Asia Week New York Nets $130 Million
Asia Week New York, which ran from March 10-19 this year, garnered $130 million during its ten-day run. Among the forty-five participating galleries were Erik Thomsen Gallery and Joan Mirviss, who sold ninety-five percent of the works on view in the exhibition A Palette for Genius: Japanese Water Jars for the Tea Ceremony. Click here to continue reading. (via Asia Week New York)

The Hood Museum of Art’s Forthcoming Renovation Proves Controversial
Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, a husband-and-wife architecture team based in New York, have been met with opposition after revealing their renovation plan for the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire. Designed in 1985 by the pioneering  postmodernist Charles Moore, the institution’s original structure would be significantly altered. Click here to continue reading. (via The New York Times)

Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase Heads to the Cleveland Museum of Art
Marcel Duchamp’s seminal painting Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) will go on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) on Tuesday, April 5. The modernist masterpiece is being loaned to the institution by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in honor of the CMA’s 100th anniversary. Click here to continue reading. (via Cleveland.com)

An Iconic Flag Painting by Childe Hassam Has Been Gifted to the New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is now the proud owner of Childe Hassam’s The Fourth of July, 1916. The iconic flag painting by the master of American Impressionism was donated by the Historical Society’s chairman emeritus, Richard Gilder. The canvas is the second in Hassam’s famous flag series and one of the last to remain in private hands. Click here to continue reading. (via Washington Times)

For Sale: Brooklyn's Most Expensive Townhouse and a Modern Manhattan Manse
1. At $15 million, this historic gem is Brooklyn’s most expensive townhouse. This Romanesque Revival masterpiece known as the Remington House was designed by C.P.H. Gilbert, a New York-based architect whose speciality was spectacular townhouses and mansions. Completed in 1888, the 32-foot-wide abode was built for James H. Remington, whose father was a founder of the Republican Party. Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

The Supreme Court Rules That the Yale Art Gallery Can Keep Van Gogh’s The Night Cafe
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a man who says the Bolsheviks seized Vincent van Gogh’s The Night Cafe from his great-grandfather after the Soviet revolution in 1917. The painting, which was sold by the Soviet government  to the heir to the Singer Manufacturing Co. fortune in 1933, was bequeathed to the institution in 1960. Click here to continue reading. (via Bloomberg)

HBO’s Highly-Anticipated Robert Mapplethorpe Documentary Premieres Next Week
HBO’s long-awaited documentary spotlighting the controversial late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe will premiere on Monday, April 4. Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures features over fifty interviews with friends, family, fellow artists, and gallerists, including Mary Boone.  Click here to continue reading. (via Artnet News)

The Denver Art Museum Returns an Ancient Sandstone Statue to Cambodia
On Monday, March 28, the Denver Art Museum returned the Torso of Rama, a 10th-century sandstone statue, to Cambodia. The museum acquired the work in 1986,  but only recently learned that the 62-inch-tall sculpture had been looted during the country’s civil war. The Denver Art Museum’s director, Christoph Heinrich, attended the repatriation ceremony in Phnom Penh. Click here to continue reading. (via the Denver Post)

A 9.54-Carat Blue Diamond Ring That Once Belonged to Shirley Temple Heads to Auction
Sotheby’s has announced that it will auction a 9.54-carat ring said to have belonged to Shirley Temple during its Magnificent Jewels auction on Tuesday, April 19. The cushion-cut stone, which was gifted to the child star by her father in 1940, is expected to fetch between $25-$35 million. Click here to continue reading. (via CNN)

Top 3 Interior Design Projects of the Week: A Contemporary Fifth Avenue Abode, A Serene Country Home & A Bold Beach House
1. Fifth Avenue Apartment by Robert Couturier. This Manhattan residence by designer Robert Couturier blends modern and classical elements seamlessly. Timeless architectural details, including decorative plaster moldings and rich wood paneling, are offset by striking furnishings, including contemporary pieces as well as mid century seating, lighting and tables. Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

The UK Places an Export Bar on a Pricey Veronese Drawing
On Tuesday, March 29, the UK’s Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, placed an export bar on a drawing by the Italian Renaissance master Paolo Veronese. Created around 1581, the work, which The Art Newspaper reports was sold for £15.4m by the Earl of Harewood to an anonymous foreign buyer, was a preparatory drawing of Venice Triumphant. Click here to continue reading. (via The Art Newspaper)  

Crystal Bridges Announces Plans for a Contemporary Art Center
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has announced plans to open a contemporary art space in a 63,000-square-foot former cheese plant. Founded by Alice Walton, heiress to the Walmart fortune, Crystal Bridges opened to the public in 2011 and provides a sweeping overview of American art. Walton hopes that the new space will attract young visitors and help create a market district in downtown Bentonville.  Click here to continue reading. (via Arkansas Online)

The Vitra Design Museum Will Display Its Permanent Collection for the First Time
A new Herzon & de Meuron-designed gallery in Weil am Rhein, Germany, will allow the Vitra Design Museum to display its permanent collection for the first time. Slated to open in June, the gallery will join a slew of other architecturally important structures on the museum’s campus, including works by Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Tadao Ando. The Vitra Design Museum’s illustrious collection includes over 7,000 pieces of furniture, and the estates of mid century furniture designers including Verner Panton and Charles & Ray Eames. Click here to continue reading. (via Dezeen)

