. He has, in other words, gone Warhol, a wise PR move for an artist always erroneously (yet profitably) associated with Pop, but a disaster for one of the few living painters who can command respect for his traditional skills.” – Feed

The Art Newspaper surveys the international museum world of 1999 and tallies up the winners and losers. The most-visited show? “Van Gogh’s Van Goghs” at the Los Angeles County Museum, with 821,000 visitors. – The Art Newspaper

Residents of the town of Greater Geelong in Australia describe their region as “Tuscany with beaches.” Geelong has mounted a campaign to persuade the Guggenheim Museum to build a branch there. The building would cost $300 million and the town would invite Frank Gehry to design it.  “We just became sick of feeling sorry for ourselves,” explains the Chamber of Commerce president, Peter Landers. “We have a good product here.” – The Age (Melbourne)

Museums often don’t get it together enough to win what they want at the auctions. But surprise – January saw some smart bidding by museums on Old Masters, and they beat out private collectors and dealers. – Artnet

Records of negotiations between the British Museum and the Greek Government over return of the Elgin Marbles have recently been declassified. In 1994 the Greek government seems to have been willing to end the dispute over the Elgin Marbles by accepting only a small number of those at the British Museum. – The Art Newspaper

National Portrait Gallery Director Alan Fern, who recently lost a bitter public battle over how much space his museum would have in the building it shares, will retire. The gallery is part of the Smithsonian, and uses art to tell the history of people and events. Under Fern’s direction, the gallery’s collection doubled to more than 18,000 pieces and began including popular cultural and sports figures. Last year it had 432,000 visitors. – Washington Post