Italy thwarts illegal auction of Gentileschi painting in Vienna

Circa-1616 self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. On July 19, Italian police announced they had halted the potentially illegal auction of a different work by the famed Italian woman artist. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, which states the work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before January 1, 1927.
Circa-1616 self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. On July 19, Italian police announced they had halted the potentially illegal auction of a different work by the famed Italian woman artist. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, which states the work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before January 1, 1927.
Circa-1616 self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. On July 19, Italian police announced they had halted the potentially illegal auction of a different work by the famed Italian woman artist. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, which states the work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before January 1, 1927.

ROME (AP) – Italy’s art squad police said July 19 they have thwarted the potential illegal sale by a Vienna auction house of a 17th-century painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, a celebrated Baroque artist.

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Boxing champion belt given to Nelson Mandela stolen in South Africa

The Nelson Mandela National Museum, aka Mandela House, photographed in July 2013. A World Boxing Council championship belt given to Mandela by American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard was stolen from the museum on or before July 1. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit A. Bailey. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The Nelson Mandela National Museum, aka Mandela House, photographed in July 2013. A World Boxing Council championship belt given to Mandela by American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard was stolen from the museum on or before July 1. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit A. Bailey. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The Nelson Mandela National Museum, aka Mandela House, photographed in July 2013. A World Boxing Council championship belt given to Mandela by American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard was stolen from the museum on or before July 1. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit A. Bailey. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – A World Boxing Council championship belt belonging to former South African President Nelson Mandela has been stolen from a museum in Soweto, according to police. The belt was given to Mandela by American boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard during one of his visits to South Africa. It was one of many artifacts inside the Nelson Mandela National Museum, a major tourist attraction for local and international travelers.

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Ukrainian artist makes cultural stand at Venice Biennale

Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov is representing his country at the 2022 Venice Biennale, the 59th edition of the international art exhibition. Makov titled his work ‘The Fountain of Exhaustion, Acqua Alta.’ Image courtesy of the Venice Biennale, photo credit Andrea Avezzu.
Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov is representing his country at the 2022 Venice Biennale, the 59th edition of the international art exhibition. Makov titled his work ‘The Fountain of Exhaustion, Acqua Alta.’ Image courtesy of the Venice Biennale, photo credit Andrea Avezzu.

VENICE, Italy (AP) – Artist Pavlo Makov’s role representing Ukraine at the Venice Biennale has become an act of defiance against the Russian invaders, whose attacks on his adopted hometown of Kharkiv have grown more intense in recent days. Not only do the Russians intend to take over his country, the Russian-born Ukrainian national says, but they are also bent on erasing Ukrainian culture.

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Van Gogh self-portrait found hidden behind another painting

X-ray image of the newly rediscovered Van Gogh self-portrait. Courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland

 

Left, Van Gogh’s ‘Head of a Peasant Woman,’ Right, the X-ray image of the newly rediscovered Van Gogh self-portrait that lies beneath it. Courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland
Left: Van Gogh’s ‘Head of a Peasant Woman,’ Right: the X-ray image of the newly rediscovered Van Gogh self-portrait that lies beneath it. Courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland

LONDON (AP) – A previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh has been discovered behind another of the artist’s paintings, the National Galleries of Scotland said July 14. The self-portrait was found on the back of Van Gogh’s Head of a Peasant Woman when experts at the Edinburgh gallery took an X-ray of the canvas ahead of an upcoming exhibition.

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Cheech Marin’s museum of Chicano art opens in California

Exterior of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, which has been nicknamed “The Cheech.” It opened June 18 in California. Image courtesy of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture
Exterior of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, which has been nicknamed “The Cheech.” It opened June 18 in California. Image courtesy of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture
Exterior of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, which has been nicknamed “The Cheech.” It opened June 18 in California. Image courtesy of Riverside Art Museum

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) – A home for Cheech Marin’s collection of Chicano art has debuted in Southern California. The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture opened June 18 in Riverside, east of Los Angeles.

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Harvard returns Standing Bear’s tomahawk to Nebraska tribe

Standing Bear’s pipe-tomahawk, photographed in May 2017 on display in the Native American Collection at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The museum returned the object to the Ponca tribe in a ceremony held on June 3. Standing Bear, a Native American civil rights pioneer, originally gave the pipe-tomahawk to one of his lawyers, John Lee Webster, in 1879. It passed through several hands before the university acquired it in 1982. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Daderot. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
Standing Bear’s pipe-tomahawk, photographed in May 2017 on display in the Native American collection at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Harvard officials returned the object to the Ponca tribe in a ceremony held on June 3. Standing Bear, a Native American civil rights pioneer, originally gave the pipe-tomahawk to one of his lawyers, John Lee Webster, in 1879. It passed through several hands before the university acquired it in 1982. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Daderot. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

BOSTON (AP) – A tomahawk once owned by Chief Standing Bear, a pioneering Native American civil rights leader, has been returned to his tribe after being housed for decades in a museum at Harvard University.

