Once a slow-changing bastion of tradition, it was announced on Monday that the institution famous for its Renaissance masterpieces had last year leapt past Rome’s Colosseum, the ruins of Pompeii, the Vatican Museums and other well-known sites. - The Guardian
The gathering of these 200 artworks at the Fondation Louis Vuitton was one of the most popular museum shows in French history. Following the invasion of Ukraine, there were calls to withhold the collection rather than giving it back to Russia; those have now been rejected. - Artnet
The museum was originally set up as a privately funded branch of the St. Petersburg flagship, an affiliation now ended due to the invasion of Ukraine. Other museums in the Netherlands will lend items to DHA for a five-part series of shows. - The Art Newspaper
It’s great to have the Biennial back — to talk about, to love and hate — after it was postponed a year because of the pandemic. The Biennial has always trafficked in the contemporary, but this year’s offering, even with the inclusion of deceased artists, radiates with the power of now. - New York Magazine
They're Ukranian Dancers, not Russian Dancers - and it's not just a stunt during the war. The director of London's Ukranian Institute said last week, "Curators have no problem presenting Jewish, Belarusian or Ukrainian art and artists as Russian." - The Guardian (UK)
"More than a dozen artifacts linked to infamous antiquities trafficker Subhash Kapoor were seized from an (unnamed) Ivy League school's art gallery on Wednesday by Homeland Security. Twelve of the 13 artifacts were allegedly looted from India, and one item originated from Burma." - ARTnews
David Best's construction, titled Sanctuary and erected in the English Midlands in late May, will be modeled on the Temples he creates at Burning Man each year: festivalgoers place in the structure notes to loved ones who have died, and the Temple is set ablaze on the final night. - Artnet
As elsewhere in the world, the US museums that struggled the most in 2021 were the big names: the world-famous museums in the big cities that have been gutted by the evaporation of international tourism. - The Art Newspaper
"Spot is agile enough to inspect narrow passages and traverse uneven surfaces, and will collect terrain data alongside a laser-scanning drone released to fly over the site and conduct autonomous 3D scans. The robot will also be used to sniff out underground tunnels made by tomb raiders." - Artnet
Before the battle over the mural became a symbol of the nation they would call New Belarus, there were just three nondescript buildings in the middle of a city of two million, a courtyard set around a children’s playground: swings, a seesaw and a roundabout, surrounded by benches. - The New York Times
The total number of followers on TikTok for all 100 museums is 1.3 million. That is compared to a total of 55.3 million followers on Instagram, 47.3 million on Twitter and 33.6 million on Facebook. Startling when you consider that the platform was the most popular website in 2021. - The Art Newspaper
Experimental archaeologists Rick and Laura Brown have reconstructed the human-powered cranes that lifted huge objects during the Middle Ages and replicated the timber-framed roof of a destroyed 14th-century synagogue. Now they're leading a team using medieval tools and techniques to help repair the fire-ravaged Paris cathedral. - Smithsonian Magazine
Topping the list as usual is the Louvre, followed by the State Russian Museum (Mikhailovsky Palace) in St. Petersburg. (Where's the National Museum of China, generally no. 2 if not no. 1? The PRC hasn't yet provided figures for 2021.) - The Art Newspaper
