VISUAL

“The artist’s support organization, Pest Control Office, found all the theorizing about the meaning of each new image ‘way too involved’ and that the artist’s simple vision was to cheer up the public during a bleak period.” - ARTnews

“The Olympics is probably the most competitive sports photography environment on earth. It’s the best photographers who shoot sports all come together. You’ve got to bring your best ideas, your best form, and try and stand out.” - Artnet

Thousands of fans left at loose ends after Swift's Vienna show was called off (due to terrorist threats) flocked to the Austrian capital's museums. At the Albertina, the lines were 20 minutes long in 91°F heat, yet people waited patiently. And the visitors were a demographic rarely seen in such numbers there. - ARTnews

"Spanish police have arrested a man whose alleged plan to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting" — purportedly a portrait of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, an aristocrat and military commander — "in Italy for €1.3m was thwarted when the work caught the eye of French customs officers." - The Guardian

For one thing, they’re carbon sinks. “Preserving them would really be saving carbon … little nuggets of carbon that you would be saving and reusing. It’s the most environmentally friendly thing.” - NPR

It’s not an easy task. First, of course, there are Russian bombs. And then? People are … let’s say pretty angry … at Moscow. - The Guardian (UK)

"The British Museum has finished investigating its own conduct and concluded … that it was not compliant with UK legislation dictating how national treasures should be kept. … Peter Higgs, a senior curator at the museum, was fired in July 2023 after the museum accused him of stealing 1,800 items." - ARTnews

This particular jackass is a 37-year-old British man who carved his initials and those of his two daughters on a wall at the House of the Vestals. He told police that he just wanted to leave some trace of his visit. - Artnet

"The project, called 'Track(ed) Changes,' along with the related community events, jibes with the city’s promise to Chicagoans to broaden the limelight and to spread the economic impact of the convention through many of the city’s 77 neighborhoods." - The New York Times

"ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, investment, and holding company, has entered into 'a definitive agreement' to acquire a minority interest in Sotheby’s. The deal, valued at around $1 billion, will see ADQ purchasing newly issued shares of Sotheby’s. Patrick Drahi, the current majority owner, will invest additional capital." - ARTnews

“His latest graffiti design, located on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south-east London, is situated on the side of a building and has been designed to look as though the animal is climbing on to a car parked next to the property.” - The Guardian (UK)

This is a question Portland is asking as it prepares to scrap and remake the Burnside Bridge - "its most significant multi-modal downtown bridge in more than 65 years.” - Oregon ArtsWatch

Before streaming, but especially before the internet, posters drew us in, some with era-defining visuals. - The Guardian (UK)

Churchill was not one to enjoy being out of power, and perhaps abandoned the Conservative Party leadership behind the scenes. But his “love of painting, both as a hobby and a fan, remained a sustaining pleasure.” - The Observer (UK)

London police and security firms have no idea what to do with Banksy artworks (read about what happened to the sixth piece) - which may be why the seventh piece is piranhas on a police call box. - The Guardian (UK)