The former chairmen of Christie's and Sotheby's auction houses have been indicted by a grand jury in New York. Christie's ex-chair says he has no intention of returning to New York to face charges. Sotheby's ex-boss denies charges, but faces hefty fines and possibly three years in jail. Surely London is the most fun place to see art these days - and to be an artist. Even New Yorkers are beginning to acknowledge as much.
Art seems to be getting larger and larger.
And with it the enormous new gallery spaces museums are building to accomodate it. Hired by the government to make murals and other adornments for official buildings, artists enlarged their studios, got used to working in bold scale and kept right on going. The few remaining British national museums holding out against making their admissions free are giving up their opposition. The crumbling of resistance is seen as a validation of government culture secretary Chris Smith's policies. The Hermitage in St. Petersburg houses one of the world's largest collections of art.