The Da Vinci ode! (That\’s pretty much the news of the day)

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!

Leonardo da Vinci has 14 living relatives!

Renowned Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci has been dead for 502 years, but his bloodline is apparently still around. New research has uncovered 14 living male descendants of da Vinci, with the prospect of there being more relatives. The revelation comes after years of research into historical documents, with the ultimate goal of sequencing the deceased artist’s genome to better understand his genius. In charge of the research were scholar and art historian Alessandro Vezzosi, who also founded Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, and historian Agnese Sabato, president of Associazione Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage. Hypebeast tells you more.

Tiny \”Post It note\” Bear drawing by da Vinci sells for £7.5m

A study of a bear\’s head by Leonardo da Vinci has sold for a record £7.5m (£8.8m with fees) at Christie\’s in London. It was estimated to make £8m to £12m but was hammered down under that estimate. Measuring 7 square cm, this tender silverpoint drawing on pale pink-beige paper was executed around 1480 and is one of eight known Leonardo drawings still in private hands, excluding those in the British Royal Collection and Devonshire Collections at Chatsworth. It was being sold by the American collector Thomas Kaplan, who owns the Leiden Collection, renowned for its huge number of Rembrandts. The Art Newspaper has the whole scoop.

Don’t sell that da Vinci drawing of Saint Sebastian, says French govt

A long-running legal battle between a French collector and the country’s ministry of culture over the right to export a long-lost Leonardo drawing for sale has been extended after a court postponed a hearing on the matter until the fall. The collector owned the small pen-and-ink study of Saint Sebastian for decades without knowing it was a Leonardo. After he got it assessed and realized what it was, its valuation soared to $18 million. But, sale of the work was thwarted by the French government, which declared it a national treasure in December 2016, banning its export from the country for 30 months while national institutions could gather the funds to make an offer to buy the work at fair-market value. Now, the plot thickens. Artnet News tells you how.

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