Art has long been identified, even romanticized, as an ideal way to launder money. There’s a thread of logic here: the art world accommodates anonymous, high-dollar buyers and the industry allows large cash deals. For racketeers, it’s difficult to conjure up a more attractive set of circumstances.
Art News
With the recent discovery of a fully in-tact Bronze Age sword in Germany, and a complete suit of armor in Spain, we take a look at the miraculous nature of the preservation of such pre-modern objects.
In June, Surreal Spaces: The Life and Art of Leonora Carrington, an illustrated biography of the groundbreaking British artist was published by Thames & Hudson. In celebration, we take a look back at the hand-painted tarot deck she created.
“Games, Gamblers & Cartomancers: The New Cardsharps," a summer show in Newport curated by Dodie Kazanjian and Alison M. Gingeras, brings together seventeen buzzy contemporary artists—including Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson, Sanya Kantarovsky, and John Currin—to revisit the trope of cardplay.
'Van Gogh’s Cypresses' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the first exhibition to give the spotlight to the trees in the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890). With the iconic work The Starry Night taking center stage, here is a brief history of that work.
A recent Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa badly damaged several UNESCO-protected heritage sites including the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, the first Orthodox church in Odesa.
Intimately connected with the conceptual and minimalist art movements, American artist Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) used geometric shapes, lines and curves, along with abstract swathes of color to explore form, ephemerality, and positive and negative space.
Rome’s Trevi Fountain is the city’s largest Baroque fountain and a symbol of the revival of Ancient Roman technology and aesthetics. Connected to the city’s awe-inspiring ancient waterways, the fountain is an architectural wonder.
“The Book of HOV” is a sprawling exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library that features among its vast array of memorabilia, art, and clothing, a full-scale replica of Jay-Z’s Baseline Studios, where the iconic musician created some of his most celebrated and beloved songs. Oh, and the exhibition was a complete surprise to Jay-Z.
Acclaimed American sculptor, activist, and arts educator Augusta Savage (1892—1962) was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance who fought for equal rights for African American artists and inspired future generations as a teacher.
