Tessa Solomon

2 days ago | artnews.com | Tessa Solomon

In an unprecedented move for a United States arts institution, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will return a promised gift of Benin Bronzes and close the collection’s dedicated gallery on April 28. The gallery will ultimately transition into a space for displaying the MFA Boston’s collection of Nubian art, a small selection of which will go on view beginning May 1, followed by a “more robust” display when the works return from a touring exhibition.

3 days ago | artnews.com | Tessa Solomon

Pope Francis died on April 20 at 88, marking the end of an epoch for the Catholic Church and the beginning of its search for the next spiritual leader, who will also become proprietor of the Vatican’s library and vast art collection. He was born in 1936 as Mario Bergoglio, and was named Pope in 2013, following the resignation of Benedict Pope Benedict XVI.

6 days ago | artnews.com | Tessa Solomon

How many artists does it take to change the story of the Arabian Peninsula—lands comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates? About 30, the NYU Abu Dhabi Gallery suggests in its inaugural Gulf Quinquennial, and that count includes the artist behind the inspired graphic design of its poster, Mohammad Sharaf.

1 week ago | artnews.com | Tessa Solomon

Billionaire collector and music mogul David Geffen has unequivocally refused calls from Justin Sun for the return of an Alberto Giacometti sculpture that Sun claims was stolen from his collection by an employee and sold as part of an elaborate fraud. Sun, who is based in Hong Kong, filed his suit in February in New York, where the sculpture is located. On Wednesday, the 82-year-old Geffen hit the millennial crypto magnate with a 100-page countersuit.

1 week ago | artnews.com | Tessa Solomon

A 12-foot-tall bust of Elon Musk in Texas was defaced over the weekend, according to the owner of the property the artwork is located on. The landowner, Eleazar Villafranca, told ABC Newsthat passerby alerted him on Saturday to the damage, and, on Monday, he confirmed in-person deep gouges on the bust’s eye, chin, and back. “There are like three or four pieces they cut with a knife,” Villafranca said, adding that it was constructed out of a rubbery material.