– MOCA Makes Endowment Goal: The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art says it has successfully reached its endowment fundraising goal of $100 million, and will now begin campaigning to bolster that sum further to $150 million, all the while continuing its search for a new director whose identity museum leaders expect they will be able to announce in the spring. "There’s been this tremendous push by committed people who should commit and did commit," said Maria Bell, who has been the co-chair of the museum's board, along with David Johnson, since 2009. [LAT, NYT]
– Giant Duck Difficulties in Taiwan: After exploding last week, Florentijn Hofman’s giant duck is seeing even more controversy in Keelung, Taiwan. The Dutch artist is threatening to end the duck’s run in the Keelung harbor a month early due to the threat of one local "souvenir stallholder" to create a 6-foot replica of the 59-foot-tall duck. Apparently, the number of visitors to the duck has significantly decreased from the duck mania seen in many other cities and the stallholder is trying to draw more crowds with more ducks. [AFP]
– Pharaoh’s Tomb Identified: Although they uncovered the 3,800-year-old, 60-ton tomb in Abydos nearly a year ago, the University of Pennsylvania archaeological team has only now identified the pharaoh to whom it belonged. The team believes the tomb was the final resting place of Sobekhotep I, who founded Egypt’s 13th dynasty. “[Sobekhotep I] ruled Egypt for four years and a half, the longest rule at this time," said Ayman El-Damarani, an antiquities ministry official. [AFP]
– Turner Gallery Conversion Sparks Protests: A plan to turn the Derry gallery space that hosted 2013's Turner Prize exhibition into offices was met with protests from some 200 locals on Sunday who want the space to remain a venue for art. [BBC]
– Novel Causes Frick Attendance Spike: You could be forgiven for thinking that the Frick Collection's current spike in attendance is entirely due to the presence of Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" and other treasures from the Mauritshuis, but at least some portion of the uptick in visitors is a result of Donna Tartt's new novel "The Goldfinch," which revolves around a painting from the Frick that book-lovers are coming to see in droves: Carel Fabritius's "The Goldfinch." [NY Daily News]
– Louvre Crowd-Funds Restoration: The Louvre has raised some €1 million from about 6,700 backers to fund the restoration of one of its star attractions, the iconic Victory of Samothrace and its surrounding staircase. [AFP]
– L.A.’s newest contemporary art museum, the Mistake Room, has announced that architect Alfonso Medina will design its downtown space at 1811 East 20th Street. [press release]
– The former CEO of a Larchmont moving company has been accused of embezzling $5.7 million and spending it, among other things, on Thomas Kinkade paintings. [The Journal News]
– The first hearing has been set for March 31 in the $60 million Rauschenberg Foundation trustees compensation case. [AP]
ALSO ON ARTINFO
Delfina Foundation's Double-Sized Arts-Championing Plans for 2014
Jerry Saltz To Make “Girls” Cameo
British Museum Buys Picasso Proofs
Did John Cusack Take Up Street Art?
VIDEO: A Dante Ferretti Labyrinth at MoMA
Check our blog IN THE AIR for breaking news throughout the day.
