Richard Prince is once again the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit, after photographer Donald Graham filed suit on December 30th, alleging that the artist reproduced his image Rastafarian Smoking a Joint without notification or compensation.  The lawsuit comes mere months after Prince won his last lawsuit over infringement. (more…)

Rhizome has been awarded a $600,000 grant, the largest award in the organization’s history, to fund a new web archival program called Webrecorder, lead by developer Ilya Kreymer.  “The things we create and discover and share online—from embedded videos to social media profiles—are often lost, or become unrecognizable with the passage of time,” says Rhizome artistic director Michael Connor.  “Webrecorder, with its ability to capture and play back dynamic web content, and its emphasis on putting tools into users’ hands, is a major step towards addressing this, and improving digital social memory for all.” (more…)

A non-profit group in Palm Springs is preparing to open a new art fair, coinciding with the proceedings of the Coachella music festival.  The fair has hired Neville Wakefield as its first artistic director, and has Ed Ruscha as a member of its board.   (more…)

Art Dealer Guy Wildenstein is set to begin trial this week for fraud in Paris. Wildenstein is accused of concealing much of his inheritance in offshore accounts, and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. (more…)

The UK has created a new £30 million fund to help aid in the protection and preservation of artworks and archaeological sites in war-torn and threatened areas, including the new Iraqi Emergency Heritage Management Project.  The project will train Iraqi archaeologists in preservation techniques in hopes of saving further sites from destruction. (more…)

A new German task-force, the Stiftung Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste (German Lost Art Foundation), will take over investigations on the provenance of the Cornelius Gurlitt art trove.   “Our research will be sound, efficient and above all transparent,” says co-director Uwe Schneede.  “Research has been done consistently and professionally. But unfortunately people often confuse research work with restitution.” (more…)

Venice’s newly elected mayor Luigi Brugnaro has launched a major initiative to confront the city’s dwindling finances, including exploring possibly selling off some of the city’s prized art collection that does not directly correspond to the city’s history.  “I’ll sell the paintings rather than sit here and admire them while rain drips onto children’s school desks and public libraries have no toilet paper,” he says.   (more…)

The New Yorker profiles the efforts of the Whitney’s conservation department in preserving some of the more challenging works in its collection.  “I was excited by the immediacy of it—how I was often the first person restoring a canvas, as opposed to dealing with a century of past restorations,” says Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, who works as head of the museum’s replication committee. “And I loved, whenever possible, consulting with the artists themselves.” (more…)

An associate of longtime Gardner Museum heist suspect Robert Gentile has told the Hartford Courant that the reputed mobster has long talked about having access to the works stolen from the museum, and has often spoke of selling the pieces.  Sebastian “Sammy” Mozzicato, who took a $5 million reward from the FBI for information on the theft, claims that Gentile gained control of the work during the 1990’s, after the theft.   (more…)

Robert Irwin is profiled in the New York Times this week, as the artist prepares to open his new permanent installation in Marfa, and reflects on the often challenging works he has executed in public space over the past several decades.  “With Bob’s work, I think there’s been a kind of laziness in the art world in terms of understanding exactly what he’s been doing,” says Jessica Morgan, the director of the Dia foundation. (more…)

Police have uncovered what they believe to be an art theft ring at the Fiumicino and Rome airports this month, where paintings sent through oversize baggage checks were stolen away from passengers.  “Dressed in the uniforms they normally wore to work in the airport, they easily convinced people that they were providing a genuine service and managed to dupe them,” the police said in a statement.  (more…)

Arts Council England Head Darren Henley has made a statement in The Guardian this week, pledging more attention and funding to the regions outside of London, and increasing funding for areas outside the city to 75% of total funding. “With nine offices around the country, the biggest of which is not in London, but in Manchester, we understand very clearly the many beneficial dividends that investment in arts and culture pays back to communities in all parts of England,” he writes. (more…)

The WSJ looks at a growing group of artists dealing with the fluid movements of immigrants and refugees internationally, and the increased focus on notions of identity and global politics that often underscore their work.  It’s one of the themes that are going to define the latter half of this century,” says London-based artist John Akomfrah. (more…)

An article in The Guardian this week makes the argument that the art market bubble so often discussed in 2015 has already burst, pointing to the considerably diminished sales totals in late 2015, often failing to meet their estimate despite several major record-setters, and a drop-off in new buyers.  “It feels like we hit the top in the first half of 2015,” says Todd Levin, director of art advisory the Levin Art Group. “We rang that bell and things have softened ever so slightly since. My guess is that we will see further tightening over 2016.” (more…)

The New York Times profiles The 14th Factory, a massive, $3 million installation and exhibition on Wall Street curated and presented by organizer Simon Birch.  “We’re going to splash down in New York,” he says.  “There’s a huge art system here going on already, which we’re not really part of, to be honest.  We’re kind of nobodies.” (more…)

An Egyptian Government crackdown on dissent has resulted in the closure of one of Cairo’s most prominent international galleries, as well as two publishing houses, the New York Times reports.  Authorities raided Townhouse Gallery this week, seizing papers and computers, as President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi continues to monitor institutions receiving foreign funding he suspects of subversive action.  “They are scared of Jan. 25,” says Fatima Serag, the legal director for the Association of Free Thought and Expression, referring to the anniversary of last year’s uprising in the country. (more…)

As The Art Newspaper celebrates its 25th anniversary, the paper reflects on the troubled times in contrast with the years following the end of the Cold War, and looks back at some of this year’s defining events, from the destruction of monuments and sites by ISIL to Ai Weiwei’s returned visa. (more…)

The Washington Post takes a tour of La Fabrica del Arte Cubano, a warehouse space repurposed as a nightclub and arts venue in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood.  The space is run by musician and artist X Alfonso, who operates it as a community space, giving him a certain degree of autonomy.   (more…)

University of Amsterdam art scholar Frans Grijzenhout is claiming that he has discovered the location of Vermeer’s Little Street painting, placing it in the upscale Vlamingstraat in Delft.   (more…)

Tufts University is reportedly taking over the Museum of Fine Arts Boston’s Art School, the Boston Globe reports.  The deal, effective June 30th, will allow the school’s 700-plus students to become part of Tufts, and will give operational responsibility to the University. “I think it will be more attractive to fine arts students,” says Tufts president Anthony P. Monaco. “The university can offer a lot more to them than the museum school standing on its own.” (more…)

The New York Art, Antique & Jewelry Show has reportedly lost its location at the Park Avenue Armory, part of a push by the institution towards a focus on live programming and events.  “What they’re saying is, they want to push all these shows out of the Park Avenue Armory. The goal is only to have performances,” says fair owner Scott Diament.  “It was a major shock to me.” (NYP)
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Artist Ai Weiwei recently visited refugees living on the Greek island of Lesbos this month, sharing photos and video documenting their precarious existence, and pleading for more international aid to help them in their attempts to enter Europe.   (more…)

Alex Israel is featured in the Brooklyn Rail this week, offering his take on the necessity and/or benefits of continued study at art schools for young practitioners.  “All too often, unsure of oneself, seeking the approval of a favorite professor or influential visiting artist, and/or succumbing to the brand of insecurity that only art schools can breed, an art student will sacrifice what was once the original vision for what he or she thinks the critique—faculty and peers—would prefer the work to be,” he writes. (more…)

The Art News profiles LOMEX, a new gallery by curator Alexander Shulan, based out of the former studio of Eva Hesse.  “I was in here, and it felt like an artist might have been here, and I looked up the address, and decided this was the space,” he says. (more…)