Seven arrests have now been made in connection with the theft of jewels from the Musée du Louvre on 19 October, reports the BBC. Last Saturday two men were arrested and later charged with gang theft and criminal association. One of them was arrested while boarding a flight to Algeria; the other, whose DNA was found at the scene of the crime, was detained at his home in Aubervilliers, on the outskirts of Paris. Five more suspects were arrested in or near Paris on Wednesday evening, one of whom is thought to be a member of the four-man team who carried out the robbery. Three of those arrested have already ‘partially recognised their participation’ in the heist, according to public prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The jewels have still not been recovered.
The Trump administration has fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, the independent agency that reviews government construction projects such as President Donald Trump’s new ballroom. On 29 October the Washington Post reported that the commissioners had received an email informing them that their positions had been terminated with immediate effect. The commission, which was established more than a century ago, is usually made up of architects and urban planners. All six members had been appointed during the Biden presidency and were set to finish their four-year terms in 2028. A government official told the Washington Post that the White House is ‘preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s “America First” policies’.
A climate activist has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in a protest at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 2023, reports the News & Observer. In April a jury found Timothy Martin, who damaged the display case containing Edgar Degas’s Little Dancer Aged 14 (1878–81), guilty of conspiracy and injuring government property. A 55-year-old architect and father of two, Martin defaced the display case with fellow activist Joanna Smith, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in December 2024 and served a 60-day sentence. Martin has already served six months of his sentence and has been ordered to pay $4,250 in restitution and complete 150 hours of community service.
More than 1,000 artefacts were stolen from a storage facility for the Oakland Museum of California on 15 October. In a statement issued by the Oakland Police Department, the stolen items include Native American jewellery, baskets and carved ivory tusks, as well as daguerreotypes. Lori Fogarty, director of the museum, said that the ‘brazen act […] robs the public of our state’s cultural heritage’, adding that most of the objects had been gifted to the museum by donors. Local police and the FBI’s Art Crime Team are investigating the crime.
The chief executive of the British Council has told MPs that the organisation is ‘in real financial peril’ and ‘selling everything’ it can to survive, reports the Financial Times. Scott McDonald, who is overseeing the British Council’s second restructuring since the pandemic, has said that the body is planning to sell £90m worth of assets, including buildings, and end operations in 35 countries. The government is putting pressure on the British Council to repay a £197m loan it took out during the pandemic, repayments of which are due to begin in September 2026. ‘If [soft power] is worth it, the UK needs to fund it,’ said McDonald. ‘If it’s not worth it, then we can get to work shrinking further.’
The heirs of Jewish collectors are suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art over a Van Gogh painting they say was looted by Nazis, the New York Times reports. Hedwig and Frederick Stern acquired Olive Picking (1889) in 1935. When the Sterns fled Munich in 1936, it was declared ‘German cultural property’ and seized by the Nazis, who sold it in 1938. The Met bought the painting in 1956. In the lawsuit the heirs claim that the museum did not adequately attempt to uncover the work’s provenance before acquiring it. They are seeking compensation for ‘the value [the Met] derived from its possession and use of the looted Painting from 1956 to 1972 and the proceeds it received when it sold the painting in 1972.’
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has returned two ceramic jars by the enslaved artist David Drake to his descendants, CNN reports. Born in c. 1801 and enslaved in Old Edgefield, South Carolina, Drake was one of 76 known enslaved African Americans who worked in the town’s pottery factories. He is believed to have made some 40,000 ceramics in his lifetime, examples of which are held by the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and other US institutions. In its arrangement with the heirs, the MFA Boston will display on of the vessels, now on loan, for at least two years, while it has bought back the other, known as the Poem Jar (1857). One of Drake’s great-great-great-great grandsons, the author Yaba Baker, said the restitution felt ‘full circle’, while the lawyer representing Drake’s descendants expressed hope that the agreement would encourage other museums to ‘follow the Boston museum’s lead’.
Karim Crippa is the new director of Art Basel Paris. Having served as the fair’s head of communications since January 2024, Crippa is replacing Clément Delépine, who announced his resignation last month after three years in the role. Crippa has also been senior editor of the fair’s editorial platform since 2021.
Gaëtane Verna has resigned as director of the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University after just under three years in the role, reports Hyperallergic. Her resignation follows years of discontent among staff. Last year several employees told Hyperallergic that Verna had a track record of screaming at employees in meetings. According to Dispatch, the museum ended the 2023–24 fiscal year with a deficit of $1.1m and earlier this year was given a ‘red card’ designation by Ohio State University, which entails greater financial scrutiny. On 24 October employees issued a vote of no confidence in Verna, pointing out that nearly half of the museum’s staff had left since Verna took over in 2022, and seven of 24 board members have resigned since April.