F. BUCHER/VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
#STATUENUDE
To protect Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s “virgin eyes” from nude marble sculptures during his recent visit to Rome’s Capitoline Museums, museum workers erected Donald Judd–like white boxes around offending works of art. This, of course, has led to backlash from many outraged Italians in the form of the hashtag #statuenude. [Hyperallergic]
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
The Art Institute of Chicago has received the largest cash gift in its history—$35 million from a longtime benefactor. [Chicago Tribune]
The Swiss government has announced that it will be investing $2 million into research that could help museums discover the true owners of art that had been looted by Nazis during WWII. [New York Times]
EXPANDING AND RETRACTING
Agnes Gund’s Studio in a School, which gives public-school students classes with professional artists, will be expanding nationwide. [Artforum]
In response to criticism, MoMA has dropped some of the more extravagant elements of the expansion plan the museum revealed two years ago, including a retractable glass wall, a floor that moves up and down, and a new entrance to the sculpture garden. [Wall Street Journal]
CASTING
Doctor Who star Matt Smith has been cast as Robert Mapplethorpe in an upcoming biopic, while Zosia Mamet has been selected to play Patti Smith. [Dazed Digital]
VIRTUAL REALITY
You can now visit the Guggenheim through your computer. [Wired]
Here’s Jack Whitten at the Walker Art Center. [Contemporary Art Daily]