According to the final technical report, more than 95% of participants reported some benefits to their well-being after visiting a museum and 85% indicated positive effects in all four areas. - The Art Newspaper
An Italian court has ruled in favor of Florence’s Gallerie dell’Accademia in its lawsuit against the publishing house Edizioni Conde Nast, which used an image of Michelangelo’s David without permission. - Artnet
In addition to knowing art history and being a good administrator and fundraiser, a museum director these days may have to address diversifying her curators, identifying and returning looted artworks, workers who are unionizing for the first time, and scrutiny of board members' wealth. - The New York Times
"A colorful collection of wooden slats woven into a fence along the Richmond Parkway near the Chevron refinery, titled 'Fencelines: A Collective Monument to Resilience,' 'has been completely disappeared,' the sponsors announced in a statement." - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)
"The Boston-based Holocaust Legacy Foundation has unveiled renderings of its proposed Holocaust Museum Boston, to be located along the Freedom Trail, by the intersection of Tremont and Park Streets." - MSN (The Boston Globe)
The 15th-century icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev, Russia's most revered icon painter, was moved from Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery into Christ the Savior Cathedral, and the Moscow Patriarchate's possession, on Putin's personal orders, against conservators' warnings that the work is too fragile to move. - AP
"The Rijksmuseum said the exhibition that drew on collections around the world to bring together 28 of the 37 paintings generally ascribed to Vermeer attracted 650,000 visitors from 113 countries during its 16-week run that started in early February." - AP
“You did not ask for my permission to copy my photo and I am ‘not laughing.’ Please do not force me to ask Instagram to delete,” Goldsmith in a direct message on Instagram, asking him to remove the post. - Artnet
So far as it has an argument it goes like this: Pablo Picasso was an important artist. He was also something of a jerk around women. And women are more than “goddesses or doormats,” as Picasso brutally had it; women, too, have stories to tell. - The New York Times
Plans were underway to give them back, and a Ghanaian architect was designing a great new building. Then "Nigeria’s outgoing president announced he had transferred ownership of the looted items to a direct descendant of the ruler they had been stolen from." Uh, wait. - The New York Times
"One of the biggest challenges with incorporating Spanish and English text is planning for the display of double the amount of text which would otherwise be included. In addition to affecting the layout, this additional text can increase the show’s production time and the budget." - Glasstire
A Romanian-born owner of a London design store says "the décor industry is fond of artisanal work right now, adding that if it’s 'obscure' — she used air quotes — that was even better." So that's great for Horezu. - The New York Times
But the artist invited the entire seaside community of Bexhill to help fix the damage and restore the statue. "More than 300 volunteers ... queued along the promenade to help restore the bronze sculpture." - The Observer (UK)
In a letter last month on the institution's 60th anniversary, the Chinese president said NAMOC should "be persistent in upholding a politically correct direction, putting people first, and practicing the core values of socialism … in order to … promote self-strengthening of cultural confidence, and new glory of the socialist culture." - Artnet
Dr. Richard Kurin, founder of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, writes about how the Washington museum complex, along with the Louvre, the World Monuments Fund and the ALIPH Foundation, have helped Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage restore the ravaged institution. - Smithsonian Magazine
