During the New Year’s weekend, artists linked to a Google Sheet on the social media platforms X (formerly known as Twitter) and Bluesky, alleging that it showed how Midjourney developed a database of time periods, styles, genres, movements, mediums, techniques, and thousands of artists to train its AI text-to-image generator. Jon Lam, a senior storyboard artist at Riot Games, also posted several screenshots of Midjourney software developers discussing the creation of a database of artists to train its AI image generator to emulate.

https://x.com/JonLamArt/status/1741545927435784424?s=20

The 24-page list of artists’ names used by Midjourney as the training foundation for its AI image generator (Exhibit J) includes modern and contemporary blue-chip names,as well as commercially successfully illustrators for companies like Hasbro and Nintendo. Notable artists include Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama, Gerhard Richter, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly, Damien Hirst, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Paul Signac, Norman Rockwell, Paul Cézanne, Banksy, Walt Disney, and Vincent van Gogh.

Midjourney’s dataset also includes artists who contributed art to the popular trading card game Magic the Gathering, including Hyan Tran, a six-year-old child and one-time art contributor who participated in a fundraiser for the Seattle Children’s Hospital in 2021.

Phil Foglio encouraged other artists to search the list to see if their names were included and to seek legal representation if they did not already have a lawyer.

Access to the Google file was soon restricted, but a version has been uploaded to the Internet Archive.

The list of 16,000 artists was included as part of a lawsuit amendment to a class-action complaint targeted at Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt and the submission of 455-pages of supplementary evidence filed on November 29 last year.

The amendment was filed after a judge in California federal court dismissed several claims brought forth by a group of artists against Midjourney and DeviantArt on October 30.

The class-action copyright lawsuit was first filed almost a year ago in the United States District Court of the Northern District of California.

Last September, the US Copyright Review Board decided that an image generated using Midjourney’s software could not be copyright due to how it was produced. Jason M. Allen’s image had garnered the $750 top prize in the digital category for art at the Colorado State Fair in 2022. The win went viral online, but prompted intense worry and anxiety among artists about the future of their careers.

Concern about artworks being scraped without permission and used to train AI image generators also prompted researchers from the University of Chicago to create a digital tool for artists to help “poison” massive image sets and destabilize text-to-image outputs.

At publication time, Midjourney did not respond to requests for comment from ARTnews.

Newly released documents from two decades ago show correspondence from culture policy adviser Sarah Hunter writing to Blair in April 2003, recommending the political leader privately and publicly “encourage” the British Museum to seek an alternatives to the long-contested ownership issue.

In October of the previous year, then Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis sent to Blair a proposal for a “reunification” plan that would place the marble statues in a purpose-built museum at the Acropolis in time for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

The UK government’s longstanding position—both then and now—is that the Parthenon Marbles are under the management of the British Museum and its trustees. But at the time of Hunter’s writing, Greece was about to host the Olympics and had become president of the European Council. Hunter wrote that these were “good reasons to change tack.”

“The Greek case has become more sophisticated – arguing for a loan rather than restitution of ownership – and contrasts with the BM’s blinkered intransigence to consider any compromises,” she wrote in files released by the National Archives on Friday.

“The marbles could be a powerful bargaining chip in IOC [International Olympic Committee] vote building for a 2012 Olympic bid. The publicity attached to this move could secure the Greek nomination and help garner a wide range of other IOC votes, although we would have to guard against other nations asking for reciprocal acts.”

Hunter acknowledged that trying to make a loan during the museum’s 250th anniversary year would “be met with resistance and much broadsheet angst” but asked Blair about exploring the issue of a sharing agreement, a suggestion from former foreign secretary and SDP leader David Owen.

The Prime Minister agreed, suggesting Owen be put in charge of negotiations in his handwritten reply. “It would give it profile, he has clout, and could probably help with the BM whilst distancing it a little from govt,” Blair wrote.

The released documents also show Owen’s previous correspondence to the Cabinet Office, which had been forwarded to the Prime Minister. The documents said the former foreign secretary had been told “that the host country is consulted by the IOC extensively about the suitability of future applicants and it would not be difficult to get the Greeks to put their support behind a London bid for 2012 as a quid pro quo … ”

News of Hunter and Blair’s correspondence about a possible long-term loan of the Parthenon sculptures was first reported in the Guardian.

Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the latter was interviewed by the BBC over the ownership question of the ancient sculptures.

