“Around 500 objects have been sel ected for loan (a small number will be on short-term loan) to the Zayed National Museum, which is expected to open in 2016 or 2017. … The most valuable item earmarked is an Assyrian relief from Nimrud, the Banquet Scene (645–635BC), which was revalued last year at £100m.”

“For an artist, going big can be the most seductive of ego trips. But it can also offer an opportunity to disappear from view. Some large-scale works are boastful, whereas others are shaped by the lightest of touches; they are as likely to oppress as to inspire. But whatever the medium and whatever the message, there is no doubt that, when it comes to art at least, size really does matter.”

“Public art has long had a home in Detroit, with its expansive vacated spaces and ambitious class of D.I.Y. makers. But lately, the back-lot murals, pop-up sculpture parks and boundary-crossing performances are increasing, as old-guard artists find new outlets and resources, and younger artists arrive overflowing with ideas.”

“There are countless instances of artists destroying their own work. If Louise Bourgeois disliked a small sculpture she’d been working on, she would simply shove it off the end of her kitchen table and watch it smash to smithereens.”