Category: visual

“It has the makings of a great mystery: Artwork stolen from a prominent museum, plus the FBI, a beautiful woman and an intrepid reporter. But this isn’t fiction, it’s a strange, true tale of how a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir has now safely returned home to Baltimore.”

“Futurists like [Marinetti and] Pannaggi may have been trying to break civilization wide open. They may have declared a new age of speed and violence and radical newness. But as soon as they attempted to analyze that newness, as soon as they attempted to say something about their brave new world, they found themselves pulled back into history and tradition.”

“The Campania region is expected to get the greatest share of the funding: €43.1m for five projects,” with more than €30m each for Sicily and Puglia and €26.8m going to Calabria.

“The jewellery and luxury goods company Bulgari has responded to the Italian government’s appeal to restore the Spanish Steps in Rome, with a gift of €1.5m to finance the two-year project, due to start in 2015.”

“It’s hard to understand why self-portraits, as a genre, have until now been so little discussed. They include some of the greatest works of all time.”

“When the bank called the museum’s bluff last year, demanding full repayment, leaders scrambled to restructure the debt, partner with another arts institution, transform the museum’s operating model and persuade donors with deep pockets to rescue the institution. All attempts failed.”

“OK, let’s clear up any misunderstanding: Russian oligarchs and Brazilian millionaires are not amassed in front of the Detroit Institute of Arts in the hopes of being first in line should the treasures inside go up for sale.”

“Cornelius Gurlitt, the octogenarian hoarder of art plundered by the Nazis, will return paintings in the trove his family kept secret for decades to their original Jewish owners or those owners’ descendants, starting with a well-known Matisse, his lawyers said on Wednesday.”

“In a rare move, the Delaware Art Museum will sell as many as four works of art, valued at $30 million, to repay [$19.8 million in] debt from a facilities expansion and replenish its endowment, museum leaders announced Wednesday.”

“The Canadian Museum of History has set the bar very low — just $10,000 to be raised over each of the next two years, an apparent recognition that ordinary Canadians aren’t that interested in bailing out hard-pressed public institutions.”