In Brief
Nude Drawing Classes Are Therapy for Middle-Aged Japanese Virgins
The Hollywood trope of the 40-year-old virgin, lampooned in Steve Carrell's 2005 film, isn't a joke in Japan.
In Brief
In Brief
Artist Who Got Turkish President Fined Now Facing Four Years in Jail
Sculptor Mehmet Aksoy may have scored a victory earlier this year, when the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was fined about $3,800 for calling his unfinished "Monument to Humanity" a "monstrosity," but now the artist is facing 56 months in prison for insulting the president.
In Brief
Detroit Police Issue Felony Arrest Warrant for Shepard Fairey
The street artist Shepard Fairey may get a lot of laughs when he visits Portland, but if he sets foot in Detroit anytime soon things will get very serious.
In Brief
NYC Public Libraries Get Largest Funding Increase Ever
In a deal on the fiscal year 2016 budget struck late Monday night, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced an extra $39 million for the city's libraries.
In Brief
Four Public Art Projects from LA to Albany Get Grants of Up to $1M
On Tuesday Bloomberg Philanthropies named Gary, Indiana, Los Angeles, Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the New York cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy as the recipients of its inaugural Public Art Challenge grants.
In Brief
Parisian Mural Successfully Provokes Right-Wing Vandals
A mural by the French street artist Combo in Paris has become the target of far-right vandals, including one nationalist blogger who filmed herself tagging the mural with the message, "Antiracism is a codeword for antiwhite."
In Brief
Researchers Decipher the Map That May Have Guided Columbus Westward
You might call Henricus Martellus's 1491 world map — which many believe Christopher Columbus consulted before setting out on his voyage — a symbol of the limits of human knowledge.
In Brief
Newly Discovered Photo Offers a Glimpse of van Gogh, Gauguin, and Other Drunk Artists
While Vincent van Gogh's self-portraits were a significant part of his painting career, no confirmed photographs of the artist as an adult are known to exist.
In Brief
Vandals Douse Anish Kapoor's Versailles 'Vagina' with Paint
Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning vandals sprayed yellow paint on Anish Kapoor's sculpture "Dirty Corner" (2011–15), the centerpiece of his current exhibition at Versailles and a work the artist recently likened to "the vagina of the queen."
In Brief
Museum of Modern Art Acquires Iconic Rainbow Flag
The Rainbow Flag that artist Gilbert Baker created in San Francisco in 1978, and which has since become the icon of the Gay and LGBT Pride movements, has just been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for its design collection.
In Brief
Collector Funds Scheme to Get More Work by Women Artists into UK Museums
Art collector Valeria Napoleone is spearheading an initiative to put artwork by women in museums in the UK and US.
In Brief
Explosion in Yemeni Capital Damages 2,500-Year-Old UNESCO Site
On Friday an explosion tore through the old city district of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, destroying several buildings in the 2,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site.