Last 12th June, Lithuania approved the project for the new museum of the capital city Vilnius (nominated European capital of culture for 2009), realized in collaboration with two great international realities: the Guggenheim Museum and the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg.
It is estimated that the project will cost 117 million dollars, 15% of which will be funded by the Lithuanian government. The date scheduled for its realization is 2011. According to previsions, more than 400,000 visitors are expected every year.

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

On 15th May “Photographs” was held at Christie’s London, a great occasion for collectors of the category who are passionate about works by the most famous names in the history of photography, but also more contemporary artistic figures.
An interesting sale that, despite not achieving a great stir, presented 114 lots fetching 1,402,525 pounds with a 72% sale percentage.

The story of the rise of the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami seems to be unstoppable. The huge success obtained at the MoCa Los Angeles to open the world tour of his retrospectives was not enough, which until May 2009 will hit the greatest artistic institutions like the Brooklyn Museum New York (until 13th July 2008), the Museum fu Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt (September 2008 – January 2009) and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (February – May 2009).

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

A few days ago the Guggenheim Bilbao was forced to fire their own finance director (CFO) who confessed to having embezzled half a million euros from the museum. The Guggenheim inaugurated its futuristic site in Bilbao in 1997. From then on, the museum has on average attracted a million visitors annually. Since its opening day, Roberto Cearsolo Barrenetxea was head of the finance division with high responsibility tasks in directing the museum. The decision to expel Cearsolo was reached following verifications that led them to confirm his involvement in illegally laundering a significant amount of money from the Guggenheim’s coffers.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

 

Ever since the media and commercial exchanges have amplified the horizon of the art world, which was previously confined within the limits of schools and academies, it gave life to a complex and organised trade system for the diffusion of contemporary art.