A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia on August 10, damaging 40 nationally protected cultural properties across seven departments. Twenty-two sites suffered severe damage, while 13 sustained moderate damage. The earthquake also affected 84 additional cultural assets, including 39 religious sites. The Colombian Ministry of Culture has authorized emergency measures and begun planning for the repair and reconstruction of damaged heritage sites. Read more here. [SM]

On August 15, 2026, thieves broke into the Museo Regionale Maria Accascina (MuMe) in Messina, Italy, and stole four artworks: Three panels from Antonello da Messina’s Polittico di San Gregorio, a 15th-century altarpiece, and a small double-sided devotional panel attributed to Antonello. The theft occurred during Ferragosto, when the city was focused on its annual Vara procession. Italian authorities are investigating the burglary and searching for the stolen works. Read more here. [SM]

A new New York City property tax database has identified numerous art-world figures and collectors with high-value secondary residences. The data was released as the city prepares to impose a new pied-à-terre surcharge on qualifying properties. The list has raised privacy concerns among owners, while some face potentially significant new tax bills. Read more here. [SM]

Five months after a theft from the Fondazione Magnani Rocca this past March, Italian police have managed to recover all three stolen artworks. The works in question include an 1890 paper still-life by Paul Cézanne, a 1917 late-career oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and a 1922 drawing by Henri Matisse, with a collective value exceeding $10.4 million of which the Renoir alone is worth $6 million. The works had been taken by four men in only three minutes on March 22, and it was suspected that effective security measures hindered the theft from reaching even greater severity. Nine figures are now under investigation in relation to the heist. Read more here. [LR]

In early August, a landlord in Milwaukee discovered an artwork during an apartment cleaning which turned out to be a genuine Picasso. The Torero print was signed by the artist himself, one of 30 known to exist, and it had been stolen from Bill DeLind’s gallery Fine Art Appraisals back in 2018. It was the only work to have been taken during that theft, and the Milwaukee police department stated that the case remained in investigation. The landlord, who was cleaning the vacated property following a tenant’s eviction, described that the print appeared to have been hanging in the apartment for quite some time, and it was a nearby antique dealer who he brought the work to that managed to recognize the piece from DeLind’s report of the theft. DeLind values the print around $50,000, and it was stated that the client who had commissioned DeLind’s gallery to sell the work is in discussion with their insurance company regarding the situation. Read more here. [LR]

Jonathan Hornby, a British businessman, has pleaded guilty to charges of making luxury goods available for use in Russia. Hornby attempted to ship four artworks, including a depiction of the Russian icon St. Vladimir, to Russia before the goods were seized at Heathrow Airport in February 2024. His prosecution, which resulted in a fine of £28,000 ($37,400), marks the first reported conviction in connection with U.K. sanctions against the region. Under the 2022 sanctions, the export of luxury goods and oil refining goods, among others, is strictly prohibited. Those who are found to be in violation of the Russian sanctions may face substantial fines and up to six-months imprisonment. The deputy director of HRMC’s fraud investigation service stated that the conviction reflects the consequences of breaching Russian sanctions, and the ability of authorities to investigate suspected instances. Read more here. [VC]

On July 6, at around 5:30 am, burglars broke into the Lalique Museum in Wingen-sur-Moder in northeastern France and made off with millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry. The museum houses the work of the famed glassmaker and Art Deco jeweler René Lalique. The collection, which reportedly contains over 650 items, including jewelry, Art Deco glass, and crystal ware, was designated a “sensitive” site deserving of special attention following the high-profile theft at the Louvre in Paris. When asked about the burglary, Christian Dorschner, mayor of Wingen-sur-Moder, claimed there was a major failure by the security company responsible for quickly responding to break-ins at the museum. Read more here. [IS] 

Artists Daniel Um and Nastaran Shahbazi have sued the New York-based gallery, The Hole, for unpaid earnings from the sale of their artworks. The artists had consigned work to The Hole between 2024 and 2026 and claim that they are collectively owed $50,000 for the works sold by The Hole. The suit alleges breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violations of New York State’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. When the artists initially demanded payment The Hole reportedly claimed it was in dire financial straits and was unable to pay. The pair is represented by Jeff Kinkle of the art law firm Kinkle Law. Read more here. [IS]

An Oregon family is suing to have several works returned to them after they were sold at an estate sale for a deceased family member. The family claims that the estate sale company failed to properly identify and price several paintings and rubbings that the plaintiff asserts may have been created by the Chinese artist Xu Beihong whose work has sold for as much as $41.9 million. The complaint filed in Clackamas County Circuit Court alleges the items were tucked beneath stacks of clothing and had been believed lost by the family. John E. Moody, plaintiff and son of late diplomat Robert Behymer Moody, asserts his father acquired the works while serving as a U.S. diplomat to China in the 1940s. Moody sought to have the sale of the works reversed and an order requiring the purchasers to return the items to him. Read more here. [IS]

