Isabella Stewart Gardner doubles reward for stolen paintings

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum doubles reward for stolen paintings | The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s board of trustees has doubled the reward for information leading to the return of 13 masterpieces stolen in an infamous 1990 heist. The Boston museum is now offering $10m for any tip-offs that might lead to the safe return of masterpieces by artists including Vermeer, Rembrandt and Manet, collectively valued at around $500 million. The incentive, which expires at the end of 2017, also guarantees individuals with relevant information complete confidentiality.

International competition launched to revive Paris’s underground spaces | Paris’s city hall has launched an international design competition aimed at the creative redevelopment of 34 underused subterranean spaces, reports the Guardian. The ‘Reinvent Paris’ scheme will see architects and developers competing to reimagine municipally-owned spaces including the abattoirs in La Villette, underground car parks and several disused Metro stations. A shortlist of proposals will be published next year, with the final selection to be announced in November 2018. A previous iteration of the competition focused on the redevelopment of disused buildings.

IFPDA announces new round of support for curatorial internships | The International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) has announced that it will support curatorial internships in the print departments of six internationally renowned museums. The latest grants mark the programme’s fourth year, and will fund positions at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College,  Cincinnati Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Portland Art Museum and the Davis Museum at Wellesley College.

Artists Space to reopen in TriBeCa | The Artists Space nonprofit, which was forced to relocate from its flagship premises in New York’s SoHo last June, is to reopen in the city’s TriBeCa neighbourhood, new director Jay Sanders announced yesterday. The new space will cover roughly 8,000 sq ft over two floors, and is expected to open in 2018.

Jonathan Ive appointed chancellor of Royal College of Art | Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive is to take over from James Dyson as chancellor of London’s Royal College of Art in July. Rector Paul Thompson hailed Ive’s appointment, describing him as the ‘the world’s leading designer of his generation’. Design tycoon Dyson is to launch his own university in September.

Bass museum scheduled to reopen in October | Following a $12 million restructuring programme, Miami Beach’s Bass museum is set to reopen on 8 October. According to the Art Newspaper, the renovations to ‘The Bass’ (which has dropped ‘Museum of Art’ from its title), have almost doubled the institution’s space since its previous expansion in 2001.