Category: visual

“The once-beloved institution that has been closed for four years has delayed the [planned Nov. 3] reopening of its new Pennsylvania Avenue space. … Some of the delay was caused by unforeseen problems in the federally owned building that had to be fixed, according to a museum official, and the additional work was slow to be approved by federal officials.” – The Washington Post

“The lawsuit [filed in Miami-Dade County] concerns a group of works that Miami dealer Inigo Philbrick and his gallery are allegedly withholding from Fine Art Partners (FAP), a Germany-based financial services company specialized in the art market.” That set of artworks includes pieces by Donald Judd, Christopher Wool, and Wade Guyton, as well as Kusama’s All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins. – ARTnews

Just last week, the French government amended the document indemnifying all loans of artwork for the exhibition to cover Salvator Mundi if it arrives anytime before the end of this year. What’s more, documents show that France was negotiating for the loan of the painting up to the last week of September. – The Art Newspaper

Next year, St. John’s Co-Cathedral in the Maltese capital, Valletta, will open a €4 million annex as a home for Caravaggio’s 1607 St. Jerome Writing and the world’s largest complete set of tapestries, which is based on a 29-piece original by Rubens depicting scenes from the life of Christ. – The Art Newspaper

In 1502, Leonardo submitted to the Ottoman sultan a design for a bridge over the Golden Horn in Istanbul that would have been, at the time, by far the world’s longest, and tall enough for ships to pass underneath. The skeptical sultan rejected Leonardo’s plan, but a team at MIT has modeled it out and says that, with materials and technology available at the time, the bridge would have held up. – Ars Technica

The Army is forming a new unit with a similar mandate to be composed of commissioned officers of the Army Reserves who are museum directors or curators, archivists, conservators and archaeologists in addition to new recruits with those qualifications. They will be based at the Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. – The New York Times

Shigeru Ban, a designer of houses and visitors’ centers and condominiums and towers, is perhaps more famous as a designer of emergency shelters, for people suffering from earthquakes and floods, for people escaping violence and genocide. For them, he has employed a signature material — recycled paper tubes of variable length and thickness. – The New York Times

While the glass art industry blows oxygen and life into intricate glass chandeliers, vases, bowls and complex sculptures, it also consumes hefty amounts of natural gas and propane while filling the air literally with tons of carbon dioxide. Other issues, like heavy metal pollution and low levels of recycling, add to the industry’s sustainability concerns. – Crosscut

The revamped MoMA invited people to visit for free on Sunday, before the official opening. Nearly 10,000 people took the museum up on its offer, and they needed to create new mental maps. “As they entered the new expanded lobby, many gravitated toward the electronic information sign — with columns labeled ‘West,’ ‘North’ and ‘South’ — to decide which way to go. Staff members wearing neck lanyards and carrying maps approached visitors with friendly ‘Welcome to MoMA’ greetings and offered to help direct them. But even employees seemed a little unsure of themselves. ‘Is there an elevator that way?’ one visitor asked. ‘I think so,’ answered a staff member, opening one of her maps, ‘Let me check.'” – The New York Times

The elegant young American artist and the surly older French Impressionist inspired each other – and, because both destroyed or left little information about their friendship, a lot of art about them. A new play claims that “they were kindred spirits lucky enough to find each other in Paris.” – The New York Times