Art Outlook: 4 September

Some of the stories and discussions we’ve spotted online this week:

Appeal to save Wedgwood Collection

The Art Fund has launched a public campaign to save the Wedgwood Collection, which will be sold and dispersed unless £2.74 million can be raised by November. One of the most important industrial archives in the UK, the collection comprises more than 8,000 ceramics and 75,000 manuscripts. Tristram Hunt, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, has backed the appeal.

Poor maintenance causes damage to Raphael painting

Raphael’s Deposition (1507), a masterpiece of the Renaissance, has been damaged due to faulty air conditioning in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, leading the painting to warp in the Italian heat. Following the country’s recent art thefts, alarm bells continue to sound about Italy’s ability to protect its cultural heritage.

Kunsthalle Zurich gets a new director

The Kunsthalle Zurich has appointed Daniel Baumann as its new director, replacing Beatrix Ruf, who takes up the post of artistic director at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum in November.

São Paulo Biennial says goodbye to Israeli funding

Following objections from 61 participating artists, the São Paulo Biennial has agreed to ‘clearly disassociate’ Israeli funding from the exhibition’s general sponsorship. The entire curatorial team has backed the move.

Grand plans at the Louvre

Jean Luc-Martinez, appointed director of the Louvre last year, has outlined plans for the biggest renovation of the Paris museum since the Grand Louvre project of the 1980s. Work is due to start on the main entrance this month.

Jewish Museum of Belgium to reopen

The Brussels Museum is set to reopen on 14 September as part of the European Day of Jewish Culture. This comes four months after French national Mehdi Nemmouche opened fire at the museum, killing four people. Nemmouche was extradited by France to Brussels in late July.

Flipping returns

Flipping the work of emerging artists is back in the news again…

Lead image: used under Public Domain licence