Art Outlook: 19 February

Some of the stories and discussions we’ve spotted online this week

Sheila Girling dies aged 90

Sheila Girling passed away at the weekend at the age of 90. The artist trained at the Royal Academy in the 1940s where she met her future husband, the sculptor Anthony Caro, who died in 2013. A retrospective exhibition of her work will be held at Annely Juda Fine Art in September.

Musée Maillol closes unexpectedly

Twenty years after it was founded by Dina Vierny (the model and muse of French sculptor Aristide Maillol), the Musée Maillol has closed indefinitely. Its managing company Tecniarte filed for bankruptcy on 5 February. At present, the museum website cites renovation works for the closure.

Pompidou pop-ups

The Pompidou has announced a rather unusual sort of expansion plan. It intends to open a series of ‘pop-up’ venues in French towns and cities, each operating for a period of four years.

The Whitworth Art Gallery reopens

Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery has undergone a £15 million refurbishment, and now boasts two new wings, new exhibition and learning spaces, and a very nice café…Matilda Bathurst was among the 18,000 or so people who visited on its opening weekend (14–15 February).

Electricians and art theft

Last week, Pablo Picasso’s former electrician went before court accused of stealing 271 of the artist’s works: after a three-day hearing, the prosecutor has asked for a five-year suspended prison sentence for Pierre Le Guennec and his wife Danielle. Meanwhile, in Spain, another former electrician has been given a 10-year prison sentence for stealing a priceless manuscript from the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Recognising Anne Boleyn

Has facial recognition software identified a rare surviving portrait of Henry VIII’s unfortunate second wife? Until now, only one uncontested depiction of Anne Boleyn is known to survive, but Amit Roy-Chowdhury thinks he’s found another – disguised as Jane Seymour…