Category: visual

The news could signal a major shift in how France deals with repatriation, which has been a major focus for its president, Emmanuel Macron. Its government had previously resisted such efforts, and today’s move could still be scuttled by existing legislation. – Artnews

“Perched on a wheeled stool under a bright spotlight [at the National Gallery of Art], [Robert] Price leaned into a 200-year-old marble sculpture carved by Frenchman Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert, his gloved right hand using a cotton swab to remove decades of grime from its base. … [He] twisted a fluff of cotton onto a wooden stick, dipped it in a special water solution and painstakingly worked it over a small area of marble. He repeated the process, again and again and again, for hours.” – The Washington Post

Staffers at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, the organization that oversees the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Museo Mural Diego Rivera, and Museo Tamayo, shut down buildings and set up picket lines last Wednesday to protest up to seven months’ worth of missing paychecks. – Hyperallergic

English Heritage is now asking people to get in touch if they know of an earlier family snap at Stonehenge. The earliest known photograph of Stonehenge, not featuring a family, is thought to date from 1853 – 22 years earlier. – BBC

Only “a few dozen documents have survived: entries in administrative registers (bonboeken) relating to his family, the house and the mill… in which he was raised and notarial instruments. We have not a single letter, diary or notebook.” – New Statesman

“An Egyptian archaeological mission from the Ministry of Antiquities has unearthed a red granite royal bust of King Ramses II emblazoned with the Ka, a symbol of power, life force and spirit. The discovery was made during excavations on privately owned land in Mit Rahina village in Giza, after the landowner was caught carrying out illegal excavation work at the site.” – Archaeology News Network

The painting, discovered in 2017, is one of hundreds in South Sulawesi, including a red hand stencil, which was dated to at least 40,000 years ago. But the latest finding is exceptional as it is more than twice as old as any previously known narrative scenes and hints at ancient myths and an early capacity for imagination. – The Guardian

Sure, some art has been dependent on wealthy patrons for centuries. But in the age of expansion and renovation, and deep income inequality, that reliance has returned with a vengeance. Take MoMA as a prime example: “Since the late 1990s, when MoMA’s current push to expand began, its trustees appear to have been chosen overwhelmingly for their wealth, and the board now reads like a roll call of the 0.01 percent.” – The New York Times

Survivors of that night at Pulse and their families aren’t interested in a $45 million memorial and museum, “They seek a simpler memorial and argue that the money would be better spent helping the 53 people who were injured that night and survived.” – The New York Times