"Sotheby’s was cleared Tuesday in Manhattan federal court of claims that they helped Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier defraud Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, in a high-profile civil case that has stretched on weeks." - ARTnews
Outernet in December announced that it recorded 6.25 million visitors in its first year of operation, while the British Museum attracted 5.83 million visitors in 2023. The world’s most visited art museum, Musée du Louvre in Paris, received 8.86 million visitors last year. - The Art Newspaper
"When (he) died in poverty in 1840, he was almost forgotten by the contemporary art world. As his 250th birthday approaches, his reputation is reaching new heights — and the anniversary year is likely to propel it into the stratosphere." - CNN
"Pompidou workers went on strike in mid-October over concerns for job security while the center closes for renovations for five years, starting in 2025. … The union sought written guarantees from administration that there was a plan for (museum) staff, collections, and usual programming." - ARTnews
A Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in the town of New Canaan, Connecticut, has sold for $6 million—25 percent below its asking price—to an undisclosed buyer. - Artnet
"The visual art world is at a tipping point where traditional museums and galleries will have to begin involving immersive art in their offering or risk becoming irrelevant." So why not show art in derelict department stores as well? - The Guardian (UK)
"'What’s the most important thing?' they shouted. 'Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?' They added: 'Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work.'" - The Guardian (UK)
The show was focused on the legacy of Michael Fried's 1965 show Three American Painters. The new show, Three American Painters: Then and Now, was conceived and organized by SBMA’s former Deputy Director and Chief Curator Eik Kahng." Now show, and curator, are gone. - Hyperallergic
We think of oligarchy as a foreign concept, but the truth is that American oligarchs abound, and many of them collect art. It’s a time-honored strategy. - Mother Jones
The American Museum of Natural History will close two major halls exhibiting Native American objects, its leaders said on Friday, in a dramatic response to new federal regulations that require museums to obtain consent from tribes before displaying or performing research on cultural items. - The New York Times
"Under the (three-year) deal, 17 objects from the V&A and 15 from the British Museum will go on show later this year at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of Asante region. Many of the items have not been seen in Ghana for 150 years." - The Guardian
"Portrait of Fräulein Lieser belonged to a Jewish family in Austria and was last seen in public in 1925. Its fate after that is unclear but the family of the current owners have had it since the 1960s. (One) auction house estimates the painting's value at more than $54 million." - BBC
Leading digital artists have claimed that some of the most popular commercial immersive experiences, particularly those based on the work of deceased artists, such as Van Gogh and Dalí, are a money grab that provide little reward to visitors beyond Instagrammable moments. - The Guardian
The drastic phase of the pandemic, with its restrictions, may have receded. But the landscape left in its wake is a panorama of compounding crises — and for artists, like everyone else, a period of high uncertainty and anxiety with the U.S. election looming. - The New York Times
