Initial reports on this year’s TEFAF Maastricht art fair are indicating a high number of museums looking to buy at this year’s edition.  Filled with over $5 billion in art and antiques, the fair is luring a number of museums looking to further bolster their collections.  “Museum board members have realized that this fair is a real opportunity that has to be seized,” Says New York Dealer Richard L. Feigen says. “Or they’ll miss out.” (more…)

In a new twist to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s current fiscal problems, MOCA is reportedly in talks for a partnership with the National Gallery, a development that casts doubts on that museum’s possible acquisition by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  The discussed plan between MOCA and the National Gallery would open the door to collaborations on exhibition and research, but would do little to alleviate MOCA’s financial woes.  “The goal at this point is stabilizing them and get them standing as an independent institution,” says National Gallery chair John Wilmerding. “We’d like to see them survive and thrive, and if we can help them, that’s all we’re doing.” (more…)

Rembrandt’s “Portrait of the Father” has been recovered in Serbia, seven years after its theft from a museum in Novi Sad.  The painting, which is currently valued at $4 million, was stolen in a masked robbery alongside works by Peter Paul Rubens, marking the second time the painting has been stolen in the space of ten years.  The theft underlines Serbia’s problems with art theft, which has struggled to provide adequate security for some of its masterworks. (more…)

Artist Catherine Opie recently spoke with ArtInfo about the potential merger of LACMA and MOCA, and her views on the institutions’ futures. Opie left MOCA’s board of directors last year amid criticism of the museum’s administrative direction.  “I know there’s a LACMA offer on the table and personally I think that would amazing,” Opie said. “LACMA has an amazing ability to raise money, Michael Govan has done an incredible job with that campus.  If he feels like he can take that on and turn things around it would be incredible.”  (more…)

With the two year shut-down of SFMOMA for its major expansion project beginning this June, the institution is gearing up to announce a range of exhibitions and events across the Bay Area.  The museum released a small press announcement on its Facebook recently, welcoming external input, and hinting at events to come.  The construction will span 2013 to 2016, and will cost the museum $555 million. (more…)

Salem, MA’s Peabody Essex Museum has quietly risen up the ranks to become one of the United States’ top 20 art museums for gallery space and endowment, thanks in part to a new revenue model that focuses on strengthening the museum’s endowment over physical expansion.  Led by director Dan L. Monroe, the museum has also shifted its focus towards the local community, and away from occasionally unreliable streams of tourists.  “That gives you a dynamic relationship with the community and the capability to develop a support base,” Mr. Monroe says. (more…)