The high temperatures necessary for glassmaking require huge amounts of natural gas, whose price has soared by well over 1,000% since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. About four-fifths of Venice's glassmaking facilities have closed for the time being, with the remainder struggling. - Artnet
The deal involves the collection of antiquities from the Cyclades islands assembled by philanthropist Leonard Stern: the objects will be legally in the possession of an art foundation overseen by the Greek culture ministry, with a rotating selection of items on 10-year loans to the Met. - The New York Times
Dmitry Ozerkov, who had been at the Saint Petersburg museum for more than 20 years, explained his decision in a lengthy Instagram post, writing “I left because I don’t intend to have anything in common with today’s Russia.” - Artnet
"Malcolm Rogers, who led the MFA from 1994 until 2015, supplied 'more than a dozen letters of authenticity' for paintings owned by collector James Stunt, upgrading attributions for artworks that previously had sold as lesser studio versions." - Boston Globe
And airplanes, and spacecraft. It could "coat cars, planes, and refrigerator trucks, where it could lower surface temperature by up to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, it could help reduce AC consumption in vehicles." - Fast Company
"The Persian-language Twitter account 1500tasvir, which has been monitoring the state crackdown that has killed dozens, credited the red liquid in the fountains’ basins to an anonymous artist/activist, referring to it as a protest artwork whose title roughly translates to 'Tehran sinking in blood.'" - Washington Post
For those visiting for Frieze, London offers the rewards of sculpture - even if the death of the queen scuppered a planned Sculpture Week. - The New York Times
"Ariki Tepano, with the indigenous Ma'u Henua community that manages the park, said the fire had done 'irreparable' damage to the site. 'The moai are totally charred,'" he said. - NPR
In one's own words: "We have no archivist, no rights & reproduction specialist, no collections database manager; we have only one paper conservator, one preparator, and one press officer. Each remaining staff person is covering the work of two or three people." - Hyperallergic
Turns out that, as long suspected, Girl with a Flute is not by Vermeer. "Thanks to new combinations of scientific analysis, art historical insight and informed looking, a vexing, long-standing problem has been resolved." - Washington Post
"Collaborating over Facebook groups, (these) heritage enthusiasts spend their spare time scouring virtual museum catalogs and auction listings to identify stolen items, as well as urging authorities to hold the art world accountable." - The Christian Science Monitor
"The news site Bloomberg reported last month that this summer's drought ... has created a fungus that is eating away at the Amsterdam museum's wooden foundations. A spokesperson said the museum 'has not sunk a millimetre'." - The Art Newspaper
Even in the typically molasses-slow process of building a new art museum, 35 years is a rather protracted wait. (The long-ago aim was to open the new place in an earlier century — 1992.) In the interim, the planned location changed, the architect changed and the staff changed. - Los Angeles Times
On Tuesday, the Judd Foundation filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against New York-based Tina Kim Gallery and the Seoul-based Kukje Gallery, alleging breach of contract related to a valuable work by Donald Judd the foundation says has been marred by fingerprints. - The Daily Beast
"The man ... was stopped by the Vatican police in the Chiaramonti Museum ... shortly after he threw the busts to the ground. ... The visitor — who has previously been reprimanded in the US for gross indecency — told officials that he wanted to see the Pope." - The Art Newspaper
