Art Outlook: 3 April

Some of the stories, debates and discussions we’ve spotted this week

 Austria refuses £207 million Essl art collection

After long negotiations, the Austrian government has announced it will not buy the £207 million art collection of Karlheinz Essl, who owns DIY chain store bauMax DIY. Essl had argued that by buying the collection, 4,000 jobs could be saved at his financially troubled company. However, on Wednesday, Social Affairs Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said: ‘We have our limits.’

Two stolen paintings found

A Pierre Bonnard and a Paul Gauguin stolen from a London home in 1970 have been found on a factory worker’s wall in Sicily. The art-loving Fiat worker bought them for 45,000 lire (£19) in a 1975 lost-property auction. The pair is now thought to be worth at least £8.8 million.

Ashmolean and V&A in Nazi-era spoliation enquiry

Nazi-era spoliation claims have been made against the Ashmolean museum in Oxford and the Victoria and Albert museum (V&A) in London over Meissen porcelain pieces in their collections. Both museums are cooperating with the government’s spoliation advisory panel.

Protest at the Guggenheim Museum in New York

On Saturday, the Global Ultra Luxury Faction (G.U.L.F) staged another protest at the Guggenheim Museum in New York to highlight labour conditions on Saadiyat Island, where the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is to be built. Protestors threw 9,000 multicoloured ‘1%’ fake currency bills from the rotunda.

Brian Dillon on Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Ways of Curating

Writer and curator Brian Dillon has reviewed curator Hans Ulrich Obrist’s recent book ‘Ways of Curating’ for the Literary Review. He describes it as ‘brisk, eclectic and at times maddening’.

British Art Show 8 curators announced

Anna Colin and Lydia Yee have been selected to curate the British Art Show 8. The UK’s biggest touring exhibition of contemporary art, the show opens in October 2015 in Leeds before travelling to Edinburgh, Norwich and Southampton.

Artist charged with defacing Banksy works

LA artist David William Noll has been charged with felony vandalism after defacing two of Banksy’s most famous works, Girl on Swing and Peeing Dog. Noll was caught because he recorded himself vandalising the art, then posted the video on YouTube.

Katy Perry to start art collection

Pop superstar Katy Perry has started an art collection. ‘What I’m really drawn to,’ she commented, ‘is modern contemporary art and Pop Art, of course.’