Checking Out Diana's Fountain The new memorial fountain to Diana, Princess of Wales, is about to be christened in London's Hyde Park. "The memorial fountain is like this: a surprising, yet ultimately gentle drawing together of unlikely family, friends and supporters of the late princess, and design professionals. It is a very English compromise, one that will neither frighten the horses plodding around Hyde Park, nor offend any of the millions of people who will pass this way to dip a toe, as it were, into Diana's memory." The Guardian (UK) 07/01/04

Bellevue Art Museum Gets A New Leader For Comeback Plan The Seattle-area Bellevue Art Museum, which suddenly closed last year, has gone out and found itself some serious new leadership to help it reopen. "Michael Monroe, the former curator-in-charge at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, which specializes in craft such as ceramics, textiles and glass work, will become chief curator and executive director." Seattle Times 06/30/04

Why Does Canada Have So Little Regard For Important Architecture? Lisa Rochon decries the treatment of architect Arthur Erickson's buildings in Canada. He "is the éminence grise of modernism in this country. He led a postwar movement of design that extends landscape through architecture, something Canada's new generation of award-winning practitioners have absorbed into their own thinking. It's easy to blame lack of money. Or zoning. Running through all of these moronic moves is a lack of will to safeguard our national treasures." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/30/04

Tumult Over 10-Story Jersey Teardrop "Chances are there would have been some degree of opposition sooner or later had anyone suggested building a 10-story, 175-ton nickel-surfaced teardrop suspended within a bronze-clad tower on a pier across the water from the World Trade Center site as a 9/11 memorial. But when the artist turns out to be Zurab Tsereteli, a Russian sculptor whose works — like a 300-foot statue of Columbus or a 165-foot Peter the Great — are so controversial that opponents once threatened to wire Peter with explosives and blow him up, another level of tumult is pretty much guaranteed." The New York Times 06/30/04

Has New York Museum Passed Its Expiration Date? With the attentions of the city focused elsewhere for tales of its history, the Museum of the City of New York is at risk of becoming a footnote among cultural institutions interpreting the city's heritage... The New York Times 06/30/04

Remaking London's Skyline London is "looking quite literally for a new profile, one with shapely skyscrapers designed by big-name architects proclaiming the city's determination to be known as an innovative 21st-century metropolis. By 2010, not just the majestic dome of St. Paul's Cathedral but also a new forest of glass and steel will symbolize the ancient heart of London. After centuries of sprawling growth, the city is finally reaching for the sky." The New York Times 06/30/04

Hughes: Closing The Chapter On 80s Art Twenty-five years after Robert Hughes' wrote "The Shock of the New", he goes back to update. But how? "Most of the 1980s artists over whom such a fuss was made have turned out to be merely rhetorical, or inept, or otherwise fallen by the wayside. Is there anyone who really cares much what Julian Schnabel or David Salle, for instance, are now doing? Do the recent paintings of Sandro Chia or Georg Baselitz excite interest? Maybe in your breast, but not in mine." The Guardian (UK) 06/30/04

Vandal Breaking Venetian Art Venice authorities are puzzled over the cause of damage inflicted on religious statues all over the city. "Witnesses reported seeing a man with a hammer climb a decorated column at the Doge's Palace in the Piazza San Marco and smash the hands of a statue. Similar damage has recently been found on religious statues at other historic buildings around the city. Mayor Paolo Costa said the attacks were the work of an isolated lunatic." BBC 06/30/04

Pakistan's First E-Museum Museum attendance in Pakistan is very low. So the owner of a museum in Lahore wants to create an e-museum to display artwork. " 'I would like to make our collections accessible to as many people as possible and the e-museum seems like a great way to do this.' The family also hopes subscriptions to the e-museum will provide much-needed revenue." BBC 06/29/04

Police Hunt Dali Fakes An exhibition marking 100 years since Salvador Dali's birth has been closed by police in Helsinki, who seized works amid suspicions they were forged BBC 06/29/04

The Coming Art Market Crash? Depending on who you ask, the number of contemporary art collectors has doubled, tripled or even quintupled in the past decade, and many are betting on unknown artists, hoping to cash in on the next big thing. The market is being bid up as collectors try to guess who will be hot in the future. But with ten times the players there were during the art bubble of the 80s, are we in for even a bigger crash this time around? Art & Auction (pdf) 06/29/04

Corcoran To Ask DC For $40 Million The Corcoran Museum is asking the District of Columbia city council for $40 million towards the museum's $200 million Frank Gehry-designed expansion. "Some will see the TIF package as a creative financing vehicle to promote the arts and deliver a jolt to the city's tourism industry. Others no doubt will consider it a $40 million gift to a solidly backed institution at the expense of D.C. taxpayers." Washington Business Journal 06/28/04

Giant Chinese Buddha Is Copy Of Destroyed Bamiyan The largest Buddha sculpture in the world is going on display outside Qongqing, China. "The sculpture is a copy of Afghanistan's 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddha that was destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. China's Ai Duo Group Company spent 16 months making the sculpture out of a giant piece of jade found in Myanmar. The 7-ton jade Buddha is nearly 2.6 metres high and 1.3 metres wide." China View 06/28/04

The Art Basel Dance Looking at art at Art Basel is fun, but the real payoff is elsewhere. "The fair may offer the chance to see an array of post-1900 artworks that would put virtually any gallery in the world to shame, but it is the intricate, courtly dance of a thousand discreet business deals that makes the event so gripping." The Telegraph (UK) 06/28/04

Looking Inside The Mummy "Years ago, mummy "unrollings" were acts of archaeological vandalism, conducted like dramatic performances in front of high-society fee-paying audiences. Now, by a fusion of advanced computer technology and state-of-the-art medical scanning techniques, we can sit in a darkened, air-conditioned "immersive theatre" in the British Museum, put on a pair of 3D glasses and penetrate a mummy's secret layers, one by one, without destroying a fibre of bandage, without even opening the spectacular painted coffin case. Wood, linen, tissue, bone… we can slice through them all like forensic scientists, like pathologists. It's quite a project." The Telegraph (UK) 06/28/04

