Export bar for £4.4 million Titian drawing

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

DCMS places temporary export bar on Titian drawing | UK culture minister Matt Hancock has placed a temporary export bar on a rare Titian drawing that is at risk of leaving the country unless the asking price of £4.4 million can be matched. The work, Study of a Kneeling Man, is one of just nine Titian drawings in the UK, and is believed to be a preparatory sketch for the artist’s first version of Pentecost. ‘This drawing provides us with a rare sight of one of Titian’s lost works of art’, said Hancock. ‘It is of outstanding significance to the study of Titian, and I hope that we are able to keep it in the country to learn more about one of the greatest artists of the 16th century.’

Manuel Rabaté named director of Louvre Abu Dhabi | Agence France-Muséums director Manuel Rabaté has been appointed to head the Louvre Abu Dhabi, reports The Art Newspaper. In his role at AFM, the French government agency overseeing the Louvre’s Abu Dhabi satellite, Rabaté has already been involved with the project for some years. Along with UAE-born deputy director Hissa Al Dhaheri, he will preside over the museum’s opening next year (the exact date has yet to be confirmed).

New impetus for Frank Gehry-designed Eisenhower memorial | The New York Times reports that the family of former US President Dwight Eisenhower have dropped their objections to a Frank Gehry-designed memorial in his honour. Initially, Eisenhower’s grandchildren had raised concerns about the $150 million proposal for Capitol Hill, deeming it ‘insufficiently respectful’. After negotiations, a compromise was reached, to which the architect has agreed.

Neolithic statuette discovered in Turkey | Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced the discovery of a female statuette thought to date from 8,000–5,500 BC. According to Stanford professor Ian Hodder (speaking to Associated Press), who has led archaeological digs at the site in southern Anatolia for more than 20 years, the figure is unique due to its material: while most such objects are fashioned from clay, this one is carved from stone.

Roger Hiorns wins 2016 Faena Prize | Faena Art’s biennial award for art has gone to British artist Roger Hiorns for a proposal provisionally called ‘Untitled’ Values. Hiorns will receive $75,000 to realise the project, which he says will ‘put the human back at the centre of the artwork’. When complete, the work will be unveiled at the Faena Arts Center Buenos Aires before possibly travelling to Faena Forum, a new space in Miami Beach that is expected to open in November.