Parts of the Glasgow School of Art to be dismantled as a ‘matter of urgency’

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Parts of Glasgow School of Art to be dismantled as a ‘matter of urgency’ | A large part of the Glasgow School of Art must be dismantled urgently, the city council has revealed. The Category A-listed building was severely damaged by a fire for the second time in four years earlier this month, and surveys carried out earlier this week suggest that what remains of its structure could be at risk of imminent collapse. According to Glasgow city council’s head of building control, it is likely that the GSA’s south façade will need to be pulled down to at least first-floor level, and other walls will also need to be taken down.

British Museum defends decision to accept collection of ivories | The British Museum has accepted a donation of more than 500 ivory objects collected by the businessman Sir Victor Sassoon between 1915 and 1927. Speaking at the museum’s annual review yesterday, director Hartwig Fischer stated that objects of such significance need to be preserved and made available for display and study. ‘These ivories [made] in the last centuries or millennia … do not save any elephants’ lives today,’ the FT quotes Fischer as saying.

Van Shields to retire as director of Berkshire Museum | Van Shields, the director who presided over the Berkshire Museum’s highly controversial decision to sell a number of key works from its collection, has announced that he is to retire. Shields has been the director of the museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, since 2011, a period during which it has experienced financial difficulties. The museum will undertake a nation-wide search for Shields’s successor and the museum consultant David Ellis will fill the role in an interim capacity.

Germany increases culture budget to €1.8bn | Germany’s parliament has approved a nine per cent increase in the federal culture budget, boosting it to €1.8bn, the Art Newspaper reports. The additional funds will go towards projects including the preservation and protection of heritage sites, improving cultural education and exposure in rural areas and the purchase of works deemed to be of national importance.

Salvator Mundi to go on display at Louvre Abu Dhabi this autumn | Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi is to go on public display for the first time since it was acquired on behalf of the Louvre Abu Dhabi for a record $450m last November. The museum says that the painting will briefly be on show as of 18 September, and will subsequently travel to the Louvre in Paris in October.