"A 2019 study … found that from just two sites of the over 5,000 under their control, the Islamic State looted an estimated $20 million worth of the country’s cultural heritage. … Because these crimes rarely involve average citizens ..., the perpetrators largely evade public scrutiny." - USC Annenberg Media
"Admission will rise from €17 to €22, the first hike of its kind since 2017. Per a statement from the Louvre on Friday, the new price will offset rising expenses related to energy and help fund free entry for visitors under 18, students, and journalists." - ARTnews
The date was confirmed by the French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to the site on 8 December, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. - The Art Newspaper
Artist and CalArts professor Mel Chin "had to pull off something like an art heist in reverse. Instead of stealing art from a well-guarded museum, Chin wanted to smuggle art onto the set of one of the most popular television shows in the world." - Slate
The artist started work on this during lockdown in July, 2020. "Three years, approximately 2,602 working hours and 1,642 animal species later, “Wild World” is a hand-drawn map of our planet that both inspires and celebrates wonder." - The New York Times
The words "Nazi" and "Israel" appeared next to each other in performance artist Mike Parr's work, says his longtime gallery owner, Anna Schwartz. Parr also said that "Israel is an apartheid state and a tragedy for Jews everywhere." - The Guardian (UK)
Amy Hau "set up first archives and built the collection records for more than 3,500 works, including sculptures in stone, metal, wood and clay, drawings, models and designs." - The New York Times
"The French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are famous for their belief in keeping existing buildings whenever possible, no matter how unpromising or unloved they may be." - The Guardian (UK)
Why was Fini, who was part of the first major surrealist exhibitions, ignored for so long? André Breton, of course. He "would not have a woman be a Surrealist. In his view, women were muses." - NPR
"It was embarrassing to want excitement, but never more than when looking at a Ruisdael did I realize how wholly I was a creature of the age of entertainment." - The Guardian (UK)
But that's just inaccurate, and misses the point. "There are plenty of people, elected and non-elected, who are far more deserving of our ire when it comes to the arts right now." - The Observer (UK)
"A skeleton crew of editors needed to take a hacksaw through the December issue of Artforum magazine. There were only a few weeks between the sudden firing of its editor-in-chief and a print deadline for the glossy’s annual 'Year in Review' issue." - The New York Times
