The Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Was an Art-Filled Extravaganza

It was an unusually art-filled Olympics Opening Ceremony in Paris as the Parade of Nations traveled by boat down the River Seine. The Mona Lisa escaped from the Louvre to catch the occasion, braving the rain along with an expected 300,000 Parisians and visitors from around the world.

Carrying the Olympic torch throughout the festivities was a mysterious masked figure first seen in a rowboat in the Parisian catacombs. His face obscured, he wore a costume that recalled famous French characters the Phantom of the Opera and Arsène Lupin.

Via Artnet

How AI Is Impacting The Art And Business Of Storytelling

How can AI transform the art and science of storytelling? To better understand, I connected with Vimeo CMO, Lynn Girotto, who serves a community of +300 million directors, marketers, and content creators on Vimeo.

Girotto believes that “AI makes art and business easier by giving people the confidence to share their ideas in an efficient and engaging manner. Whether it’s a director producing a grassroots film, a small business creating its first product walkthrough, or a CEO giving a company-wide address, everyone should feel empowered to visually express themselves.

More videos are produced every day, while attention spans only get shorter.

Via Forbes

A New Path in Tuscany Offers Rest, Beauty and an Escape from the Crowds

In Tuscany, the Val d’Orcia, with its rolling fields and untouched landscape beneath the dormant volcano of Monte Amiata, seems created for photo ops. Within it, the town of Pienza is one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture, designed by the famed Bernardo Gambarelli, better known as Bernardo Rossellino, in white travertine marble and surrounded by palazzi which he also built.

This summer, a new path leads visitors from the town’s main piazza to the countryside, a journey of a little less than two miles. Along its length they’ll find 28 benches made of travertine marble created by well-known artists. Each bench is both a place to rest and take in the sweeping views of the Italian countryside, and a work of art shaped by the maker’s hand: One suggests a throne, another carries an image of a face, another has the tactile surface of a beach stone.

Via NYT

New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery Sues Art Collector, Claiming He Owes Nearly $300,000

New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery has sued collector James R. Hedges IV, alleging that he owes nearly $300,000 for the sales of 19 artworks that the gallery had consigned to him.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Friday, claims that Hedges and his gallery, the Santa Monica–based Hedges Projects, were consigned these works via invoices dated between June 2022 and May 2024. Hedges and his gallery are accused of owing $298,772.72.

Via Artnews