Looted art goes back to Benin, a Banksy \’deliberately\’ vandalised, and here\’s the cost of that artwork at Big B\’s home

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

Christopher Walken painted over an actual Banksy for his show

The Outlaws, written and directed by Stephen Merchant, is a TV show that stars Hollywood veteran Christopher Walken as one of a group of minor criminals refurbishing a building for their community service. In one episode, Walken’s character discovers the famous Bansky rat… and just paints over it. And now, it turns out, for filming purposes, Banksy had actually recreated that graffiti just for the show, meaning that Walken painted over a genuine Banksy (if not the original rat). BBC tells you how they went about the whole thing.

26 looted artifacts and artworks repatriated to Benin from France

At least 26 works of art seized by French colonial soldiers in 1892 were returned to Benin on Wednesday. This is a landmark in the long fight by African countries to recover looted artifacts. The works include the doors of the Palace of Abomey, royal thrones and warrior dance staffs. The restitution is the largest France has made to a former colony, but represents a fraction of the 5,000 works whose return Benin is seeking and the tens of thousands of seized African works held in France. The German government also announced in April that it aimed to start returning Benin Bronzes. CNN has the details.

That bull painting in Amitabh Bachchan\’s home costs as much as a 2BHK in Mumbai

When Amitabh Bachchan shared a family picture on Diwali 2021, which naturally went viral a bull painting in the background grabbed everyone’s attention on social media. Eventually, it came to the fore that the painting has been made by well-known artist Manjit Bawa (1941–2008), who was born in Dhuri, Punjab. And — the cost of the painting is reportedly Rs 4 crore, which some have pointed out could easily be the price of a 2BHK in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Big B later posted that the bull “symbolises power, strength, speed and optimism”. Bollywoodlife.com has some more details.

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