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American Couple Donates $281 Million Art Collection to France's Musee d'Orsay
France24 / October 23rd, 2016
American businessman Spencer Hays and his wife Marlene have donated their exceptional 600-piece collection of French art dating from the late 19th to early 20th century -- worth $281 million -- to Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The Hayses, both 80, have been married for 60 years and collecting art since ...
Art Dealer Claims Ownership of Monet Seized in Billion-Dollar 1MDB Scandal
IBT / October 20th, 2016
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to seize $1-billion of assets connected to Malaysia's state-run fund 1MDB after an investigation began into corruption. Eleven luxury properties in the U.S., along with shell companies and bank accounts, allegedly connected to embezzled funds, are linked ...
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 ...
The Monet Cookbook Gives a Taste of Giverny Living
ArtfixDaily / October 18th, 2016
From Potato Pie to Strawberry Mousse, French impressionist Claude Monet “appreciated simple dishes made of fresh ingredients and prepared according to very basic yet authentic principles,” writes Florence Gentner, a museum consultant and author who has just published The Monet Cookbook: ...
French Prosecutors Urge Jail Time, Massive Fine for Art Dealer Wildenstein
Bloomberg / October 13th, 2016
In closing arguments, French prosecutors urged a 4-year prison sentence and a steep fine be paid by art dealer Guy Wildenstein who is on trial with his nephew Alec, Jr., in a massive tax evasion and money laundering case. He is accused of hiding hundreds of millions of euros in offshore trusts to ...
Hala Wardé Chosen to Design Beirut Museum to Art
Guardian / October 13th, 2016
Situated on a historic and symbolic site across from the National Museum in the center of Beirut, BeMA, the new Beirut Museum of Art, will be conceived by Paris-based Lebanese architect Hala Wardé, who was revealed as the winner of an architectural competition on Thursday. The ...
Rijksmuseum Gives Awards for the Best Riffs On Its Masterpieces
ArtfixDaily / October 13th, 2016
The Dutch national museum is holding its annual competition for the best "forgery." Entrants can copy an Old Master in a new way or be inspired in any imaginable medium--from food to wood to fragrance to film--by artwork in the collection of Netherland's Rijksmuseum. The three-year-old program ...
Putin Skips France Visit After His Cultural Tour Cancelled
Guardian / October 12th, 2016
Vladimir Putin has postponed a cultural visit to France hours after French President Francois Hollande suggested Russia could face war crimes for its latest bombings in Syria. Hollande said he would have to talk about the Syrian conflict with Putin if he visited, instead of a planned tour of ...
Treasure Hunters Zero In On $62 Billion of Lost Nazi Loot
Daily Mail / October 10th, 2016
The Daily Mail reports that a pair of treasure hunters claim they are near to recovering $62 billion in Nazi loot left behind by Hilter's forces as they fled a Czech town in 1945. In Štěchovice, about 20 miles from Prague, Josef Mužík and his partner have been on a decades-long search ...
Chief Curator of Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis Leaves After Controversial Exhibition
ArtfixDaily / October 10th, 2016
The chief curator for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) has resigned after an exhibition of works by Kelley Walker he curated drew criticism for being racially insensitive. A museum statement: Jeffrey Uslip, Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs / Chief Curator for ...
Four Museums in Legal Action for Return of Crimean Treasures
Dutch News / October 6th, 2016
Dutch News: A court case began in Amsterdam on Wednesday to determine the future of a collection of gold and other treasures from the Black Sea region. Four museums in Crimea are taking legal action to force the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam to hand back treasures loaned for an ...
New, Larger Museum Planned at Statue of Liberty
ArtfixDaily / October 6th, 2016
A new 26,000-square-foot Statue of Liberty Museum within the Statue of Liberty National Monument on New York's Liberty Island was unveiled Thursday. The larger building will replace a small exhibition space inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Architect Nicholas Garrison designed the ...
France Proposes Unprecedented $3.2 Billion Culture Budget
The Art Newspaper / October 5th, 2016
The Art Newspaper first reported that France’s Minister of Culture and Communication, Audrey Azoulay, plans to increase cultural funding by 6.6% to a total of $3.2 billion next year—the largest amount of government money promised for the arts in the country’s history. Azoulay said in a ...
Artist Carrie Mae Weems Creates Political Video With Message: Our Progress Is On the Ballot
ArtfixDaily / October 5th, 2016
A new video project by artist Carrie Mae Weems called “The Power of Your Vote" takes viewers to the streets of diverse Jackson Heights, Queens, to convey a strong message in support of Hillary Clinton as the November election looms. Weems was inspired, in part, by President Obama's ...
Trove of Old Master Paintings May Be Fakes in 'Biggest Art Scandal in a Century'
Daily Mail / October 4th, 2016
A list of some 25 allegedly fake Old Master paintings worth around £200 million ($255 million) could soon be released after a judge ordered an investigation in the UK, reports the Daily Mail. Among the works caught up in the controversy is an £8.4 million ‘Frans Hals’ that Sotheby's ...
FBI Suspect in Gardner Museum Heist Remains Silent on His Deathbed
NBC / October 3rd, 2016
The lawyer for a Connecticut mobster suspected to have ties to the notorious $500 million Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist in 1990 says he doesn't expect a deathbed confession from his client. Hartford attorney A. Ryan McGuigan tells the Boston Globe he visited the hospital where ...
Met Sued Over Picasso Painting Sold During Nazi Era
New York Times / October 2nd, 2016
The estate of a Jewish industrialist and art collector from Germany sued the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday for the return of a Pablo Picasso painting in the museum's collection, reports the New York Times. Laurel Zuckerman, the great-grandniece of the collector, is seeking more than $100 ...
Two Stolen Van Goghs Recovered 14 Years On
CNN / October 2nd, 2016
Two paintings stolen from Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum 14 years ago have been recovered in Italy. Thieves used a ladder to the museum's roof and broke in with sledgehammers in December 2002. Security systems were working and guards were on patrol, adding to the mystery of the crime. "After all ...
Walls Go Up Around Racially Charged Exhibition at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
St. Louis Today / September 29th, 2016
Calls for a boycott of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) until an exhibition of works by Kelley Walker was removed have resulted in walls going up around the controversial artworks with viewer discretion signage. Critics had lambasted the Kelley exhibition as racially ...
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 ...