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The Headlines
ARTFUL DODGERS. The Louvre has had a rough season since the brazen daylight theft of France’s crown jewels from its gilded halls last October. Now, French police have arrested nine people in connection with an extensive network of fraudsters who sold fake tickets via guided groups to the Louvre and the Chateau de Versailles, reports Le Parisien. Two Louvre employees, along with independent guides, have been arrested for their suspected role in the “large-scale” scheme, which is estimated to have cost the Louvre some 10 million euros ($11.9 million). Louvre President Laurence des Cars has been fighting to hold onto her job since the October robbery revealed major gaps in the museum’s security, and she has vowed to implement emergency measures to fill them, even as museum workers continue to strike over related claims of operational dysfunction. The Louvre alerted police of suspicious activity in December 2024, thanks to the museum’s internal “antifraud policy and continued interactions between museum teams and police,” ultimately leading to this week’s arrests, stated a Louvre spokesperson. The museum also said it is implementing a new “structured anti-fraud plan,” because it is facing “a rise and diversification in ticketing fraud.” So how did the scheme work? Suspects reportedly posed as legitimate, independent museum guides, and according to Le Parisien, charged customers for tickets that the fraudsters reused for multiple entries.
NATIONAL GALLERY JOB CUTS. The National Gallery in London is cutting staff and launching a “voluntary exit scheme” in a bid to beat back a looming £8.2 million ($11.17 million) deficit expected by the year 2026-27, reports The Art Newspaper. Burdened by increasing running costs, a stagnant income, inflation, and fewer visitors opting to pay for temporary exhibitions, layoffs are reportedly expected, with repercussions expected in programming. The institution will “be stopping several of our activities where, for a number of reasons beyond our control, we can no longer justify their costs,” said a gallery spokesperson. Meanwhile, if voluntary departures don’t cut it, employees will be forced out. The news comes as a surprise, since it follows the September announcement of two record-breaking £150 million donations towards the funding of a major new extension, called Project Domani.
The Digest
In May, Christie’s is set to auction a trio of the late collector Agnes Gund’s trophy artworks she kept in her apartment: a Mark Rothko, a Cy Twombly, and a Surrealist box by Joseph Cornell, estimated to cost a total of $145 million. [The New York Times]
French publisher Gallimard has suspended the publication of a new book by former French culture minister Jack Lang, about former French president Francois Mitterrand, due to the revelation of Lang’s ties with Jeffrey Epstein. [Le Figaro]
Sotheby’s will offer four major works from the Lewis Collection next month, spearheaded by a 1972 self-portrait by Francis Bacon, in what the auction house described as a markedly stronger market than a year ago. [ARTnews]
A temporary 48-foot-tall metal sculpture of a nude woman in San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza may remain standing for another six months, until October, 2026, if advocates for the extension have their way. The yoga-posing sculpture by Marco Cochrane titled R-Evolution, has divided public opinion, and city agencies will now decide on its future. [KQED]
The Kicker
WOMEN’S WORK. Can only women paint “great” female nudes? That is a question author Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett explores in her new novel on the topic, which argues women have unique perspectives when it comes to depicting their own bodies, bound by political and historical context. “What does it mean for a female artist to be both the artist and the life model?” or “both image and image-maker?” wondered performance artist Carolee Schnueemann, according to Cosslett. In a piece for the Guardian, the author says these are questions that haven’t been given their due.