Greece has also recently offered to lend some of its “most important” artifacts to the British Museum to “fill the void” left behind if the London institution returns the Parthenon Marbles to Athens. Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni told the Guardian a promised trade agreement would ensure treasures from Greek antiquities are always displayed at the London institution.

Crews removed the Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy monument from the city’s Springfield park on December 27. The monument had been in the park since 1915.

Mayor Donna Deegan said the decision to order the monument’s removal was not an attempt to erase history, but to show that people had learned from it.

“Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal. The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our veins. The same heart and soul,” Deegan said in a statement. “This is not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it. That when we know better, we do better by and for each other. My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history towards justice. Let’s keep lifting as we climb.”

The Washington Post reported that a TV station’s live stream allowed “both critics and supporters of the monument to watch” the dismantling of the monument by construction crews. The paper also reported that early cost estimates for its removal were as high as $2 million.

The removal comes after years of discussion, starting with Deegan’s predecessor in 2020.

In June of that year, Mayor Lenny Curry ordered the removal of a statue and plaque honoring Confederate soldiers in another city park. It happened only weeks after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers, spurring marches across the United States for social justice and national discussions about the legacy of Confederate monuments.

The city’s statement said the cost of removing Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy was $187,000. Funding for the work, including the removal of a plaque, came from a grant and anonymous donations to the local organization 904WARD.

The mayor’s decision to remove the monument was criticized by Florida Representative Dean Black, chair of the Republican Party of Duval County. Black called the monument’s removal “a stunning abuse of power.”

“This action, undertaken in the middle of the night, during the holidays, without consultation of city leaders or a vote by the council, is another in a long line of woke Democrats obsession with Cancel Culture and tearing down history,” Black wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Choosing to erase our history is not “brave” – it is a cowardly act done by a lawless Mayor who hides under the cover of night! We call on the City Council to seek immediate accountability – the people of Jacksonville expect no less.”

However, the mayor’s decision to remove the Confederate monument did not require approval from Jacksonville’s city council because city funds were not being used.

Michael Fackler, Jacksonville’s general counsel, issued a statement explaining the mayor’s executive authority.

“Our legal analysis finds that Mayor Deegan has the authority as executive of the City – and because city funds are not being utilized – to control the property, the park, and the monument,” Fackler said. “We have worked closely with Procurement, Public Works, and Parks on the approved scope of work in accordance with municipal code in how we contract for and complete these services.”

The monument will remain in city storage until members of the community and the city council can determine what to do with it, officials told the Associated Press.

The group, Doctors Against Genocide, had planned to meet at the museum on the morning of December 28, and then to gather at 3 p.m. outside the White House.

The group’s website says it is “a global coalition of healthcare workers dedicated to succeeding where global governments have failed in confronting and preventing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Our mission includes identifying, opposing, preventing, and eradicating genocide by uniting Healthcare Professionals in action.” The group was formed in 2023 in response to Israel’s military operations in the Palestinian city of Gaza.

A statement posted on the group’s Instagram page on December 26 said a visit had been planned to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, but the organization did not “aim to protest inside or outside the museum, nor is it our intent to to minimize the important work done by the Holocaust Memorial Museum.”

The initial announcement was denounced by the American advocacy organization StopAntisemitism.org early on December 26.

The museum’s statement, also posted on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) on the afternoon of December 26, said “Our Museum is the national memorial to the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. It is deeply offensive to survivors and to the memory of the victims to exploit Holocaust history. Our long-standing policy against protests in our Museum preserves this space for the solemn memory of victims, the reflections of survivors, and its educational mission.”

In an additional email statement to ARTnews, museum spokesperson Raymund Flandez said the institution had not been in touch with the organizers of the protest, and reiterated that holding such an event at the museum “would have been extremely offensive, particularly to Holocaust survivors.”

After images of the stop sign were posted on Banksy’s popular account (which has 12.1 million followers), commenters immediately responded that it would soon be taken and sold online.

Around 12:30 p.m., two people used bolt cutters and a Lime bicycle to remove the artwork. A witness named Alex told the Sun that one of the people initially tried hitting it with his hands and fell off the bike before returning with the bolt cutters.

The incident follows several other times Banksy has been in the news this year. A mural on Valentine’s Day about domestic violence prompted the removal of a chest freezer twice, a couple discovered a large seagull painted on their home would cost $250,000 to remove, a 500-year-old farmhouse with a large Banksy mural of a young boy was demolished in March, and a damaged mural in Venice painted in 2019 will be restored through private funding. Banksy’s identity was also recently revealed through an archival interview with the BBC.

