ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Antiquities Dealer Sues Wall Street Journal Over Article on ISIS Link

Courthouse News Service / July 18th, 2017

An antiquities dealer has sued the Wall Street Journal over an article linking his family-run art gallery to ISIS, reports Courthouse New Service. It is the second major lawsuit instigated by the gallery this year. Hicham Aboutaam, head of the Manhattan-based Electrum, the agent ...

Supreme Court to Decide Case on Seizing Iranian Artifacts

CNS / June 29th, 2017

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether Americans injured in a 1997 Hamas suicide bombing can seize Iranian artifacts from the University of Chicago to satisfy a $71 million judgment, reports Courthouse New Service. Injured Americans in the Hamas attack on a Jerusalem mall were ...

The Living Museum Within Bears Ears National Monument

ArtfixDaily / May 15th, 2017

Southeast Utah's Bears Ears National Monument has been called the "Sistine Chapel" of the West for its ancient wall etchings, notes the New York Times. Some 100,000 archaeological sites comprise this 1.3-million acre landscape known for its cultural significance as a living museum, its ...

U.S. Received Influx of $100 Million in Artifacts from Egypt and Turkey in 2016

Live Science / March 22nd, 2017

Live Science reports that about $50 million in artifacts were shipped from each Egypt and Turkey to the United States in 2016  — the highest annual value from each of those countries in at least 20 years, according to U.S. Census Bureau documents. Documents reveal that antique gold coins ...

Mosul Museum Retaken by Iraqi Forces

Reuters / March 7th, 2017

Iraqi forces on Tuesday recaptured the main government building in Mosul, the central bank branch and the museum where three years ago the militants filmed themselves destroying priceless statues, reports Reuters. Dozens of Islamic State fighters were killed in an overnight raid, according to ...

Egypt Reopens the Museum of Islamic Art, Renovates Historic Home of French Archaeologist

ArtfixDaily / February 20th, 2017

Cultural preservation moved forward in Egypt over the past month. Terrorist attacks have slumped tourism to popular sites, but recent efforts have successfully reviltalized landmarks, including the Cairo museum damaged by a car bomb three years ago. Egyptian President Al-Sisi hosted UNESCO ...

Iranian Museum Exhibits Over 500 Artifacts Repatriated From the West

Tehran Times / February 9th, 2017

Some 558 historical artifacts including sculptures, earthenware, coins and jewelry, repatriated from Western museums over the last two years, went on display Monday at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran. Tehran Times reports: "Last November, 30 historical artifacts which had been smuggled ...

From Trump Plates to Chippendale Chairs, A Range of Works in Antiques Week 2017

Antiques and the Arts Weekly / January 18th, 2017

Americana collectors and "best of the best" object seekers will head to events during Antiques Week 2017 underway now in New York City. Antiques and the Arts Weekly (aka "The Bee") has published this guide to the week's events, exhibitions, shows, lectures, auctions and more. (The action ...

Swiss Art Dealer Sues Getty Museum for $77 Million

Courthouse News Service / January 17th, 2017

In a federal lawsuit on Jan. 12, a Swiss art dealer claimed that the Getty Museum in Los Angeles unfairly dropped it from a deal for a portion of a multi-billion dollar private collection of Roman antiquities that the dealer was brokering, reports Courthouse News. Phoenix Art, of Geneva, claims ...

NYT Debuts New Series of Guides to Iconic Museums

New York Times / January 4th, 2017

The New York Times debuted "Make the Most of The Met," a guide to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It highlights the best of the museum's offerings and offers tips to help visitors on their journey through one of America's most visited museums. Daniel McDermon, an editor on the culture desk, walks ...

Ancient City Discovered in Egypt

MSN / November 23rd, 2016

Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed what they describe as a city that dates back more than 7,000 years, containing huts, tools, pottery and huge graves. It lies by the river Nile, close to the Temple of Seti the First in Abydos. Experts say the size of the 15 newly discovered graves ...

Art Historian Decries Toledo Museum of Art's Sale of Antiquities

Toledo Blade / October 24th, 2016

Toledo native Joan Connelly, a renowned art expert, nationally known archaeologist, professor, and winner of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award, is vocally opposing the Toledo Museum of Art’s deacquisition of nearly 70 antiquities from its collection at a current auction. A professor of ...

Italian Mafia Trades Arms-for-Art With ISIS in Libya

Daily Beast / October 18th, 2016

Domenico Quirico, a journalist from La Stampa newspaper, recently went undercover as an art collector to expose how looted antiquities are being traded in support of ISIS. Italy’s Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, working with the Neapolitan Camorra criminal gang, has an illicit art-for-weapons ring ...

Islamist Extremist Gets 9 Years in Prison for Destroying Cultural Heritage Sites

ArtfixDaily / September 28th, 2016

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague sentenced Islamic extremist Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi to nine years in prison for destroying Muslim shrines in Timbuktu, Mali. The case represents the first prosecution for the destruction of a cultural heritage site as a war ...

National Gallery of Australia to Get $11 Million in Compensation for Stolen Statue

ABC / September 26th, 2016

The Supreme Court of New York has granted a motion in favour of a $11 million payment to the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), as compensation for its purchase of a stolen Indian antiquity from disgraced New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor that was later returned to India. The court has ...

Proceeds From Museum Visits in Italy on Sunday to Help Repair Quake Damage

ArtfixDaily / August 25th, 2016

The deadly magnitude-6.2 earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday devastated the medieval towns of Amatrice and Accumoli, the village of Pescara del Tronto, and the surrounding region. By Thursday, the death toll came to 250 with victims still being pulled from ...

Militant Who Destroyed Cultural Sites Pleads Guilty in War-Crimes Trial

NPR / August 23rd, 2016

A Malian Islamist militant who led the 2012 destruction of cultural heritage sites and ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu has pleaded guilty at the International Criminal Court.  Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. His trial for destroying cultural ...

Texan Tourists Make Archeological Discovery in Hawaii

newser / August 10th, 2016

A pair of vacationers from Texas discovered previously-unknown petroglyphs thought to be at least 400 years old on a Hawaiian island beach. Lonnie Watson and Mark Louviere made the archeological find on Oahu. They located 10 unusually large (5-foot) images carved in sandstone across 60 ...

Italy Seeks Foreigners to Head Cultural Sites

Telegraph / May 30th, 2016

Italy has launched a global hunt for new directors to run high-profile museums and archaeological sites, in the latest bid to revive the country's moribund cultural heritage sector. Last year, Italian managers of world-class museums and art galleries, including the Uffizi in Florence, were ...

British Museum Closes During Greenpeace Protest

Telegraph / May 19th, 2016

The British Museum in London closed to visitors on Thursday after Greenpeace activists scaled its entryway columns in a protest against BP's sponsorship of the blockbuster exhibition "Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds." Police arrested about 11 people in the protest for aggravated trespass. ...