The Second Circuit upheld the S.D.N.Y.’s decision to dismiss artist Michael Hayden’s copyright lawsuit against appropriation artist Jeff Koons. The latter’s “Made in Heaven” series featured photographs of an Italian adult film star Ilona Staller with a Hayden sculpture, which had been sold to Staller’s production company years earlier, in the background. Despite widespread controversy over Koons’ works, created in 1989 and 1990, Hayden stated he was unaware of the series until 2019, not immediately after which he obtained copyright registration and filed suit. The appeals court maintained that Hayden’s copyright infringement claim was time-barred under the discovery rule, as he should have discovered the infringement and pursued action sooner due to “the ⁠decades [he] spent in Italy, which overlapped with the media scandal surrounding the Made in Heaven premiere, Hayden’s consumption of Italian ​news, his direct connection to Staller and the art world, ​Staller and ⁠Koons’s international fame, and the passage of almost three decades.” Read the ruling here. [CI]

Artist Dorothee Bielfeld has called on the organizers of Manifesta 16 to remove an installation by sculptor Nasan Tur that she alleges plagiarizes one of her earlier works. Located in St. Gertrud Church, Tur’s Elevation features a cluster of church pews standing on their sides, with an invitation for visitors to engrave the pews with their “wishes, worries, and hopes.” Bielfeld’s 2010 work, Aufrichten (Raising Up), similarly consists of upright pews in a church setting, the Christ-König-Kirche, and incorporates a participatory element: visitors were invited to write their thoughts on paper and place them in pipes embedded in the wall.

Bielfeld contacted the organizers within an hour of learning about Tur’s exhibition. A Manifesta spokesperson told the press that, while the works share “superficial” visual similarities, a curatorial assessment determined that Elevation was artistically independent. Bielfeld did not respond to a proposal for a meeting with Manifesta and the curators. According to Tur, she instead sent him a “threatening” letter through her lawyer. Tur has since retained legal counsel.

Read more here. [CI]

Wassily Kandinsky’s The Colorful Life (1907), which was returned to the heirs of its original Dutch Jewish owners in 2023, will be offered at Christie’s London in October, with the auction house expecting bids of more than $30 million. The painting belonged to industrialist Emanuel Albert Lewenstein and his wife, Hedwig Lewenstein Weyermann, whose descendants became victims of Nazi persecution. The work was sold at auction under uncertain circumstances in 1940 and later acquired by Bayerische Landesbank in 1972, which lent it to Munich’s Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus for more than fifty years.

The Lewenstein heirs filed a lawsuit in 2017 seeking the painting’s return. After reviewing the circumstances of the 1940 transaction, Germany’s advisory commission on Nazi-looted art found “numerous indications” that the work had been seized as a result of Nazi persecution and recommended its restitution. The painting was returned to the family in 2023 and will now return to the market at Christie’s. Read more here.

Billionaire investor and art collector Leon Black has sued the House Oversight Committee over subpoenas issued as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Black argues that the subpoenas are invalid, particularly insofar as they seek private information that he says has no legitimate connection to the committee’s legislative purpose. The dispute follows a June appearance before the committee that ended after Black declined to answer questions concerning nondisclosure agreements.

The committee subsequently subpoenaed Black to return for another appearance and to provide information concerning the NDAs. In his lawsuit, Black argues that complying could expose women who entered into confidential agreements and who have no known or public connection to Epstein. The lawsuit represents an escalation of the dispute between Black and the committee as the congressional investigation continues. Read more here.

An Argentine judge has ordered the return of an 18th-century portrait attributed to Giuseppe Ghislandi that was discovered in an online real estate listing in Mar del Plata. The painting had belonged to Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker before it was looted by the Nazis during World War II. It later came into the possession of the family of Friedrich Kadgien, an SS officer who eventually settled in Argentina.

The painting’s unexpected appearance in the listing brought renewed attention to its provenance and led to an investigation. Following an agreement between the parties, Judge Santiago Inchausti ordered that the work be returned to Goudstikker’s heir, Marei von Saher. The agreement also calls for the Kadgien family to make a donation to local hospitals. Read more here.

Art dealer Adam Lindemann is facing a lawsuit from the Nature Conservancy over the alleged installation of a 25-foot-tall sculpture by Julian Schnabel on the Andy Warhol Visual Arts Preserve in Montauk, New York. According to the lawsuit, Lindemann installed Schnabel’s Ahab on the preserve without permission. The Nature Conservancy says it subsequently asked Lindemann to remove the sculpture and alleges that he also entered the property, parked vehicles there, mowed portions of the preserve, and planted shrubs.

The lawsuit states that Lindemann agreed to remove the sculpture but that it remained on the property. The Nature Conservancy later sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop entering and maintaining portions of the preserve and remove the artwork. The organization is seeking an injunction barring Lindemann from entering the property, as well as declarations concerning control of the preserve and the sculpture. Read more here.

Eleven Japanese paintings valued at more than $500,000 were allegedly damaged while being transported from Osaka to New York for Naga Antiques, a Hudson, New York gallery. According to a lawsuit filed in state court, the artworks were removed from an Alaska Airlines flight during a heavy rainstorm in Honolulu and were not adequately protected from the rain. The complaint alleges that the paintings, which were packed in cardboard crates, became soaked and sustained significant damage, with claimed losses exceeding $521,900.

The lawsuit was brought by Distinguished Programs Insurance Brokerage, which had paid Naga Antiques’ insurance claim and is seeking to recover the payment, plus interest, from Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and logistics company Compass Forwarding. The complaint alleges gross negligence, reckless disregard, and willful misconduct in the handling of the artworks. Read more here.