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THE HEADLINES
FALLEN CROWN. For the first time since the brazen theft of French crown jewels, the Louvre has publicly shared images of Empress Eugénie’s crown, which was badly crushed by thieves who tried but failed to make off with it. Investigators determined that the robbers jammed the crown through a narrow opening they had cut in the jewel display case using an angle grinder and then dropped the headpiece as they fled, reports ARTnews. In a statement, the museum said the crown, with its curved waves of golden eagles and leaf-like diamond and emerald palmettes, is mostly intact. As a result, restorers overseen by an expert committee will be able to repair it “without having to resort to reconstitution or restitution.” The other stolen crown jewels, estimated to be worth some $102 million, have not been found to date.
LOST & FOUND. Spanish investigators have recovered a 1908 painting by Joaquín Sorolla and two others by José María Carbonero, which had gone missing since the 1970’s, reports El Pais. The Sorolla painting is a portrait of Isabel de Borbón, titled La Chata, and, like the two other recovered works, it was gifted to Spain’s national collection by its previous owners, the defunct Spanish Society of Friends of Art. Incidentally, the paintings first appeared on the gilded walls of the Liria Palace in Madrid, a private home belonging to the 19th Duke of Alba. The Duke had opened his residence to the public for a recent exhibition titled “Fashion in the House of Alba.” Meanwhile, the Duke of Alba is fully cooperating with authorities, and upon learning that the artworks had been “deposited” in the Liria Palace in 1973, he is returning them.
THE DIGEST
A small, but rare Rembrandt drawing of a lion sold for $17.9 million at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, making it one of the most expensive drawings ever sold at auction, and breaking the artist’s record for a work on paper. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the nonprofit Panthera, which works to preserve the world’s 40 species of large cats. [Wall Street Journal]
Thaddaeus Ropac said the gallery is expanding to New York with a new “project space,” and has hired Emilio Steinberger as a senior director there. Steinberger was previously a senior partner at Lévy Gorvy Dayan. [The Art Newspaper]
Calls have been multiplying for former French culture minister Jack Lang to resign from his position as president of the Institut du Monde Arabe museum in Paris, following the revelation of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. While nothing at this stage “implicates” Lang in any crimes, “he must think about stepping down in order to protect the institution he presides over,” said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure. [Le Figaro]
The historic Variety Arts Theater in Los Angeles has opened to the public for the first time in decades with a video art exhibition organized by collector Julia Stoschek and curator Udo Kittelmann. On view until March 20, films dating back 120 years include George Méliès’A Trip to the Moon (1902), Arthur Jafa’s Apex (2013), and Doug Aitken’s new work, Howl (2026). [The Los Angeles Times]
THE KICKER
KOREAN ARTIST AYOUNG KIM delves into her practice, a recent whirlwind of exhibitions, and ensuing international acclaim with the Brooklyn Rail’s Eana Kim. There’s a lot here, but among the highlights is the artist’s description of how she mined the pandemic-shaped figure of the delivery worker for her series, Delivery Dancer. Her inspiration began to take shape when the streets of Seoul became eerily empty during Covid-19 restrictions, except for a kind of army of delivery workers, the artist recalls. Yet, “I rarely saw their faces. They were highly visible in the city, yet strangely invisible as people. I became curious about who they were, how they moved, and what kinds of routes shaped their daily lives,” said Kim. She ended up riding along during shifts with one of the rare female workers. “That invisibility became a central question for me,” said Kim.
