When, in 1984, the director of the Prado and Spain's prime minister selected Met Museum chief conservator John Brealey for the job, many Spaniards were horrified, insisting that only a countryman could truly do the great masterpiece justice. Brealey had to work in a sealed-off room and once fled a mob. - Artnet
The span’s 25,000 square meters is so spacious that the bridge can also double as a new public square. Flanked at both ends with newly planted thickets of trees, it will be closed to host one-off cultural and sporting events and function the rest of the time as a focal point for the neighborhoods on either side. - Bloomberg
"The ruins were unearthed as workers constructed a new overpass at Piazza Pia. … As archaeologists removed debris, they found a lead water pipe with the following inscription: 'C(ai) Cæsaris Aug(usti) Germanici.' Researchers determined that the engraving referred to Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, (Caligula's official name)." - Live Science
A blaze broke out in the spire of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Rouen. The medieval landmark, the subject of a series of famous paintings by Monet, was evacuated and the fire was extinguished before it spread beyond the tower, which has been under renovation for years. - Reuters
Sculpture, murals and digital art installations by artists including Refik Anadol, Jennifer Steinkamp, Charles Gaines and Glenn Kaino will be on view throughout the campus of the privately funded new home of the N.B.A.’s Clippers. - The New York Times
"A lover of brutalism might blanch to learn that the (National Building Museum) has gathered proposals from six architecture firms for reimagining six of our most polarizing buildings. … The buildings featured are at least 50 years old. Most are out of favor with both contemporary tastes and technology." - The Washington Post (MSN)
Kirsha Kaechele, the artist-curator behind the "Ladies Lounge" installation at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), said she painted the faux-Picassos specifically for this project ("to match the color scheme") and has been waiting for weeks for someone to figure that out. - The Guardian
"At least four works by artists from South Korea shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art may be fakes, according to leading experts. … The paintings were included in an exhibition that closed on June 30 titled 'Korean Treasures from the Chester and Cameron Chang Collection.'" - Artnet
Seven days after someone in Austria decapitated a sculpture of the Virgin Mary giving birth, a vandal took advantage of Hurricane Beryl's strike on Houston to behead Shahzia Shikander's work Witness, which for some reason the organization Texas Right to Life has declared a "Satanic abortion idol." - The New York Times
"The indictment alleges that Christian Claus, 55, falsely claimed valuable paintings were stolen from his New Orleans residence in order to collect insurance money. … The indictment further accuses Claus of bribing a fellow officer to document the purported theft in the police report." - Tampa Free Press
"The Brera Modern will be inaugurated this fall, 52 years and 39 Italian governments after it was first envisioned. The new museum, just a few doors from Milan’s Brera Painting Gallery, will house more than 100 contemporary art works that belong to Brera’s collection that have mostly been relegated to storage." - AP
Located at the historic Emigrant Savings Bank building in Manhattan’s Financial District, the HdL has begun hosting non-art events, including puppy yoga, pilates, and an immersive whiskey tasting with Irish storytellers. - ARTnews
“For decades, the sculpture gallery has had mostly blindingly white marble works, which were exclusively of white people. Now it does not. The intervention is part of a community-led project exploring the gallery’s links to slavery, colonialism and empire, of which there are many.” - The Guardian (UK)
"Created by Austrian artist Esther Strauß, Crowning drew intense ire from some conservative Christians who viewed the work as ‘blasphemous’ and ‘scandalous’ before an unknown party took matters into their own hands and sawed off Mary’s head.” - Hyperallergic
“‘The problem is not the art, it is the condition of capitalism and the market, and the way that this whole gig operates,’ said. He added that he had been avoiding going to his studio.” - The New York Times
