“Federal agents seized an ancient Afghan statue from a Manhattan gallery Wednesday morning, part of a string of seizures that began Friday and have coincided with Asia Week festivities in New York.”
Category: visual
Spanish Town Loved The Tourists Attracted By Botched Fresco Restoration. How Do We Keep Them Coming?
“Borja Mayor Eduardo Arilla said 160,000 people had come to see the fresco since the story of Cecilia Gimenez’s restoration of a Christ fresco in a town sanctuary went viral in 2012. He said with the new center, the town hoped to keep attracting up to 30,000 visitors annually.”
Police Arrest 13 In Theft Of Tintoretto, Rubens and Mantegna Paintings From Verona Museum
“Newly released video shows the masked and armed thieves working their way through the museum, patiently removing the paintings from the walls and easels where they were mounted before escaping in two vehicles.”
They Think They’ve Figured Out The Fungus That’s Mottling Leonardo Da Vinci’s Self-Portrait
“A red chalk sketch from around 1512 CE, long believed to be a self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, has a glowering, bearded man’s face emerging from a swarm of brown spots. … New research may have identified the fungal culprit, which could assist in [the artwork’s] protection.”
European Museums Begin Turning To American-Style Philanthropy
“Governments in Europe are cutting back their support of museums, and so these museums are adapting the American model and increasingly are turning to private citizens and corporations for donations. They are looking both to their own citizens, and to Americans who are fond of certain major European museums.”
US Agents Seize Antiquities En Route To New York’s Asian Art Fair
“For the second time in a matter of days, federal agents on Tuesday seized what they described as an illicit antiquity, valued at several hundred thousand dollars, and scheduled to be sold during New York’s Asia Week.”
Where Trucks Are Becoming Mobile Street Art
“The Truck Art Project features work from leading contemporary Spanish artists on Spanish transport company Palibex’s fleet of trucks, thanks to an initiative from Palibex CEO and art collector Jaime Colsa in collaboration with Madrid’s Iam Gallery.”
Pakistan To Host Its First Art Biennale
“Pakistan will join the roster of countries hosting contemporary art fairs with the announcement of the inaugural Lahore Biennale, which is scheduled for November 2017.”
Jeffrey Deitch Returns To Soho
“Jeffrey Deitch will take back the cavernous primo real estate at 18 Wooster Street that housed Deitch Projects during its glory days—which means it current occupant, Swiss Institute, will be looking for a new space.”
When The Artist Is A Friend Can A Critic Be Objective?
“I’m interested in a fundamental question that is at the heart of so much criticism: Does affection improve our judgment by making us receptive to ever finer nuances, or does it weaken our critical faculties and cloud our objectivity?”