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☆ Hi-res art scans from Taiwan's National Palace Museum leak online -- and turn up for sale on Chinese online shopping platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The National Palace Museum in Taipei said Tuesday it had reached out to Taobao, a shopping website popular in mainland China, to prevent the images from spreading. “We are looking into it and have hired lawyers to raise to Taobao about the intellectual properties and damages involved,” said deputy museum director Huang Yung-tai. In its statement, the National Palace Museum said they first identified the leak in June last year and it launched an investigation into the matter two months later. The National Palace Museum’s collection is a major bone of contention between Taiwan and China. Much of its vast collection of artifacts were once housed at the Palace Museum in Beijing’s Forbidden City – treasures that have already survived two wars.

☆ Peter Doig’s Art of Getting Lost
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Tobias Grey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The artist Peter Doig, born in Edinburgh in 1959, has led a peripatetic existence, living and working in Trinidad, Montreal, London and New York. He secured his early reputation in the 1990s with a series of large-scale landscape paintings full of atmospheric foreboding. One of these, “Swamped” (1990), set an auction record for the artist in November 2021, when it was sold at Christie’s New York for $39.9 million. Mr. Doig, 63, can take years to finish one of his distinctive figurative paintings. “Peter Doig,” a show of 12 new paintings and 20 works on paper that opened at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London earlier this month, provided him with just such a challenge.

☆ Egypt opens 4,000-year-old tomb on Luxor's West Bank, oldest open to public
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities/Handout via REUTERSCAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Egypt has restored, documented and opened to tourists the Middle Kingdom tomb of Meru, the oldest site accessible to the public on Luxor's West Bank, home to some of its most spectacular Pharaonic monuments including the Valley of the Kings. Meru's rock-hewn tomb was restored by the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw and Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. "This is the only decorated room of the tomb, with an unusual decoration of painting on lime plaster," Yassin said. Meru's tomb had been known since at least the mid-19th century, according to the Polish Egyptian archaeological mission. Some of the Middle Kingdom's most prominent officials were buried at North Asasif, the statement said.

☆ Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi fooled the art market — and made millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Oscar Holland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“The forgery was almost incidental,” Wolfgang told Fischer. “They are storytellers, together, which is why they did a lot of research,” Fischer told CNN in a video call. Wolfgang told her that he only produced pictures he considered beautiful, and he believed the owners enjoyed them as much as the art market profited from them. In 2014, Wolfgang told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that in addition to the court-imposed damages, he had settled lawsuits worth $27 million. From her conversations with Wolfgang, Fischer concluded that both of his parents were “severely traumatized” by their experiences during World War II.

Persons: Wolfgang Beltracchi, Heinrich Campendonk —, Steve Martin, Wolfgang, Helene, Heinrich Campendonk, Peter Endig, Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, Kees van Dongen, Derain, Jeannette Fischer, Fischer, ” Wolfgang, “, ”, ’, ” Fischer, Paul Hahn, Hendrick Avercamp, Christie’s, Robin Hood, hadn’t, CNN Fischer, Picasso, —, aren’t, Leonardo da Vinci’s, Salvador Mundi, Andy Warhol, Vincent van Gogh Organizations: CNN, New York Times, Der, Art, CBS, Scheidegger Locations: Halle, Germany, Hitler’s Germany, Switzerland, France, Cologne, ”, Stalingrad

☆ A ChatGPT bot passed a Wharton business school exam, but a professor says he would've only graded the effort a B or B-minus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wharton professor Christian Terwiesch tested ChatGPT with questions from his final exam. Terwiesch found that ChatGPT could answer basic questions well but sometimes made "surprising mistakes" in simple calculations. Terwiesch concluded that ChatGPT might earn a B or B- on his final exam. Based on an analysis of similar retailers, the founders expect to turn their inventory 1.5 times per year. To achieve an annual revenue of $3,000,000, how much inventory expressed in $'s should the founders expect their operation to require?

☆ U.S. cuts off Burkina Faso from Africa duty-free trade program
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 1 (Reuters) - The United States has dropped Burkina Faso from the AGOA trade preference program for failing to meet the requirements of the AGOA statute, the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office said in a statement on Sunday. The Biden administration is "deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change" in government in Burkina Faso, according to the statement. Burkina Faso will be given "clear benchmarks" for a pathway toward reinstatement to the trade program, USTR's office said, adding that the Biden administration would work with the Burkinabe government. Frustrations over growing insecurity spurred two coups in Burkina Faso in 2022. Nearly two million people have been displaced and reside in makeshift camps, many run by the United Nations, that dot the arid countryside.

