Both companies currently have debt problems and are relieved for the investment. What's more, Sotheby's is trying to turn itself into a luxury brand beyond the art market — and so is Abu Dhabi, which spent its money on prestige cultural institutions while Dubai developed its reputation for luxury consumerism. - ARTnews
Nepali conservationist Rabindra Puri has hired local stonecarvers and craftsmen to create and display replicas of dozens of items of sacred art that were looted from temples and other sites over the past 60-odd years. The idea: return the stolen original to us and we'll give you the replica. - BBC
Breuer’s building, which has served as three museums, will lose some of its public presence no matter what, but New Yorkers still have an interest in a restrained restoration. - New York Magazine (MSN)
"A federal jury in Tampa, Florida, recently found the cocreator of the 'UndeadApes' and 'Undead Lady Apes' NFT collections" — not to be confused with the better-known Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs — "guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering." - ARTnews
Three suspects have been charged for allegedly making threats and spraying anti-Semitic graffiti on the homes of museum director Anne Pasternak, a board member, and the board chairman. The three were protesting what they assumed was the victims' support for the Israelis in the Gaza War. - Brooklyn Eagle
Augustin Arteaga is set to leave the museum while it is undertaking an expansion—an unusual move, given that most directors of art institutions stay on until those plans are realized. - ARTnews
The renovated building will contain Sotheby’s sales room, as well as exhibition and dining spaces. Work is expected to be completed by fall 2025. Herzog & de Meuron has made a specialty of adaptive reuse, or transforming existing structures. - The New York Times
The historic city's mayor has confirmed that there was no damage to the ancient structures at the site, though he did say that the area is not yet out of danger. - ARTnews
With alarming regularity, galleries all over Tinseltown have been closing, reducing their footprints, or decreasing their programming. “Hiatus” is a frequently heard word and there’s an expectation that more spaces are set to shutter soon. - Artnet
If the alpine backdrops and empty suits of “New Pastorals” seem skewed, vaguer and flatter even than the oblique combinations Salle usually stitches together, it is because they are the work of artificial intelligence, programmed to Salle’s specifications with the help of two technologists. - The New York Times
The nightmare: “The blaze made quick work of the art stored in Ayres’s flat: paintbrushes burned like dry straw, oil paintings melted to the walls. The results are shocking, like accidental works of Francis Bacon or details from Goya’s black paintings.” - The Guardian (UK)
“The human sense of smell, which has powerful connections to memory and emotion, has been deployed in art and historical displays and museums around the world.” - The New York Times
Is this effigy, with a plaque that reads, “In honor of a lifetime of sexual assault,” by the same artist who commemorated the dump one January 6 attempted coup member left on Nancy Pelosi’s desk? - Hyperallergic
