Why did the Parliament Building need so much work? "Earlier attempts at restoration work had used different materials – sometimes even concrete – to patch up the stonework, which in part had been held together by wire, coat hangers and in one section a car aerial." - The Guardian (UK)
The board chair "said that in an effort to cut its legal costs, the institution would focus its case solely on its former executive director, Aaron De Groft, whom he said had been responsible for 'handpicking' the paintings." - The New York Times
"Divisions in the art world over the biennial’s choice of Iwona Blazwick, a British curator, to oversee the event had made it 'impossible' for the show to open as planned in September." Blazwick had been on the hiring committee, and her selection caused a furor. - The New York Times
Anecdotally, the increasing costs of fair stands and their associated shipping, travel and entertainment budgets were already taking quite a toll pre-pandemic, but inflation has made it more acute. - The Art Newspaper
The complaint, filed by the Paris-based NGO Lumière sur le Patrimoine, alleges that the Metropolitan Museum, the Worcester Museum in Massachusetts, and the Glencairn Museum just outside Philadelphia have six window panels that were stolen from Rouen cathedral roughly a century ago. - ARTnews
"After a demanding (2½-year) program that included a gasp-inducing repair of the two cracking, 500-year-old limewood panels, Getty senior conservator Ulrich Birkmaier and his team stabilized the paintings, while bringing the images back to something close to what they likely were … in the 16th century." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
This year’s efforts include responses to last year’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and repairing damage in Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war. - Artnet
The Kunsthalle Bratislava, which has no permanent collection, was known for its politically progressive and inclusive focus, with particular support for the LGBTQ community. Slovakia's new culture minister, who's publicly hostile to LGBTQ issues, has decreed that the Kunsthalle will henceforth be managed by the Slovak National Gallery. - ARTnews
Gladisa Guadalupe, recently dismissed as the company's artistic director following a misconduct investigation, founded the Cleveland School of Dance in 2000 before co-founding the company in 2015. As the company forms its own school, Guadalupe has renamed her academy Cleveland Ballet Theatre, keeping its premises adjacent to company headquarters. - Ideastream (Cleveland)
Picasso's Tête (Head) and Chagall's L’homme en prière (Man at Prayer), whose estimated worth totals $900,000, were stolen from a Tel Aviv collector in 2010. They were discovered in Antwerp after police were tipped off that someone in Belgium was offering them for sale. - CNN
A right-wing party called the Alliance of Patriots gave Tbilisi's Orthodox cathedral a multi-panel icon of the 20th-century mystic Saint Matrona of Moscow; one of the panels depicts her blessing Stalin (a native Georgian). A protester sprayed blue paint on it, then thousands of right-wingers marched against her vandalism. - CNN
Turns out attorneys and crisis PR advisors are expensive. "Within a year’s time we had a 25 percent increase in unbudgeted expenses," executive director Cathryn Mattson told the board. "(Reserve funds) are nearing exhaustion level and … we have also exhausted our lines of credit and have loans.” - The New York Times
Per police statements, the 22 individuals arrested were linked to 65 climate demonstrations, including halting traffic and flinging paint and other viscous substances at federal property. - ARTnews
Many market players find themselves anxious and confused. There’s a growing fear about gallery closings and collectors dumping art. Younger dealers, who’ve never lived through a market hiccup, lament the drop in Instagram sales. Investors bristle at unsatisfactory returns on art assets. - Artnet
Why have museums not been more attentive to older people? Perhaps we feel anxious that the younger generation will not develop a lifelong habit of visiting museums. Or maybe it’s because the art museum is a mirror of social norms, which tend to favour the young, especially in the youth-obsessed United States. - The Art Newspaper
