It’s only been 137 years since the builders, who had no permit, apparently, broke ground for the massive, and massively complex, masterpiece cathedral. Will it be finished by the year the work permit runs out – 2026? Maybe! “Barcelona official Janet Sanz said the agreement between the city and the foundation had put an end to ‘a historical anomaly in our city.'” – The Guardian (UK) (Associated Press)

“Officials from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the entity that manages the site, announced the selection of three architectural firms that will develop separate proposals for a new master plan for the 12-acre site, which includes the tar pits, the George C. Page Museum and surrounding parkland — home to the iconic Los Angeles sight of a mammoth clinging to life along the edge of a tar lake.” – Los Angeles Times

Yes, “the Nation’s T. rex” still has pride of place in the hall at the National Museum of Natural History. “But there’s much more here than one awe-inspiring dinosaur. The hall, restored to its Beaux-Arts glory, offers a fresh view of the fossil record and the evolution of life. It looks at the impact of climate change — caused both by man and by natural sources — and mass-extinction events. The exhibition demonstrates what scientists can learn from seemingly innocuous marks on a fossil, uses a cartoon of an ancient sea creature to show why your brain is located in your skull, and lets visitors get up close and personal with giant bronze insects.” – The Washington Post

“Our results indicate that happiness is expressed only on the left side. According to some influential theories of emotion neuropsychology, we here interpreted the Mona Lisa asymmetric smile as a non-genuine smile, also thought to occur when the subject lies,” the authors write in their study published recently in the April 2019 issue of the journal Cortex.  – EurekAlert

No, the answer isn’t merely “white” — for one thing, there are many whites to chose from (just go to Home Depot and check the paint chips) — and for some purposes, various shades of blue, green, or yellow work even better. – Hyperallergic

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he had “deliberately aimed to mislead the public into believing he was selling a famed 1952 original” – which was stolen in 1988. – BBC

On the day of the opening of their exhibition Impulso in old Havana, the artists Jesus Benitez and his colleague, who has asked not to disclose her name in press in fear of further repercussions, were detained and interrogated by Cuban police for six hours. The artists were then deported back to Mexico from the Havana airport. – Hyperallergic

“Last Friday, museum workers began contributing to a Google Spreadsheet documenting their place of employment, salary rates, and demographic details like race and gender. … Those who contributed to the spreadsheet hope that transparency will lead to some sort of remuneration reform that may also contribute to further diversifying the field.” – Hyperallergic

Philanthropist Dede Wilsey, an heir to the Dow chemical fortune and widow of a Bay Area real estate magnate, is departing after 21 years. “Her generosity to the Fine Arts Museums, among many gifts across the region, is legendary. … Yet for years she was said to run the board like a private club,” and her response to reports of her impending departure in 2016 was defiant. – San Francisco Chronicle

In March this year, the Pook & Pook auction house in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, offered 156 lots of around 430 objects that had belonged to Barnes and his wife Laura. The lots included furniture, clocks, textiles and porcelain objects, and hammered at $98,000 in total. – The Art Newspaper

Museum management said in a statement that “this auction allows us to deaccession a number of works in areas where we have significant breadth and depth and the proceeds will return to the Asian Art department’s acquisition fund.” – Chicago Tribune

“The Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities, Abdul Amir Al-Hamdani, … intends to visit Washington ‘to recover 5,500 artefacts from the Hobby Lobby company and 10,000 clay figurines from Cornell University as well as artefacts from the University of Pennsylvania’.” – Middle East Monitor

Ruth Hoppe, the modern art conservator for the museum, noticed that the painting had been retouched to cover up tiny holes in it. On closer inspection, she found that there were shards of glass wedged into the canvas. Ms. Hoppe decided to do a more extensive investigation. She X-rayed the work, and discovered something extraordinary: Underneath the “Wisteria” was another painting — of water lilies. – The New York Times

Matthew Scully: “Actually, if there’s political insight to be gleaned from all this, it probably has more to do with inflatable reputations, gullible audiences, and the spell of progressive groupthink — problems that grow only more hopeless with money.” National Review Online

The museum has been through three contentious redesigns before, but the thing it needed all along was more room. Its collection—which includes pre-Columbian relics, as well as modern showpieces like Chris Burden’s Urban Light—was already bursting its four current buildings at the seams. Now, it will be squeezed into a space two-thirds the size.  – The New Republic

Haring died almost 30 years ago, but his art remains as fresh, and as relevant, as ever. “Haring did much more than provide cute cartoons. He was publicly minded. His art faced outwards. He wanted to inform, to start a conversation, to question authority and convention, to represent the oppressed. Those cute figures are political.” – The Observer (UK)

Carmen Bambach, a curator at the Met, says no. “In her forthcoming four-volume study of the polymath – a vast project spanning more than 1m words and 1,500 images – Bambach attributes most of the picture to Leonardo’s assistant, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, with only ‘small retouchings’ by the master himself.” – The Guardian (UK)

The museum, which opened on Staten Island in 1947 after the collector Jacques Marchais and a local Italian stone mason worked to find the right stone for a “traditional mountain feel,” is in need of all kinds of things – staff, time, and money, mostly, though the executive director is pleased that grants are coming in. She notes, “Every project takes time and money.” – The New York Times

Spencer Tunick takes photos of choreographed crowds of naked people at monuments and in natural settings all over the world. He calls them “flesh architecture,” and he’d like it if Instagram would quit censoring his art. – Asbury Park Press (New Jersey)

They might not be the prettiest, or the most interesting architecturally. But significant bits of history happened there. And they’re in danger of being torn down or falling down. – CityLab

“Glenstone is a 21st-century version of the Frick, the Phillips Collection or the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. And it’s the equivalent, among its contemporaries, of such celebrated art sanctuaries as Naoshima in Japan and Louisiana in Denmark. … Even as you sigh and breathe more deeply at Glenstone, you can’t help but feel that the people who set all this up — a billionaire couple who live on the property — have designs on you. And part of you — or part of me, anyway — wants to resist.” – The Washington Post

“The State Hermitage Museum [in St. Petersburg] has held talks with Saudi officials to explore the possibility of opening a satellite in the Gulf state. The meeting took place earlier this year during Hermitage Day in Oman, part of the Russian museum’s practice of taking short-term exhibitions and lectures to locations around the world as a form of soft power.” – The Art Newspaper

“Lonnie Bunch gave 14 years. He has built an incredible foundation. We want someone just like [him], who was transforming, who could inspire the really terrific people we have at the museum to reach new heights, someone who has credibility in the academic community as well as someone who is a strong leader.” – Washington Post

It’s an alluring fantasy – you’ve found art that is possibly worth a lot of money. But The stories of authenticity quickly unravel in today’s internet-connected world. – Washington Post