Record attendance at the Met

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Metropolitan Museum of Art breaks attendance record | New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has just released its visitor tally for 2016–17, which sets a new attendance record for the museum. The institution – encompassing the Met 5th Avenue, the Met Cloisters and the recently-opened Met Breuer – had 7 million visitors over the past year, up from last year’s total of 6.7 million. The announcement comes at the end of a difficult year for the Met, which included growing deficits and the surprise resignation of former director Thomas P. Campbell.

German police make arrests in €4 million gold coin museum heist case | Several people suspected of having carried out the theft of a gold coin worth around €4 million have been arrested in Berlin by German special police, it was confirmed this morning. The giant, solid gold coin bearing the profile of Elizabeth II and issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007 was stolen from Berlin’s Bode Museum in March this year. Police expect that the coin, which is still missing, would have been melted down by the robbers at the earliest opportunity, the Guardian reports.

Dallas Museum of Art acquires Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room | The Dallas Museum of Art has become the first North American collection to include one of Yayoi Kusama’s celebrated ‘Infinity Mirror Rooms’, after announcing its acquisition of the installation debuted last year at Victoria Miro in London, All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins (2016). The work, which made headlines in March after a member of the public accidentally broke a pumpkin sculpture in the installation, was acquired by the DMA in partnership with Dallas-based collectors Howard and Cindy Rachofsky.

Ilya Glazunov (1930–2017) | Ilya Glazunov, controversial Russian artist and founder of Moscow’s Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, has died aged 87, the Moscow Times reports. Actively political and patriotic, Glazunov was known for his paintings depicting religious and historical scenes, particularly the monumental Mystery of the 20th Century (1976).

Christie’s names new Impressionist and modern art co-chairmen | Long-term Christie’s employees Giovanna Bertazzoni and Adrien Meyer have been named co-chairmen of the auction house’s department of Impressionist and modern art, it was announced yesterday. Bertazzoni was formerly deputy chairman of the department, while Meyer most recently served as co-head of Christie’s private sales channel.