The Construction Index: V&A acquires archive of Pugin drawings

The Construction Index: V&A acquires archive of Pugin drawings. “More than 700 drawings by 19th century architect Augustus Pugin have been acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London…. The 700 drawings – which range in date from the late 1830s until 1851 – are working design drawings in Pugin’s hand. Many are signed and dated by Pugin himself. They range from initial sketches in pencil to finished presentation designs rendered in watercolour.”

Techdirt: Italy Decides That Leonardo da Vinci’s 500 Year Old Works Are Not In The Public Domain

Techdirt: Italy Decides That Leonardo da Vinci’s 500 Year Old Works Are Not In The Public Domain. “The Communia blog has another example of something that is unequivocally in the public domain and yet cannot be used for any purpose, in this case a commercial one. The public domain art is the famous Vitruvian Man drawn by Leonardo da Vinci over 500 years ago.”

CNN: Hi-res art scans from famous Taiwan museum leak online… and turn up for sale on Chinese online shopping platform

CNN: Hi-res art scans from famous Taiwan museum leak online… and turn up for sale on Chinese online shopping platform . “A Taiwanese museum that houses some of the world’s most precious Chinese artworks has confirmed that up to 100,000 high-resolution images of paintings and calligraphy leaked online – some of them turning up for sale on a Chinese shopping platform for less than $1.”

NewsWise: Want More Generous Children? Show Them Awe-inspiring Art

NewsWise: Want More Generous Children? Show Them Awe-inspiring Art. “Concert halls, movie theaters, and museums are home to a kaleidoscope of art forms, but one thing they all have in common is the potential to inspire feelings of awe. This humbling perspective has been shown to motivate adults to set aside their own problems to focus on the needs of others, and new research in Psychological Science suggests that awe can encourage generosity in children too.”

Codart: Ackland Art Museum Launches Website Entirely Dedicated to a Collection of Drawings

Codart: Ackland Art Museum Launches Website Entirely Dedicated to a Collection of Drawings. “In 2017, UNC alumnus Dr. Sheldon Peck and his wife Dr. Leena Peck gave the Ackland Art Museum their collection of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Dutch and Flemish drawings, along with an endowment to support a new curatorial position, future art acquisitions, exhibitions, educational materials, and public programs. Central to their vision was a robust website on the leading edge of the digital humanities, that would make possible a deep and significant virtual experience of the art in the collection.”

Hyperallergic: Museum Under Fire for Showing AI Version of Vermeer Masterpiece

Hyperallergic: Museum Under Fire for Showing AI Version of Vermeer Masterpiece. “On view online and in person through June 4, My Girl with a Pearl displays fans’ recreations of the 17th-century masterpiece, including versions featuring self-portraits, miniature art, and a glamorous dinosaur. But out of all the wacky interpretations shown at the Mauritshuis, one artwork produced using artificial intelligence has proved especially provocative.”

Scientists warn: when restoring historical paintings, be careful with polar solvents (University of Amsterdam)

University of Amsterdam: Scientists warn: when restoring historical paintings, be careful with polar solvents. “Even small amounts of water can lead to rapid formation of metal soap crystals in historical oil paintings. Researchers at the University of Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum warn in particular against using polar solvents that often contain traces of water. Especially the combination of water and solvent can have disastrous consequences…”

Chron: How a vast collection of Mardi Gras history was lost, then found

Chron: How a vast collection of Mardi Gras history was lost, then found. “… they couldn’t believe their eyes: hand-painted scenes—some 40 feet high—of mountain ranges, ancient cities, exotic castles and whimsical fantasy landscapes, in still-vivid color, with mica accents glittering across waves and windowpanes. They noticed words scribbled on the back of some: Athenians 1929, Osiris 1940, Hermes, and many more. To an outsider these might be cryptic, mystical words, but a New Orleanian instantly recognizes them as the names of Mardi Gras krewes.”

Clark University: ‘The fantasy of it runs wild’

Clark University: ‘The fantasy of it runs wild’. “Nestled between Rome and Florence, the Italian hillside town of Bomarzo appears calm and unassuming. But with a look down the hill, monsters appear. Just below a Renaissance palace is a 29-acre park, where mystery and wonder emerge from boulders and outcroppings of Tufo stone. More than 400 years ago, artists carved beasts and mythological figures into Pier Francesco ‘Vicino’ Orsini’s land. ‘When you’re there, the fantasy of it runs wild,’ says art history Professor John Garton, who is working on an international project to preserve the site crafted in the late Renaissance period, between 1550 and 1585.”

New York Times: This Tool Could Protect Artists From A.I.-Generated Art That Steals Their Style

New York Times: This Tool Could Protect Artists From A.I.-Generated Art That Steals Their Style. “Say, for example, that [artist Karla] Ortiz wants to post new work online, but doesn’t want it fed to A.I. to steal it. She can upload a digital version of her work to Glaze and choose an art type different from her own, say abstract. The tool then makes changes to Ms. Ortiz’s art at the pixel-level that Stable Diffusion would associate with, for example, the splattered paint blobs of Jackson Pollock.”

Utrecht University: The Middle Ages continue to surprise, this digital exhibition shows

Utrecht University: The Middle Ages continue to surprise, this digital exhibition shows. “Knights in love, preaching foxes and fighting snails: medieval culture may seem familiar or odd in modern eyes, but it is always surprising. In the digital exhibition ‘The Surprising Middle Ages’ (‘De verrassende middeleeuwen’), over fifty researchers from the Netherlands and abroad show what surprises the period between about 500 and 1500 still offers today.” The exhibit is in Dutch but translated okay when I put the URL in Google Translate.

Western University: Western researchers unveil stunning stained-glass artwork in online gallery

Western University: Western researchers unveil stunning stained-glass artwork in online gallery. “From Western’s Law Library to city hall to one of the grandest cathedral churches in London, Ont., Christopher Wallis’ art shines, the brightly coloured panes illuminated by the sun pouring through the stained glass windows. But much about Wallis (1930-2021) and his art was unknown throughout his career…. At least until Cody Barteet stumbled upon thousands of images of stained glass from the Anglican Diocese of Huron and started digging.”