Artist Beats Barbie Copyright Claim An artist who was sued by Mattel for using images of Barbie in his work, wins after the toy-maker sues for copyright infringement. "It's enough to give corporations with brands they want to protect and expand pause to consider whether to simply reflexively unleash the hounds the minute they see somebody doing something that relates to their brand of which they don't approve. It may send a signal that a 'take no prisoner' litigation strategy against the little guy has new risks for the plaintiff." The New York Times 06/28/04

A Singular New Museum For Vienna Prince Hans-Adam II, 59, the current head of the Liechtenstein dynasty, opens a new museum in Austria. "Does Vienna, already crowded with some 160 museums, need one more? The Liechtenstein Museum is different, not only because it can tap one of the world's largest private collections, but also because it reflects the idiosyncrasies of generations of private collectors. Further, the museum, which opened in March, contains works by Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, van Dyck and others." The New York Times 06/28/04

Art Sales Signal Shifting Art Appetite Last week's London art sales signalled a shift in taste in the art markets, writes Carol Vogel. "Buyers' appetites consistently moved from the 19th century toward classic modern and contemporary art. Prices soared for 20th-century masters like Egon Schiele, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon, while pretty, Impressionist canvases by household names like Renoir or Monet either didn't sell or brought lower prices than auction house experts had predicted." The New York Times 06/28/04

British Museum Reveals Innards Of A 2,800-Year-Old Mummy This weekend the British Museum "unwrapped" a 2,800-year-old mummy by use of a high-tech scanner. "Using scanning technology developed by neurological researchers in a London hospital, the British Museum has recreated the kind of public 'unrolling' of a mummy that used to draw crowds in the 19th century. In those days irreversible damage was often caused to the remains inside and many mummies were discarded and lost forever." The Observer (UK) 06/27/04

15th Century Fresco Discovered Behind Pigeon Hole A 15th Century fresco has been discovered on the ceiling of the Valencia Cathedral in Spain after art restorers became intrigued with pigeons flying through a hole in what turned out to be a false ceiling. "The fresco, which depicts four angels against a starry blue background, was painted by two Italians, Francesco Pagano and Paolo de San Leocadio, in the late 1400s." BBC 06/25/04

Schools Assess Artwork They Own Across America, schools are making inventories of the artworks in their possession. "The steps come with a growing recognition that schools for decades have received valuable artwork that has not always been preserved or used well." Philadelphia Inquirer 06/26/04

Art Of Harassment "Israeli military police have interrogated five reserve soldiers who put on an art exhibition detailing their gratuitous harassment and abuse of Palestinians in the city of Hebron." The Age (Melbourne) 06/27/04

Versailles Restoration Slowed By Feud Restorations of the gardens around Versailles have been completed. But a feud between restoration firms competing for restoration work inside the palace has delayed work on the Hall of Mirrors. "The job, which includes repairs to the paintings, 450 windows, and gold-leaf and stucco work, is scheduled to begin next month and to finish in 2007." The Art Newspaper 06/25/04

Winners And Losers At Art Basel As always there was a vast array of vastly different stock, such a plethora of objects one eventually begins to doubt the supposed ‘rarity’ of any art. The most expensive work on offer at the fair was a De Kooning at Richard Gray for $12.5 million, followed by a Bacon triptych at Marlborough ($10 million) and a Munch at Mitchell Innes & Nash for $7 million, none of these had sold by the weekend. The cheapest was a Richard Serra “Stop Bush” poster on show at Galerie m Bochum which can be downloaded for free The Art Newspaper 06/25/04

Massachusetts History Museum Drapes Stone Memorials A hundred years ago, descendents of Massachusetts settlers commemorated their battles with local native Americans with stone markers. Now the local history museum is covering up those markers. "The aim is to drape the rhetoric of the 1870s and 1880s, when the museum was established, with a more modern version of events in the late 1600s and early 1700s that no longer denigrates one-time foes. 'It was hard for me and other members of the staff to rationalize the words. Phrases like 'bloodthirsty savages' are hurtful to people'." Newsday (AP) 06/25/04

Scottish Museum To Return Maori Artifacts "Three tattooed Maori warrior heads that have been hidden away in a Glasgow museum vault for up to a century are to be returned to their native New Zealand. The somewhat grisly relics have never been on display and have lain in storage in Kelvingrove art gallery and museum." The Guardian (UK) 06/25/04

US Military Base Damages Babylon The US military has set up a military base right in the middle of the ancient site of Babylon - an extensive archaeological site. Originally sent to protect the site, the base has done "permanent" damage to a valuable piece of cultural heritage. Morning Edition (NPR) 06/24/04

Holocaust Victims Group Sues Germany A group is suing Germany for $18 billion, claiming that the country is "making money by keeping artworks stolen from Holocaust victims. The legal action, by the Association of Holocaust Victims for Restitution of Artworks and Masterpieces (AHVRAM), is a first step against several countries." BBC 06/24/04

Art Dealer Confesses To Import Fraud Hicham Aboutaam, the co-owner of Phoenix Ancient Art, has pleaded guilty to falsifying documents concerning the origins of a silver drinking vessel that he later resold for nearly a million dollars. Phoenix Ancient Art is the same company which just sold an ancient bronze sculpture thought to be the work of Praxiteles to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The New York Times 06/24/04

Afghanistan's Bactrian Gold Found "The Bactrian gold — 20,600 pieces of gold jewelry, funeral ornaments and personal belongings from 2,000-year-old burial mounds — has emerged from hiding intact, a shimmering example of the heights scaled by ancient Afghan culture. For years the gold was feared stolen, lost or melted down by the different forces that seized power over more than 20 years of war." The New York Times 06/24/04

