“Art collectors have begun to pull their paintings and sculptures out of Geneva’s secretive free port storage facility as the site once again finds itself under scrutiny following the identification of a $20 million Amedeo Modigliani painting in its tax-free vaults that was allegedly stolen by the Nazis.”
Category: visual
Italy Budgets €1 Billion To Protect And Upgrade Museums And Historic Sites
“The Italian government announced yesterday, 2 May, that it is allocating €1bn to major restoration and building projects at 33 museums, monuments and archaeological sites across the country, including Pompeii, the earthquake-stricken city of L’Aquila and the Uffizi galleries in Florence.”
Fire At Artist’s House Ruins $34 Million Worth Of Art
“The flames engulfed the artist’s personal collection, including one work by Andy Warhol, and some of her own sculptural works, which were stored in the basement.”
Teenagers Leave Paint Splashed All Over 1,300-Year-Old Monument
“Youths on their Passover vacation vandalized the archeological site Ashdod-Yam citadel … with paints on Tuesday as part of a ‘color party.’ At their festivities, they threw paint over each other and the site” – and, of course, posted photos of it all on social media so they could get busted.
Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum Has Plans To Monetize Its Expertise
Under the program, museum employees will provide advice and support in areas such as collection conservation and preservation, installation of climate control systems, museum management, and the development of educational programs.
The Frank Gehry Effect: When Clients Serve The Architect
“In the past, clients told architects what they wanted built. But today, because they believe that starchitects like Gehry will boost their profits or bestow cultural cachet, even the most powerful and influential developers, civic institutions, and foundations are eager to buy his brand and his plans. But it was the architect’s own house, the shack that became a shrine, that launched him to stardom and brought acolytes like the Wintons and Lewis to his doorstep.”
Ceiling By Isamu Noguchi Uncovered At A St. Louis U-Haul
“The curvy, space-age design, initially commissioned by Magic Chef Building architect Harris Armstrong, had been covered up by a drop ceiling for decades.”
Homeless Civil War Museum Just Gives Its Collection Away
“The homeless Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, steward of what scholars regard as one of the finest collections of Civil War materials anywhere but possessing no place to display them, reached an agreement Monday to transfer ownership of its roughly 3,000 artifacts to the Gettysburg Foundation, the private, nonprofit partner of the National Park Service.”
Why Are So Many Official City Flags So Terrible?
“Five hundred people were asked to rank 150 city flags, and the association found that on a scale of 1 to 10, the average score was a 4.3. Three-quarters of all city flags scored below a 5.”
Technology Can Make Exact Copies Of Artifacts. Do We Care About Ownership?
“An entire swath of startup enterprises have been based on the simple principle that what one group or storm destroys, an endless array of new technology can re-create, making copies that are more enduring, sustainable, and user friendly than the original antiquities that inspired them.”