The Madonna della Rosa (Madonna of the Rose) depicts Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, along with an infant version of John the Baptist. Until the 19th century, the painting was attributed to the Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, more often known as Raphael. Then doubts were raised over the Joseph figure “looking like an afterthought” and whether Raphael had painted the lower section.

The museum’s website page for the oil painting solely credits it to Raphael.

According to a new research paper published on December 21 in the journal Heritage Science, analysis of the painting using an AI algorithm with an accuracy of 98 percent found that the painting was entirely made by the Italian artist. But it “raised questions about whether Raphael indeed painted the face of Joseph in the painting.”

The researchers, led by University of Bradford visual computer professor Hussan Ugail, noted that the AI analysis supported earlier work by art historians who had “previously questioned the full attribution of this painting to Raphael alone, suggesting that his associate, Giulio Romano, might have had a hand in it.”

University of Bradford emeritus professor of molecular spectroscopy Howell Edwards, who co-authored the paper, told the Guardian: “The AI program analysis of our work has demonstrated conclusively that whereas the three figures of the Madonna, [Jesus] and St John the Baptist are unequivocally by Raphael, that of St Joseph is not, and has been painted by someone else.”

In January, Ugail was part of a team of researchers who used AI-assisted computer-based facial recognition on a painting known as the de Brécy Tondo to also help determine it was a work by Raphael. The research team found that the faces of the Madonna and child in the de Brécy Tondo were identical to ones in the Raphael altarpiece Sistine Madonna. Then another study called into question the results of that research, and museum experts raised questions about the methodology.

Ugail told the Guardian that he knows “nothing about art”, and that the reception to his work from art historians can be frosty. “I think there is fear and they also think we are naive, that we don’t know what we are doing,” he said.

While there is ongoing concern over how the use of AI will eliminate the work of human beings, the research team emphasized in the conclusion of their Heritage Science paper that AI could become a useful resource for art historians and collectors as a supplementary tool for verifying paintings alongside “existing methods such as scholarly analysis, spectroscopic imaging, and dating techniques.”

“As advances continue to be made in machine learning and image processing technologies, this method has the potential to become part of an array of tools for artwork analysis and verification,” the paper said. “It can operate in conjunction with other methods currently in use, including in-depth scrutiny by art historians and various advanced imaging techniques, thus contributing to a more thorough and dependable framework for artwork authentication and analysis.”

The returns were the result of an agreement between the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the museum.

The items being returned are Khmer artifacts “made between the 9th and 14th centuries in the Angkorian period and reflect the Hindu and Buddhist religious systems prevailing at that time”, according to a press release from the museum. The group also includes statutes from the Koh Ker archaeological site, including a 10th century sandstone goddess.

Several of the sculptures, including a bronze sculpture The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease (late 10th–early 11th century), and a large 7th century Buddha head—will remain on view at the museum’s Southeast Asian art galleries while repatriation arrangements are being made.

The Met also said it was “continuing to review its collection of Khmer art and will be exchanging information on sculptures with officials in Cambodia and Thailand as part of that ongoing research.”

Phnombootra Chandrajoti, director-general of Thailand’s Fine Arts Department, called the return of the Met’s two items a “significant milestone” in the country’s ongoing efforts to return cultural treasures.

“In Thailand, the committee for repatriation, chaired by the Cultural Minister, is actively engaged in research initiatives to identify and track down additional objects that may have been illegally removed from the country in the past, further paving the way for a future where cultural heritage is preserved and valued in its rightful place,” he said in a press statement.

Latchford was indicted for antiquities trafficking in 2019, a conviction the Met said led to the institution “proactively” contacting the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as well as Cambodian officials. Latchford died shortly after his conviction in 2020, resulting in the indictment being dismissed.

Last year, the Cambodia government alleged the Met had stolen artifacts that were sold by Latchford. In May, museum director and CEO Max Hollein announced it was hiring a manager of provenance research as part of its efforts to review all of its collections and policies, as well as returning objects the Met determined had questionable histories. Hollein cited “increasingly intense scrutiny” from “near-daily news stories.”

The Met’s 14 sculptures from Cambodia join dozens of other items that have been returned to the country this year, many of them also connected to Latchford. Those other objects include a 7th century Vishnu statue, 33 antiquities worth $20 million, three bronze statues from the National Gallery of Australia, more than 70 gold relics previously stored in London, and an 11th century carved lintel. Latchford’s estate also agreed to forfeit $12.1 million in a deal with U.S. officials in June. Officials from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam have also contacted the Denver Museum of Art about allegedly stolen items in its collection that were also sold by Latchford.