Assessing the Holdings of a Nation A UK charity is attempting to catalog every work of publically owned art in the Great Britain. "The nation's collection is one of the richest and broadest in the world. But many works hang unregarded in public buildings from hospitals to council offices to fire stations. More still, in some counties up to 90% of public pictures, are in storage in regional museums, often in terrible conditions. Not only are they unavailable to the public which owns them, but they can also be inaccessible to academics, with individual museums lacking the means to put out catalogues." The Guardian (UK) 06/24/04

From Beige To Bold Architecturally speaking, Toronto has always been an exceedingly 'beige' city. But with countless cultural organizations planning and executing new cutting-edge buildings, the city is poised to emerge fom the shadow of Montreal and become one of North America's most architecturally diverse and fascinating metropolises. Financial Times (UK) 06/23/04

Cleveland Museum Looks For $36 Million In Government Help For Building The Cleveland Museum is asking local and federal governments to contribute $36 million towards a $225 million expansion project. "The expansion and renovation would enlarge the 389,000-square-foot museum complex by nearly 200,000 square feet, and add 31,000 square feet of new gallery space. The museum hopes to complete its design by January and to break ground in March or April. Construction would take four years." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 06/23/04

Revisiting Seattle's New Library Rem Koolhaas's new Seattle Public Library has been praised to the skies. But David Dillon takes a second look: "As the rhetorical fog begins to lift, it's clear that some of the praise was justified and some not. This is a dynamic civic building that bumps and grinds its way onto the downtown Seattle skyline with real panache. It reinvents and reinterprets many basic library functions, yet for all its adventurousness still manages to celebrate the book and reading. But it is not as coolly efficient as its boosters claim, and at street level it is a disaster, thumbing its nose at traditional urbanism in favor of gratuitous form making." Dallas Morning News 06/23/04

The Artrageous Maurizio Cattelan Maurizio Cattelan is "recovering from an attack of 'art rage': a Milanese man was so incensed by his 'installation' of three children hanging by their necks, eyes open, from a tree that he cut them down. It is not clear whether this was a triumph for Cattelan or a tragedy. He is not suing the attacker but Milan authorities are busy determining whether the installation was really a work of art, in which case the saboteur would face charges." The Guardian (UK) 06/23/04

Hacked Off At Holograms "Before they became ubiquitous on credit cards and packets of toothpaste, holograms were the buzz of the avant-garde art world. But as a new holographic portrait of the Queen (right) is unveiled, 3D pictures are sneered at by the art elite." BBC 06/23/04

Going National (And Political?) "The New York Historical Society, with a newly hired president and a conservative financier emerging as a board power, is shifting its focus from the city to more national concerns, stirring the objections of some historians and staff members... This shift in emphasis appears to signal the ascendance on the society's board of Richard Gilder, a stockbroker and a leading fund-raiser for Republican and conservative causes, who became a trustee a year ago. It also seems to close off all possibility of the society's merger with the Museum of the City of New York." The New York Times 06/23/04

Cleveland's Bronze Age The Cleveland Museum buys an important Greek bronze. The Cleveland Apollo is "the only one out of roughly 20 large Greek bronzes in the world that can be connected directly to any of the greatest ancient Greek masters.The Cleveland Apollo is the only known large bronze version of its subject in the world. Two life- size Roman marble copies exist at the Louvre in Paris and the Vatican in Rome." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 06/22/04

• Cleveland Lands Praxiteles "The Cleveland Museum of Art has bought what it thinks is an ancient bronze sculpture of Apollo the Lizard Slayer by the classical Greek sculptor Praxiteles. If it is authentic, it will be one of the most important ancient bronzes in an American museum." The New York Times 06/22/04

Fab Modern Art Auction In UK The "biggest modern art auction in the UK in a decade" has brought in £61 million in London. "The total included £6.2m paid for the 1918 painting Garcon a la Veste Bleu by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani." BBC 06/22/04

Portrait Prize Winner The winner of this year's £25,000 BP portrait award is an Aberdeenshire-based graphic designer and artist, Stephen Shankland. The Guardian (UK) 06/21/04

Who Was Mona Lisa? (Now We Know?) Who was the woman known to the world as Leonardo's Mona Lisa? "Seventeen years of research, beginning in Germany, have led the Adelaide historian Maike Vogt- Luerssen to believe that the Mona Lisa is the lovesick former Duchess of Milan, Isabella of Aragon, and not the wife of a florentine silk merchant, as has been believed." Sydney Morning Herald 06/20/04

Welsh Built Stonehenge? Archaeologists now believe that some of the builders of Stonehenge were Welsh. "The finding, which comes just before Sunday's summer solstice, not only sheds light on Stonehenge's origins, but also provides clues to prehistoric migration patterns within Europe following the Stone Age, which was the earliest known period in human culture." Discovery 06/21/04

Art's Rebirth In Haiti "In early March, a few days after armed rebels forced Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office, vandals ransacked a Port-au-Prince art museum and burned dozens of paintings along with 86 rare vodou dolls that were part of an exhibit marking the country's 200th anniversary of independence." But elsewhere in Haiti, new art is being created... Miami Herald 06/20/04

A Case For Returning Marbles To Greece It's time for the Elgin Marbles to go home. For Britain's sake. "The marbles in the British Museum are performers, trained as actors in a ceremony. But this is not the Panathenaic Procession. It is a Great British ceremony, about an imperial splendour which thought of itself as universal rather than merely national. In the Duveen Gallery, within the British Museum, these figures no longer deliver Athens any more than the bagpipers who tramp round banquets at Windsor Castle deliver Scotland. They are guests from Greece who became so well known during the 19th century that they were adopted into the family." The Guardian (UK) 06/20/04

