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Remembering America’s Most Notorious Art Heist

The legacy of the heist is always apparent to museum visitors who, decades later, still confront vacant frames on the gallery walls where paintings once hung. - The New York Times

Minnesota Sculpture Park Sells Sculpture For Scrap

"The artist, John Hock, said he thought it was a theft and reported it to the Chisago County Sheriff's Office.” (The Franconia Sculpture Park, unsurprisingly, has a different story.) - Minnesota Public Radio

Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth Will Be Filled With Every Woman

Actually, that’s spelled Everywoman, a sculpture that will adorn London’s public art playground. The deputy mayor: "The sculpture prize has entertained and brought out the art critic in everybody for 25 years, and I have no doubt these two very different pieces will continue that fine tradition." - The Guardian (UK)

Ceramics Artist Toshiko Takaezu Is Getting Attention Now, But Only After Her Death

One curator said, "This surging interest and recognition is in large part because of the incredible force of Takaezu’s extended network so deeply committed to her and her legacy,” and another said, "She knew she was ahead of her time.” Now her time seems to have arrived. - The New York Times

Reframing The History Of Modernism Outside Of Its Eurocentric Story

“The main issue is Eurocentric modernism and its history, which can be dealt with by redefining modernism and re-writing its history. How can this be achieved when Eurocentric modernism is persistent in its domination of the art world with all its institutions”? - Hyperallergic

Meet The Last Of Venice’s Artisan Gold-Beaters

Three hundred years ago, the city had around 300 battilori hammering out gold leaf using traditional techniques. Today, Marino Menegazzo's family workshop is the last, and one of only a few in all Europe. Here's a look at how he and his daughter do their work. - The New York Times

The Priest Who Ordered 300-Year-Old Frescoes To Be Painted Over

A contrite Father Héctor Lunar, a Venezuelan refugee on Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, says he had no idea that the murals of his church were heritage-listed. "No one told me about it. All I wanted to do was add another coat of paint … to get ready for Holy Week." - The Guardian

What Should Museums Pay Artists For Participating In A Biennial?

These days, payment for inclusion in a biennial or group show at a US museum tends to range from $500 to $3,000, according to the artists and museums I surveyed.  - The Art Newspaper

How Elizabeth Alexander (And $500M Of Mellon Money) Are Changing Monuments

The project is incredibly ambitious, a national effort to make sure that the commemorative landscape "more accurately tells our collective histories." It has led to shifts — big and small — in how public places are presented and what is even considered a monument. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!

Artforum Chooses A New Top Editor

Five months ago, the magazine fired David Velasco, its editor in chief, after he signed and published a letter calling for Palestinian liberation shortly after the Israel-Hamas war began. - The New York Times

Art Sales Worldwide Fell By 4% In 2023

"Auction sales were down on both sides of the Atlantic and there was a conspicuous lack of marquee estates on the block. Bu, 2023 saw only a 4% decrease in market value to an estimated $65 billion, according to the annual art market report published by Art Basel and UBS." - ARTnews

Collector Gives $300 Million Collection To Seattle University

Richard Hedreen, 88, is gifting his entire collection, comprising more than 200 artworks and estimated to be worth about $300 million, to Seattle University. He’s also donating $25 million in seed funding to develop a museum to house the collection. - Seattle Times

The Ex Whom Picasso Tried To Destroy Is Getting Her Own Room In His Museum

"Ten years after a renovation, the Musée Picasso (in Paris) – which holds the world’s largest collection of Picasso’s work – has installed a new permanent exhibition … in 22 rooms. The Françoise Gilot exhibition in room 17 on the third floor is temporary but expected to be in situ for a year." - The Guardian

Are Auction Sales Guarantees Fair?

How does this practice affect the market? The art market is self-regulating, and since 2010 the practice of offering works at auction with third-party guarantees has seeped into almost every sale category where objects sell above $500,000. - The Critic

Thieves Grab $1.3 Million Worth Of Gold And Jewels From Italian Museum

"A horde (sic) of jewelry and gold statues ... worth €1.2 million was stolen last week from the Museo d’Annunzio Segreto (near) Lake Garda in northern Italy. A gang of thieves (took) all but one of the exhibits from a show dedicated to the 20th-century Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni." - Artnet

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