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What To Do With All Those Empty NYC Storefronts? Put Art In Them

Last June Barbara Anderson founded Art on the Ave, which creates free exhibits in New York City neighborhoods by using empty storefronts as gallery space. - Christian Science Monitor

The Shed Wants You To Play Pokémon Go On The High Line, But With Art And Not Cartoons

The two New York institutions have collaborated on The Looking Glass, an exhibition in which all the artworks are in augmented reality, and you point your smartphone at a QR code in order to see them. - The New York Times

Dutch Government Makes Big Change In Restitution Of Nazi-Looted Art

"Particularly significant is the Dutch Government's new approach to 'heirless art.' … Now, in cases where no heirs can be identified, any artwork deemed to have been looted by Nazis will be transferred to an appropriate Jewish heritage institution." - Artnet

Scientists Use Scans To Determine Whether National Gallery Vermeers Are Authentic

The two paintings are not obvious fakes. Indeed, one is considered a masterpiece, but they are unusual in the oeuvre of Vermeer: smaller than his other works, and painted on wooden panels instead of canvas. - The New York Times

Stolen Picasso And Mondrian Works Recovered In Greece

Picasso's Head of a Woman and Mondrian's Stammer Windmill, taken from the National Gallery of Greece in 2012 in a seven-minute robbery, were seized in Keratea, a country town outside Athens. A suspect has been arrested and has reportedly confessed. - BBC

Painting Falls Off Wall, Turns Out To Be Lost Rembrandt

The Adoration of the Magi hanging in a country house near Rome was assumed to be a copy. But, five years ago, the owners sent it to restorer Antonella di Francesco after it suffered an "accidental trauma" — and, as she worked on the canvas, she gradually realized that it was the real thing. - CNN

Philadelphia Museum Of Art’s Sleek New Gehry Makeover

Philip Kennicott: "The changes at the Philadelphia Museum are stunning". - Washington Post

“Banksy: Genius Or Vandal” Raises Ire Of Banksy Fans

The exhibition will take over a “secret” location in L.A. to be disclosed to ticket holders in July. - Los Angeles Times

The Art Of The Biden White House

The Obamas borrowed 142 pieces from the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art, the other recent occupants 12. The Bidens haven't started borrowing yet - but it will happen, and curators think they know what the couple will want. "Even as they embrace the Obamas’ modern and contemporary inclinations, the Bidens’ time as second family suggests their artistic...

A Deal With The Artist Near San Francisco Allows The Flintstone Home To Remain

Not sure there's any way to explain this except to just ... well: "In a dispute that pitted property rights against government rules and played out in international media, Florence Fang, a retired publisher, defended her colorful and bulbous house and its elaborate homage to The Flintstones family, featuring sculptures inspired by the 1960s cartoon along with aliens and...

Brussels Museum Backpedals A Bit From Plan Called Both Sexist And Nepotistic

The board of Kanal-Centre-Pompidou had decided to name a woman artistic director - and then added a male co-director. Nearly 800 European art dignitaries didn't buy it. "'Internationally renowned and appreciated, Kasia Redzisz has been selected by the jury for this job,' the open letter said. 'She is a competent and experienced woman and there is not the slightest...

Visiting Artist Who Was Handcuffed By Columbia Police At His Apartment Gets An Apology

Artist John Sims, who was asleep when officers entered his apartment, says, "I could have easily been shot and killed that night. ... Now what if I was armed legally and fired on the intruders not knowing if they were police? Would this ‘stand-your-ground’ law apply to me? ... And more importantly, why are Black people consistently profiled to...

France’s New Privately Funded Arts Complex

Arles is famous for Van Gogh and for its Roman ruins. Now there's a new show in town: Luma. "The center doesn’t fit neatly into given ideas about museums, art collections or cultural hubs. ... Luma doesn’t have a predictable program of exhibitions, artist residencies or performance pieces." But it does have a Frank Gehry building, and a lot...

The French Impressionists Had No Idea They Were Painting Masterpieces-To-Be

Of course they didn't, even if some of them believed their work deserved that rating. "It’s easy to forget that for most of them at the time, their work was a risk – to create art in the way they felt was right, they needed to make personal and financial sacrifices." - The Guardian (UK)

William Randolph Hearst Bought A Medieval Spanish Monastery And Shipped It To California

But then the 1175 monastery of Santa María de Óvila wasted away some time in crates on a San Francisco pier. - El Pais (Spain)

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