South Carolina’s International African American Museum Officially Acquires Earliest Known Daguerreotypes of Enslaved Americans

South Carolina’s International African American Museum Officially Acquires Earliest Known Daguerreotypes of Enslaved Americans

The International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, has officially acquired the "1850 Daguerreotypes," the earliest known photographs of enslaved Americans. The set of 15 images, taken by J.T. Zealy, depicts seven enslaved individuals—Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty—and had been held by Harvard University until a recent legal settlement. Harvard had owned the daguerreotypes since they were commissioned in 1850 by natural historian Louis Agassiz.

One of Donatello’s most important bronze statues is being restored: should it ever be shown outdoors again?

Donatello's monumental 1453 bronze equestrian statue, Gattamelata, has been moved from its outdoor plinth in Padua to a nearby indoor hall for a major €1 million restoration. This marks only the third time the statue has been moved indoors in nearly 600 years, prompted by severe corrosion known as "bronze cancer" and structural concerns about its stone pedestal. The restoration is funded by two American non-profit organizations, Friends of Florence and Save Venice.

How did a 16th-century European basin end up as a sacred object in West Africa?

The Aya Kese, a massive 16th-century northern European brass basin, is currently on display at the British Museum while its complex history remains under scrutiny. Looted by British officer Robert Baden-Powell in 1896 from the Asante kingdom’s royal mausoleum in present-day Ghana, the object was long sensationalized by colonial accounts as a vessel for human sacrifice. Recent scholarship and historical records from Asante King Prempeh I contest these claims, asserting the basin’s sacred role as a spiritual repository for the souls of the Asante people.

Protests in Mexico Against the Transfer of a Rare Collection to Spain

Protestations au Mexique contre le transfert en Espagne d’une rare collection

A coalition of nearly 400 art professionals in Mexico is protesting the planned transfer of the prestigious Gelman Collection to Spain. The collection, which includes iconic works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is slated to move to the Faro Santander museum in northern Spain under a five-year management agreement with Banco Santander. Critics describe the move as a "public disaster," citing the opaque 2023 sale of the collection to the Zambrano family and the potential violation of Natasha Gelman’s original will, which stipulated the works remain in Mexico.

Fake Warhol, Haring and Banksy works seized in Italy

Des faux Warhol, Haring et Banksy saisis en Italie

Italian authorities have seized 143 counterfeit artworks attributed to Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Banksy. The works were on display in the exhibition "Pop to Street Art: Influences" in Reggio Calabria, Italy, and were provided on loan by a Belgian company. The carabinieri, in a transnational investigation extending to Liège, Belgium, identified the operation as part of a larger forgery network known as "Operation Cariatide." Eleven works remain under expert examination.

Renowned Mexican art collection to be managed by Spanish bank

Banco Santander announced on 21 January that it will manage 160 works from the Gelman Collection of 20th-century Mexican art, following a long-term agreement with the Zambrano family, which acquired the collection in 2023. The newly branded Gelman Santander Collection will debut this summer at Faro Santander, the bank's new venue in Cantabria, Spain. The collection, started by Russian-born film producer Jacques Gelman and his wife Natasha, includes major works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, and others, but has been largely out of public view since 2008 amid inheritance disputes. The agreement is complicated by Mexican law, which designates many works as National Artistic Monuments, restricting their permanent export and requiring oversight by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL).

smithsonians national museum of asian art returns three looted sculptures to india 1234771247

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art announced it will return three looted bronze sculptures to India: "Shiva Nataraja" (ca. 990), "Somaskanda" (12th century), and "Saint Sundarar with Paravai." Provenance research linked the works to art dealers known for trafficking looted antiquities. The museum partnered with the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry in 2023, finding the bronzes had been photographed in Tamil Nadu temples between 1956 and 1959 and removed in violation of Indian laws. This follows the museum's December return of three Khmer-period sculptures to Cambodia, also determined to be looted.