Law & Politics The Founders of Hobby Lobby Are Suing Christie’s for Selling Them an Ancient Artifact That Pretty Much Everyone Now Agrees Was Stolen The dispute centers on the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, which was taken from Iraq sometime in the 2000s. By Eileen Kinsella, May 20, 2020
Art World The Art World Works From Home: Morgan Library Director Colin Bailey Is Watching ‘Frasier’ Reruns and Researching JP Morgan’s Collecting Habits Dinner and drinks in Manhattan is at the top of Bailey's post-lockdown list. By Eileen Kinsella, May 19, 2020
Art World Egyptian Tourism Officials Just Moved Four Ancient Sphinxes to a Tahrir Square Roundabout—and Archaeologists Are Horrified The heat and air pollution in the capital city are threats to the artifacts, experts say. By Artnet News, May 8, 2020
Law & Politics A Massive International Sting Operation Spanning 103 Countries Has Recovered Thousands of Stolen Artworks and Antiquities 101 suspects were arrested in the global operation. By Taylor Dafoe, May 7, 2020
Art World A Wedding Photographer Took an Online Archaeology Class During Lockdown—and May Have Discovered a Lost Stonehenge-Like Structure Excavations may be paused, but discoveries are still being made thanks to aerial photography and high-tech scans that are available online. By Sarah Cascone, May 7, 2020
Crime A Trove of Artifacts Inscribed With Gibberish Was Intercepted at Heathrow. They May Reveal an Alarming New Front in the War on Forgery British Museum curators explain what makes the new wave of bogus antiquities different. By Taylor Dafoe, May 4, 2020
Market Christie’s Literally Wants to Offer You the Moon With the Sale of a $2.5 Million Chunk of Lunar Meteorite The 30-pound moonrock fell to earth in the Sahara desert. By Taylor Dafoe, May 1, 2020
Art World Did the Ancient Pompeiians Invent Recycling? New Research Suggests They Used Trash to Build City Walls (and Much More) According to new research, Romans even made a profit from recycling. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 29, 2020
Art World Melting Ice Has Uncovered Hundreds of Ancient Viking Artifacts and a Previously Unknown Trade Route in Norway A trove of Viking artifacts have come to light thanks to a warming climate, proving that a mountain pass served as an important trade network. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 21, 2020
Art World A UK Museum Challenged Bored Curators Worldwide to Share the Creepiest Objects in Their Collections. Things Got Really Weird, Fast Why would anyone own these things? By Taylor Dafoe, Apr 20, 2020
Art World Scholars Just Removed a High-Ranking Mummy From Her Coffin—Only to Discover She Was Buried With a Secret Painting Gallery The paintings depict the goddess Amentet in a red dress. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 6, 2020
Art World These Tiny 20,000-Year-Old Artworks From Indonesia Prove That Europe Wasn’t the Only Place Art Was Being Made During the Last Ice Age Among the findings are a depiction of a small water buffalo native to Indonesia. By Taylor Dafoe, Mar 26, 2020
Art World ‘It’s the First Domino’: After the Museum of the Bible Discovered Its Dead Sea Scrolls Are Fake, the Field Braces for More Revelations The discovery heightens suspicions over the authenticity of some 70 Dead Sea Scroll fragments around the world. By Sarah Cascone, Mar 16, 2020
Art World A Doctoral Student Just Discovered a Tiny 5,000-Year-Old Sword—One of the Oldest Weapons in the World—in an Italian Monastery The 5,000-year-old weapon, which hails from the Bronze Age, was mislabeled as a medieval artifact. By Taylor Dafoe, Mar 12, 2020
Art Fairs TEFAF, One of Europe’s Premier Art Fairs, Closes Four Days Early After a Dealer Tests Positive for Coronavirus The fair is a major force for the local economy and the international Old Master market. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 11, 2020