Art Gallery of Ontario At A Crucial Spot The Art gallery of Ontario is into crunch time lining up resources to build its $196 million renovation/expansion. "The next five months are decidedly crucial, especially if the 93-year-old art museum in downtown Toronto, variously described as the eighth-, 11th- and 13th-largest art institution in North America, is to meet its objective of breaking ground on Gehry's design in March, 2005." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/19/04

FBI Investigation Of Artist Accused Of Bioterror Widens FBI investigations of Buffalo artist Steve Kurtz for "bioterrorism" have stretched from Seattle to Pittsburgh, and involve anyone who has worked with the artist. What the feds don't seem to realize is that artists working in biological material is becoming popular. "All these artists are doing is investigating biology using the same parameters as pure science, It's a niche at the moment, and it's very, very alive and it's going to grow more so." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 06/20/04

• Artists: No Testimony Against Kurtz Artists are refusing to testify in the grand jury bioterrorism investigation of Buffalo artist Steve Kurtz. "At least six people who were called to testify before the grand jury in the Kurtz case Tuesday refused to appear, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination." Buffalo News 06/18/04

Marginalizing Mr. Libeskind A year ago, Daniel Libeskind was annointed star of the design of the World Trade Center redevelopment project. But his influence has declined dramatically since then. "People involved with the redevelopment of downtown say he has ample reason to be disappointed; in the year since he was anointed Architect on High, his influence, control and stature have steadily diminished. 'Where is Daniel at this point? Has he been marginalized? How many of his ideas remain'?" The New York Times 06/20/04

Are Galleries Necessary For Art Dealers? Do art dealers really need expensive galleries to make their businesses work? "Given the hassles involved in maintaining a gallery space—paying rent, keeping the phones manned and the desk staffed, mounting shows, dealing with logistics such as security or utilities, and so forth," dealers with established artist rosters and reputations might be able to forgo the gallery grind. The Art Newspaper 06/20/04

Watching The Whitney Grow The Whitney says it's finally going to move ahead with an expansion. Sensitive to resistance from neighbours and the Landmarks Commission to earlier proposed expansions, Whitney director Adam Weinberg vows to create a building that “fits comfortably within the fabric of the community and within the building envelope of the property next to the museum.” The Art Newspaper 06/20/04

FBI Visits Seattle Museum Asking Questions Two FBI agents came to the Henry Gallery at the University of Washington recently to ask curators about artist Steve Kurtz, the subject of a grand jury investigation into bioterrorism in Buffalo, N.Y. Kurtz had a show at the Henry. "I don't know what I was expecting from the FBI, but they asked incredibly inflammatory questions. ... I remember one of them asked, 'If you heard there was an explosion in Buffalo that killed 100 people and Steve Kurtz was involved, would you be surprised?' I said, 'Yes, of course, there couldn't be an explosion involving Steve. He's an artist, not a terrorist.' "
Seattle Post-Intelligencer 06/18/04

Artist Rights Vs. Owner Rights Does the Visual Artists Rights Act need to be revisited? "New law often has unintended consequences, and VARA, which was intended to resolve conflicts between artists and private collectors, has set off disputes between the rights of artists and those of building owners. Most of the artwork involved is owned by people who really aren't collectors. They tend to be government officials or the buyers of buildings, who are not aware of the art law's restrictions." OpinionJournal.com 05/27/04

Russian Trial On "Blasphemous" Art "A prominent Russian human rights advocate and two other defendants went on trial Tuesday, accused of organizing a blasphemous exhibit. Their lawyers said the charges were so vague it was impossible to answer them." International Herald Tribune (AP) 06/18/04

Stolen Paintings (Including "Cezanne") Recovered In Australia "A hoard of stolen paintings, including a work said to be by impressionist Paul Cezanne, has been recovered by police in Australia." The paintings were stolen from an Australian art restorer in February, and he claimed that a Cezanne worth $50 million was among them. But the paintings were uninsured, and Cezanne experts said they had never heard of such a Cezanne. BBC 06/18/04

Scottish Museum Gets Big Boost A prominent Scottish businessman has donated £5 million to Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, with the money earmarked to build a new educational wing. The Kelvingrove is mounting a £28 million renovation, and Hunter's new wing will be "dedicated to a series of inspirational Scots." The Herald (UK) 06/18/04

Francis Bacon Triptych Leaving Tehran "A major triptych by Francis Bacon is about to see the light after languishing for more than 30 years in the store of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Two Figures Lying on a Bed With Attendants (1968) was bought, having been shown in Europe in 1972, by the wife of the last shah of Iran. It became part of the collection of the Tehran museum, but it is thought to have been on display there only once in 30 years." The paintings were discovered by the director of the Tate Britain museum while he was vacationing in Tehran, and an exchange of works was worked out to bring the Bacon works to London. The Guardian (UK) 06/18/04

British Royal Portrait To Get First Public Viewing "One of the greatest English royal portraits of the 16th century is to be shown in public for the first time. Hans Eworth's painting of Queen Mary I - completed shortly after her marriage to Philip II of Spain on July 25, 1554 - shows her wearing the famous Peregrina pearl, a present from her new husband. Centuries later the same jewel was given by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor." The Age (Melbourne) 06/18/04

Is London The Center Of The Art World? The opening of two new important venues for contemporary art in London within the space of a couple of weeks not only says something about the optimism of the art market, writes Richard Dorment, but "confirms the truth of the cliché that London has, for the moment, replaced New York as the centre of the art world." The Telegraph (UK) 06/17/04

Five Years Later - Nazi-Looted Art Still Missing "Five years after the German government and states vowed to track down and give back cultural artifacts seized from Jews by the Nazis, only a few are back in the hands of the works' rightful owners. The reasons for the lack of success are complex. When taken together, they make recovery extremely difficult. First and foremost, nearly 60 years after the war, the survivors with firsthand knowledge are passing away." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 06/11/04

d'Orsay In Melbourne Forty-five major impressionist paintings from Paris' Musee d'Orsay have been loaned to the National Gallery in Melbourne, Australia for the summer. It's rare for the d'Orsay to loan the stars of its collection during the busy summer tourist season. "The Musee d'Orsay has put a warning on its internet site, telling people that if they want to see certain pictures they have to travel to Australia for the next three months." The Age (Melbourne) 06/17/04

