Visual Arts 

Lawsuit Against Louis Vuitton, LA's MoCA About Documentation - "By bringing class-action lawsuits against Louis Vuitton North America and L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art, a Los Angeles art collector and his attorneys say they are sounding an alarm on behalf of people who shop for art prints that can cost thousands of dollars: Let the buyer be savvy, and let the seller beware. The suits in Los Angeles Superior Court rely on an obscure chapter of the California Civil Code called the Fine Prints Act. Together Louis Vuitton and MOCA potentially are liable for millions of dollars."... Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:43:27 -0800

Early Australian Tattoos Similar To Rock Art Of The Time - "Body art was all the rage in early Australia, as it was in many other parts of the ancient world, and now a new study reports that elaborate and distinctive designs on the skin of indigenous Aussies repeated characters and motifs found on rock art and all sorts of portable objects, ranging from toys to pipes."... Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:14:57 -0800

Record Numbers Flocked To British Museum In 2007 - "More than 850,000 people viewed the attraction, giving the museum its highest attendance figures since the Tutankhamun display of 1972. The collection boosted overall visitor figures from 2007-08 to six million."... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:23:37 -0800

The Art Market - A Robust Top End, But In The Middle? - "Christie's and Sotheby's, the world's two top auctioneers, have just completed a series of summer sales in London that raised more than $1-billion, underlining how resilient the top end of the market is despite growing economic gloom. But falling share prices, inflationary pressures and rising costs of oil appear to be taking their toll on the middle market."... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:10:44 -0800

Why Celebrity Museum Shows Are A Bad Idea - "The negatives so far outweigh the positives that such shows hurt, rather than help, a museum's mission. The latest example is "Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections From the Cheech Marin Collection," which opened recently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The clumsy title is the least of its problems."... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:56:10 -0800