Two separate developments are driving the trend: the advent of computer-controlled robots which can drill ornate designs quickly, precisely, and relatively cheaply; and the impetus to return to traditional building materials which are less carbon-intensive than steel, cement, and curtain-wall glass. - Slate
"Ittai Gradel, (the) antiquities dealer who uncovered the suspected thefts of items such as gold jewellery, semiprecious stones and ancient glassware, said he had been told hundreds of missing objects had never been properly cataloged by the museum, making it difficult to prove they belonged to its collections." - The Guardian
There's a struggle in Sweden over control of her foundation, and recent discoveries suggest that one of her fellow mystics painted some of the canvases in the big Guggenheim exhibition — and that, possibly, all the abstract work attributed to her was painted by a group. - The New York Times
Around 50 more claims have been made, some worth as much as $1 million. Claimants named include Mira Dimotrova, senior director of Stephen Friedman gallery; David Schrader, head of private sales at Sotheby’s; Maya McLaughlin Art Advisory; and Frestonian Gallery. - Artnet
Sure, maybe it feels necessary for survival, but the corporate branding at work is gross at best, and more commonly, smacks of "art-washing" by desperate corporations who need a PR win. - The Guardian (UK)
Players who succeed at solving the game's levels are "rewarded by a dozen or so pieces scrolling together to create one of the impressionist master’s full works." - Washington Post
Oops: There are "reports of theft every single day from various museums, cultural institutions, churches around the world. What surprised us was the fact that it was the British Museum, one of the most important museums in the world and a benchmark in security." - The Observer (UK)
"Some of it is – and more will be – sited below ground. There is no single clear reason for this, though factors include the exigent climate, respect for that polite skyline, and the key part that open space plays as amenity, in the city as in the overwhelmingly forested country." - Apollo
This week, Ittai Gradel, a Dutch antiquities dealer, said he had told the British Museum about the thefts two years ago and claimed that his allegations had gone unheeded. Fischer previously claimed that he took Gradel’s allegations “seriously.” In a statement issued on Friday, Fischer changed his tune. - ARTnews
No announcement has been made, and the current president remains eligible for a second contract term. Nevertheless, several Italian newspapers report that author/broadcaster Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, a lifelong friend of the new culture minister with no management experience, is the leading candidate. - Artnet
“We’ve lost four museums. If you’re into environmentalism, if you’re into surfing, if you’re into history, something was lost in all those ways.” - Artnet
"The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced on Tuesday that it has exceeded the $750-million goal set for its fundraising campaign for a new building — the David Geffen Galleries, designed by architect Peter Zumthor. … Reaching its final goal has been a long road for LACMA." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
The Carabinieri have identified two German tourists in their early 20s as the alleged culprits who spray-painted letters and numbers associated with a Munich soccer team on columns of the Vasari Corridor, a covered passageway connecting two historic palaces. - AP
The Wildensteins' business goes back five generations and 150 years; family members have always been secretive, even by art-world standards. But a lawsuit by a disinherited widow has uncovered what a prosecutor alleged is "the longest and most sophisticated tax fraud" in modern French history. - The New York Times Magazine