NY Dealers Arrested On Forgery Charges "The owner and manager of a lower Manhattan art gallery were accused Tuesday of selling $7 million in forged paintings that were intricately detailed and almost indistinguishable from the originals." MSNBC (AP) 06/16/04

Lost Van Gogh In London A missing Van Gogh painting could be in London, researchers say. "The descendents of Belgian doctor Amadeus Cavenaile say Van Gogh painted the portrait after the doctor treated him for syphilis in 1885. His family, some of whom live in the UK, believe the painting was either brought to London or buried in a garden in Antwerp during World War I. If the painting is found, it could net the owner up to £50 million." BBC 06/17/04

Whitney Chooses An Architect The Whitney Museum in New York has chosen Italian architect Renzo Piano to design its upcoming expansion, replacing Rem Koolhaas, whose $200 million design was rejected by the Whitney board last year as too extravagant. Board members say they aren't looking to create a "destination building," merely a functional museum, and they applauded Piano's willingness to work within their parameters. The New York Times 06/16/04

Justice Costs A Lot Of Money As the Barnes Collection continues the long, slow legal process required to allow it to move to Center City Philadelphia from the suburban plot it has called home for decades, the case being brought by three Barnes art students in an attempt to block the move seems increasingly quixotic. But the students don't necessarily lack legal standing, merely the financial wherewithal to pursue their agenda as aggressively as the pro-move forces have done. "To keep up their fight, the students want to raise at least $100,000 to hire expert witnesses for the second weeklong hearing in the case, slated for September in Montgomery County Orphans' Court." Philadelphia Inquirer 06/14/04

Maybe It Would Be More Shocking If He Stole Art That People Like "The thief who 'kidnapped' a fibreglass sculpture by the graffiti artist Banksy has struck again. AK47, as he calls himself, has removed a Tracy Emin pink neon sign called Just Love Me from outside the Hackney Empire theatre in east London... He also claimed that AK47 was a rapidly growing international 'arto-political movement', but was vague about the membership, saying only that it had 'a lot'." He plans to return the work by week's end. The Guardian (UK) 06/16/04

A Beijing Bubble Ready To Burst? "Some compare it to a globe severed at the Equator. To others it resembles a phosphorescent egg floating in a crystal sea. One prominent Beijing architect said that when the desert dust kicks up around Beijing, lathering the expansive glass dome in a pall of gray grime, it resembles nothing so much as dried dung. But the most apt analogy for the $300 million National Theater of China, now nearing completion in the political heart of Beijing, near Tiananmen Square, may be a hot potato." The New York Times 06/15/04

Thoroughly Modern Met "Pledging to increase its commitment to modern and contemporary art, the Metropolitan Museum is planning a major reorganization of its departments of European painting and modern art, it announced yesterday. Gary Tinterow, 50, the museum's longtime curator of 19th-century European paintings, will run a new, expanded modern art department, which will include European paintings from 1800 to the present as well as international 20th-century sculpture, drawings, prints, decorative arts and design." The New York Times 06/15/04

Scratching Out A Living In The Art World A new gallery has opened in Brooklyn, showcasing the artwork of one Tillamook Cheddar. Tillie's works, which consist mainly of semi-random scratch marks and are always executed in blue, yellow, black, or red, "have drawn comparisons to such abstract artists as Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly." Prices at the gallery range from $40 for a lamp to $1000 for a full-size painting, which sounds quite reasonable, except for one caveat: Tillie is a 5-year-old Jack Russell terrier. Chicago Tribune 06/15/04

A Virgin Gets Her Saints Back "Three masterpieces painted by El Greco for the same chapel but separated for nearly 400 years went on display together for the first time in Spain yesterday, at Madrid's Prado museum. The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, a towering altarpiece considered to be one of El Greco's greatest works, was reunited with two paintings of saints, lit up by her radiance, which the artist designed to flank her." The Guardian (Reuters) 06/15/04

Pop Art Comes To Asia The pop art movement is hitting the Pacific Rim in a big way, with the legacy of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein dramatically in evidence among young Asian artists. A combination of encroaching capitalism and the global influence of American popular culture is fueling the movement, but the Asian version of pop art isn't a perfect mirror of the Western version. "What's different is the way the Asian artists approach it in their portrayal of identity issues, alternative lifestyles and fashion consciousness of the people." Financial Times 06/14/04

Selling Off Italy's Art Heritage Italy is moving ahead with plans to turn over management of many state-owned museums to private companies (an idea strongly opposed by prominent leaders in the world's museum community). "The proposal to sell State-owned buildings has been contentious, largely because the State does not know in detail what it owns, and the architectural protection lobbies are afraid that masterpieces may be sold to unsuitable owners." The Art Newspaper 06/14/04

Selling Off St. Petersburg? The St. Petersburg government has decided to sell off more than 2000 of the city's historic buildings over the next few years, "including several dozen important Czarist-era palaces. Several of Russia’s oil barons have already expressed strong interest in acquiring grand historic residences in the city." Why? The buildings are in need of repair, and the government believes the best way to preserve them is to sell. The Art Newspaper 06/14/04

A Computer With An Eye For Fakes Authenticating great works of art is a tricky business, and despite the phenomenal advances in technology over the last century, the process of spotting fake art is still more or less a matter of casting a practiced eye over the piece in question. But a team of Dutch researchers has "developed a computer system that quickly examines hundreds of paintings for telltale patterns. The results, they say, can lend credence to existing attributions or help dismiss them." The New York Times 06/13/04

