The LMI Group spent years using high-teach chemical and data analysis to produce a 431-page report arguing that the portrait of a fisherman is a late van Gogh painting. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam promptly dismissed LMI's argument, while other observers pointed to someone else as the likely artist. - ARTnews
With the rise of technology there are radical changes headed our way and the architecture/design industry as we know it (and have known it for generations) will soon cease to exist as a result. This is not necessarily a bad thing. - Fast Company
“There is nothing more irritating to enthusiasts than when the mainstream tries to portray their niche world and gets it wrong. And The Brutalist gets an awful lot wrong.” - The Guardian (UK)
Living the dream: A head security officer, “who is the only woman to have been appointed to this high-level position at the Centre Pompidou and whom everyone affectionately calls ‘Tinker Bell,’ would accompany me for the duration of the stay, guiding me into any room of my choosing.” - ARTNews
“The surreal, Renaissance-influenced composition of broken bodies, ominous hooded figures and tools of cruelty was crumbling and faded. Whole sections of the piece were missing. The patio was being used to store chairs.” - The New York Times
"I never applied for any competitions before. … And I think when I saw this, I was like, ‘OK, if I’m going to try once in my life to apply for something, it should be this. Because there’s nothing bigger, more historic or incredible.” - The New York Times
"A Paris court has secured 135 stolen paintings estimated to be worth over €200 million for the family of (collector) Uthman Khatib, (who) is seeking to recover a collection of 1,800 pieces of Russian avant-garde art allegedly taken from a storage facility in Germany in 2019." - Artnet
"Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has unveiled her design for this year's Serpentine Pavilion in London, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the annual commission. Named A Capsule in Time, the lightweight timber structure is informed by … 'the transient nature of the commission.'" - Dezeen
"Dutch authorities on Wednesday arrested three suspects after the theft of a ancient golden helmet considered a cultural icon of Romania and were on display in a small museum in the Netherlands. There was no sign that the intricate helmet (or three gold wristbands) dating back 2,500 years had been recovered." - AP
"Staff at English Heritage have been shocked to discover that the cash-strapped organisation is planning up to 200 redundancies and the winter closure of various castles, abbeys and other historic sites in its care. At least 7% of the workforce could be affected, with curators being particularly targeted." - The Guardian
"After an over-five-year closure, New York’s Frick Collection will once again welcome the public to its Upper East Side Gilded Age mansion — now newly expanded and renovated by Selldorf Architects — on April 17." - Artnet
Sotheby’s auction sales were down 28 percent, to $4.6 billion, from $6.4 billion, but private sales were up 17 percent, climbing from $1.2 billion in 2023 to $1.4 billion. Christie’s, for its part, reported a 41-percent jump in private sales, to $1.5 billion—their highest level since 2020. - Artnet
The decision, dramatically announced by Emmanuel Macron, to move the Mona Lisa to a special hygienically isolated gallery where les idiots who flock to take selfies in front of it won’t bother more cultured visitors who wish to study art in a hushed atmosphere, is a misguided act of snobbery. - The Guardian
President Emmanuel Macron’s vision to immortalize himself in glass? Replace some windows in the recently reopened Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The custodians of French architecture have responded with a resounding “non!” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)
