Category: visual

Patrick Moore, who has been with the museum since 2011 as its director of development. He takes the place of Eric Shiner, who announced last summer that he would step down from the top spot to take a job at Sotheby’s, a nonprofit-to-for-profit move that is rarely seen in the art world. Moore had been serving as interim director in the intervening time.

“Why is keeping an urban diary worthwhile? Charles Wolfe argues that it trains us to be better citizens, to care more and understand more about where we live. Therefore, we might be more motivated to attend meetings or offer insights and solutions into the planning process.”

“Days before, these troops and other forces loyal to the Syrian government had recaptured the Roman city, a world heritage site and an important symbol of Syrian diversity, from Islamic State for the second time in a year. Graffiti at the entrance read: “No entry without Isis permission – not even brothers.” The Russians crunched up the piles of rubble and posed for triumphant pictures under the arch – all that was left of the central temple.”

The library was full of handsomely bound volumes, but at the back of one shelf the owners found a drab ledger, holding a rather dull series of 90 French military prints – and a few pages further on, a complete pristine set of the first edition of Goya’s La Tauromaquia etchings, apparently forgotten about for more than 150 years.

“The fiddly ritual of assembling IKEA furniture is set to become a thing of the past as the furniture giant introduces products that snap together ‘like a jigsaw puzzle.'” No tools necessary! (includes video)

The Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative, founded by documentary filmmaker Michael Miner, plans to start with a 1911 park pavilion (demolished) that Wright designed for Banff in the Canadian Rockies. But is this a good idea?

On Thursday, more than 70 attendants at the Paris museum followed through on a threat to strike in protest of the disastrous planning for the big Vermeer exhibition that opened there in late February.

“Three major contemporary art auctions this week brought a total of 229 million pounds, or about $280 million — a sharp increase over the £152.2 million raised by equivalent events in February 2016. The sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips suggested the world’s wealthiest collectors were eager enough to spend money in London.”

“The temporary statue — named “Fearless Girl” and placed overnight Monday by McCann New York advertising agency and its client, Boston-based State Street Global Advisors — may be a stunt to draw attention to the index fund giant’s campaign to get more women into board roles against the backdrop of International Women’s Day and the anniversary of the launch of an exchange-traded fund that tracks companies that have higher levels of gender diversity in its leadership.”

“At a time when humanity faces real existential threats, a lack of purely beautiful contemporary artworks may not be a foremost concern. But I wonder what future generations will think when they look back at what was made in 2016, 2017 and in the remainder of this administration. Will they be inspired and taken? Or will they simply laugh at all the gold?”