Tintin's Last Stand The Belgian boy reporter with the fluffy white dog appears to finally have found a scrape he can’t get out of. Tintin, the unlikely comic book hero whose adventures have been delighting children and adults around the world for 75 years, has emerged from retirement for one final adventure, culled from the notes of his creator, Georges Remi, who died in 1983 before he could finish the book. The final installment, which has already sold 400,000 copies in France, is classic Tintin in every way but one: the end of the story appears to leave the hero doomed. Washington Post 06/12/04

Those Dirty, Dirty Impressionists Impressionist paintings are frequently characterized by the hazy, cloudy look of their landscapes, and in the case of Monet, by the fog that seems to hang eternally over the London that he so loved to paint. It’s all very pretty on the canvas, but a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario makes the case that what Monet and others were really showing us was the horrific environmental effects of the Industrial Revolution on the great cities of Europe. That’s not fog hanging over London, it’s smog. And those pretty pink clouds? Coal gas and industrial waste. Toronto Star 06/12/04

High-Tech Auction House Opens In Philly “Kamelot, believed to be the first auction house to open in Philadelphia in two decades, will have its inaugural sales today and tomorrow at its quarters in a onetime mill in Manayunk. Backing the new gallery is Susanin's Auctions, a Chicago gallery known for its sophisticated auction technology.” Auctions at the new house will include online bidders, live remote video for gallery patrons, and absentee bids. Philadelphia Inquirer 06/12/04

Lost In Translation Italian sculptor Eleonora Aguiari had no idea, when she wrapped a 19th-century sculpture in red tape as part of an exhibition of her work, that “red tape” has a political meaning in English and American society. So she was a bit confused when a British ad agency contacted her, asking if she could wrap, for instance, an ambulance in red tape as part of an ad campaign for the UK’s Conservative Party. Aguiari was further confused by the fact that the ad agency is called “Saatchi,” and was initially under the impression that her work had caught the eye of the famous collector Charles Saatchi. Once the confusion was sorted out, however, the sculptor turned the spin doctors down, saying that “my ideas are not for sale.” The Guardian (UK) 06/12/04

Festival In A Tent “Art Chicago, the annual international art exposition that has taken place in spring at Navy Pier for decades, will move to a tent in downtown Chicago for its 2005 edition.” The location is yet to be announced, but as the tent will reportedly cover 125,000 square feet, there may be a limit to the number of potential locations in the downtown area. Chicago Tribune 06/12/04

Hepburn Sculpture Exceeds Auction Expectations “A bronze bust of Spencer Tracy sculpted by Katharine Hepburn sold for $316,000 yesterday on the second day of an auction of the late actress's effects. The sculpture had been estimated to sell for $3,000 to $5,000. Hepburn made the bust of her longtime love and frequent costar in the 1960s. She considered it one of her prized possessions. It sat on a bedside table in her New York City townhouse and often went with her when she traveled.” Boston Globe 06/12/04

Sounds Like Some Leftist Pinko Commie Hippie Plot! Let's Get 'Em! A new traveling exhibition is attempting to bring attention the architectural/cultural phenomenon of urban "greening," a philosophy which allows cities to build big skyscrapers and massive sports stadiums, so long as they "consume less energy, use renewable materials and resources, and uplift their surroundings and the spirits of those who work in them." It's an intriguing concept, but most American cities, even those which consider themselves to be on the cutting edge of both architecture and the movement towards making cities more inviting, haven't even begun to explore the possibilities of building green. Chicago Tribune 06/11/04

Arrest in Saatchi Fire Case There's been an arrest in the investigation surrounding the warehouse fire that destroyed £50 million worth of art owned by the collector Charles Saatchi. The suspect, who has been charged with burglary and released on bail, is 23, and police are not saying much more than that at the moment. BBC 06/11/04

Gehry Wins UK Building of the Year "Maggie's, a cancer care centre designed for free by the renowned US architect Frank Gehry, was yesterday declared British building of the year. It came top in the Royal Fine Art Commission's annual awards. Gehry has called the design - which seeks to welcome the centre's patients with light gently reflected from an undulating steel roof - 'about my best yet'." The Guardian (UK) 06/11/04

Those Riots Just Aren't Drawing 'Em In Like They Used To With widescreen TV making sporting events ever more enticing to view from your couch or your barstool rather than in person, the people who market soccer in Europe are turning to stadium architects to help draw the cheering crowds and create a unique sense of place. "The aim has been to maximise roof spans and minimise obstructed views and the basic problem is that there are only so many solutions for big roofs, most of which have been used." Financial Times (UK) 06/10/04

Paging Eliot Ness Two Silicon Valley art galleries were suddenly and unexpectedly raided by California law enforcement officials last week for illegally serving alcohol on the premises, with an official charge of misdemeanor sale/furnishing of alcohol without a permit being leveled against the owners and executives. The crime carries a possible penalty of six months in jail and a $1000 fine. The raid occurred during Palo Alto's monthly Art Walk event, and gallery officials are complaining about the timing and tone of the raid. The state contends that it warned the galleries in April that they needed a license to serve alcohol, and that the warning was ignored. Palo Alto Weekly 06/09/04

What's Wrong With The Royal Academy? "With a feuding management, a major exhibition cancelled and a former head who claims that the institution needs fundamental reforms, the Royal Academy of Arts appears to be foundering." The Guardian (UK) 06/10/04

Guggenheim To Get Facelift The Guggenheim Museum is to undergo a $25 million 2-year facelift. "Like many Wright buildings, the New York landmark is plagued with cracks, leaks and corroding surfaces. The New York Times 06/10/04

Berlin Drops Gestapo Museum The Berlin government is dropping plans for a museum documenting the Gestapo. The federal German government will now take up the project and is announcing a new architectural competition to design the building. Deutsche-Welle 06/09/04

