Category: visual

“Everyone seems to agree that ISIS is digging up and selling archaeological artifacts to make money. But no one seems to agree on how much money it’s actually making from its illegal antiquities trade: amounts have ranged from US$4 million to $7 billion.” The University of Chicago’s Fiona Rose-Greenland has formed a research team – called MANTIS – to find out.

“A previously unknown painting by the Belgian artist James Ensor was the star lot in Dorotheum’s Modern art auction in Vienna on 31 May. Baptême de masques (1925-30), which is based on a contemporary photograph featuring the artist, vaulted over its high estimate of €500,000 selling for just over €1m (including buyer’s premium). “

“The Louvre will remain closed on Friday to allow staff to evacuate tens of thousands of “reserve” paintings and sculptures in its underground store rooms. Fears had been growing all day of serious flooding in Paris as the European football championship approaches – despite official assurances that all should be well.”

“It is considered one of the most important pieces of land art in Mexico, a tranquil oasis in a chaotic city. But the recent construction of a white eight-story building nearby has prompted a furious protest that pits the university’s needs against Mexico’s cultural heritage.”

“The board of trustees at the Rijksmuseum announced on Monday that Taco Dibbits, the museum’s director of collections, would replace Wim Pijbes as general director. Mr. Pijbes, who had seen the museum through a major expansion, announced his resignation in March after accepting a job as director of a new private museum.”

“The majestic [Darul Aman palace] was built in the 1920s on a hilltop overlooking the city by King Amanullah, who defeated the British to gain full Afghan independence. It was gutted by fire, then restored and served as the defence ministry in the 1970s and 1980s. When civil war broke out, it was used as a base by militias and suffered heavy shelling.”

“The US has 43 private art museums, the second-most of any country, according to a recent survey by the collector database Larry’s List. The 11 museums on Hatch’s list alone have assets totalling $1.6bn, according to their 2013 federal tax returns.”

A famous dagger found in the wrapping of Egyptian King Tutankhamun’s mummy was made with iron from a meteorite, a study confirms.

Nicholas Serota: “Although other big institutions earn or are negotiating lucrative fees from branded projects abroad—the Pompidou receives around €1m a year for its pop-up space in Malaga, Spain, and the proposed Guggenheim Helsinki’s annual operations fee is €1m—Serota ruled this out as a source of funding or profile-raising.”

“For years, lovestruck visitors to Paris had affixed locks, often inscribed with their initials or names, to the wire mesh panels along the Pont des Arts, flinging the keys into the Seine River below. But last year, after a section of the bridge’s railing collapsed under the weight of some 700,000 declarations of fidelity, the city removed the locks, citing reasons of aesthetics and security.” Now, though, the bridge really is a pont des arts.