– "Antiques Roadshow" Norman Rockwell Bounty: On a Saturday episode of the trash-to-treasure appraisal program "Antiques Roadshow," a painting by Norman Rockwell became the second-most-valuable item ever to be unearthed on the 15-year-old PBS show (although a Clyfford Still
painting shares the honor, with both works beaten out for the top slot
by a collection of Chinese jade). Estimated at $500,000, the 1919 oil
painting is titled "The Little Model," and depicts a girl and a dog,
posed before a fashion poster. It was apparently given to the current
owner's great-grandmother by the artist himself, some 90 years ago. [Register Guard] 

– Farewell, Nicolai Ouroussoff: The architecture critic for the
New York Times is "moving on," at the end of the month. According to a
memo that was sent around the office yesterday, the writer plans to
"write a book about the architectural and cultural history of the last
100 years, 'from Adolf Loos's Vienna to the utopian social
experiments of post-revolutionary Russia to postwar Los Angeles and the
closing years of the 20th century.'" In the same memo, he's also praised
for the "good humored way he handles the problem of reviewing the boss"
— when Ouroussoff was given the task of critically appraising the Times's Renzo Piano-designed building, he wrote a kind of nostalgic epitaph to print media, and then decreed of the structure, "rather than gathering momentum as it rises, the tower seems to fizzle." [A/N Blog]  

View Slideshow:

– Big Bucks for Toddler Art in NYC: Australia's four-year-old Aelita Andre, aka "The Prodigy of Color," is taking the New York art world by storm with her current solo show of abstract canvasses at Chelsea's Agora
gallery.  Three of her paintings have already sold for $27,000, and the
show is kicking up a huge storm of media attention. "I saw great
colors, great movement, great composition and very playful, and I
thought, 'This is fantastic,'" said Agora's director. "Who is this
person? Only to find out, she's a child." As for Andre herself, she
already has developed a bit of an ego. Her parents report that upon
visiting the Metropolitan Museum, her reaction was, "Where are my
paintings?" [NBC]

– China's Art Boom Built On Sand?: Forbes blogger Abigail Esman takes on the hype around the art market in Hong Kong and China more generally, contending that China's art-market reign will be short. She argues that the Chinese contemporary boom of a few years ago has already stalled, and the result is a situation similar to Japan in the late '80s, where Japanese speculative money pumped up the Western auction results for Impressionism, noting that a Chinese collector paid $106 million for Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust": "Instead [of Chinese contemporary], buyers are focusing on Western art, which they purchase at obscene and unsustainable prices with wealth some analysts attribute to Chinese real estate wealth — and consequently, do not trust." [Forbes]

– Detroit Arts Institute Slashed: The punishing $50 million in cuts just ushered through by the Detroit City Council include up to 75 percent cuts for cultural institutions, including the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. [Freep] 

– Daily News Calls for Profiling of Street Artists: The New York Daily News continues its campaign against the Brooklyn Museum for hosting the "Art in the Streets" show, now at L.A.'s MOCA. Noting that the LAPD have arrested Revok,
an artist who appears in "Art in the Streets," the tabloid calls for
the NYPD to preemptively begin "to bone up on the 'artists' considered
tops in the field — in order to slap them in cuffs should the occasion
arise" when the show hits town. [NYDN]

– Nude Dance Mob Defiles Critic: It wasn't the nude dancers in the Dave St-Pierre show "Un Peu de Tendress, Bordel de Merde!" at London's Sadler's Wells that ruffled feathers. No, the Guardian's critic freaked out when, and we quote, "[a]t a given point in the show the stalls are invaded by a dozen or so naked guys in ratty blond wigs. They're yelping, screeching, clambering over people and sticking their genitals in their faces. Further down my row a guy parts his arse cheeks to expose his anus to a visibly alarmed woman. Then he fixes on me, and tries to grab my pen and notebook. I hold on and he pulls my glasses from my face. Then deliberately, clearing his throat, he gobs phlegm all over the lenses, and with a sneer, hands them back to me." Obviously, the subsequent review is not a very nice one. [Guardian]

– Kate's Wedding Dress Gets a Show: The newly royal Kate Middleton's McQueen nuptial gown will go on display at Buckingham Palace this summer, from July 23 through October 3rd. In the exhibit, you will also be able to ogle the now Duchess of Cambridge's Cartier Halo tiara and Robinson Pelham earrings. Or drool over the official iced fruit wedding cakes, which will be laid out in the palace's state dining room. [WWD]

– Art Educator Charged With Possession of Child Porn: Really, this is the last thing that beleaguered art in education programs need. The FBI traced Anthony Josef Norris, the founder and director of the nonprofit Kid Serve Youth Murals
in San Francisco, from a log-on name ("Spanky"), unearthing more than
600 pornographic images of minors on his home computer. Norris could
face up to ten years in prison. [SF Gate] 

– Folk Art Faker Busted: Baton Rouge-based painter William Toye, 79, pleaded guilty on Monday to trying to fake and sell paintings by African-American folk artist Clementine Hunter.
Toye faces up to five years in prison plus restitution to the victims.
"This defendant preyed upon the best of what our art community has to
offer," the prosecutor announced. "It was all motivated by greed." [KTBS] 

– James Franco's Art Boo Boo: Somebody get a Band-Aid, it looks like James Franco did in fact carve the late actor Brad Renfro's name into his pretty bicep for his artistic contribution to the "Rebel" show he was organizing (originally for Venice, though that didn't pan out). See the damage for yourself, here: [NYM] 

– Sotheby's to Hold Landmark Czech Art Auction: The auction house's London branch will host the first sale of modern Czech art outside of Central Europe next week. [Telegraph]

– VIDEO OF THE DAY: Four-year-old art prodigy Aelita Andre at work in her studio: