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One Big Beautiful Bill: Architecture Is No Longer A Professional Degree

Under the terms of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the provision of student loans in the USA will be overhauled starting 1 July, 2026, with borrowing amounts set to be determined by whether a degree is considered professional or not. - Dezeen

Four More Suspects Arrested In Louvre Jewel Theft Case

“The two men and two women in custody are from the Paris region and range in age from 31 to 40, said the prosecutor. … Her statement didn’t say what role they’re suspected of having played in the Oct. 19 theft. Police can hold them for questioning for 96 hours.” - AP

Inside The Portland Art Museum’s New $116 Million Campus

“The project involved integrating two neighboring buildings, adding almost 100,000 square feet of public and gallery space, and uniting the structures with a 21,000-square-foot, multilayered glass pavilion named for (Mark) Rothko,” who grew up in Portland. - ARTnews

Why The Gustav Klimt Fetched a Record Price

The painting is valued so highly because it carries a deep personal and political history – and because the artist’s incredible skill once helped it serve as a life-saving disguise. - The Convseration

Philadelphia Art Museum Charges Former Director With Financial Misconduct

That investigation, the motion states, concluded that Suda had “misappropriated funds from the Museum and lied to cover up her theft.” - ARTnews

What Art Market Reporters Are Getting Wrong

Smaller galleries may be in massive amounts of trouble. "Gallery sales are almost always private, and only a small percentage truthfully reveal their sales and profits. ... Average gallery sales are reported to be down 8 or 10%. That would hardly have caused closures. It is far, far worse.” - Hyperallergic

Philadelphia Picks Former Met Museum Director To Take Over For Abruptly Fired Former Chief Executive

Daniel H. Weiss “had been serving as a consultant to the museum over the last two years, he said in a telephone interview, ‘providing some advice to them on governance.’” - The New York Times

The Phillips Collection Sells Off Art, Riles Its Board, And Angers The Family

Robert Storr, former dean at the Yale School of Art and advisory board member: “‘Selling off the family silver is not a strategy for prolonging and increasing its fortunes,’ Storr wrote, urging that the Phillips ‘consider rescinding this absurd gambit.’” - The New York Times

What Happened To Al Rockoff’s Historic Photos Of Cambodia Is A Cautionary Tale Of Fame And Poverty

A man who said he would help Rockoff - one of the last photographers in Phnom Penh as the Khmer Rouge marched in - has all of the negatives, but what is he planning to do with them? And where will any money go? - The New York Times

Louvre President, Under Fire, Defends The Museum

Some, including a prominent art critic, have said she should lose her job, and she has been called to testify twice before Parliament. The criticism is particularly charged given the tumultuous state of French politics. - The New York Times

Frida Kahlo Painting Sells for $54.7 — Most Ever For A Woman Artist

The 1940 canvas, “The Dream (The Bed),” topped the previous record held by a $44.4 million Georgia O’Keeffe, “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1” that sold to Walmart billionaire Alice Walton 11 years earlier. - The Wall Street Journal

Secret To Code Of “Kryptos” Sculpture Sells For Almost $1 Million

“The long sought-after solution to the fourth passage of Kryptos, artist Jim Sanborn’s secret-code-bearing sculpture at CIA headquarters, sold at auction Thursday night for a final price of $962,500, blowing past its $300,000 to $500,0000 estimate and placing the 35-year-old enigma in new hands.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

Frida Kahlo Self-Portrait Sets New Price Record For Female Artists

The 1940 self-portrait of the artist asleep in bed, titled El sueño (La cama) — in English, “The Dream (The Bed)” — sold for $54.7 million at Sotheby’s, surpassing the record held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, which sold for $44.4 million in 2014. - AP

New $234M Record Sale For Modern Art

The 71-by-51-inch painting, named after its subject, was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Tuesday evening for $236.4 million, including fees. It belonged to the private collection of Leonard Lauder, the cosmetics heir who died in June. - Washington Post

What’s Behind The Board Exodus At The Palm Springs Art Museum? Evidently, A Financial Mess

It’s not as simple as the museum not having enough money. An audit report indicates that there have been some very questionable accounting practices at PSAM — questionable enough that one of the eight board members who have resigned so far did so on the advice of his personal attorney. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

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