Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the director of Vienna’s Albertina Museum, has publicly called for a time limit Nazi-loot restitution claims for work held in public collections  “The international community should decide on a sensible time frame of 20 or 30 years from now,” Schröder argues. “If we don’t set a time limit of around 100 years after the end of the Second World War, then we should ask ourselves why claims regarding crimes committed during the First World War should not still be valid; why we don’t argue anymore about the consequences of the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian war, and why we don’t claim restitution of works of art that have been stolen during previous wars?” (more…)

Another letter from Third Point’s Daniel Loeb attacks Sotheby’s for failing to acknowledge the strength of his choices for board seats at the auction house.  “We are convinced that having an owner’s perspective in the boardroom yields better results, that this board is in dire need of fresh insights, and that our candidates are more qualified than the company’s emissaries we are seeking to replace,” Loeb writes. (more…)

The Guggenheim Museum seems to have won its dispute with Paul McCarthy and Mike Bouchet. The artists’ Bilbao photo installation (featuring a photo of the museum as a battleship) has been removed removed after the Guggenheim stated its disapproval.  The Guggenheim has stated that it “respects the artists’ rights and it likewise protects its own image rights.” (more…)

The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami has filed suit against North Miami for breach of contract, claiming that the city has allegedly ceased funding and maintenance to the museum as it pursues a merger with the Bass Museum in Miami Beach.   “The city’s neglect has put the very existence of our institution at risk,” says MOCA NoMi trustee Irma Braman. “And our current building has been an impediment to our services and mission for too long. We are dedicated to serving our public and we hope the city will move forward with us in a collegial and productive conversation so that MOCA can maintain a vibrant presence in North Miami and throughout the region.” (more…)

Artist Xavier Veilhan and dealer Emmanuel Perrotin have lost a court case asserting Veilhan’s work was copied by artist Richard Orlinski, whose installation of several works in the French alps bear a strong similarity to Veilhan’s previous work.   “The court has rightly recognised the originality of Orlinski’s work,” said Orlinski’s lawyer, Julie Jacob. Regardless, Perrotin and Veilhan have stated that they may appeal the decision. (more…)

The Cooper Union Board of Trustees has issued a statement that the university will move forward with its plan to begin charging admission, with an attempt to continually provide additional scholarship funds as needed. “The actions taken by the board today and in April are intended to provide The Cooper Union with a financial model that will sustain it into the future, while ensuring both the quality of the academic program and the institution’s ability to enroll students entirely on the basis of their aptitude and achievement and to meet their full financial need,” the school said in a statement. (more…)

The Tate Gallery is the subject of controversy, after including work by one of its trustees, the Turner Prize-winning artist Tomma Abts.  “This is all very wrong. There are tens of thousands of artists in this country who would give anything to have their work at the Tate. It seems blatant favouritism that works by their own trustees should be repeatedly selected,” said artist Charles Thompson.  “And it goes without saying that having a painting exhibited at a prestigious national gallery can only enhance the artist’s earning power.” (more…)

The former Paris studio where Pablo Picasso waited out the Nazi occupation and painted some of his most famous works, among them Guernica, is currently embroiled in a bitter argument between a private arts education group that currently occupies the space rent free, and the building’s owners, who want the group gone.  Calling them “squatters,” the firm owning the building has made moves to evict the group, despite sharp protests.  “It was abandoned and we renovated it completely, respecting its original state,” said Alain Casabona, spokesman for the occupying group, the Comité National Pour l’Education Artistique. (more…)

Two of Russia’s most prominent museums, the Hermitage Museum and the Pushkin Museum, are currently embroiled in a dispute over the collections of Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin, which had been distributed between two institutions when Stalin shut down the State Museum in 1948.  The debate was brought to light this year, when the Pushkin’s director, Irina Antonova, appealed to President Vladimir Putin on live television, asking him to recreate the institution in Moscow, raising ire over the rightful home of the works, which include pieces by Picasso and Matisse.  “The expert advice seems to be all on the Hermitage side—but you never know,” says Geraldine Norman, an advisor at The Hermitage. (more…)