The Romanian government says the Saint Sebastian is “part of its national art collection was removed from the country in 1947. That year, the country’s last king, Michael I, went into exile after being forced from power by Communist forces.” - The New York Times
Hockney would take friends “on a ‘Wagner Drive,’ something he devised as an opera-loving motorist. He’d drive up through Malibu Canyon to Mulholland Drive and then west to Decker Canyon, where he would time the turns and crests to the crescendos of the classical composition.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
While India’s grandest state museum project of the 21st century forges ahead, crucial details remain unknown to both the public, as well as some of India’s leading museum figures. These include the proposed budget, plans for the current National Museum building and provisions to safeguard its collection. - The Art Newspaper
According to the report, employee confidence is low (scoring 51.2 out of 100), reflecting “growing concerns about job security and advancement opportunities”. Hence around half of respondents (35.7% of men and 64.3% of women) are actively seeking a new job. - The Art Newspaper
In addition to the layoffs, officials said that senior leadership will take salary cuts of 10 to 20 percent; the annual number of exhibitions would be reduced to an average of nine from an average of 12; and weeknight events with low attendance or inconsistent funding would be canceled. - The New York Times
"We charge tourists to visit Westminster Abbey, a West End musical or the National Theatre. What’s so different, morally or culturally, about charging for entry to the Tate galleries — especially when they are millions of pounds in the red?" - The Times
"Architect and philanthropist Fernando Romero purchased La Cuadra San Cristóbal, a historic, hot pink estate on the outskirts of Mexico City last year though his nonprofit, Fundación Fernando Romero, and will open it to the public this fall." - Artnet
The painting, which depicts the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, had been in the collection of the Romanian monarchy. The country's postwar government "allegedly" had "transferred" the work to the deposed King Michael, who sold it in 1976; Romania's current government maintains that it is still national property. - Artnet
A range of tiny galleries have opened in Downtown New York since the onset of Covid, filling basement spaces, dingy storefronts, and one-room units in office buildings. It feels like an experimental spirit has finally begun to return to a city whose scene has felt overly safe as of late. - ARTnews
They can't even bring paintings that size to the conservation studio; the studio has to be brought to the paintings. So the conservators are doing this enormous, strenuous job at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp in full view of visitors. And those visitors have opinions. - AP
It’s a subset of the architecture business that has surged in recent years. During the Covid pandemic, the demand for cloud-based online services from Zoom calls to streaming movies caused a spike in data center construction. “Now we’re seeing another jump in growth because of AI and machine learning coming on board.” - Fast Company
The $144 million project was to rebuild the Great Mosque of Al-Nouri and other structures in Mosul's old city which were destroyed during the three-year occupation of the area by ISIS. - Deutsche Welle
The bequest by the late collectors Lynn and Phillip Straus includes two paintings and 62 prints — raising the total number of Munch works given over the years by the Strauses to Harvard to 117. - ARTnews
After video of a worker using a hammer, chisel, and other tools on the stones of the Great Pyramid of Giza went viral on social media last November, outrage about the incident has grown to include a statement in Egyptian Parliament and one Egyptologist claiming “mismanagement.” - ARTnews
Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency mogul who earned international notoriety when he purchased Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian (the banana duct-taped to a wall) and ate it, claims that an art adviser forged his signature and fraudulently sold to Geffen Giacometti's Le Nez. Geffen's attorney calls the suit "bizarre and baseless." - The New York Times
