Why was Fini, who was part of the first major surrealist exhibitions, ignored for so long? André Breton, of course. He "would not have a woman be a Surrealist. In his view, women were muses." - NPR
"It was embarrassing to want excitement, but never more than when looking at a Ruisdael did I realize how wholly I was a creature of the age of entertainment." - The Guardian (UK)
But that's just inaccurate, and misses the point. "There are plenty of people, elected and non-elected, who are far more deserving of our ire when it comes to the arts right now." - The Observer (UK)
"A skeleton crew of editors needed to take a hacksaw through the December issue of Artforum magazine. There were only a few weeks between the sudden firing of its editor-in-chief and a print deadline for the glossy’s annual 'Year in Review' issue." - The New York Times
The art market is international and barely regulated; its products are easily transportable, squirrelled away in freeports or swiftly turned into cash. Grifters, fakers and thieves naturally abound. - London Review of Books
At least six members of the editorial team resigned and nearly 600 writers signed letters boycotting the magazine and its sister publications like ARTnews and Art in America. - The New York Times
When Christie's auctioned off Adoration of the Kings (1628) in Amsterdam two years ago, the house attributed it to "the circle of Rembrandt" and valued it at between €10,000 and €15,000; an anonymous buyer purchased it for €860,000 and subsequently consigned it to Sotheby's, which authenticated the painting as Rembrandt. - CNN
"New York authorities will facilitate the return of the objects to officials of their origin countries" — Italy, Egypt, and Turkey. "The works include a bronze statue of an Etruscan warrior dated from the 5th Century B.C.E., a terracotta Italian wine flask from 330 B.C.E. and an ancient Egyptian cosmetics vessel." - ARTnews
I’d understood that rich people could buy lots of art, but I hadn’t realized until this moment that my definitions of rich and lots were off by many orders of magnitude. “Clients ask me, ‘Are we collectors?’ And I say, ‘Has the word warehouse entered your vocabulary?’” - The Atlantic
What is the function of all that bric-a-brac? they would ask. Why all the fuss when a flush door with a thin steel frame would do just as well? Why carve words when a ready-made embossed plastic plaque is available? Isn’t it all just a waste of money? - The American Scholar
That would be bamboo. It grows quickly in the hot climate; it sequesters plenty of carbon; it's inexpensive; it withstands floodwaters well. And Lari's innovative-yet-simple design for small houses made of traditional mud and limestone on bamboo frames can be built and repaired quickly by villagers themselves. - MSN (The Washington Post)
"Darling is a 41-year-old Oxford-born, Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, video, drawing and performance; he also released a collection of poetry, Virgins, last year. His Turner Prize-winning exhibition is an installation that places viewers in a custom-built environment evoking chaotic city streets and industrial barriers." - CNN
When the Guggenheim raised the price for adult admissions to $30 from $25 over the summer, it cited a lack of visitors and declining membership at a moment when expenses have skyrocketed because of inflation, increased labor costs and insurance, as well as rising shipping fees. - The New York Times
The thieves broke into a warehouse in suburban Paris, cut through the metal guard fence around Kiefer's The High Priestess/Zweistromland, a large lead sculpture of two loaded bookcases, and escaped with several books (presumably to be melted down for the metal) when security guards arrived. - Artnet
