In 1987 the work was auctioned for £25m, but the heirs of the German Jewish banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who owned it until the 1930s, now value it at a staggering $250m. - The Art Newspaper
"(The Brazilian capital's) proportions can render political action strangely inert. … It is an otherworldly landscape of red earth, open grass and enormous roadways ... best viewed from the air. So vast are its voids that the sheer scale of the space may have helped temper the energies of the crowds." - Bloomberg CityLab
"(Damages) go far beyond the shattered glass on the exteriors of the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court, all architectural icons. Modernist furniture was burned, portraits defaced, sculptures decapitated and ceramics smashed. Carpets were found soaked with water from the buildings' sprinkler systems, as well as with urine." - AP
"The Muslim Public Affairs Council has published a statement urging reinstatement of an art history professor who was fired from Hamline University in Minnesota after showing her class Medieval paintings depicting the Prophet Muhammad." Indeed, MPAC said she should be thanked for "educating students … in a critically empathetic manner." - Artnet
Scuttling reports from last week of secret talks over a deal, premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis restated his nation's longstanding position that the ancient sculptures, having been stolen by Lord Elgin in the 19th century, are not Britain's to return and belong to Greece by right. - Reuters
The Vancouver House is a 490-foot high-rise teetering on a narrow base, twisting and expanding as it rises. The torquing tower serves as a new gateway to the city, appearing like a half-formed archway that frames the skyline and British Columbia’s North Shore Mountains beyond. - Bloomberg
"Museum-building in a real estate-obsessed city that Mark Twain called 'superbly beautiful' — in the sunny heart of a proud 'sporting nation' — often requires overcoming a barrage of negativity. The Sydney Opera House was loathed before it was loved, and the Modern has traveled a rough road already." - The New York Times
"The three enthusiasts have transformed knowledge about prehistoric art in Norway, more than doubling the number of carvings known in their home region. And … their findings have also lent serious weight to theories about the mysterious petroglyphs' meaning." - The New York Times
The design of the complex just blocks north of Columbia’s main Morningside Heights campus coincided with business schools around the country coming to terms with a rising chorus of criticism that companies are too predatory, exploitative and monopolistic, and that business education had to change. - The New York Times
Vandals in the crowd seriously damaged several paintings and sculptures and destroyed a couple of pieces entirely — this on top of the damage they caused to the landmark Oscar Niemeyer buildings themselves. - Artnet
"The Louvre in Paris, the world's most well-attended museum, will now limit the number of daily visitors to 30,000 'in order to facilitate a comfortable visit and ensure optimal working conditions for museum staff.' … Prior to the pandemic, the Louvre could welcome up to 45,000 visitors each day." - ARTnews
We honor many protesters, past and present, who broke the law to advance a good cause. Suffragettes targeted great art in their struggle to obtain votes for women, and, unlike today’s eco-activists, deliberately slashed paintings. Today, however, we regard them as heroic feminist pioneers. - Project Syndicate
Paris, Texas was founded in the 1840s, and quickly became a hub for business and culture in Northeast Texas. Unfortunately, in 1916, a massive fire destroyed much of the downtown, forcing the town's residents to rebuild. - KERA
"The Rodin Museum in Paris has scrapped its controversial €16 million (roughly $17 million) project to build an outpost in Santa Cruz de Tenerife … following scathing criticism from prominent Spanish politicians, educators, and art world figures." - ARTnews
