Our daily round-up of news from the art world
Rembrandt’s Catrina Hooghsaet Portrait ‘At Risk of Leaving UK’ | Once again, British cultural institutions are racing against time to save a work of art for the nation. Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has placed a temporary export bar on Rembrandt’s portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet, a work valued at £35 million. If the requisite funds cannot be found in the next few months, the painting, which is one of the best known Rembrandt works in the UK, will almost certainly leave British soil after 250 years in the country.
Renovated Musée de l’Homme to Open Tomorrow | After a six and a half year refurbishment, the Musée de l’Homme in Paris is finally set to reopen its doors to the public tomorrow. The anthropological museum in the Palais de Chaillot, houses a collection that provided invaluable inspiration to artists including Picasso (who visited it at its former home in the Trocadéro).
Heidelberg Museum to Return Artefacts to Greece | Heidelberg’s Museum of Ancient History is set to return fragments from the temple of Erechtheion to Greece, reports Le Journal des Arts. While the gesture may help to calm tensions between Greece and Germany, it might further complicate the debate over the British Museum’s ‘Elgin Marbles’.
Stirling Prize Goes to Burntwood School | This year’s Riba Stirling Prize for the UK’s best building has been awarded to Allford Hall Monaghan Morris architects for a school campus they designed in Burntwood, south London. The Guardian has described the project as ‘a testament to the power of thoughtful design’.
Village Voice Sold to Media Billionaire | The hallowed New York publication The Village Voice has been sold to media tycoon Peter D. Barbey, reports the New York Times. The Voice, a title particularly fêted for its arts coverage, has faced difficulties in the recent past, owing to falling print circulation and advertising revenues. Lovers of quality criticism will be hoping that Mr Barbey’s takeover will not usher in a drop in quality.
London Middle Eastern Art Centre Forced to Relocate | In south London, there’s bad news for local admirers of Middle Eastern art. The Edge of Arabia, a not-for-profit arts centre in Battersea, has been forced out of its current premises due to rising rents and luxury developments, reports The Art Newspaper. The arts centre, which was founded in 2003, will move to cheaper premises in the south-east of the city.
‘Historic Competitors’ Gagosian and Deitch to Collaborate | Finally, a little love. Dealers Larry Gagosian and Jeffrey Deitch have surprised many art world watchers by announcing a collaborative painting and drawing show in Miami in December. The two art dealers are longstanding competitors, but for now, it’s sweetness and light between them. How touching.