A New Installation at MoMA Focuses on the Art of the 1960s
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is taking a new approach to the installation of its permanent collection galleries. From the Collection: 1960-1969, currently on view on the museum’s fourth floor, focuses solely on the art of the 1960s. Featuring drawings, prints, photographs, architecture, design and film, the exhibition includes works by over 200 artists from around 20 countries. Previous installations of the museum’s collection have mainly concentrated on paintings and sculptures from the institution’s holdings. Click here to continue reading. (via The New York Times)

A New Exhibition at the Lesher Center for the Arts Celebrates America’s Pastime
On Sunday, April 3, Safe at Home: A Short Survey of Baseball Art will open at the Lesher Center for the Arts' Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California. The exhibition, planned to coincide with the start of spring as well as the beginning of baseball season, celebrates “America’s pastime.” Safe at Home features a mix of contemporary and historic pieces and includes works by Elaine de Kooning, Ann Chahbandour, Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Click here to continue reading. (via the Bedford Gallery)

The University of Iowa Reassembles Its Scattered Art Collection
Since a devastating flood ravaged the University of Iowa Museum of Art in 2008, its collection has been scattered among various institutions. Now, ahead of a plan to build a new museum on the University’s campus, the institution has begun reassembling its 15,000-plus holdings. Officials say that the works should return to campus in the next twelve to eighteen months. Click here to continue reading. (via The Gazette)

Andy Warhol’s Manhattan Studio is Up for Sale
Andy Warhol’s first New York studio building—a 5,000-square-foot former firehouse—is on the market for $9.975 million. Warhol acquired the building in 1962 and went on to create many of his seminal works there, including his Disaster paintings. Located on the East Side in close proximity to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Neue Galerie, the building is essentially a blank canvas. Click here to continue reading. (via ArtInfo)

Italy Invests in Heightened Security at Popular Cultural Landmarks and Museums
Italy’s Culture Minister announced that €300m will go towards safeguarding the country’s many cultural landmarks and famous museums. The decision was made following the devastating attacks that claimed thirty-five lives in Brussels earlier this month. The three-year plan aims to protect sites across the country, including the Colosseum, Pompeii and the Uffizi gallery. Click here to continue reading. (via The Art Newspaper)

Architects Plan to Rebuild Mies van der Rohe’s Wolf House
A group of architects and planners are hoping to rebuild Mies van der Rohe’s Wolf House—an architectural gem that was destroyed in 1945. Located on the Neisse River in Germany, the Wolf House is widely considered a touchstone in van der Rohe’s career as it signaled a shift from his early, more conventional designs to the Modernist masterpieces that defined his career. Click here to continue reading. (via The New York Times)

Celebrating the Art of Craft at the Philadelphia Furniture Show
Philadelphia’s rich furniture tradition stretches back centuries. During the 1700s, some of the finest examples of Queen Anne andChippendale furniture were produced in the city and by the mid-twentieth century, the region was at the forefront of the American studio furniture movement. Thanks to the iconic modern artisans who settled in the area, includingGeorge Nakashima, Paul Evans, and Phillip Lloyd Powell, as well as the contemporary makers who continue to flock there, the Philadelphia region has upheld its reputation as a haven for innovative and skilled furniture makers to this day. Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

Columbia Students Speak Out Against Henry Moore Installation
A group of four current and former Columbia University students have written a strongly-worded op-ed piece in the school’s newspaper opposing the installation of Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure 1969–70 on the college's campus. Set to be installed in front of Columbia’s James Gamble Rogers-designed Butler Library, the students claim that the “ugly hunk of metal” won’t fit in with its Neoclassical surroundings. Click here to continue reading. (via Hyperallergic)

Doctors Without Borders to Sell Duchamp Nude
Doctors Without Borders will auction a rare nude by Marcel Duchamp at Artcurial in Paris on June 6. Funds from the sale will support the international humanitarian organization’s field operations. The painting, which dates back to 1910-11, was bequeathed to Doctors Without Borders by the heirs of Arnold Fawcus, the founder of Trianon Press and a close friend of Duchamp. Click here to continue reading. (via The Art Newspaper)

Zaha Hadid, the First Woman to Win the Pritzker Prize, Has Died
The groundbreaking architect Zaha Hadid passed away on Thursday, March 31, at a Miami hospital. Hadid, 65, suffered a heart attack while being treated for bronchitis. Best known for her geometric and decidedly futuristic designs, the Iraqi-British architect was the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Prize. Among Hadid’s most notable projects are the London Aquatics Centre, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in Michigan, and the Guangzhou Opera House. Click here to continue reading. (via The New York Times)

The University of Denver Receives $10 Million Worth of Art
The University of Denver has been gifted 120 works of art worth an estimated $10 million. The gift, which came from the Colorado developer John Madden, includes a number of Hudson River School paintings by Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and Jasper Francis Cropsey, as well as works by Charles Curran, Thomas Hart Benton, Grandma Moses, and Robert Rauschenberg. The bequest doubles the value of the university’s existing art collection. Click here to continue reading. (via The Denver Post)

Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art Steps Down
Following various shake-ups at Sotheby’s, including the resignation of its co-head Alex Rotter last month, the auction house has announced that Cheyenne Westphal will be stepping down. Westphal, Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art, joined the auction house in 1990 and has overseen every major contemporary art auction in Europe since 1999. Click here to continue reading. (via Artnet News)