This is also not the first repatriation between the Met and Cambodia regarding items associated with Latchford. Ten years ago, The Met voluntarily returned two 10th century objects known as the “Kneeling Attendants”. Art in America previously reported that “the decision was made after new research revealed that the artworks had been looted in the late 1970s from the Koh Ker temple complex, an archaeological site in northern Cambodia.”

US Attorney Damian Williams urged other museums and private collectors to also be proactive in contacting his office about concerns over stolen or looted items.

“And if you work at one of these institutions or for a private collection and have concerns that certain pieces may be tied to illicit trafficking, do the right thing: come forward and work with us on a voluntary basis to facilitate the return to the rightful owners,” he said in a press statement. “That is a far better outcome for you and your institution than if our investigation leads to a knock on your door. In other words, come see us before we come see you.” 

In Jessica Vincent’s case, a heavy vase she purchased for $4 at Goodwill was actually a historic example of Murano glass that would sell for more than $107,000 at auction in New York, including fees.

“I had a sense that it might be a $1,000 or $2,000 piece,” Vincent told the New York Times, “but I had no clue how good it actually was until I did a little bit more research.”

The find was made in June at a busy Goodwill thrift store in Hanover County, Virginia, outside Richmond. The bottle-shaped vase had swirls of color in sea foam green and burgundy purposely meant to imitate brushstrokes. It was actually designed by Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa as part of a series called “Pennellate” in the 1940s. The series required master glassblowers to produce, and the objects in it were very difficult to make, resulting in very few pieces. Murano glassworks designed by Scarpa were shown at the Venice Biennale in 1942.

To confirm Vincent’s vase was authentic, glass consultants Jim Oliveira and Sara Blumberg told ARTnews they immediately drove to Virginia to meet her and view it in person. “We spent decades doing this and it’s absolutely essential that we see it in person. Otherwise, it’s impossible.”

The glass specialists also compared Vincent’s find to a catalogue of Scarpa vases published as part of a 2013 exhibition organized by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice.

To determine the “reasonable” auction estimate of $30,000 to $50,000, Oliveira and Blumberg considered previous examples of “Pennellate” works that had sold at auction, where they went for between $30,000 and $200,000.

Vincent’s vase ended up selling for above its high estimate. On December 13, Lot 106 at Wright Auctions in New York sold for a hammer price of $85,000, or $107,100 with fees.

Vincent said she planned on using the auction proceeds to renovate a farmhouse she had recently purchased and probably go to a dinner. “I don’t even know how to feel right now honestly—it’s just very surreal,” she told Elle Decor, which first reported the story. “It’s kind of like winning the lottery.”

While Vincent will continue to frequent thrift stores, there are slim chances another Scarpa is hiding in the shelves.

Blumberg told ARTnews she could count on one hand the number of times that glass items of this caliber are consigned to an auction house, especially due to the large number of fake copies of designer Murano glass. “It’s really a rare occurrence,” she said.

So it was a shock when the British Museum announced earlier this year that a staff member had been fired after the discovery of lost, stolen, and damaged items from its collection. The small Greco-Roman items had not been on public display, and many of them had not been catalogued or documented. Since then, news reports have revealed a stunning array of details about what caused such a scandal to take place at the venerated institution.

News outlets identified the fired staff member as senior curator Peter Higgs. A whistleblower tried to alert museum officials in 2021, but Dutch art dealer Ittai Gradel was told the issue was resolved. The items worth $63,000 were reportedly being listed on eBay for as little as $51.

The thefts took place over 30 years, and many of the 2,000 missing items were among millions in the museum’s collection that had not been catalogued or photographed. That last point wasn’t new: a scathing investigation about the British Museum identifying several of its security weaknesses had been published in 2002.

As a result of the extent of the thefts, director Hartwig Fischer immediately stepped down instead of departing early next year as previously announced. Deputy director Jonathan Williams also left following the recent conclusion of an independent review, which had 36 recommendations for the museum’s security, governance, and record-keeping operations. There are plans for a complete documentation of the museum’s collection in five years at a cost of $12.1 million. There were also renewed calls for the repatriation of items such as the Benin Bronzes and the Parthenon Marbles from Nigerian and Greek officials.

During a UK parliamentary committee meeting on October 18, interim director Mark Jones asserted the cataloguing and documentation of the museum’s collection would be done expediently (but not thoroughly), and board chairman George Osborne said the project would be used as a response to future inquiries for the repatriation of items.

