Category: visual

“America Today, now considered one of the most important and famous examples of American scene painting, is languishing in storage. That will change, however, because AXA Equitable, the insurance company that bought it nearly 30 years ago, has decided to donate it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” which will display it in the former Whitney Museum building beginning in 2015.

“[The] country’s former culture minister … hopes that making this information public will quash the misconception that cronyism plays a part in the grant-making process. … Artists fear the stigma associated with a failed application and are concerned that it will be difficult to secure funds elsewhere if their project is perceived as not worth public money.”

– Lyon, where for four days buildings throughout the city are illuminated in fabulous ways for the annual Festival des Lumières.

In the Belgian town of Hasselt, “local designers MOOZ built a glowing kerstboom for the town center out of discarded crockery. Five thousand cups, bowls and plates donated by residents make up the 30-foot ‘tree’.” (This could make up for that pile of green boxes they put on the Grand-Place in Brussels.)

“He pleaded guilty to criminal damage over 5,000 pounds ($8,000). Prosecution lawyer Gregor McKinley said restoring the painting would cost around 200,000 pounds ($320,000) and take up to 20 months.”

“For Sotheby’s and the federal government the court case is the latest pitched battle over what is fair and appropriate when regulating the sale of global antiquities.”

“A new gallery of contemporary art would be built downtown, and four smaller thematic exhibition spaces would be built around Vancouver over the next 15 years.”

“The newly discovered figures had been scraped away and painted over at some point after the artist’s death.”