The artifacts are sacred wood and stone altar tablets, or tabots, that were stolen by British soldiers during the Battle of Maqdala. The items have never been on public display. - ARTnews
As the chief curator, Conaty said she plans to focus on Latino and Indigenous artists, who remain underrepresented in the Whitney’s collection, and invest in emerging talent. But she also intends to slow down the pace of collecting. “Gifts are not free,” she said. - The New York Times
An attorney for collector Uthman Khatib says that the paintings — including works attributed to Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Natalia Goncharova, and collectively worth more than €100 million — were stolen from a storage facility Khatib rented in Germany. - ARTnews
"James Sheen, 39, pleaded guilty to burglary, converting or transferring criminal property and conspiracy to do the same. … The fully functioning toilet" — titled 'America' — "was installed at Blenheim Palace in 2019 as part of an exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan called 'Victory is Not an Option.'" - CNN
The Mill at Limetz (1888) is expected to sell for between $18 million and $25 million at Christie's next month. The Nelson-Atkins owns only a two-thirds interest in the painting, and the heirs of the late owner of the remaining third chose not to donate it to the museum. - Artnet
"The information watchdog is investigating the British Museum over claims it has been overly secretive about some of the most sensitive items in its collection – a group of sacred Ethiopian altar tablets that have been hidden from view at the museum for more than 150 years." - The Guardian
From Jeanne Claude and Christo’s wrappings to Banksy’s newest tree, “public art requires us to be present, to bring it to life with our imaginations, to think about how it was constructed, what its location looked like before, and how the art ties in with what already exists." - The Guardian (UK)
"The group now has 20,000 members worldwide and covers 'every single aspect of Banksy' from the 1990s to today, Mrs Holmes said. The group also shares information on what condition Banksy's works are in and where they can be found." - BBC
Because of course they are. For instance: "Spray painters still add political messages to the mosaic of artwork in east London. But they are nestled between more commercial interests: hand-painted campaigns sponsored by L’Oréal, Sky and Adidas." - The New York Times
Or maybe never found it. "The problem with Warhol ... is that his art doesn’t lend itself to extended aesthetic contemplation. Once you’ve seen Brillo Boxes or his soup cans once, you’ve seen them enough." - Hyperallergic
This year we can finally answer: things are back to normal. Mostly. Our exclusive survey reveals that in 2023 many of the world’s largest museums recorded very similar numbers to those of 2019, the last full year before the Covid lockdowns began. - The Art Newspaper
According to the lawsuit filed by Denise Lewis, who worked at the museum from 2017 until her firing in January of this year, the museum’s director sought to use the institution’s funds to pay for personal expenditures during a vacation in Mexico last October. - The Art Newspaper
"For more than five years, (Thomas) Little has performed this kind of alchemy, purchasing handguns and automatic rifles from pawn shops and dissolving the iron-heavy parts in acid to form iron sulfate, the basis for writing inks and artists’ pigments in deep blacks, rusty reds and warm ochres." - CNN
The Galleria dell’Accademia’s director, Cecilie Hollberg, has positioned herself as David’s defender since her arrival at the museum in 2015, taking swift aim at those profiteering from his image, often in ways she finds “debasing.” - AP
"Hundreds of employees from the Art Gallery of Ontario gathered on the picket line as they began strike action Tuesday. After months of negotiations, union members ... voted to reject the gallery's latest contract offer, saying it doesn't address wage increases, protections for part-time workers and contracting out positions." - CBC
