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Art Thief Arrested On Roof Of Arizona Gallery

Harpreet Singh was captured while trying to escape from American Fine Art in Scottsdale. He had taken works worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including pieces by Picasso and Warhol, which were found scattered on the building's roof. - Artnet

In Response To Federal Regulations, Chicago’s Field Museum Has Covered Displays Of Native American Items

"The decision relates to a provision that requires institutions to 'obtain free, prior and informed consent' from tribes before exhibiting cultural items or human remains, or allowing research of them." The museum's announcement said the items were covered "pending consultation with the represented communities." - The New York Times

Want To Be The Next Director Of The British Museum? Here’s The Job

Applicants must have a “vision for the future of the British Museum and its purpose as a national and a global museum in the 21st century,” the job posting says. But they must also be able to deal with a host of problems affecting the august institution, the world’s third most visited museum. - The New York Times

The Audacious Scheme To Sell The World’s Most Expensive Painting Ever

Of the multiple schemes and fabrications attributed to Bouvier in court the most audacious involved Dmitry Rybolovlev’s acquisition of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which set the record for the most expensive painting ever sold at $450.3 million in 2017 at Christie’s. - ARTnews

Fraught: Museums Are Changing How They Collect Antiquities

Acquiring older cultural objects through purchase or donation can be risky for museums if they suspect the art or artifacts might have to be returned to a foreign government at some point. - The Observer

Pennsylvania Academy Of Fine Arts To Shut Down Its Degree Programs

"The Academy … will keep its museum open and fully operating. It plans to carry on classes in continuing education and its K-12 arts programs. At the same time, PAFA intends to restore its comprehensive three- or four-year certificate program and relaunch it this fall." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

It’s Not Just The British Museum: Many Of England’s Museums Have Items Missing

"Freedom of information requests by the PA news agency to museums and galleries that receive public funding from the (national government) asking for details on absent items from the last 20 years found that more than 1,700 items were absent from collections." - The Guardian

Russian Billionaire’s Aide Testifies In Court About Sotheby’s Alleged Role Convincing Him To Overpay For Art

An adviser to a Russian billionaire asserted in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday that he and his boss had been tricked by a Swiss art dealer into wildly overpaying for works of art and that a Sotheby’s expert’s opinions played a role in persuading them to pay the inflated prices. - The New York Times

Is It Ethical To Have AI Complete A Painting Keith Haring Deliberately Left Unfinished?

Haring created the 1989 work titled Unfinished Painting as a comment on the lives unlived and the creativity unrealized because of the AIDS epidemic, which killed Haring himself a few months later. So when someone posted an AI completion on social media recently, reaction was swift and ferocious. - Hyperallergic

Newfields/Indianapolis Museum Of Art Is Losing Board Members Following CEO’s Unexplained Departure

Six of the board's 30 members have stepped down since Colette Pierce Burnette suddenly left Newfields in November after only 15 months as CEO. Most of the ex-board members have said nothing publicly about their resignations, though two have given hints of unhappiness about the manner of Burnette's exit. - ARTnews

Student At Art Institute Of Chicago Sues School For Anti-Semitic Discrimination

"Master’s degree student Shiran Canel — an Israeli-American Jew in her 30s who lives in the Chicago area — alleges the school discriminated against her during an admissions interview and then intentionally subjected her to a hostile environment following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel." - Chicago Tribune (MSN)

So Were The Book Of Kells Illuminator Monks On Mushrooms Or What?

"All the monks who worked on it shared a sense of revelation liberated from verbal meaning." - The Guardian (UK)

Why Is Plundered Art Still In Western Museums?

Museum professionals publish scathing books that indict the very institutions that pay their salaries. The ethics of exhibiting plundered art are called into question by the public. Curators, struggling to answer questions about what they have in their collections, admit that they don’t actually know what they have or why they have it. - The Walrus

Frick Collection Director To Retire After Museum Renovation Complete

Ian Wardropper, the director of New York’s Frick Collection for the past 13 years, will retire in 2025, not long after the museum unveils its long-awaited renovation to the public. - ARTnews

French President Macron Proposes Art For Notre Dame Windows. Outrage Ensues

More than 125,000 people have signed a petition decrying a proposal to replace the chapel windows designed by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1859 with stained glass artworks. - ARTnews

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