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The Headlines
ANNUAL REVIEW. Only moments remain in 2023, and ARTnews is looking back with a “Year in Review” package. Gameli Hamelo charted developments in African art, Francesca Aton examined the most important archaeological discoveries, and Daniel Cassady charted signs of an art market that is “no longer easy-breezy.” There is a great deal more: Karen K. Ho on the trials and tribulations of the beleaguered British Museum, Tessa Solomon on how the Israel-Hamas war is “reshaping . . . the art industry in real time,” and Alex Greenberger on the bevy of Pablo Picasso shows that were tied to the 50th anniversary of his passing. It’s “safe to say we learned just about nothing in the process,” Greenberger writes. And there is still more—with more to come today at the ARTnews site. The full lineup is here. Have a great end to your year.
RESTITUTION WATCH. A painting by the Dutchman Cornelis van Haarlem (1562–1638), Adam and Eve, which was looted by the Nazis from the storied Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, has been returned to his heir, the Art Newspaper reports. The work was identified as stolen after it was offered to the Musée Rolin in Autun, France, as a donation. Goudstikker’s family has been trying for years to recover material plundered from him during World War II. More than 1,300 paintings were taken, according to a law firm working for the family. The Dutch government restituted 200 almost two decades ago; more than 800 stolen by Nazi Hermann Göring are believed to be at large.
The Digest
South Korea’s culture ministry said that it will revamp its grant system for artists to award larger sums to fewer projects. It anticipates that the average funding for a proposal will go from about $23,000 today to $79,000 by 2027. It is also planning an effort to provide young people free access to culture. [Yonhap News Agency]
It is not just big-name museum curators who are decamping to commercial galleries, Julia Halperin reports. Registrars, educators, video editors, and more are also making the switch from the nonprofit to the for-profit realm. “I felt underpaid but not overworked,” one job mover said. “I felt under-appreciated.” [The Art Newspaper]
Critic Jason Farago has a clear-eyed essay on the rise of AI-generated art. “If you believe that culture is an imaginative human endeavor, then there should be nothing to fear, except that—what do you know?—a lot of humans have not been imagining anything more substantial,” he writes. [The New York Times]
Writer Nicholas Day has penned a book for young readers about Vincenzo Peruggia’s 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. It’s called The Mona Lisa Vanishes. “I think everyone has this sort of weird soft spot for art theft,” Day said in an intervew. [New England Public Media/Maine Public]
Actor and painter Pierce Brosnan is accused of going out-of-bounds in a thermal area of Yellowstone National Park near the border of Wyoming and Montana. He reportedly has a court date at the park next month and has not commented. [The Associated Press]
Behold, a guide to many of the luxe properties owned by members of the Rockefeller family over the years, including the art-rich Kykuit manor north of New York City. [Architectural Digest]
The Kicker
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK. Back in July, ARTnews reported that actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie had taken a lease on 57 Great Jones Street, the Downtown Manhattan building once owned by Andy Warhol, where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked, for her fashion venture, Atelier Jolie. The business has since moved in, and in the New York Times, reporter Alex Vadukul has a deep dive on the long history of the place. One choice anecdote: Back in 1905, it was apparently home to a rowdy saloon, where one John Ratta was wounded in a gunfight. Declining to cooperate with the police, Ratta apparently said that he “slipped and fell so hard on a bullet on the floor that it entered his flesh,” according to the Times. Hate it when that happens! [NYT]