Getty announces major acquisition of Old Master drawings

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Getty announces acquisition of 16 Old Master drawings | The J. Paul Getty Museum has announced that it has acquired 16 Old Master drawings and a painting by Watteau. The drawings include works by Michelangelo, Parmigianino, Rubens, Goya, and Degas. ‘[The exhibition] brings into our collection many of the finest drawings of the Renaissance through nineteenth century that have come to market over the past thirty years’, said director Timothy Potts, who added that it was ‘unlikely’ that another such opportunity would arise for some years.

Stolen Francis Bacon paintings recovered | Spanish police have recovered three Francis Bacon paintings that were stolen in 2015. The works were taken from the Madrid home of Jose Capelo, the painter’s former lover. A police statement says that the paintings were recovered after a tip off from the Art Loss Register. Two other Bacon works stolen at the same time have yet to be recovered.

Nicole Eisenman sculpture vandalised in Münster | A sculpture installation by Nicole Eisenman was severely vandalised this week in Münster, where it was on show as part of the city’s Sculpture Project, which takes place every 10 years. According to officials, one of the group of reclining figures that constitute the installation was decapitated, and the perpetrator is believed to have escaped with the head.

Breese Little gallery to close | The Breese Little gallery in east London has announced that it will close at the end of July. Established in 2010, the gallery has staged an ambitious and impressive programme of events and exhibitions, culminating in its current show, the critically praised ‘31 Women’.

Recommended reading | In Artnews, Alex Greenberger reviews Carol Rama’s exhibition at the New Museum, describing it as a show of ‘many, many great works’ that explore ‘unspeakable desires and screwed-up psychologies—everything that can’t be talked about’. On Open Democracy, , Ivan Grinko explains why migration is a taboo topic for Russia’s museums, which ‘avoid [the subject] at all costs’. And in ArtReview, JJ Charlesworth looks at how major international art exhibitions have become fixated with ‘social change’, and wonders whether it might be time they dropped the rhetoric.