Police Hunt For Person Who Hung Stealth Pictures In Major Museums A nationwide manhunt is underway for someone who hung paintings of presidents Bush and Clinton in the Metropolitan Museum, Guggenheim, National Gallery in Washington DC, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "The paintings — 15 inches by 9 inches — portray the commanders-in-chief on a background of ground-up dollar bills. The wacky spree has prompted a sweeping investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, as well as local police in three cities." New York Post 06/09/04

Art Historians Sue Over Vuillard Catalogues "The authors and publishers of the Edouard Vuillard catalogue raisonné and of the exhibition catalogue of the recently touring Vuillard retrospective are being sued in French and US courts by two art historians who claim the books plagiarise their work." The Art Newspaper 06/08/04

Retelling MoMA Curators at the Museum of Modern Art struggles to retell the story of their collection in the new spaces of their new home. "It is a daunting task: to use the museum's vast collection to tell the history of modern art in new and unfamiliar galleries. Not only has the museum's collection grown and changed enormously since the institution's founding in 1929, but so has the way that people look at art. We're talking to a younger and in many ways better-educated audience but one that is not necessarily more sophisticated" The New York Times 06/09/04

Art Of The Fake "There isn’t a major gallery in the world that doesn’t house - and in most cases proudly display - works that "aren’t what they seem". There is a joke among art dealers and forgery specialists that of the 324 canvases (or whatever the precise figure) painted by Corot, 562 are hanging in museums and private houses in America. The former Met director Thomas Hoving reckoned 40 per cent of the works offered to the museum were either phonies or so hypocritically restored they were no better than forgeries." The Scotsman 06/08/04

New Theory: Angkor Destroyed By Its Own Problems Coventional wisdom has it that Angkor Watt was destroyed by a seige in 1431. But researchers now believe that the city was done in by something much more mundane. "They created ecological problems for themselves and they either didn't see it until it was too late or they couldn't solve it even when they could see it." CNN.com 06/08/04

Supreme Court Says Family Can Sue Austria Over Klimt Paintings "The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that the 88-year-old niece and heir of an Austrian Jewish art collector can pursue her lawsuit against the Austrian government and its national art gallery for the return of six paintings by Gustav Klimt that belonged to her family before the Nazi takeover." The New York Times 06/08/04

Holocaust Survivors Sue Sotheby's Over Looted Art "Sotheby's is facing a $1.8 billion lawsuit from Holocaust survivors who claim it has recklessly trafficked in works of art stolen from Jews during the Second World War. They allege Sotheby's helped buy and sell looted masterpieces by Rembrandt, Titian, El Greco, Monet, Van Gogh and others since the 1970s." The Observer (UK) 06/06/04

Gagosian's New Digs There's been much hype about Larry Gagosian's new gallery space in London. "The Gagosian Gallery proves to be a modest creation, housed in a former garage in Britannia Street, a rats' alley smelling of diesel and urine, scuttling across the Metropolitan and Circle underground lines as they rattle between Farringdon and King's Cross-St Pancras. Behind the gaunt facade, Larry Gagosian's architects, Caruso St John, best known for their New Art Gallery, in Walsall, which opened in 2000, have opened up bright, cavernous, concrete-floored, top-lit white spaces. These are particularly refined white spaces; they have something of a religious air about them..." The Guardian (UK) 06/07/04

Qatar Sheikh"s Buying Spree For Five Museums Sheikh Saud al-Thani of Qatar is building five new museums and is serious about collecting for them. "A team of London agents working for the Sheikh bought 350 of the top lots in last months’ Islamic sales, spending well in excess of £15 million. The objects are all destined for the Museum of Islamic Art under construction in Doha to the designs of I.M. Pei, the Chinese-American architect coaxed out of retirement by Sheikh Saud. With its completion scheduled for 2006, the Islamic museum will be the first of the five to open, and the Sheikh‘s determination to buy the very best for its collection is having an extraordinary effect on the Islamic art market." The Art Newspaper 06/07/04

The FBI, The Bug, And The Museum Of Modern Art In 2002, the FBI planted a bug in the construction shed at the site of the new Museum of Modern Art in New York. The bug resulted in a 61-count indictment against 24 people including "fifteen family associates; and a number of fellows from locals 14 and 15 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, an AFL-CIO affiliate, have been indicted on charges that include racketeering, extortion, loan-sharking, and all the trimmings. " New York Magazine 06/07/04

The New Chinese Collectors "The rise of the Chinese art buyer has been swift and spirited. Five years ago private art collectors on the mainland were virtually unheard of. Now, driven by plenty of money and a patriotic rush to return treasures smuggled away over the centuries, Chinese collectors are bidding here as well as in New York and London." The New York Times 06/07/04

Prison Warden Not Guilty In Dali Theft An assistant deputy warden at New York's Ryker's Island jail was found not guilty of masterminding the theft of a Salvador Dali drawing. "The $250,000 drawing, which depicts Christ's crucifixion, was signed and dedicated by the artist to Rikers inmates in 1965, and was displayed in a case near the entrance of the Eric M. Taylor Center. The artwork has not been recovered." The New York Times 06/05/04

Saatchi Fire Brings Out The Hatred A big revelation following the Saatchi art fire: "What was amazing in the days following the fire was the level of sheer hatred shown towards British art from every section of society. A nation united, pissing on the flames. People hilariously offered to crochet a new tent for Tracey Emin with their name all over it. Parents hilariously got their children to scrawl all over a piece of paper and then sent it to Charles Saatchi."
The Guardian (UK) 06/05/04

Scientists Find Atlantis "A scientist says he may have found remains of the lost city of Atlantis. Satellite photos of southern Spain reveal features on the ground appearing to match descriptions made by Greek scholar Plato of the fabled utopia." BBC 06/06/04

Museum Rats Out Houdini Trick An exhibition in a museum in Wisconsin reveals the secret behind one of Harry Houdini's great magic tricks. Contemporary magicians are not amused... BBC 06/05/04

