It’s no longer necessary that he connect in people’s minds with any actual art. It’s enough that he stands for that bigger thing: unfettered creativity. In fact, it’s better. A clear line connects Picasso’s description of his pictures as “a sum of destructions” and the capitalist mantra of “creative destruction.” - Washington Post
Yes, the family had long called it “The Bruegel,” but it was an affectionate dig at a painting that was clearly a fake. Turns out, the family joke was a hidden masterpiece, a genuine work of Pieter Bruegel the Younger, a 17th-century Flemish artist. - Washington Post
Six years ago, the National Geographic Society, decided that the sculpture, known as “Marabar” and designed by the artist Elyn Zimmerman, was in the way of expansion plans for its headquarters, and later agreed to help find it a new home. - The New York Times
To avoid a charge that could have sent him to prison for up to 30 years, Mihcael Rohana — who did the deed at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute in 2017 — will plead guilty to interstate trafficking, which carries a maximum two-year sentence. - KYW (Philadelphia)
Siddal died young, and her husband Dante Gabriel Rossetti took up a lot of the air about the movement she was part of, both as model and as painter. "Regarded as an appendage to her husband, she remained unknown during her lifetime." - The Observer (UK)
"The Gilbert and George Centre, which they have planned for years, is a built representation of their slogan 'art is for all' and designed as a gift to the community they have lived and worked alongside together for most of their working lives." - The Observer (UK)
The sale hasn't closed, so why all of the PR? To get Britain to pay up. "It’s Britain, after all, not the Getty that hasn’t been able to muster the necessary funds. U.K. fundraising stalled at under $30 million — less than half the asking price." - Los Angeles Times
Ravensburger was brought to court by the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, where the real Vitruvian Man lives. The museum claimed that it was owed financial compensation from the puzzle manufacturer, even though the 500-year-old artwork in question belongs to the public domain. - Artnet
"Curator Erin Schoneveld breaks down five seminal posters from the exhibition (at New York's Poster House Museum) that reveal how art reflects history — and how history influences art." - Fast Company
New York investigators say that the seven-foot-tall, headless nude statue, believed by scholars to be of Roman emperor Septimius Severus, was looted from the archaeological site at Bubon, Turkey, in the 1960s. The museum is also surrendering two other antiquities to the Ankara government. - The New York Times
Allowed to delve into the structure’s innards as never before during the ensuing reconstruction (which is set to finish in 2024), a team of French scientists has gleaned new insights into the cathedral’s original construction. - Big Think
"Last week, the Rembrandt House Museum reopened in Amsterdam after a four-month closure, offering 30 percent more Rembrandt in the building where the artist lived and worked — plus a forthcoming artist residency program that harkens back to the history of students studying there under the Dutch Golden Age master." - Artnet
In 1985, a couple walked into an art gallery on the campus of the University of Arizona and left 15 minutes later with a rolled-up Willem de Kooning shoved up the man’s jacket. In 2017, the painting was finally recovered – not by the FBI, but by a trio of house clearance guys in New Mexico. - The Guardian
