The burning, called Crema, of hundreds of wood-and-papier-mâché sculptures is the climax of the spring festival called Las Fallas in Spain’s third-largest city. This year’s event is felt to be particularly significant in the wake of deadly floods that struck the region last fall. - AP
“Our goal was to have 50 percent of the galleries with a presence in Asia”— meaning a physical space — “and now we are exceeding that,” said Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s director of fairs. - The New York Times
The new study from the think tank Remuseum, based at Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas, is titled “Access, Scale, and Market Share” and presents new findings in its analysis of American art museums and proposals about how they can maximize resources and practices to widen their reach to the public. - Artnet
Maurizio Cattelan’s satirical piece America, a fully functioning 18-karat gold toilet, was ripped from the plumbing and stolen from an exhibition in England in 2019. With security video and interviews with staffers at the venue, Blenheim Palace, the BBC has a report on how the theft happened. - BBC
AI’s objective analysis has thrown a wrench into this traditional hierarchy. If an algorithm can determine the authorship of an artwork with statistical probability, where does that leave the old-guard art historians whose reputations have been built on their subjective expertise? - Wired
In the fires’ aftermath, an unexpected but fittingly inconceivable thought came to mind. I found myself wondering: Should the Getty move? Should the Villa, and the Getty Center in the fire-prone Brentwood hills nearby, both evacuate — for good? - Los Angeles Times
“Retired agent Geoffrey Kelly, who led the investigation into the (1990) thefts for more than two decades, recently (said) he suspects the initial plan ... was to make quick money stealing the Rembrandts. ‘Then they wake up on March 19 to realize that they’ve committed the heist of the century.’” Here’s who he thinks “they” are. - Boston.com
The satirical artist’s piece, titled America, was stolen in September of 2019 while on display at an exhibition at Blenheim Palace in England. Michael Jones was convicted of planning the heist, while Frederick Doe was convicted of helping to sell the gold in the object. James Sheen had already pled guilty to burglary. - BBC
“As the Met’s head of provenance research, a new position created last May, … (Lucian) Simmons (has) a job to correct earlier errors, to prevent new questionable acquisitions and to ensure that the museum’s reputation for integrity and scholarship is not further damaged.” - The New York Times
“Tate is cutting 7% of its workforce as the British arts institution seeks to address a funding deficit left over from the pandemic. … Tate, which has four galleries across London, Liverpool and Cornwall, said it had been working with staff for a number of months to achieve the reduction.” - The Guardian
The magazine parted ways with Arn, who replaced the late Peter Schjeldahl in 2023, after receiving complaints about his inappropriate behavior at the publication’s 100th birthday last month. - The New York Times
Looking again at how the myth of the Mona Lisa emerged, I believe that her fame is due not just to the painting’s display of artistic ingenuity – but to the troubling vampirism and gender ambiguity that 19th-century critics saw in Leonardo’s work. - The Conversation
Red-chip art comes in many guises, but certain visual patterns predominate: super-flat cartoons, a street art/graffiti aesthetic, and multi-colored chrome. A crypto component is always welcome. - Artnet