☆ 8 money books that can help you build wealth in 2023, according to real estate investors, 'super savers,' and finance experts who have read them cover-to-cover
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Another popular choice among real estate investors specifically is "Rich Dad Poor Dad." It was Ramit Sethi's popular money book that taught them how to be more intentional when it came to spending. Real estate"Retire on Real Estate" by Kai AndersonAvery Heilbron, who achieved financial freedom before 30 partly thanks to his investment properties, says that "Retire on Real Estate" is what nudged him in the direction of buying property to build wealth. Courtesy of Avery HeilbronIf you want to build long-term wealth, "I think real estate is 100% the best thing," Heilbron said. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert KiyosakiThis classic by Robert Kiyosaki is a favorite among real estate investors and early retirees, including Mike Zuber, who was able to quit his day job in his 40s thanks to his lucrative real estate portfolio.

☆ U.N. says Burkina Faso has no grounds to expel senior official
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Saturday said Burkina Faso had no grounds for ordering senior U.N. official Barbara Manzi to leave the country and that the doctrine of "persona non grata" could not be applied to her. "Only the Secretary-General... has the authority to decide, after careful investigation, with respect to the withdrawal of any United Nations official." Reuters was not immediately able to verify whether Manzi, an Italian national, was still in Burkina Faso in Saturday. The U.N. provides some essential services in Burkina Faso, including supplying food to thousands of malnourished children as insecurity has crippled local economies, caused mass hunger, and restricted access for aid organisations. The Secretary-General reiterated the U.N.'s commitment to continue engaging with Burkina Faso's transitional authorities and support the country.

☆ Archaeologists have discovered full-color portraits of Egyptian mummies in ancient Philadelphia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archaeologists have uncovered the first full-color portraits of mummies in over a century. Researchers found the two full portraits of Egyptian mummies and fragments of others at the Gerza excavation site in Fayoum, Egypt, making these artworks the first of their kind to be discovered in over 115 years. English archaeologist Flinders Petrie was the last to find similar artwork when he discovered 146 mummy portraits at a Roman cemetery in 1911, Artnet News reports. The collection of paintings, known as the Fayoum portraits, portrays some of the wealthiest people that existed in these ancient communities. A statement from the Egyptian government explains that pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309–246 B.C.)

☆ Paul Allen's art collection hauls in record $1.5 bln at auction
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The total represented the highest amount ever collected at a single art auction, according to the auction house, Christie's in New York. Among the priciest works sold was Pointillist pioneer Georges Seurat's Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version), an 1888 oil on canvas depicting three nude women. Cezanne's "La Montagne Sainte-Victoire", a colorful landscape painted from 1888-1890, sold for $137.8 million, another record. And a Gustav Klimt 1903 painting, "Birch Forest," set the high mark for a Klimt work, selling for $104.6 million. Additional pieces from Allen's collection will be offered at auction on Thursday.

☆ Mexican artisans work to preserve handmade Día de los Muertos decorations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“The business was born 34 years ago, we were very little then, and we started helping in getting the work done,” Torres Alfaro recalled. Many Mexicans also use the papel picado decorations at other times of the year, stringing them at roof-height along streets. Eduardo Verdugo / AP“For some time now, there has been a bit more Halloween,” said Torres Alfaro. That is part of the work, to put Mexican things in papel picado. “Papel picado is based on what can be cut, and what can’t, and that is the magic of papel picado.”Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

☆ ‘The Watcher’ is Netflix’s latest true story tale meant to get you watching
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

“The Watcher” continued to send letters, some of them focused on the family’s three young children, that became increasingly hostile and threatening. The family went on high alert, contacted the police and even hired a private detective to try and discover the identity of the letter writer. The family still lives in Westfield, according to New York Magazine, just in a smaller house. Derek Broaddus has a Twitter account where he most recently has been posting stories about the Netflix series. The show stars Bobby Cannavale as Derek Broaddus, and Naomi Watts as his wife, Maria.

☆ UK climate change protesters throw soup at van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Climate change protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting "Sunflowers" at London's National Gallery on Friday, causing minor damage to the frame. "It is the painting that is most often reproduced on cards, posters, mugs, tea-towels and stationery. It was also the picture that Van Gogh was most proud of," the gallery says on its website. Just Stop Oil said the painting has an estimated value of more than $84 million. Last Sunday, police said that more than 100 people had been arrested after a weekend of protest-related activity by environmental groups.

☆ A 55-year-old who never made more than $52,000 a year built a 25-unit real estate portfolio in 5 years and is now financially independent: 'If I can do it as a basic blue-collar worker raising a famil
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A former cop who never earned more than $52,000 built a 25-unit real estate portfolio. He spends time managing his investments, including a 25-unit real estate portfolio, which Insider verified. Here's how Mark built a 25-unit real estate portfolio in just five years on a salary that never exceeded $52,000 a year. He agreed, called up a real estate agent he knew in the area, and told her he wanted to invest in real estate. "At that time, I had not read any real estate books, I had not watched any YouTube videos, and I really didn't know anything about buying real estate," said Mark.

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