Auctions New Collectors and Museum Interest Help Drive New York’s Old Master Auctions to $150 Million—a High Not Seen in Years New auction records were set for Francisco Goya, Peter Paul Rubens, and Jean-Baptiste Oudry, among others. By Eileen Kinsella, Jan 27, 2023
Crime A Geneva Court Has Found Antiquities Dealer Ali Aboutaam Guilty of Illegally Importing Artifacts He was given a suspended jail sentence and a $500,000 fine. By Eileen Kinsella, Jan 26, 2023
Museums & Institutions Indigenous Groups Decry Guatemala’s Loan of an Ancient Mayan Throne to the Met The Met spent eight months restoring the dolomite throne. Now, in an open letter, members of the Indigenous community are questioning the government's decision to extend the loan for an exhibition. By Sarah Cascone, Jan 18, 2023
Archaeology & History Pompeii Has Reopened Its Infamous House of Vettii, Home to a Portrait of a Man Weighing His Penis and Other Erotic Frescoes The ancient murals have been undergoing restoration for the past 20 years. By Sarah Cascone, Jan 17, 2023
Museums & Institutions Frick Director Ian Wardropper on How the Museum’s Temporary Move to a Modern Building Sparked a Rethink of Its Iconic Old Master Collection And what the museum is looking forward to when it returns to the Frick Mansion on 70th Street. By Eileen Kinsella, Jan 12, 2023
Crime The U.S. Has Returned Its First Looted Antiquity to the Palestinian Authority: A Disgraced Collector’s Iron-Age Spoon The Manhattan D.A. seized the stolen artifact from Michael Steinhardt. By Sarah Cascone, Jan 6, 2023
Archaeology & History Archaeologists Discover 60 High-Ranking Renegade Mummies in a Tomb of an Ancient Egyptian Opposition Figure in Luxor Important Egyptians chose to be interred in Amenhotep-Huy's burial place because he opposed Akhenaten's controversial move to monotheism. By Sarah Cascone, Jan 4, 2023
Archaeology & History Ancient Stone Tools Once Thought to be Made by Humans Were Actually Crafted by Monkeys, Say Archaeologists If monkeys made the tools, it's a major blow to experts seeking to disprove the long-held "Clovis First" theory. By Sarah Cascone, Jan 3, 2023
Art World Here Are the 9 Biggest Art-World Controversies of 2022, From Climate Activists Attacking Masterworks to A.I. Replacing Artists So much outrage. By Eileen Kinsella & Taylor Dafoe, Dec 26, 2022
Crime Vandals Have Destroyed 30,000-Year-Old Australian Cave Art by Carving Spooky Graffiti Into the Rock The cave's indigenous owners had been pushing for increased security at the site. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 21, 2022
Archaeology & History Here Are 2022’s 12 Most Mind-Blowing Archaeological Discoveries, From Ancient Lice Combs to the World’s Oldest Mummies Revisit our best stories on the tombs, shipwrecks, and coin hoards unearthed this year. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 20, 2022
Politics As Many as 800 Tourists Left Stranded at Machu Picchu After Demonstrators Block the Only Route Out of the UNESCO Heritage Site Political upheaval in Peru is leaving tourists to its famed historic sites in the lurch. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 16, 2022
Archaeology & History Japanese Archaeologists Spot More Than 150 New Nazca Lines in Peru Using Aerial Footage Taken by Drones The team from Yamagata University has identified a total of 358 geoglyphs so far. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 16, 2022
Law & Politics A Sheikh From Qatar’s Ruling Family Has Won a $5 Million Legal Battle Against a London Art Dealer The judge ruled that art dealer John Eskenazi acted in good faith, but that seven "ancient" sculptures he sold to the sheikh were actually contemporary forgeries. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 13, 2022
Archaeology & History Please Don’t Let TikTok Convince You Otherwise—Ancient Rome Definitely Existed The baseless theory is "ancient aliens" level ridiculous. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 11, 2022
