More stories from the week that ended Dec 29 (click on bolded words for more information):

  • Kanye West gives Kim Kardashian a Hermes bag painted by George Condo for Christmas.
  • RIP: Eliseo Garza Salinas, who died at age 68 due to murder.
  • Calders heirs lose $20mil. fraud lawsuit against the estate of his longtime dealer, Klaus Perls.
  • About the Ghent Altarpiece, which is the most stolen artwork of all time.
  • US pressures German government to return a trove of Nazi-looted artwork to rightful owners.
  • French officials return Egyptian antiquities looted after Arab Spring that were to be sold online.
  • eBay removes the listing for Micheal D’Antuono’s anti-Zimmerman painting from its site.
  • ARETE gallery shuts down Joan Miro exhibit because artist’s foundation found fakes.
  • Detroit’s abandoned buildings drawing photographers and history buffs instead of developers.
  • Guggenheim project reveals the difficulty in determining authenticity in conceptual art.
  • 6 months after LAUSD released its new plan for arts education, the plan still has no budget.
  • Giorgio Vasari’s The Last Supper painting slowly restored after being damaged in flood.
  • Rebecca Guest charged for vandalizing “Jeremiah the Innocent” mural in Austin.
  • Roberta Smith calls show at Met one of the most superficial shows I have ever seen at this great museum.
  • Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina freed from Russian prison.
  • Albrecht Dürer’s father may have also been an artist.
  • The increased popularity of and rise in visitations to art museums.
  • Three Studies of Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon now on view at Portland Art Museum.
  • Turkey signs 20-year lease for a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale, securing a venue until 2034.
  • MoMA’s show based on Ileana Sonnabend’s dealing career.
  • Cheech Marin has 66 works from his collection in a exhibition at MCASD.
  • Sotheby’s looking for a new venue in Manhattan while trying to sell it’s current one.
  • Sotheby’s has hired Domenico De Sole as Lead Independent Director.
  • Walter Robinson looks back at the art market of 2013.
  • Felix Salmon thinks that the current art market bubble has not peaked yet.
  • The 10 most expensive lots sold at auction this year accounted for over 5% of total auction sales.
  • Indian art market could hit the $200mil. mark next year, according to Dinesh Vazirani.
  • The market for illustration, led by Norman Rockwell‘s works, is starting to heat up.
  • The Wall Street Journal’s choices for the world’s best museum gift shops.
  • Eli Broad, Jeffrey Deitch, Marina Warner, Tim Marlow and others choose their favorite book of 2013.
  • Garrison Keillor on Deborah Solomon’s book on Norman Rockwell.
  • Artsy’s 10 Artists in Christopher Wool’s Web of Influence.
  • Laura Cumming’s choices for the best art of 2013.
  • Roberta Smith reviews David Hockney’s survey show at the de Young Museum.
  • Jerry Saltz advises folks to visit the Frick for its Dutch Masters show.
  • Richard Meier Model Museum opens at Mana Contemporary next month.
  • Charlotte Bravin Lee on why she feels Banksy is overrated.
  • Process and behind the scenes shots of Jeff Koons and Lady Gaga’s collaboration.
  • Simon Beck’s snow art.
  • Rowan Moore’s choices for the best architecture of 2013.
  • Artnet’s Art House: An Introduction to German Expressionist Films.
  • 35 celebrities re-imagined in classic paintings via Photoshop.
  • Slate writes about Kanye West’s dominant year.