Art Law
Prominent art dealer David Nahmad has claimed to be the rightful owner of a Monet that U.S. authorities have aimed to seize from a Malaysian financier, whom investigators believe purchased the Monet and other works estimated at roughly $1 billion with money stolen from a Malaysian government investment fund. [Wall Street Journal]
Across the Pond
One hundred modern masterworks from the collection of the Russian industrialist Sergei Shchuki, including paintings by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, are being exhibited at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. [The Art Newspaper]
Finland’s government has opposed plans to help fund the building of a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki, which would have required the state to cover €40 million ($44 million) of the costs. [Reuters]
The story of how DNA testings and ancient French cave paintings provided the missing clues to solving the mysterious origins of the European bison. [The Christian Science Monitor]
Review
An example of the sort of gems of insight contained within David Salle’s new book, How to See: Looking, Talking and Thinking About Art: “In my view, intentionality is not just overrated; it puts the cart so far out in front that the horse, sensing futility, gives up and lies down in the street.” [The New York Times]
Bonus
The artist-activist collective Decolonize This Place recently occupied the Natural History Museum, where they lead a group of around 200 people around the Museum’s anthropological wing, offering some of their own interpretations of the exhibits. [The Nation]
Ever wondered what’s in paint, and by extension if it’s toxic? Some answers can be found here. [Observer]
An interview with members of the Chicago-based group Autograf, which began life as an art project and now performs as a live electronica group that incorporates its art projects during performances. [Westword]
“Disney movies will soon be reimagined using timeless works of art on LACMA’s Snapchat account.” [Mashable]