J. Paul Getty medal recipients for 2018 announced

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

J. Paul Getty medals awarded to Thelma Golden, Agnes Gund and Richard Serra | The J. Paul Getty Foundation has announced that it will award its annual medal to Studio Museum in Harlem director Thelma Golden, MoMA president emerita Agnes Gund and sculptor Richard Serra. Golden was recognised for transforming her institution into one of America’s ‘most dynamic visual arts institutions, inspiring to professionals and public alike’, while Gund was praised for her ‘unparalleled’ philanthropy in the arts. Serra, meanwhile, was singled out for ‘transform[ing] our ideas about sculpture itself’. The three laureates will be honoured in a ceremony at the Getty Center on 24 September.

Louvre reportedly rejects plans for Mona Lisa tour | Earlier this month French culture minister Françoise Nyssen suggested that Leonardo’s Mona Lisa could leave the Louvre in Paris to embark on a tour of France, designed to combat ‘cultural segregation’ between the capital and other regions of the country. Now the Art Newspaper reports that the Louvre’s director Jean-Luc Martinez has met with with Nyssen and rejected the proposal, on the grounds that moving the painting ‘could cause irreversible damage’. The culture ministry says that plans for a tour are ‘still under consideration’.

Rare annotated copy of Ben Jonson play Epicœne saved for nation | The University of Edinburgh has succeeded in raising £48,000 to acquire an annotated copy of Ben Jonson’s play Epicœne, reports the Guardian. The play, which was subject to a temporary export bar prior to the purchase, forms part of a collection of Jonson’s work printed in 1640, three years after the playwright’s death. According to experts, no other annotated copies of the play exist that show how it may have been performed in the 17th century.

Nicholas Nixon retires from MassArt following misconduct allegations | Photographer Nicholas Nixon has taken early retirement from Boston’s Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he held a professorship in photography, following allegations of inappropriate conduct which have surfaced against Nixon. The school has confirmed that it has launched an investigation into the allegations, in accordance with Title IX, the law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in any federally-funded education programme or activities.