The discoveries in Ecuador's Upano Valley "upend historical understandings of civilization in the Amazon: the largest city in the network is comparable in size to the Giza Plateau in Egypt or Teotihuacán in Mexico." - ARTnews
"They are monuments of industry, built at the size (and more) of pyramids and cathedrals, graceful in their geometry, the perfect marriage of form and function, that come not alone but in concrete choirs of up to 12 in number." - The Observer (UK)
"The crowning glory of what had once been the royal metropolis of Macedonia, the palace was not just a model building but 'an architectural manifesto of the ideal state.'" That idea dovetails with Greece's center-right government investing in the country's "cultural economy." - The Guardian (UK)
"Tech companies scrape the work of artists and writers to their benefit without consent or compensation, turning anyone who has ever had the audacity to post anything to the internet — including a 6-year-old — into grist for their mill." - Los Angeles Times
The issues: "The company wanted to have it both ways: to exert the cultural influence of a major media company without shouldering any more responsibility (or economic burden) than is expected of a mere service provider, such as Gmail.-" The Atlantic
"The artworks by local and international artists, both contemporary and historical, span a time frame from the 1400s to today and are valued anywhere from $85 to more than $28,000. At least two etchings by Picasso and Rembrandt were among the damaged, perhaps destroyed, artworks." - Seattle Times
At Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant's Charleston, the house and many furnishings have been preserved, but a foundation would very much like the creators' art back. - The Guardian (UK)
Harpreet Singh was captured while trying to escape from American Fine Art in Scottsdale. He had taken works worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including pieces by Picasso and Warhol, which were found scattered on the building's roof. - Artnet
"The decision relates to a provision that requires institutions to 'obtain free, prior and informed consent' from tribes before exhibiting cultural items or human remains, or allowing research of them." The museum's announcement said the items were covered "pending consultation with the represented communities." - The New York Times
Applicants must have a “vision for the future of the British Museum and its purpose as a national and a global museum in the 21st century,” the job posting says. But they must also be able to deal with a host of problems affecting the august institution, the world’s third most visited museum. - The New York Times
Of the multiple schemes and fabrications attributed to Bouvier in court the most audacious involved Dmitry Rybolovlev’s acquisition of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which set the record for the most expensive painting ever sold at $450.3 million in 2017 at Christie’s. - ARTnews
Acquiring older cultural objects through purchase or donation can be risky for museums if they suspect the art or artifacts might have to be returned to a foreign government at some point. - The Observer
"The Academy … will keep its museum open and fully operating. It plans to carry on classes in continuing education and its K-12 arts programs. At the same time, PAFA intends to restore its comprehensive three- or four-year certificate program and relaunch it this fall." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
"Freedom of information requests by the PA news agency to museums and galleries that receive public funding from the (national government) asking for details on absent items from the last 20 years found that more than 1,700 items were absent from collections." - The Guardian
An adviser to a Russian billionaire asserted in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday that he and his boss had been tricked by a Swiss art dealer into wildly overpaying for works of art and that a Sotheby’s expert’s opinions played a role in persuading them to pay the inflated prices. - The New York Times
