A repatriation ceremony held in Bethlehem last month marked the first time the US has repatriated an item to Palestinian authorities. The object in question was one of the 180 stolen artifacts uncovered in the collection of American billionaire Michael Steinhardt last year. Steinhardt has since received a lifetime ban from collecting antiquities.
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Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a perfectly preserved gold-covered mummy just outside of Cairo after a year of excavation. Untouched for 4,300 years, the opulent mummy is thought to be the oldest and most complete non-royal corpse ever found in Egypt.
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Next year, the British-Ghanaian filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah will fill the British pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale (20 April-24 November 2024). “It is without doubt one of the most exciting opportunities that an artist can be presented with,” said Akomfrah after accepting the commission from the British Council.
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A Spanish collector is facing prison time for allegedly forging at least 15 works by artists including Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Saul Steinberg (1914-1999), and Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997). Guillermo Chamorro, 67, was a respected collector who consigned artworks to auction houses across Europe.
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Last week, an oil sketch by one of the most important Baroque artists, Anthony van Dyck, has been sold at auction at Sotheby’s New York. Given that the work was found languishing in a farm shed in upstate New York, with bird droppings on its reverse, it is truly remarkable that it was sold for $3 million.
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Innovation in the virtual world, increasingly known to many as the metaverse, is constantly evolving.
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The parent company of Masterpiece London, an annual multi-disciplinary art fair held at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, has announced that the fair is cancelled. Masterpiece London was founded in 2010 and had come to be considered one of the highlights of the summer art calendar in London. However, the company that owns it – MCH Group – has released a statement saying that due to “escalating costs and a decline in the number of international exhibitors” the event is “not commercially viable this year.”
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Nearly two thousand years ago the eruption of Mount Vesuvius tragically engulfed the prosperous city of Pompeii and its inhabitants under volcanic ash. Archaeologists rediscovered the site in the 19th century, but it consequently suffered decades of neglect, flooding, and pillaging. After twenty years of intensive restoration, one of Pompeii’s most lavish homes officially reopened to visitors on Tuesday.
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Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has announced the Parthenon Marbles “belong here in the UK“. Despite reports suggesting the British Museum is close to agreeing a deal with Greece, Donelan insisted that the ancient sculptures should not be returned.
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The sale of a rare copy of the US Constitution has been halted by Sotheby’s just hours before it was due in auction. Sotheby’s have cited “strong institutional interest” as their motivation for postponing the sale, saying that they wish to “provide interested institutional parties with additional time to pursue fundraising efforts”.
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