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Finalists To Fill Trafalgar’s Fourth Plinth

Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was the "most international line-up" of artists. The landmark has been home to a rolling commission of artworks since 1998. The plinth was built in 1841 but remained empty due to a lack of funds. - BBC

Louvre Gets New Director, Its First Female Boss In History

"The French president Emmanuel Macron has nominated Laurence des Cars, currently the president of the Musée d'Orsay, to helm the Louvre in a major shake-up at the world-famous Paris institution. … Des Cars will head across the Seine river to replace its current president Jean-Luc Martinez, who was unsuccessful in his campaign for a third term." - Artnet

How A Property Tax Transformed The Detroit Institute Of Art And What It Does

This model of financial support has not only allowed the DIA to weather the storm of the past year, but has also given the museum the ability to reinvest in our endowment. Through robust fundraising, strong returns, and by not needing to draw from the operating endowment, it has more than doubled in the past five years, from $124...

Eugene Robinson: The Power Of DC’s Black Lives Matter Plaza’s Yellow Letters

"The fight for justice has produced many unforgettable images over the past year — former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck; multiracial throngs of protesters filling the streets of cities around the world; Floyd’s face projected on the graffiti-marred statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond; Chauvin being led away in handcuffs after being convicted of...

Smaller Museums Across U.S. Try To Reach Communities They’ve Missed Before

"This is an existential moment for museums across America, with many facing yawning budget deficits alongside calls for deep structural change — and visitors only trickling back through their doors as the pandemic's chill on cultural life slowly lifts. For some directors of small and midsize museums, the events of the last 12 months have given fresh urgency to...

Climate Change Is Erasing The World’s Oldest Art

Flowing water deposits minerals in the void spaces beneath the mineralized outer crust, and some of those minerals crystallize into mineral salts. As those crystals form, grow, and shrink, they push against the outer layer of mineralized limestone. Eventually, the rocky canvas where people first drew images of their world 40,000 years ago falls apart in hand-sized flakes. -...

Are Christie’s Warhol NFTs Fake?

Christie’s is collaborating with the Andy Warhol Foundation to stage an NFT sale comprising little-known digital art works from the Pop master’s archive. After the house announced the sale on Wednesday, some experts objected to it, claiming that the works being auctioned were essentially copies. - ARTnews

Should We Call Great Women Artists By Their First Names?

Maybe. It depends entirely on the scholarship, and the artist. And then there's research: "The same artist with different names can be confusing even if the change happens just once, as in maiden name (the term itself is rife with problematic patriarchy) to married name. It’s a historical hitch in tracking a person, but also a literary one. Just...

And Now Tattoos Will Be Sold As NFTs

But the owners won't need to get tatted in real life. "In this new marketplace, customers will be buying the exclusive rights to the design of the tattoo, rather than the tattoo itself. 'I’m selling you an idea, instead of just hours of my life,' said Campbell, who has been blurring the line between tattoo and fine arts for years,...

Want To Sponsor Artwork In The Notre Dame Restoration?

The organization Friends of Notre Dame de Paris is letting the public donate directly to sponsor some of the cathedral’s individual artifacts. To date, 10 artworks have been fully funded, all of them sculptures, at around $10,000 each. - Artnet

A Film That Takes Us Inside The Met Museum In A Difficult Year

"The film puts us on remarkably intimate terms with the gargantuan organism that is the Met and the many tasks that keep it running. We wander through back hallways and empty galleries, in and out of conservation labs, privy to recent (unannounced) discoveries beneath the surface of a familiar masterpiece." - The New York Times

Sometimes The Best Way To Preserve Ancient Mosaics Is To Rebury Them

" an art form that is usually in good condition when first discovered because floors are the first area to be naturally buried over time. But once exposed, mosaics become especially vulnerable to damage by root growth, animals, and humans." - Hyperallergic

This Is What Banksy Gets For Saying ‘Copyright Is For Losers’

"In a new decision issued by the IPO Cancellation Division, a trademark owned by street artist Banksy has been declared invalid. … The attorney who represented the opposing party in the case" — a greeting-card company — "said 'the real nail in the coffin' that led to the ruling was 'the public comments of Banksy and his lawyer'."...

Manhattan Gets A Cool New Little Island

Mega-mogul Barry Diller’s $260 million, 2.4-acre pet project and civic mitzvah, near 13th Street in Hudson River Park, is the architectural equivalent of a kitchen sink sundae, with a little bit of everything. Who knows what it will feel like when crowds arrive this weekend. I suspect they will be enormous. - The New York Times

The New Gehry Towering Over Arles

Until recently, it would have been possible to walk across town and replicate the experience with Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhône—to stand on the banks of the river and gaze out at the same vista that met the artist’s eye over 130 years ago. For the first time in many years, Arles’ skyline is changing, with the...

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