The Horniman Museum and Gardens in London has been awarded £100,000 after winning Art Fund’s prestigious title of Museum of the Year 2022. It is the largest prize in the global museum sector with the runners up winning £15,000 each.
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76-million-year-old dinosaur fossil set to fetch up to $8 million (£6.7 million) at Sotheby’s
Later this month, Sotheby’s New York will auction an extremely rare Gorgosaurus skeleton, which is estimated to fetch as much as $8 million (£6.7 million). It marks the first time in history this vicious prehistoric species has come to auction.
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Damien Hirst’s life cycle of a fly installation faces criticism from animal rights activists
An installation by Damien Hirst titled A Hundred Years has been dismantled at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg after animal rights organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) filed a complaint against the museum. The artwork was part of the museum’s Power! Light! exhibition, a show which brought together works of light art by internationally renowned artists. The exhibition focused on artificial light and its positive and negative effects on civilisation and included works by contemporary artists such as Nana Petzet, Daniel Canogar, Monica Bonvincini and Daniel Pflumm.
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V&A Director calls for change of UK restitution laws
Director of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, Tristram Hunt, has criticised certain UK laws that prevent museums from restituting or deaccessioning works. Hunt was appointed museum director in 2017, serving as a member of the British Parliament prior to this.
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Climate protestors target artworks in UK galleries
A spate of demonstrations has struck museums across the UK. Climate protestors glued themselves to significant artworks in the National Gallery and the Courtauld Gallery in London, as well as Manchester Art Gallery and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.
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TEFAF Maastricht targeted by ‘Peaky Blinders’ style thieves
Dutch police have arrested two men after a shocking daylight heist at TEFAF, the renowned European fine art fair in the Dutch city of Maastricht.
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Fifty-year-old art crime solved by local sleuths, as two portraits stolen in 1972 are returned
In February 1972, a fire raged at the Veterans Foreign Wars building in New Paltz, New York. With emergency services distracted, a robbery occurred at the town’s historic district of Huguenot Street. Dozens of objects were stolen, including a pair of portraits by the prominent itinerant folk artist Ammi Phillips (1788-1865) depicting local residents Dirck D. Wynkoop (1738-1827) and his wife Annatje Erlinge (1748-1827). Exactly fifty years later, the portraits were rediscovered, and were put back on display at the Historic Huguenot Street.
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Winners announced at second annual NFT Awards in New York
NFT.NYC, the international NFT (non-fungible tokens) industry conference, has kicked off in New York this week. There were more than 30 categories at the second annual NFT Awards in areas including visual arts, gaming and fashion.
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Unusual items found at extensive Anglo-Saxon burial ground in Buckinghamshire
Yet another significant archaeological find has been made during excavation work for the HS2 (High Speed 2) railway line. According to the archaeologists working on the project, the extensive Anglo-Saxon burial ground they unearthed is a “once in a lifetime discovery”, comprising 141 burials, numerous beads, jewellery, swords and other personal items. Of particular fascination to archaeologists is the discovery of ear wax removers, not something one might expect to unearth in a burial ground.
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Graffitist Saype unveils giant artwork about friendship on Belfast lawns
A colossal graffiti artwork showing two intertwined hands has been unveiled on the lawns of Stormont Estate in Belfast. The piece is part of an international art project called Beyond Walls, courtesy of French-Swiss artist Saype.
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