A textile specialist “is assumed to have stolen the fragments, each only a few centimetres long, when he was sent to Bayeux as part of a research team to study Germany's ‘ancestral heritage’ - a racist and antisemitic project run by Adolf Hitler's Nazi SS.” - BBC
"The Centre Pompidou gave up one of its two spaces at the Grand Palais due to what the Paris museum described as ‘financial constraints faced by both institutions,’ according to Le Monde.” - Art News
The massive earthquake on New Year’s Day 2024 washed away the homes and studios of “hundreds of Wajima artisans in this Holy Land of Lacquerware at the tip of the Noto Peninsula, about two hours north of Kanazawa.” - The New York Times
Designed by Snøhetta in collaboration with Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), the project broke ground on 31 December above a metro line in Beijing's Tongzhou district. - Dezeen
“The Prado does not need a single visitor more. We are comfortable with 3.5 million,” (Miguel Falomir) said. ... “A museum can collapse due to success, like the Louvre, with some rooms becoming over-saturated. The important thing is not to collapse.” - The Times (UK)
“Investigators say they have traced the thieves to an underground parking garage where they temporarily stashed the imperial jewels. The surveillance footage of the location marks the last confirmed sighting of the trove, which has now been missing for nearly three months.” - Artnet
Describing the state of the economy as “in its worst condition”, the gallerist says many people can no longer afford basic necessities such as meat, bread, eggs or oil. Instability makes even simple purchases impossible. - The Art Newspaper
The city’s famed Rocky statue has been cleared for installation atop the Philadelphia Art Museum’s iconic steps later this year following an Art Commission vote Wednesday. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Following ferocious criticism from the art world in Belgium and internationally, Flemish culture minister Caroline Gennez has agreed not to put her plan to reorganize the system of museums in Flanders — a plan which includes the dismantling of Belgium’s oldest museum of contemporary art — on the government’s agenda just yet. - Belgian News Agency
“The museum said the 45% price hike to 32 euros ($37) from 22 euros is part of a national ‘differentiated pricing’ policy announced early last year that’s coming into force across major cultural sites. … The change affects visitors from most non-EU countries, including the United States.” - AP
The Trump effect is being felt through executive orders and federal cuts: 34% of museums suffered the cancellation of government grants or contracts; 29% saw a decrease in attendance due to changes in travel/tourism and/or economic uncertainty... - The Guardian
The site, just across a canal from the museum, will be designed by landscape architect Piet Blanckaert, with Foster + Partners overseeing the renovation of three “Amsterdam School” pavilions. Among the sculptors with works to be included there are Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, and Henry Moore. - ARTnews
A gallery specialising in art once owned by members of the Third Reich’s leadership, including works personally owned by Adolf Hitler, has prompted conversations about how Nazi-era art circulates, how it should be contextualised and who engages with it. - The Art Newspaper
