ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Artist Leo Villareal Lights Up London With 'Illuminated River' Across Thames Bridges

ArtfixDaily / July 18th, 2019

Heads of traitors on spikes, bustling industry, quiet moonlit scenes by artists from Grimshaw to Whistler, the River Thames and its bridges have figured large in the lore of London. Now the public will see the historic waterway in a whole new light. Artist Leo Villareal – in collaboration with ...

UNESCO Adds 8 Frank Lloyd Wright Sites to World Heritage List

New York Times / July 16th, 2019

Eight major buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, the lauded list of international sites deemed worthy of conservation. The designation brings increased recognition and can boost tourism, among other benefits. From NYT:  The designation ...

I.M. Pei, Renowned Architect of Louvre Pyramid, Remembered

NPR / May 16th, 2019

Modernist architect I.M. Pei, known for iconic structures from the Louvre Pyramid to Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has died in New York. He was 102. Pei was born in China in 1917. He went on to study at University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Harvard's Graudate School of Design. ...

New Renderings Released for the $650 Million LACMA Building

Urbanize LA / April 30th, 2019

New renderings were published for LACMA's controversial building plan, reported Urbanize LA. The $650-million project replaces the museum's two oldest buildings with a street-straddling structure designed by architect Peter Zumthor.  Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors green-lighted ...

Experts Urge French President to 'Take the Time' on Notre-Dame Restoration

Le Figaro / April 30th, 2019

After the devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral on April 15, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that the iconic landmark would be rebuilt by 2024, in time for the Summer Olympics in Paris. Even with over a billion dollars already pledged for rebuilding, many experts have chimed in ...

Dutch Company Proposes to Rebuild Notre Dame Using 3D Printing

Dezeen / April 28th, 2019

A firm in the Netherlands that specializes in 3D printing has a plan to rebuild parts of Notre Dame that were consumed by fire on April 15. Rotterdam-based Concr3de specializes in using 3D printing technology and proposes to recreate the destroyed areas of the over 850-year-old French ...

Salvador Dalí Museum Plans a $38 Million Expansion With More Augmented Reality Exhibits

ArtfixDaily / April 9th, 2019

The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, has announced plans for a major $38 million expansion. Around $30 million of that estimated cost would go to constuction of a new wing with 20,000 square feet for community spaces and digital exhibits. One expense will be 'Digital Dalí,' an ...

L.A. County Supervisors Approve Funds for the $650 Million New LACMA Building

LAist / April 9th, 2019

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to provide $117.5 million in county funding to move forward LACMA's new building plan. The total cost estimate for the project is $650 million, to be largely culled from private donations. Art-loving actors Brad Pitt and ...

Silicon Valley Plans to Erect a Monument to Itself

The Atlantic / March 11th, 2019

Silicon Valley has a new initiative underway for a landmark that speaks to the tech hub's influence.  Mounting "techlash" over the role Facebook and other companies have in undermining public life are behind this need for Silicon Valley to "cement its legacy in the built environment," ...

The U.S. Formally Withdraws From Unesco, the U.N. Agency That Aims to Build Peace Through Cultural Understanding

New York Times / January 23rd, 2019

This month, the United States officially left Unesco, the United Nations' cultural and scientific organization. The U.S. was a founding member of Unesco, which was established following the horrors of the World War II era. While the U.S. withdrawal is newly in effect, the Trump administration ...

Brexit Could Help the Case for Parthenon Sculptures to be Returned to Greece

Guardian / October 14th, 2018

The Parthenon, crown jewel from the cradle of Western civilization, needs its missing marbles. This political era seems like a fitting time for Athens, the birthplace of democracy, to have her most iconic cultural artifacts restored to their rightful place. The Acropolis Museum in Athens is ...

Crowds Swarm New Art-Filled $2.26 Billion Transit Center in San Francisco

Hyperallergic / August 12th, 2018

Some twenty years in the making, a new $2.26 billion transit center in San Francisco is expected to eventually host over 100,000 people per day. Salesforce Transit Center opened Aug. 11 with huge crowds for a public preview. The massive facility boasts a five-acre rooftop park and is ...

Second Major Fire Consumes Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building

The Art Newspaper / June 18th, 2018

A blaze that broke out on June 15 at Glasgow School of Art has left its historic heart devastated for a second time since a fire in 2014. Considered Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) building was undergoing a massive £35m restoration, including the ...

New V&A Location Part of £1.1 Billion Transformation of East London Into Cultural Hub

The Times / June 5th, 2018

A new outpost for the V&A is part of a £1.1 billion plan for London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford to be transformed into the “East Bank,” a cultural hub hosting branches of Sadler’s Wells, London College of Fashion and University College London (UCL). London Mayor Sadiq Khan ...

Museum in Jerusalem to Get $40 Million Expansion and Refreshed Content

Haaretz / May 15th, 2018

The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem is gearing up for a $40 million expansion in 2019. Part of the renovation will be an enhanced entrance, which will be repositioned on the west side, plus a new wing, archaeological digs, and expanded content including artworks, changing ...

Art Dealer Graham Arader Lists His Antiques-Filled Hudson River Estate

Bloomberg / March 30th, 2018

New York-based antique map, book, and print specialist W. Graham Arader has listed his 1850s Italianate Victorian residence in Nyack, New York, one of several of his historic residences. “I own the seventh-oldest house in San Francisco,” he told Bloomberg, “I own the only pristine beaux-arts ...

Eiffel Tower Could be Repainted, Red?

Smithsonian / March 21st, 2018

When the Eiffel Tower is repainted for the 20th time since 1889, the iconic Parisian structure could return to its original color --- red. The Ministry of Culture and the City of Paris are mulling over paint options, and looking back at historic choices. Currently a mellow metal color, over the ...

Sotheby's Show, Getty Honor Cancelled After Harassment Claims Against Architect Richard Meier

New York Times / March 14th, 2018

The New York Times reported Tuesday that renowned Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier has been accused of sexual harassment by 5 women. In the wake of the allegations, Sotheby's closed an exhibit of collages and silk-screens by Meier at its S2 Gallery in New York. Cornell also ...

Mystery Lingers Over Fate of Huguette Clark's Bellosguardo

Independent / February 20th, 2018

Huguette Clark, the copper heiress who died at age 104 in 2011, left a will that envisioned her California mansion be turned into an arts nonprofit. Years later, the fate of the reclusive multimillionaire's 23-acre estate in Santa Barbara is still not clear. Her oceanside Bellosguardo estate ...

Cutting-Edge U.S. Embassy in London Opens Chock-Full of Art This Week

ArtfixDaily / January 14th, 2018

The 1960s building that housed the U.S. embassy in London needed costly renovations and posed security risks in busy Mayfair, prompting a decision in 2007 to purchase a new site. Opening to the public on January 16, the new U.S. embassy resides in South London's Nine Elms area, below the ...