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The chief operating officer of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art has resigned after an internal investigation found that approximately $600,000 was allegedly misappropriated over several years and the matter was referred to federal prosecutors, according to the  Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Brady Lum, who had served as COO since 2019, tendered his resignation on Dec. 9 amid the probe. On Tuesday, the board of the Woodruff Arts Center, which oversees the High, voted to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia for possible criminal prosecution, the newspaper reported. Woodruff Arts Center President and CEO Hala Moddelmog told the  AJC  that Lum allegedly misappropriated the funds over a period of three to four years. The organization believes he acted alone, she said. The Woodruff board approved Atlanta law firm King & Spalding to refer the case to federal authorities. The organization also retained the firm and an independent...

A partially dismantled sculpture by Alexander Calder in Washington, D.C. is, at long last, in the process of being restored, according to Roll Call , a publication that focuses on Capitol Hill-based news. The sculpture in question, Mountains and Clouds , fills the 90-foot-high, skylit atrium of the Hill’s Hart Senate Office Building, which was constructed in the 1970s and first occupied in 1982. Calder’s proposal was chosen from a group of five sculptors who were tasked with designing “a work that would harmonize with the atrium’s surrounding white marble architecture and yet stand apart from the cluttering distraction of adjacent doors, windows, and balconies,” according to the Senate website .  Calder made the final adjustments to his sheet-metal maquette on November 10, 1976; he died the following day in New York City. Construction on Mountains and Clouds began a decade later, in 1986, and the monumental sculpture, made out of black-painted aircraft aluminum, was dedicated ...

The decision to cancel a solo exhibition featuring anti-ICE art at the University of North Texas art school was an “institutional directive,” Dean Karen Hutzel said in newly leaked transcripts of a faculty meeting. First reported by the Denton Record-Chronicle , the transcripts show Hutzel declining to identify the directive’s source while warning colleagues to expect a “media storm.” The College of Visual Arts and Design (CVAD) at the University of North Texas made national headlines earlier this month after abruptly canceling a solo exhibition by artist Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, who quickly alleged censorship. The decision sparked a student protest against university leadership and prompted an open letter from UNT faculty demanding transparency about why the show was shut down. In the leaked transcripts, Hutzel reportedly told employees that while the school’s administration might survive the reputational fallout, the college itself could become a target of elected officials with...

Butter, the Indianapolis-founded art fair that returns 100 percent of sales proceeds to artists, will make its Los Angeles debut this week, expanding for the first time beyond its Midwest base as the city fills with collectors and dealers for Frieze week. Founded in 2021 and organized by Indianapolis-based cultural development firm GangGang, Butter positions itself as a no-commission alternative to the traditional art fair model, centering Black visual artists from California and across the country. Butter LA marks the sixth iteration of the fair. The fair will take place at Hollywood Park in Inglewood from February 26 through March 1. Organizers say that since its launch, Butter has generated more than $1.2 million in direct sales for Black artists. Unlike most commercial fairs, where galleries typically take a commission on works sold, Butter operates under an artist-first model in which participating artists retain 100 percent of sale proceeds. Works at the Los Angeles edition w...

After a prolonged period of internal turmoil that has included a widely publicized heist, striking workers, two structural leaks, and a ticketing scam, the Louvre has lost its director. On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had officially accepted the resignation of Laurence des Cars, who had led the Louvre since 2021. “Ms. Laurence des Cars has submitted to the President of the Republic her letter of resignation from the presidency of the Louvre Museum,” a short statement from Macron’s office said. “The head of state accepted it, welcoming an act of responsibility at a time when the world’s largest museum needs calm and a strong new impetus to carry out major security and modernization projects and the ‘Louvre – New Renaissance’ project.” Macron’s office said he had “thanked her for her work” and praised des Cars for “her undeniable scientific expertise.” In a statement , des Cars said, “Through both hardship and success, directing the Louvre has been the honor of...

Sotheby’s is about to turn a pair of very polished lives into a two-part auction season. In April and May, the house will present roughly 135 works from the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg, carrying a combined estimate of $67 million to $99 million. The first chapter arrives on April 22 with a dedicated design sale in New York, estimated at $30 million to $44 million and described by Sotheby’s as “the most valuable single-owner design sale in its history.” A selection of modern and contemporary art will follow in the May evening sales. The de Gunzburgs’ Upper East Side apartment has been widely admired for its blend of Parisian-chic detailing and museum-caliber art and design. Ornate moldings and parquet floors frame Art Deco furniture alongside works by Rothko, Picasso, Calder, and others. It is a lived-in but carefully composed interior. One of the highlights of the May sales will be Mark Rothko’s  Untitled  (1969), estimated at $10 million to $15 million. Exec...