In fact, the missing glands on the bovine in this 19th-century floor mosaic had been gouged out by excessive tourist traffic some time ago, and the restorers (and the landlord) declined to replace them. Here’s why. - Smithsonian Magazine
The theft of the fruit from the jokester artist’s piece Comedian happened this past Saturday at the Pompidou Center’s outpost in Metz, France; the duct tape was left behind. No suspect has yet been identified, and museum staff promptly replaced the banana. - ARTnews
A new book makes the case that when it comes to evolving forms and styles in American architecture, a new generation of firms is drawing inspiration from not just place and local architectural heritage, but the place a building like the Girls Inc. Youth Farm will play in the community. - Fast Company
“Rather than an exit point, this new wave of merchandising is quickly turning museum gift shops into a desirable entry point. Curated edits ... are now beginning to treat them as a stand-alone shopping destination, marking a shift from cultural institution to cultural retailer.” - The Guardian (UK)
“For years, illustrators have been overlooked, seen as people who come in and do the decorating after the house has been built. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.” - The Guardian (UK)
Latchford’s success depended not just on criminal networks that supplied and transported these objects, but on the willingness of museums, dealers, collectors, and scholars to accept fragmented or problematic provenance so long as the objects themselves retained the aura of rarity and beauty. - Hyperallergic
Gehry Partners will design a variety of upgrades to the Getty Center — including a major revamp of its entry experience — during its upcoming year-long closure, the museum announced Thursday. - Los Angeles Times
“What, exactly, defines America? It’s a question that’s been asked for more than two centuries, and it’s unlikely to be conclusively answered anytime soon. But, with the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding fast approaching, we took the occasion to hash out a response to that query, using art as a guide.” - ARTnews
“We started working on this list over a year ago and spent more than a month alone wrestling with how best to define its purview. We decided this would not be a list of the best American artworks, which is both too challenging an exercise and too wide a net to cast.” - ARTnews
“The Great Pyramid behaves as a single, cohesive unit that naturally vibrates at a fundamental frequency of approximately 2.3 Hz. The frequency difference prevents the destructive phenomenon of resonance, the primary culprit behind the collapse of modern buildings, when a structure’s frequency matches the earthquakes vibrations.” - Artnet
The theft only happened last October; none of the indicted suspects have yet been tried. Yet a book by three investigative journalists, Main basse sur le Louvre (Heist at the Louvre), has just hit the shelves, and a feature based on it will be directed by Romain Gavras, son of Oscar-winner Costa-Gavras. - Artnet
Spain’s government is turning up the pressure on the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía over longstanding problems tied to its collection inventory, with lawmakers threatening consequences that could ultimately cost museum director Manuel Segade his job. - ARTnews
The fire on September 2, 2018, began with an electrical issue, but it spiraled out of control when the hydrants next to the building proved to be dry. According to a 160-page report, the museum had been chronically underfunded for years, and a whistleblower had warned of fire risk as early as 2004. - Smithsonian
