Spanish culture minister orders removal of works from Catalan museum

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Police clash with protestors after artworks are removed from Catalan museum | Clashes have broken out between police and protestors in the Catalan city of Lleida, after 44 works of art were removed from its municipal museum to be transported to the neighbouring region of Aragon. The works are the subject of a long-running dispute between the two regions: the Catalan government bought the paintings, alabaster reliefs, and polychromatic wooden coffins from the nuns of an Aragonese convent in the 1980s. Aragon has long argued that the sale was not legal. The decision to confiscate the works was taken by Spain’s culture minister.

Anthea Hamilton to create Tate commission in 2018 | Anthea Hamilton has been selected as the next artist to create a commission for Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries. ‘Anthea has made a unique contribution to British and International Art with her visually playful and thoughtful works that seamlessly weave together captivating images and narratives’, comments Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson. Hamilton, who was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2016, will unveil her work in March 2018.

Sadiq Khan includes culture and creative industries in London-wide Brexit impact study | The mayor of London has commissioned a study into the potential impact of Brexit on the ‘key nine sectors’ of the UK capital’s economy, which include culture and the creative industries. According to the London Evening Standard, the report will investigate how these sectors could be affected by five hypothetical scenarios resulting from Britain’s departure from the European Union.

University of Notre Dame to build new art museum | The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, has announced plans to build a new art museum on its campus, reports the Chicago Tribune. The institution says that its existing art gallery, the Snite Museum of Art, is at full capacity, and a larger space is needed to accommodate visitor numbers. Construction is expected to begin in 2020, with costs estimated at $66m.

Recommended reading | In Artforum, Rahel Aima writes about the art scene in Dubai, which, despite some high-profile events in recent years, appears to be struggling. Elsewhere, ArtNet’s Tim Schneider looks at the latest confusing developments around Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. And in the Observer, Laura Cumming visits ‘Charles II: Art and Power’ at the Queen’s Gallery and considers how art played a ‘vital’ propagandistic role in the story of the Restoration.