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Met Animates Under-Seen Rococo With Disney

The Met's eighteenth-century “decorative arts” usually languish in the museum’s emptiest galleries. Yet when Disney animated them into characters like the candlestick Lumiére in Beauty and the Beast or into scenes in Cinderella (1950)... - ArtForum

15 Things That Suck About Museums

Walking around a museum can feel a little off-putting when you know that workers aren’t being paid a fair wage — and, in the case of the Penn Museum, are even subject to union busting. - Hyperallergic

There Are 200 Priceless Artworks From Moscow On View In Paris. Will They Make It Back To Russia?

The exhibition from the Morozov Collection — estimated to be worth $2 billion, with pieces by (among others) Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, and some of Russia's greatest artists — at the Fondation Louis Vuitton may be the most popular art show in French history.  And it's now in a difficult position. - Slate

Can The Art World Live Without Its Fixes Of Russian Oligarchs’ Money?

The Russian robber barons' colossal fortunes have had an outsize effect not only on the commercial market, but on museums and not-for-profit galleries and exhibitions as well. - The Guardian

Russian-Owned Philips Auction House Faces Rocky Future

Despite it donating £5.8m to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society from a recent auction in London, and its CEO condemning the Russian invasion, those calling for the company to be shunned argue that only a boycott will force its Russian business figures to put pressure on the Kremlin. - The Guardian

After 11 Years, Rubens’ Massive (And Very Heavy) “Baptism Of Christ” Is Brought Out Of Storage

The 13½-by-22-foot, 1,225-pound painting is back in place at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, which is about to reopen after a decade-long renovation. Moving the 417-year-old masterpiece was quite an operation. - AP

Museums In Shanghai And Shenzen Close Again As China Faces Another Wave Of COVID

At least seven major institutions in Shanghai's West Bund and Pudong districts shut their doors on March 10, just before local schools were closed. Lockdowns have also closed museums in Shenzhen, across the river from Hong Kong; other southern Chinese cities remain open for now. - ARTnews

Museums Are Re-Examining Their Security Arrangement Following MoMA Stabbings

"Given the rarity of violence within museums, most are protected by security guards who are typically unarmed and capable of detecting and responding to events — but they are not equipped to do more than report an intruder with a weapon." - The New York Times

The Design For Melbourne’s Huge New Contemporary Art Museum Is Revealed

The nearly 200-foot-tall NGV Contemporary — which, at 323,000 square feet (140,000 of display space), will be Australia's largest art museum when it opens in 2028 — will feature a 130-foot spherical atrium surrounded by a Frank Lloyd Wright/Guggenheim-style spiral walkway. - The Age (Melbourne)

L.A.’s Underground Museum Closes Indefinitely As Co-Directors Step Down

The free-admission space, founded in a minority neighborhood in 2012 by a prominent Black artist family, had reopened only a month ago following its pandemic closure. One of the departing co-directors took the reins in 2020, the other only late last year; neither are founding-family members. - ARTnews

Restoration Workers At Notre-Dame In Paris Unearth Medieval Tombs

"Several tombs and a leaden sarcophagus likely dating from the 14th century have been uncovered by archaeologists at Paris's Notre-Dame cathedral following its devastating 2019 fire. … Elements of painted sculptures were (also) found just beneath the current floor level of the cathedral." - France 24

This Year’s Pritzker Prize Winner Breaks Ground

Francis Kéré has made a name for himself with a series of schools and medical facilities in Africa that appear grown out of their context, built by local communities with the bare minimum of resources.- The Guardian

Sophie Calle Squatted In The Musee d’Orsay Before It Became A Museum. She Scavenged…

Calle set up camp in room 501. “It was a place where I could go and be alone to do what I wanted.” When she wasn’t curled up with a book on a bug-infested couch, or photographing dead cats elsewhere in the building, she would go for a twirl under the gilded ceilings of the ballroom. - The Guardian

Suspect In Stabbings At MoMA Arrested In Philadelphia

Gary Cabana was apprehended while napping on a bench in the city's Greyhound bus station early Tuesday morning. Philadelphia police had been looking for him after he allegedly set fire to his room at a Best Western hotel. - WPVI 6ABC (Philadelphia)

Who’s Making Money On NFTs

A fortunate handful of people now have their very own rags-to-riches stories thanks to NFTs. By investing in the right project at the right time, some collectors and digital artists have made “life-changing money,” said Matt Medved, a founder of Nft Now, a digital media publication about NFTs. - The New York Times

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