“Over recent weeks in hushed New York dining rooms and private Parisian salons, Guy Wildenstein has been a walking object lesson in how billionaire dynasties decline.”
Category: visual
New Evidence In Case Of Three Picassos Stolen From His Stepdaughter
“Art dealer Olivier Thomas has been placed under investigation once again as new evidence has emerged in the ongoing investigation into stolen Picasso paintings. Last year, Picasso’s stepdaughter Catherine Hutin-Blay accused the dealer … of stealing three works from her.”
Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk Has A Manifesto For Museums: Think Small (And Avoid Governments)
“The aim of the great state-sponsored museums is to represent a state and that is neither a good nor innocent aim. … It is imperative that museums become smaller, more orientated towards the individual and more economical. This is the only way that they can ever tell stories on a human scale. The great museums invite us to forget our humanity and to accept the state and its human masses. This is why there are millions, outside the West, who are frightened by museums. This is why museums are associated with governments.”
60 Students Sue University Of Sydney Over Planned Art School Merger
“Up to 60 students are pursuing the University of Sydney for ‘deceptive conduct- after it announced plans to merge its Sydney College of the Arts with the faculty of art and design at cross-town rival the University of [New South Wales].”
Artists Reimagine A Better Version Of LA’s Iconic (But Worn-Out) Freeways
“The first step is to start seeing our infrastructural networks not merely as single-use conduits of one kind or another — to carry cars, storm water or consumer goods — but as platforms for a new kind of urbanism, holding housing or making room for innovative ideas about energy or water.”
Louvre Releases An App So You Can Find Your Way Through The Place
“This month the Louvre introduced a geo-locator application for multimedia devices that can instantly calculate a path through the museum from da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa. The app is a key part of a 53.5 million euro, or $59 million, project to make the museum more user-friendly and accessible to its more than eight million annual visitors.”
There’s Another App That Has People Thronging To Museums: Pokémon Go
“It turns out that a huge number of Pokéstops, as described in the game’s release, are museums, historic buildings and markers, and even public artworks. … Pikachu seems to be drawn to the electricity of a Dan Flavin at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Charmander’s been spotted hanging around the British Museum’s Parthenon Marbles galleries as well as Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.” (Unfortunately, somebody put Pokéstops at the 9/11 Museum and Holocaust Museum.)
Donor Sues Museum To Get Her Money Back
Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt, who donated millions for a gallery for Asian art at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, is suing the museum for breach of contract. She claims the Ringling failed to build the gallery within a reasonable time, failed to display the Asian art she donated for the wing, and failed to hire a curator for the collection.
Gallerist Sues Ex-Colleagues For Selling Him Forged Monets And Picassos
“In lawsuits obtained by Page Six,” Alex Komolov, owner of the Alskom Gallery “claims David Segal and Mohamed Serry tricked him into buying $30 million worth of fraudulent Monet, Vlaminck, Picasso and Manet paintings, among other antiques, between 2007 and 2009.”
Its Funding Ending, The World Monuments Fund Scales Back
“Since its founding, the fund has helped with many projects, including the repair of buildings damaged by flooding in Venice; the restoration of the Ochavo Chapel inside the 13th-century Toledo Cathedral in Spain; and a 10-year effort to restore the 18th-century Qianlong Garden within Beijing’s Forbidden City.”