Louvre closes after knife attack and subsequent shooting

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

The Louvre closes after knife attack | Paris’s Musée du Louvre closed its doors today after a man with a knife attacked a security patrol on a stairway in the underground shopping centre near the museum. The assailant was shot at five times by soldiers and is seriously injured. Paris police prefect Michel Cadot said that no explosives were found on the attacker’s person, adding, ‘We are dealing with an attack from an individual who was clearly aggressive and represented a direct threat, and whose comments lead us to believe that he wished to carry out a terrorist incident.’ The French culture minister Audrey Azoulay says that the museum will reopen tomorrow.

Harry Dalmeny appointed UK chairman of Sotheby’s | Sotheby’s CEO and president Tad Smith has announced that auctioneer Harry Dalmeny is to take over as chairman of the auction house’s UK operation. Dalmeny, who joined Sotheby’s as a graduate in 1990, has risen up the ranks of the business to become one of its senior auctioneers. He has been involved with several landmark auctions, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor sale in 1998, and 2010’s Chatsworth Attic sale.

Bolivia opens museum honouring Evo Morales | A $7 million museum dedicated to the Bolivian president Evo Morales has opened in his birthplace of Orinoco, reports Reuters. The museum, which celebrates the president’s rule and the history of the indigenous people of the region, contains hundreds of gifts Morales has received since coming to power in 2006, as well as photos, videos, and archaeological treasures.

Santiago Calatrava to design tower complex in Greenwich | Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s plans for an office and entertainment complex to be situated in Greenwich, southeast London, have been given the green light. Peninsula Place, as the £1 billion Knight Dragon backed development will be known, will be Calatrava’s first project in the British capital. The architect has previously built only one structure in the UK, a footbridge in Manchester. ‘Now that he’s practised around the world, he’s ready to design in London’, said the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Ari Wiseman steps down as deputy Guggenheim director | Guggenheim deputy director Ari Wiseman is leaving his position to set up an independent design studio, reports the New York Times. Wiseman, who has been at the New York museum since 2010, plans to relocate to Los Angeles to initiate the new project with his brother, designer David Wiseman. The studio is expected to open in 2018.