China calls for return of art treasures from abroad

BEIJING  – China has ratcheted up pressure for imperial treasures to be repatriated, condemning overseas auctions of its relics and demanding they come home. China is particularly eager to get back a series of bronze animal heads looted in 1860 by British and French soldiers when they burned down the Qing emperors’ summer palace in Beijing. China’s drive to recover the heads has alarmed Western museums and auction houses, who are also sparring with Greece and other nations over the [...]

The Art of the Steal: The Untold Story of the Barnes Foundation

“The Art of the Steal: The Untold Story of the Barnes Foundation” is a riveting — and tragic — documentary film chronicling the gratuitous ruin of a school outside Philadelphia that houses an incomparable art collection. It’s a classic story of destroying the village in order to save it. Except this little saga comes with an unexpected twist: “Saving” the Barnes turns out to have been a sham, as the title’s claim of artful theft implies. (Full disclosure: I was [...]

When does art become child porn?

Not far from the strip joints of Soho is an image of a child having sex with an adult that can be seen for nothing any day of the week. The child is a boy of about 10 or 11, completely naked, his backside raised and partially turned to the viewer. The adult is a young woman, also naked. She is slipping her tongue into his mouth; he is squeezing her right nipple between his fingers. Not only is the [...]

Art School (Propositions for the 21st Century)

What does it mean to be an art school today? How should art education regroup and evolve in response to changes in the art world, higher education, information technology, the art market and the broader economy — and what should it mean to be an art school tomorrow? These are some of the many issues addressed in Art School (Propositions for the 21st Century) (MIT Press), a new book edited by Steven Henry Madoff, who is senior critic at the [...]

Arts Council chief warns against cuts in arts funding

Any future government – whether Conservative or Labour – must continue to fund the arts at current levels despite the bitter economic climate, the Arts Council chief urged today. “The arts ought to be a key part of any civilised government’s mission,” said Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England, speaking at the Conservative arts conference, Culture is Right, in London. He added: “I hope any government would not return to a Mills-ian view of the most efficient creation [...]