On Christmas Day, 1985, two veterinary students broke into Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology and stole more than 100 “archeological pieces from the rooms dedicated to the Maya, Mixteca and Mexica civilizations.” (The Gael García Bernal movie Museo shows a dramatic recreation of the heist.) - El País
When you want to see the next land artwork, you just keep skiing (or hiking). The curator of Powder Mountain: "This is such a tremendous opportunity to really think about commissioning work in dialogue with seasonal rhythms.” - The Guardian (UK)
The complainers, and the police, said the painting of a naked woman could be pornographic. The artist: "I don’t know what kind of pornography they’ve been looking at, but it’s definitely not my painting.” - The Guardian (UK)
The incumbent, Ian Wardropper, announced last year that he would be retiring in 2025 as the museum returns to its now-renovated Manhattan mansion home. Succeeding him will be Axel Rüger, currently director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London and previously head of Amsterdam's van Gogh Museum. - Artnet
Before Haacke, museums were considered … 'genteel and politically marginal.' Robber barons might have donated to them to enhance their social clout, but such cultural largess was seldom questioned. Today, though, …, Haacke’s work is more than just relevant — it’s prophetic." - T — The New York Times Style Magazine
The objects in question were linked to several ongoing investigations, among them, a trafficking network that systemically looted the ancient city of Bubon in Turkey and trafficked the works to New York. - ARTnews
For museums questioning how to make a sustained and long-term impact, the key factor is access. How do we define the public we’re aiming to serve, and is the current definition sufficiently equitable and global? - The Art Newspaper
"I have put together a list of 14 criteria that convey financial value to a work of art. While the first point is emotional, all other points are actually rational." - Artnet
As with the Lowcountry's other 18th-century cash crop, rice, slavers deliberately abducted Africans skilled in growing and working with indigo and transported them to Charleston to cultivate it on the area's plantations. Now some of their descendants are reviving the craft of growing and dyeing with the plant. - The New York Times
"The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has officially ended plans to establish a satellite campus at the South Los Angeles Wetlands Park in what was part of a 2017 project to 'de-center' the museum and expand reach to different parts of the city. The project suffered higher costs than anticipated." - ARTnews
"London's Metropolitan Police said Friday that Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, are alleged to have taken (a limited-edition print of) Girl with Balloon from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night." The piece, valued at over $350,000, has been recovered. - AP
United Talent Agency was, starting in 2015, the first major entertainment agency to expand into representing visual artists. The decision to shutter UTA Fine Arts (including galleries in Los Angeles and Atlanta) was taken due to the impending departure of its director; artist clients are still represented by UTA as a whole. - ARTnews
Overcrowding makes for a miserable experience. Craning to see over rows of heads, one is jostled and swept along the galleries by such a crowd that the museum has had to surround the very fine statues with red ropes like the ones outside night clubs. - The Art Newspaper
The walkout forced the museum to shut down for several days as its leaders and protesting employees discussed their demands, including having a “community review” of the exhibit and acknowledging its “limited perspectives.” - Seattle Times