BritArt Fire Next To Burgled Warehouse The London warehouse stuffed with BritArt that went up in flames last week wwas next to another storage building that had been burgled just before the fire, say police. "One of the smaller units where the fire actually began appears to have suffered a burglary, but it is yet to be established if the fire was deliberately started." BBC 06/05/04

A Photo Of Van Gogh? "A Scottish author believes he has discovered the only photograph in existence of Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch master painter, as an adult.
With a fixed stare and pale skin, the neatly suited man with the bristling beard glares out of the nineteenth century photograph with the intensity of a master painter." Glasgow Herald 06/04/04

Hughes: Art Market Is "Obscene" Critic Robert Hughes blasts the state of the art market in a speech in London: "I don't think there is any doubt that the present commercialisation of the art world, at its top end, is a cultural obscenity. When you have the super-rich paying for an immature Rose Period Picasso $104m (£57m), close to the GNP of some Caribbean or African states, something is very rotten: such gestures do no honour to art: they debase it by making the desire for it pathological." The Guardian (UK) 06/03/04

• Hughes: Royal Academy Is The Cure Robert Hughes says that London's Royal Academy could help save art from commercialism: "An institution like the Royal Academy, precisely because it is not commercial, can be a powerful counterweight to the degrading market hysteria we have seen too much of in recent years. I have never been against new art as such; some of it is good, much is crap, most is somewhere in between, and what else is news?" The Guardian (UK) 06/03/04

Scotland's National Gallery May Have To Drop Free Admission "The National Galleries of Scotland has been warned that it may have to scrap its free admissions policy, close a gallery, or cut its opening hours in an effort to combat a multi-million pound deficit. It has a projected annual deficit of more than £3m and by 2009 could have a cumulative shortfall of more than £8m" Glasgow Herald 06/03/04

Hockney: Drawing Is Fundamental Communication David Hockney says drawing should be regarded as a major artform, says David Hockney. "Despite long being seen as almost irrelevant, drawing is a vital part of every creative process. Drawing has been neglected for the last 30 years in art education. That was based upon the idea that photography would suffice as a view of the world." BBC 06/03/04

Controversial Painting Could Hang In SF City Hall "An oil painting of U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners may find sanctuary at San Francisco City Hall after provoking some irate viewers to threaten and assault the owner of the art gallery where it was originally shown." San Jose Mercury-News (AP) 06/03/04

MFA Lays Off 23 "Struggling to balance its budget, [Boston's] Museum of Fine Arts told 23 staff members yesterday that they would be laid off immediately. Though museum officials declined to say exactly who had been let go, they did say the layoffs had come from across the museum's divisions, including its curatorial staff. That is in addition to five positions eliminated since January." The layoffs included no curatorial department heads, unlike MFA's last round of firings in 1999. Boston Globe 06/03/04

Libeskind's WTC Fee Dispute World Trade Center site developer Larry Silverstein is in a bitter argument with Daniel Libeskind over fees the Libeskind firm says it is owed. "Even assuming that the Libeskinds do manage to come to terms with Mr. Silverstein before July 4, the episode has the potential to leave a bad taste in the mouths of Mr. Silverstein’s landlord at the World Trade Center, the Port Authority, which is in the process of evaluating whether or not to allow Mr. Silverstein to develop the rest of the buildings planned for the site." New York Observer 06/02/04

Embassy-In-A-Box (America's Dull New Embassies) There was a time that American embassies around the world were architecturally interesting. "Unfortunately, the general artistic quality of recently completed embassy compounds, as well as the two-dozen or so now in the pipeline, is not high. We're looking at a new generation of embassies that resemble American office parks. The unsatisfying design and generally exurban settings reflect the government's need to quickly replace a huge stock of functionally obsolete and insecure facilities." OpinionJournal.com 06/02/04

Case Against Supposed Spanish Art Hoarder Unravels A Spanish raid on what authorities claimed was an illegal collection of antiquities hidden away from public view has turned out to be an embarrassing mix-up. "What the police described as 'an illegal archaeological museum' of 'clandestine' objects was anything but hidden. A dusty sign reading 'Museo' points to the entrance to the exhibition space, which, it transpired, was open to visitors to the winery and was frequently toured by local school groups. Furthermore, the little museum at the Toro Albalá Winery was included in cultural circuits proposed by the Córdoba tourist office." The New York Times 06/02/04

Scotland's Brilliant New Parliament Building Scotland's new Parliament building is about to open. Finally. After its budget came in 800 percent over projections. "Why has it been so very costly? The intricate design by the late Enric Miralles, of Barcelona, commissioned in 1998 and realised by the joint Catalan-Scottish practice EMBT/RMJM, is one of richness and great complexity. It has a style very much of its own, neither in nor out of fashion." The Guardian (UK) 06/01/04

Ye Olde England In China "In a small corner of the giant construction site that is China, something rather quaint is happening: modern skyscrapers are giving way to Georgian terraces, concrete squares are being discarded in favour of English village greens, and instead of the usual eight-lane superhighways there are winding cobbled lanes. That, at least, is the ambitiously low-rise plan for a giant new satellite-city near Shanghai that aims to recreate the most picturesque elements of a British town to lure homebuyers from China's newly affluent middle class." The Guardian (UK) 06/02/04

Vienna's Museum Wars Museum competition in Vienna has grown fierce in the past year. "Over the last year, the Albertina has emerged as the surprising victor, attracting an audience of one million in its first 12 months. It is now the country’s most successful gallery, pushing the Kunsthistorisches Museum into second place." But some are questioning the Albertina's aggressive tactics in growing... The Art Newspaper 06/01/04

Canadian Art Market Sets New Records "The bullish Canadian art market showed no signs of slowing down as Sotheby's Canada sold more than 160 lots worth almost $6-million at its spring auction in Toronto, setting records for least four Canadian painters in the process." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/01/04