Our Art for this week - Mami Urakawa, Nelson Shanks, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Siamese King, Marc Chagall, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Dalí, Pablo Picasso,

A photo republished by the AP shows ISIS destroying a tomb at the ancient site of Palmyra.

As ISIS and other groups continue to destroy important heritage sites and ancient artifacts, archaeologists and other onlookers continue to scramble to find ways to counter the destruction. The latest effort comes from an organization called the Institute for Digital Archaeology, which will distribute some 10,000 3D cameras in West Asia over the next year, in the hopes of documenting archaeological sites and objects before they’re gone, the Daily Beast reports. More

A black and white reproduction of La famille (1935) – one of the works purported to be up for sale in the coming year. 

Picasso’s ‘inheritance without love’
Pablo Picasso passed away in 1973. The same year, his grandson Pablito (Marina’s brother) died in a hospital after swallowing bleach. Four years later, his former mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter hanged herself, and his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, shot herself in 1986.

Maurice Rheims, an expert appraiser, spent five years determining the status the heirs, and cataloging the 1,885 paintings, 7,089 drawings, 3,222 ceramic works, 17,411 prints and 1,723 plates, 1,228 sculptures, 6,121 lithographs, 453 lithographic stones, 11 tapestries and eight rugs left by the artist.

Although conflicting reports of the distribution have been made, the widow’s share amounted to roughly three-tenths of the art, or $52 million in 1977, after taxes; the three illegitimate children, Maya, Claude and Paloma, were awarded one-tenth, or $18 million worth of art; meanwhile, Marina and Bernard each received one-fifth of the the art, slices valued at $35 million. Additionally, Bernard received the chateau at Boisgeloup in Normandy, while Marina inherited the sumptuous La Californie... More at: The Conversation

Vincent van Gogh, “Wheat Stack Under a Cloudy Sky” (1889)

Vincent van Gogh’s reds have been turning white due to a rare lead mineral in his paint as the missing link. .” Interestingly, it’s a different issue than the recent analysis of the fading of red in Renoir’s “Madame Léon Clapisson” (1883), where the red lake pigment made of cochineal insects was separating.  More at: Hyperallergi

Rembrandt, Susanna and the Elders (1647)

Berlin's Gemäldegalerie announced they've made a shocking discovery about the museum's Rembrandt masterpiece Susanna and the Elders (1647), Focus reports. An X-ray analysis of the oil painting has revealed that the it had at one time undergone extensive alterations.

According to the daily Berliner Morgenpost art restorer Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, who conducted the analysis, noticed tiny pigments on the canvas that didn't exist in the 17th century. What's more, some parts of the painting were in a style that she didn't recognize as Rembrandt's. She found out that in the 18th century large parts of the painting were simply painted over, and entire sections were washed out using solvents and re-painted in a more modern, light shade. More at: Art Net

The Japanese-born, Florence-based street artist Mami Urakawa was arrested for tampering with road signs in Kyoto and Osaka. She, along with her boyfriend Clet Abraham, transformed some 60 signs between late December and early January. More at: Hyperallergic

Monica Lewinsky Casts a Shadow on Bill Clinton’s Presidential Portrait. Nelson Shanks worked this iconic garment into the portrait subtly: the painting depicts Clinton standing prominently before the mantel in the Oval Office while the dress makes an inconspicuous appearance in the form of a shadow behind him. (Shanks also opted to leave Clinton’s wedding ring out of the painting.) Apparently, the 42nd president’s controversial sexual relationship with a White House intern will persist as a visual and metaphorical blight on his terms in office

Official opening, of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, date probably in 2016. The 5,000-strong workforce is expected to swell to 7,500 over the coming months. “We shall deliver the building at the end of 2015,” its architect Jean Nouvel tells The Art Newspaper.

The crown of the Siamese King offered in 1861 to Napoleon III in the Château de Fontainebleau was stolen in the early hours of Sunday morning, 1 March, along with around 15 other precious artefacts from eastern Asia. More at: The Art Newspaper

A painting by Jean-Leon Gerome of Napoleon III receiving a delegation from the King of Siam in the ballroom at the Chateau de Fontainebleau in 1864.

Marc Chagall (Russian/French, 1887-1985) 'Then the old woman mounted on Ifrit's back' Lithograph, 1948, printed in colours, , on laid, with margins, signed and numbered 23/90 and inscribed 'pl.7' in pencil, printed by Albert Carman, New York, published by Pantheon, Paris, 370 x 280mm (14 1/2 x 11in)(I)

Leonardo da Vinci's self portrait. - Photo: courtesy Muscarelle Museum of Art

Newly Discovered Leonardo da Vinci Portrait on Display at the College of William and Mary

A newly discovered self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci which was unearthed five years ago within the Codex on theFlight of Birds, one of only 20 of da Vinci's remaining codices, which includes both text and 18 sketches of birds, is currently on exhibit at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The show features over 20 precious drawings in addition to the portrait, including a study for Virgin of the Rocks (1483–1486). Eight works by da Vinci's rival Michelangelo Buonarroti are also on display.

"Leonardo Da Vinci And The Idea Of Beauty" is on display at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary from February 21–April 5, 2015. It will be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from April 15 through June 14, 2015. More at: Art Net & Muscarelle Museum of Art