“After a slew of delays and controversies, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has finally narrowed down its big debut to a single day: December 11. The winter inauguration keeps the museum (just about) on track to open in 2026, as previously promised, but arrives two decades after the mammoth museum project was first announced in 2006.” - Artnet
The etching, L’Acrobate au violon (1924), and another work were confiscated from a shipment of art being taken from France to Switzerland in 2005 after French agents determined that the items weren’t authorized to leave the country. The pieces were rediscovered after two decades, and the Chagall is now on display in Besançon. - Artnet
Archaeologists in Pompeii, the ancient city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, have unveiled the partially reconstructed frescoed ceiling vault of a banquet hall featuring detailed images of Greek mythology. - AP News
“The founding member of Guerrilla Girls known by the pseudonym Liubov Popova has revealed her true identity: she is 83-year-old US-based painter and sculptor, Joyce Kozloff, a major figure in the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s.” - Ocula
“Cathleen Chaffee, who currently serves as … Chief Curator, is the museum’s incoming artistic director, while Jillian Jones, AKG’s deputy director, will become executive director. Under a new co-leadership structure, Chaffee will oversee the museum’s exhibitions and public-facing programs. Jones will guide overall strategy, operations and finances.” - Buffalo Toronto Public Media
Perhaps the biggest opportunity created by detailed data is the ability to provide personalized recommendations. Supplementing traditional curation with analytical methods, more recently including machine learning and artificial intelligence, has become more common. - Ars Technica
A 12-year saga of destruction, rebuilding and yet more destruction, all underscored by an unedifying seam of political and institutional wrangling, reached an apologetic conclusion of sorts, with the recent announcement that Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s exquisite art nouveau creation is unlikely to be rebuilt in its original form because of stratospheric cost. - The Guardian
“After her Hayward show in 1993, Britain’s male critics unleashed a torrent of dismissive reviews. She was called a ‘commercial illustrator,’ ‘irredeemably amateur,’ an artist who ‘made good monthly images on calendars’ and ‘grossly overrated.’” - The Guardian (UK)
The workers at V&A are unionized, and the ballot “is taking place because of concerns about soaring temperatures and access to drinking water, along with pay and conditions.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Amid the pain and protest following George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020, artists known and unknown picked up brushes and spray cans. They created hundreds of murals on 4x8-foot plywood sheets covering windows and doors.” - MPR
“The museum is covering the deficits by drawing on a pool of money that includes cash and reserves — sometimes referred to as quasi-endowment — whose use was not restricted by donors for any specific purpose.” - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The ungainly white box proposed by Spain’s Studio Alberto Campo Baeza was greeted with online objections by over 20,000 Ecuadorians and was withdrawn earlier this month. The new design, by Tokyo-based studio SANAA, is described as “a system of interconnected vertical plazas” wrapped in rounded façades of terracotta brick. - Dezeen
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling in favor of pop artist Jeff Koons in a copyright dispute with a sculptor who had accused Koons of using his sculpture without permission in a 1989 series of artworks. - Reuters
“The cultural institution announced it will no longer employ 23 custodial workers on June 29. ... The employees’ last day is Aug. 14, but a museum spokesperson said they will have the opportunity to re-apply for their positions with the new company, GDI Integrated Facility Services, based in Canada.” - Chicago Sun-Times
