News
Demand plummets as economic growth slows, but business picks up in the US
Michael Govan will co-organise an exhibition at the Punta della Dogana during the Venice Biennale
Dallas museum fails to raise $100m to buy the authenticated Salvator Mundi, until recently believed to be a mediocre copy
Several ongoing cases are testing the US’s authority over foreign governments
Congress has avoided the fiscal cliff, but museum groups fear that changes to charity tax law will deter wealthy benefactors
Marc Quinn has turned a defining image of the violence and looting into a tapestry
Court orders for anti-social behaviour, or Asbos, are one option for heritage organisations
…despite vociferous opposition from art historians
Roman and Ottoman-era exhibitions will suffer as US and European museums face tougher calls for restitution
Art Market
As Stuart Semple joins an agency that also represents models and musicians, is there a new way to sell art?
Simon de Pury’s departure signals a change of direction after four patchy years
Some say it will stifle the market, others think it could stop fakes at auction
French judge rules that auction house should not have collected droit de suite from buyers
Bill Ruprecht has also taken on the role of chairman—but does this present a conflict of interest?
Ownership of the painting had been contested by a Californian lawyer
The executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America on fairs, ethics and the calm after the storm
Markets are squeezed, collectors and dealers grumble and austerity bites, yet the expected slowdown in events has yet to materialise
With a dynamic Art Projects section and works on offer from just £50, the London Art Fair shrugged off the snow
Books
The complete works of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in print and online
The interaction of various disciplines in Italy and Northern Europe
This book, linked to a current exhibition, explores the V&A’s unrivalled holdings
Portraits of a diverse selection of Scottish country houses
A study of Johann Christian Neuber’s snuffboxes and a survey of the Zilkha collection
His own artistic tastes were far from sophisticated, but his fiction inspired all kinds of artists
A history of the neighbourhood and the educational, medical and cultural institutions that made it London’s intellectual quarter
Comment
US museums in cities beyond tourist hot spots stand to gain far more than it costs by going free
The omission of paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood could be rectified by judicious loans
Conservation
As violence escalates, Unesco condemns militant Islamist rebels’ continuing attacks on cultural heritage in Timbuktu
Museum discovers bright colours and bumper stickers while conserving Chamberlain’s car-metal sculptures
Diaries
Exhibitions
Focus
The days when Modernists saw design for mass production as the height of achievement are gone
Rafts of plastic jetsam, sun-powered laser fusion and bees being busy—all utilised to make items from the edge of designers’ imaginations
Andrea Branzi wrote the rules and set the standards for industrial design
Design collectors have moved away from looking for a utilitarian purpose to the objects they buy
Modern pieces dominate the market, but confidence in new works is returning
Media
Unprecedented access to Carolee Schneemann’s archive informs this portrait of the controversial, sometimes explicit, feminist artist
Museums
Government cuts take their toll as more than 120 posts are lost without fanfare in just two years
Artists Barbara Hepworth and Andrew Forge and fellow Tate trustee Herbert Read did in 1966
Scrapping admission fees and introducing an innovative members’ scheme attracts interest beyond Texas
Henri Loyrette will leave on a high note despite looming budget cuts
Museum lends its name and acts as adviser but what it stands to gain financially is unclear
As the consortium that is to build the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island is announced, artists and Human Rights Watch lobby again for workers’ rights, while an independent report demonstrates that outside pressure is causing the UAE to address the issue
Obituary
Hungarian émigré who played a leading role in the development
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