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Germany, Nigeria sign accord on return of Benin Bronzes

Early 16th-century Benin Kingdom (now Nigeria) bronze bust of a king mother’s iyoba, photographed on display at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, Germany in November 2014. On July 1, representatives from Germany and Nigeria were set to sign an agreement to return the Benin bronzes to Nigeria. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Daderot. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Early 16th-century Benin Kingdom (now Nigeria) bronze bust of a king mother’s iyoba, photographed on display at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, Germany in November 2014. On July 1, representatives from Germany and Nigeria were set to sign an agreement to return the Benin bronzes to Nigeria. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Daderot. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Early 16th-century Benin Kingdom (now Nigeria) bronze bust of a king mother’s iyoba, photographed on display at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, Germany in November 2014. On July 1, representatives from Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement to return the Benin bronzes to Nigeria. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Daderot. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

BERLIN (AP) – Germany and Nigeria on July 1 signed an agreement paving the way for the return of hundreds of artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes that were taken from Africa more than 120 years ago – an accord that Nigerian officials hope will prompt other countries to follow suit.

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UK climate change protesters glue themselves to Constable frame

Photograph of John Constable’s 1821 masterpiece, ‘The Hay Wain,’ which was the target of a climate change protest at the National Gallery in London on July 4. Two protesters covered it with printouts of apocalyptic scenes and touched its frame before security could escort them out. The painting and its frame reportedly suffered minor damage. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit National Gallery, London via gallerix.ru. Wikimedia Commons states that the photographic reproduction of the work is regarded as being in the public doman in the United States.
Photograph of John Constable’s 1821 masterpiece, ‘The Hay Wain,’ which was the target of a climate change protest at the National Gallery in London on July 4. Two protesters covered it with printouts of apocalyptic scenes and touched its frame before security could escort them out. The painting and its frame reportedly suffered minor damage. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit National Gallery, London via gallerix.ru. Wikimedia Commons states that the photographic reproduction of the work is regarded as being in the public doman in the United States.
Photograph of John Constable’s 1821 masterpiece, ‘The Hay Wain,’ which was the target of a climate change protest at the National Gallery in London on July 4. Two protesters covered it with printouts of apocalyptic scenes and touched its frame. The painting and its frame reportedly suffered minor damage. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit National Gallery, London via gallerix.ru. Wikimedia Commons states that the photographic reproduction of the work is regarded as being in the public doman in the United States.

LONDON (AP) – Two climate change protesters were arrested after they glued themselves to the frame of a famous John Constable painting hanging in Britain’s National Gallery, the central London museum and police said.

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Dalai Lama marks 87th birthday by opening library and museum

The Dalai Lama, shown speaking at MIT in October 2012. The Tibetan spiritual leader marked his 87th birthday on July 6 by opening the Dalai Lama Library and Museum at his Indian headquarters. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Christopher Michel (Cmichel67). Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
The Dalai Lama, shown speaking at MIT in October 2012. The Tibetan spiritual leader marked his 87th birthday on July 6 by opening the Dalai Lama Library and Museum at his Indian headquarters. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Christopher Michel (Cmichel67). Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
The Dalai Lama, shown speaking at MIT in October 2012. The Tibetan spiritual leader marked his 87th birthday on July 6 by opening the Dalai Lama Library and Museum at his Indian headquarters. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Christopher Michel (Cmichel67). Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

DHARMSALA, India (AP) – Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama marked his 87th birthday on July 6 by inaugurating a library and museum in his hillside Indian headquarters.

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Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts employees, management, reach labor deal

Exterior of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, photographed in March 2017. On June 28, workers at the museum finalized their first labor deal, following a vote to join a union in November 2020. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Suicasmo. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Exterior of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, photographed in March 2017. On June 28, workers at the museum finalized their first labor deal, following a vote to join a union in November 2020. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Suicasmo. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Exterior of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, photographed in March 2017. On June 28, workers at the museum finalized their first labor deal, following a vote to join a union in November 2020. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Suicasmo. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

BOSTON (AP) – Employees at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts ratified their first labor deal on June 28, becoming the latest prestigious art institution to protect workers with a union contract. The collective bargaining agreement is the first since museum workers voted to join the United Auto Workers Local 2110 in November 2020, the union and management said in a joint statement.

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