A photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln.
A Mary Todd Lincoln portrait hanging in Illinois’s governor’s mansion has been deemed a hoax. [NYT]
Artist Faith Ringgold ends ties with was to have been called the “Faith Ringgold Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling.”: “I have no interest in a children’s museum if it’s just a playpen, like most of them are.” [NYT]
Here’s an interview with Lucian Freud’s assistant, who says the late artist really despised tardiness. [The Guardian/The Observer]
Laura Berman walks through scenarios in which the Detroit Institute of Art, whose collection is owned by the city, may be required to sell work from its $1 billion-plus dollar collection of art. Plus, a nice story about the 1930 acquisition of a Pieter Bruegel the Elder for $35,000. [The Detroit News]
Cindy Sherman presents new work in New York, and Jerry Saltz declares that her “pictures are like Zen koans. Rather than being about understanding, they’re about coming to grips with the state of mind that produces them. She has a luminous way of breathing life into things that cannot be described. [NYMag]
Blake Gopnik speaks with Tom Friedman on the occasion of his move to Luhring Augustine. On Gagosian, Mr. Friedman has this to say: “You have to be a bit more corporate-savvy to be in that situation, and I’m a nice Midwestern boy.” [Newsweek]
The graffiti artist who stands to be worth $200 million after Facebook’s IPO says that his life has changed dramatically since people have learned who he is. One woman offered him certain favors in exchange for $2 million. [NYDN]