“For example, we have a collection of about 1 million lithics or stone fragments from north Africa, and we do not intend to photograph and describe every one of those,” Jones said. “Some big archaeological assemblages will always be treated as assemblages, which means that of the 8 million, we think it is sensible to try to deal with only about 6 million as fully documented objects.”

“Part of our response can be: ‘They are available to you. Even if you cannot visit the museum, you are able to access them digitally.’ That is already available—we have a pretty good website—but we can use this as a moment to make that a lot better and a lot more accessible,” Osborne said.

Taking shortcuts to document a massive archive is the kind of policy choice that explains why poetry translator Yilin Wang found her work was used by the British Museum in an exhibition on Chinese history earlier this year without permission, credit, or compensation. (After Wang raised enough money through crowdfunding to hire legal representation and file a claim in Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, the museum issued a settlement, including acknowledgement that it did not have a policy regarding translations.) But it is also patronizing and insulting for Osborne to assert that access to high-resolution digital images of historic artifacts on a website will enough to satisfy the ongoing cultural loss experienced by many countries.

Modern technologies like 3D printing make it possible to produce extremely accurate, detailed copies of many historical artifacts, and the distinct experience of viewing works in person is why museums continually work so hard to acquire new works, arrange loans for major exhibitions, and stage rehangs.

But the British Museum’s continued stance against repatriation, despite this scandal as well as all the provenance research and growing shifts in museum policies, reflects the conservative nature of its current leadership and the hard-line stance of current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. (Osborne’s Conservative past in politics and media includes six years as Chancellor of the Exchequer and a year as First Secretary of State for Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as a stint as editor of the Evening Standard newspaper from 2017 to 2020.)

To be clear, thefts occur and have occurred at many museums. But for them to happen over such a long period, at such a volume, at one of the world’s most famous, well-funded and prestigious institutions, highlights a long-term, deep-seated level of disorganization and hubris that will take years to repair and recover from.

The odds the institution can repair its reputation will heavily depend on who it chooses for its next leaders, whether its stance on repatriation ever evolves beyond a 60-year-old law, as well as the extent of its investments and policy changes for security, documentation, and governance procedures.

For now, the British Museum can no longer assert it is the safest, best place for millions of artifacts from around the world. Hundreds of items are still missing and its primary suspect is not cooperating with the police investigation.

The British Museum could turn this moment into an opportunity to rebuild relationships with other countries and institutions it has long alienated and antagonized. But based on its history and the statements of its current leadership, it would require a significant shift in foresight and humility to make this happen.

When recommendations from the review were published on Tuesday, there was no mention of deputy director Jonathan Williams. This prompted Ittai Gradel, the antiquities dealer who alerted senior museum officials to the thefts in 2021, to tell the BBC, “He should have gone long ago.”

On August 25, Williams “voluntarily stepped back” from his position until the conclusion of the museum’s external investigation. That announcement was made three hours after Hartwig Fischer resigned as director. Fischer had previously announced in July that he would be stepping away from the position in 2024.

Gradel further commented that “this whole charade of stepping back from duties was pointless from the outset. It was immediately obvious to any observer that [Williams] had displayed incompetence in handling this on a level where the only appropriate response should be that he should lose his position.”

According to a report in the Telegraph, Gradel sent Williams a 1,600-word email in February 2021. The detailed communication identified the seller of ancient artifacts listed on eBay—a senior curator at the museum—and contended that the items were very likely from the museum archives.

On July 12, 2021, Willams replied to Gradel that an investigation had found “the objects concerned are all accounted for,” and the results of a security review found “procedures are robust and that the collection is protected.” Later the same month, Williams also claimed Gradel’s allegations were “wholly unfounded.”

Gradel eventually took his concerns to board chairman George Osborne, who later said the museum’s decision to dismiss those claims was a mistake.

The British Museum admitted this past August that 2,000 items had been lost, stolen, or damaged over the course of three decades, prompting an investigation by the Metropolitan Police and the firing of an unnamed staff member.

The items were small pieces of Greco-Roman “gold jewelry and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century” that had not been on display.

The museum did not disclose to the BBC the date of Williams’s departure, nor whether it was voluntary or the decision of management.

When asked on December 12 about whether Williams would step down, Osborne told the BBC that he would not “come to instant judgements on those sorts of things.”

“It’s absolutely clear that when the museum was warned by Dr. Gradel in 2021, the museum did not respond adequately to that warning,” Osborne told the British public broadcaster. “If we had, we would have got on top of this a couple of years before we did. There are clearly very serious consequences for it.”