The Louvre Leonardo Mouths that are Now at Risk

Read the ArtWatch UK story here

The rise of cosmetically altered art - Leonardo's changing mouth at the National Gallery, London

Read the ArtWatch UK story here

Artwatch in the Guardian

"Two members of the Louvre's international consultative committee resign over controversial Leonardo cleaning". Read the Guardian article here.

In Memoriam: Thomas Molnar (1921-2010)

The Catholic philosopher and historian Thomas Molnar died on July 20th 2010. The author of more than thirty books and a survivor of Dachau who then witnessed the communist takeover of Hungary, Dr Molnar was a critic of all “transformative” ideological philosophies of the left or the right. More

Lucian Freud’s blast against picture restorers

Fig. 1: A Dog from “The Death of Procris” (NG 698) by Piero di Cosimo, painted by about 1500, as published and described in Kenneth Clark’s 1938 “One Hundred DETAILS from Pictures in the National Gallery”, and as recorded before cleaning.

Fig. 2: A dog from “A Mythological Subject” by Piero di Cosimo, painted about 1500, as published and described in the 1990 edition of Kenneth Clark’s book, and as seen after cleaning. more

The National Gallery’s £1.5 billion Leonardo Restoration

Left, Fig. 5: The Virgin’s head from the London National Gallery “The Virgin of the Rocks”, about 1491 – 1508, oil on wood, as shown in Kenneth Clark’s 1938 book “One Hundred Details from Pictures in the National Gallery”. In 1990 the Gallery republished Clark’s book but with new photographs in colour. Fig. 6, Right, is the same detail as in Fig. 5 (here converted to greyscale). The differences are striking. More

    • Art on Loan
      One senses that the ante has been upped in the deal-making world of art loans. Quite a few “first-and-only-time” loans have been made this year. A conspicuous ...more...

      By ArtWatch on 12/29/07

    • ArtWatch Mourns The Loss of James Beck
      James Beck, Columbia University Professor and founder and President of ArtWatch International, passed away on Saturday, May 26th. He was a brilliant scholar, a wonderful friend, and ...more...

      By ArtWatch on 5/26/07

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      By ArtWatch on 2/5/07

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      By ArtWatch on 2/5/07

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      By ArtWatch on 2/5/07

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      By ArtWatch on 2/5/07

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      Patrons of restoration and expansion projects at museums and churches are now taking full advantage of the benefits of sponsorship, turning important cultural and religious centers into ...more...

      By ArtWatch on 2/5/07

    • The European University in Florence
      Synopsis: The European University in Florence, which occupies several buildings in Fiesole, including the Badia Fiesolana, has decided to construct additional housing in the surrounding area, land ...more...

      By ArtWatch on 6/22/06

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      Synopsis: To coincide with the G8 Summit, the Hermitage Museum has planned a series of exhibitions, including one in honor of the 500th anniversary of the death ...more...

      By ArtWatch on 6/20/06

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