— British Museum Statue Sale Angers Egypt: The British Museum has come under fire from Egyptian officials after listing an ancient Egyptian Sekhemka statue for sale with Christie’s, where it is expected to fetch more than £4 million. According to a statement from the foreign ministry, Ashraf Al-Kholy, Egypt’s ambassador in London, has demanded that the sale be suspended or postponed, and claims that auctioning the statue is not only an “offense against the ancient Egyptian civilization” but “violates the ethical norms that govern international museums.” The statue was discovered in the burial city of Saqqara near Cairo, originates from Egypt’s 5th dynasty, and is nearly 4,500 years old. [Daily News Egypt]
— Budget Cuts Threaten Rome’s Museum: Alberta Campitelli, the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome (Macro), has told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that budget cuts by the city council are putting the institution at risk for closure. The city has reduced the municipal budget from €350,000 in 2013 to just €61,000 this year. The museum’s program is still expected to run through the spring of 2015, in addition to its eight annual artists residencies. [TAN]
— Michael Govan’s Big Plans for LACMA: LACMA’s director, Michael Govan, detailed ambitious long-term plans for the museum’s Peter Zumthor-designed expansion. Govan told the LA Times he hopes to tear down four of the seven museum buildings and replace them with one, all-inclusive structure that will be elevated by “five legs of glass.” Demolishing the sections could cost the city of Los Angeles an estimated $750 million to $1 billion. [LAT]
— Monumenta Switches to Biennial: French Minister of Culture Aurélie Filippetti has announced that Huang Yong Ping will be the next artist to create Monumenta Paris’s commissioned installation for the Grand Palais, and that the annual event will transition to a biennial, with its next date in 2016. [Art Review]
— Pittsburgh’s Art Scene Gains Steam: This summer’s Pittsburgh Biennial is bigger than ever, and the city’s museum directors and curators are hoping it will draw attention to the city as hub for the arts. [TAN]
— A New Computer for Digital Art: A Kickstarter project called Electric Objects is creating a new computer just for displaying digital art. [TechCrunch]
— Graham Holdings, the company that once owned the Washington Post, is selling off most of its corporate art collection. [WashPo]
— The Van Dyck portrait discovered on “Antiques Roadshow” failed to sell at the Old Master and British Paintings sale at Christie’s London. [Telegraph]
— The Huntington Library has acquired two paintings by the important African American artists Robert S. Duncanson and Charles White. [LAT]
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