The week in art news: horny tourist fires up Florence, Basquiat vase smashes estimates, US university says O’Keeffe too modern and more…

No-a sex please, we’re Italian. Horny tourist falls foul of Florence City Hall. Last week, a blonde woman was videoed kissing and grinding on Giambologna’s bronze statue of Bacchus near the ponte vecchio. The act divided Italians: former arts minister Vittorio Sgarbi called it “a loving exaltation” of true art, while the city council told CNN that if identified, the woman will be fined and perhaps banned from the city.

Doubts over Venice tourist tax. The €5 charge was designed to target and deter day trippers to the historic Italian lagoon city. Artnews reports that between mid-April and mid-July, the tax raised €2.43M from 485,000 payments, three times more than the €700,000 expected. As critics pointed out, that headline-grabbing figure shows it’s not exactly deterring tourists. Once again, the city seems torn between chasing tourist cash and a quiet life. Let’s wait and see if it’s still around for the next Venice Biennale.

Jean-Michel Basquiat vase smashes estimates at Christie’s auction. The oil-painted glass vase was estimated between $10-15,000 and ended up going for $693,000 USD. Nearly 7,000% higher. The vase, from the collection of Jon Gould, was sold in Christie’s First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art auction on the 17th July. A similar vase estimated at $7-10,000 sold for $201,600.

Report issues “stark warning” on UK arts funding. The report, published by the University of Warwick and the Campaign for the Arts, compares government support and investment levels between 2009-10 and 2022-23, and paints a grim picture for the arts: Funding for the arts is among the lowest in Europe, DCMS and Arts Council England funding fell by 18%, and GCSE and A-level entries in arts subjects dropped by 47% and 29%. Will things change now Labour are back in power?

Create London to open new “affordable” artist studios in Newham, according to The Art Newspaper. Once converted, the disused 19th-century warehouse at 31-35 Stock Street should provide space for 48 artists, designers and architects as well as a cafe and learning centre. The building is due to open at the end of next year, however full funding hasn’t yet been secured.

I’m bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad): drawings by Michael Jackson to be auctioned off. The court-ordered sale of Jackson’s own art will take place on 3rd August, according to King’s Auctions, Los Angeles. 78 works will go on the block, each signed by the Smooth Criminal singer. The subjects reveal a fascination and child-like wonder with celebrity: Queen Elizabeth II, Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, and several US presidents.

Wet Paint columnist Annie Armstrong reports art dealer Vito Schnabel married Russian model Helena Althof in a very private ceremony earlier this month. Guests included Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, artist Rashid Johnson, and collector Aby Rosen, but did not include the dealer’s own father, Julian, or sister, Stella.

US university disowns Georgia O’Keeffe painting saying it’s not “conservative”. According to the New York Times, Valparaiso University, Indiana wants to raise money by selling a pair of artworks in its collection, arguing that it should never have bought them in the first place because they don’t meet a 1953 bequest’s requirement for “conservative” art. According to the university, O’Keeffe’s Rust Red Hills (1930) is modernist and non-representational. We’ll let you be the judge.

Infamous Egyptian archaeologist says he’ll help Italy reclaim the Mona Lisa. Zahi Hawass, the former Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, made the statement in a TV interview at the Isola del Libro literature festival in Orvieto, Italy. Asked whether he would bring up the Mona Lisa in conversations with Italy’s culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, Hawass replied, “Yes, I will talk to the minister when I see him. Italy and I can join together to return Italy’s stolen artefacts. The Gioconda [Mona Lisa] is the most important thing. It has to come back to Italy.” Hawass later denied saying this. Hawass has a history of making headlines: he has previously claimed to have ‘banned’ Beyoncé from the Giza pyramids, he’s launched his own line of rugged outdoors clothing, and he’s been the subject of several corruption investigations.

Oscar Murillo invites everyone to pick up a brush in new Tate Modern show. ‘The Flooded Garden’ features two large, curved canvases running the length of the gallery’s Turbine Hall. Visitors can take a brush and add their own wave-like strokes to the works. The installation was inspired by Claude Monet’s panoramic paintings of waterlilies, on permanent display in Paris’ Musée de l’Orangerie. The show even got a rare thumbs up from the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones.

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art opens new show featuring work by disabled, D/deaf and neurodivergent artists. ‘Towards New Worlds’ features the work of 15 artists, including Leah Clements, Jade de Montserrat, Louise McLachlan, Christopher Samuel and RA Walden. It’s the largest UK exhibition yet of disabled, D/deaf and/or neurodivergent artists. ‘Towards New Worlds’ show continues at MIMA until the 9th February, 2025.