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Imagine a world where an artist is considered an essential worker. The government commissions murals and sculptures for schools, libraries, and hospitals. Taxes fund free classes in pottery and printmaking at a community art center. The president of the United States promotes art as vital to a healthy democracy.  This world flickered into view between 1933 and 1943, a decade when the US government treated art as a public resource rather than a private luxury. The output was staggering: hundreds of thousands of artworks—murals, paintings, sculptures, prints, and photographs—by then-unknown artists like Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Lee Krasner, Jacob Lawrence, Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. They belonged to the era’s bold vision of cultural democracy: art by the people, for the people. This vision rose from a nightmare: the Great Depression. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, three and a half years after...

In Labrador, where geography and geopolitics increasingly intersect, Canada is making one of its most consequential defence infrastructure moves to date. At 5 Wing Goose Bay, a cornerstone of northern operations, the federal government is laying the groundwork for a transformation that could reach up to $8 billion—marking the largest defence investment in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history. Announced in Happy Valley–Goose Bay, the initiative positions the base as a critical node in Canada’s evolving NORAD northern basing infrastructure (NNBI) network. As Arctic security dynamics intensify, Goose Bay is set to play an expanded role in enabling rapid deployment and sustained operations across the North. At the heart of this immediate effort is a $187 million Energy Performance Contract (EPC), awarded to MCW Custom Energy Solutions Ltd. The project will modernize the base’s Central Heating Plant, replacing legacy diesel systems with electric boilers powered by Labrador’s hydroelectric ...

Canada’s Arctic is no longer a distant frontier—it is a rapidly evolving strategic domain. As shipping lanes expand, climate pressures intensify, and geopolitical attention sharpens, Canada is accelerating efforts to ensure a sustained, year-round presence in the North. That urgency was on full display in Lévis, Québec, on March 31, as federal leaders and industry partners gathered at Chantier Davie Canada Inc . to mark the start of Canadian production on the Polar Max Icebreaker—one of two new polar vessels set to redefine the Canadian Coast Guard’s Arctic capabilities. A Defining Moment for Arctic Presence The production start ceremony signals more than just the beginning of construction—it marks the transition to full-rate production at Davie’s shipyard and a significant step forward in renewing Canada’s Arctic-capable fleet under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Together with its sister vessel under construction at Vancouver Shipyards, the Polar Max Icebreaker will form the ...

On March 27, 2026 the DM, CDS and Commissioner or the CCG released the following message: Defence Team, As part of our ongoing work to protect Canada’s sovereignty and waters, the Defence Team relies on close coordination with its partners. The Royal Assent of the  Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12)  marks a significant milestone, further strengthening border and maritime security while supporting the evolving role of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) within the Defence Team. Since the CCG joined the Department of National Defence we have been working more closely together to support Canada’s safety and security at home. This legislation reinforces that collaboration. These new authorities allow the CCG to carry out security-related activities, including security patrols, and share maritime intelligence with its partners, helping the Defence Team stay present and responsive across Canada’s coasts and northern waters. This is part o...

An 11-year-long legal dispute over a prized Amedeo Modigliani painting looted during World War II has concluded in a loss for billionaire art dealer David Nahmad and his family, marking an unlikely restitution victory for the heirs of its original Jewish owner. A New York judge ruled this week that Seated Man With a Cane (1918) rightfully belongs to the estate of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer who left the portrait behind under duress while fleeing Paris ahead of the Nazi occupation. The court found that the painting was illicitly seized and illegitimately transferred, rejecting the Nahmads’ longstanding argument that its provenance, or ownership history, was unclear. “Oscar Stettiner owned or at a minimum had a superior right of possession of the painting prior to its unlawful seizure,” Judge Joel M. Cohen wrote, as first quoted by the New York Times , “and he never voluntarily relinquished it.” The judge added that David Nahmad and the Nahmad holding company “failed to rai...

A painting by Raja Ravi Varma has set a new auction record for the work of an Indian artist, signaling continued strength at the top end of the market . Yashoda and Krishna  (ca. 1890s) sold for $17.9 million at Saffronart in Delhi on April 1, surpassing the previous benchmark for Indian painting at auction, held by M.F. Husain’s  Untitled (Gram Yatra) , which sold for $13.8 million at Christie’s New York last year and was purchased by ARTnews Top 200 Collector Kiran Nadar. The result also comfortably eclipses Varma’s prior record of $4.5 million, set in 2023 The buyer was pharmaceutical billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India, according to  Artsy .    Characterizing Varma as “indisputably remains the most influential pioneer of early modern Indian art,” Saffronart called Yashoda and Krishna “one of the artist’s most accomplished works,” in its lot description. “In this painting,” the essay continues, “he interpre...