Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead at Ankara art gallery

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Russian ambassador to Turkey assassinated at Ankara art gallery | Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, was shot dead last night while attending the opening of an exhibition entitled ‘Russia Through Turks’ Eyes’ at Ankara’s Contemporary Arts Centre. While details remain unclear, the assassin was reportedly motivated by Russia’s support for Bashar al-Assad in the ongoing Syrian civil war.

William B. Jordan donates Velázquez portrait to the Prado | Art historian William B. Jordan has donated a recently attributed Diego Velázquez portrait of Philip III to Madrid’s Museo del Prado. Jordan, who acquired the work from a London auction house in 1988, donated the work directly to the American Friends of the Prado Museum, a project intended to support the conservation of the institution’s collections. The Prado has described the portrait as a ‘work of outstanding quality’.

Warsaw Jewish Community sues Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews for alleged copyright violations | The Jewish Community of Warsaw has issued a lawsuit against the city’s Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, citing alleged copyright violations on translations of historical texts, the JTA reports. The Community claims that the museum used fragments from four articles, translated into Polish from the original Yiddish, from its own website without permission.

Ragged School Museum receives £4.3 million grant | East London’s Ragged School Museum has received a grant of £4.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out urgent repairs. The museum, which was established in 1877 as a venue to provide free education to London’s poorest children, is run by volunteers and receives no public funding. According to the Guardian, parts of the premises are ‘in such a poor state that they are practically unusable’.