German police confiscate hundreds of sculptures attributed to Giacometti

October 8th, 2009 Excerpts from the Nobel literature prize citationExcerpts from the Swedish Academy's citation awarding the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature to Herta Mueller of Germany. Herta Mueller was born on August 17, 1953 in the German-speaking town Nitzkydorf in Banat, Romania.

October 1st, 2009 Ga. museum displays forgotten da Vinci sculpturesATLANTA — Leonardo da Vinci once spent nearly two decades creating a 26-foot sculpture of a horse to honor a royal Italian family, only to have the plaster masterpiece destroyed by French soldiers. The Italian artist best known for his paintings and inventions rather than sculpting abilities created more than a dozen sculptures in his lifetime, many of which have disappeared.

August 6th, 2009 Germany's Stasi fooled in 1988 by Jacko doubleBERLIN — It appears that even the dreaded East German Stasi got caught up in Michael Jackson mania in the late 1980s. According to a document obtained by the AP last week from the archives of the former secret police, the Stasi reported on June 18, 1988 that it monitored Jackson as he visited the Allied Checkpoint Charlie in the center of divided Berlin.

July 30th, 2009 German stage director Peter Zadek dies at 83HAMBURG — German stage director Peter Zadek, known for his provocative and unconventional renditions, died overnight in Hamburg after a serious illness, the theater where he was working said Thursday. He was 83. "We mourn for a friend and one of the great directors of German theater," said Ulrich Waller, head of Hamburg's St.

July 30th, 2009 East German police feared 1988 Jackson concertBERLIN — A 1988 Michael Jackson concert in West Berlin prompted security concerns for East Germany's Stasi secret police, according to historical files published Thursday. According to one document — an internal Stasi communique from May 4, 1988 — the secret police believed that East German youth were "calculating on a confrontation with the police" in conjunction with the Jackson concert.

July 24th, 2009 Sculpture at Fla. shopping plaza turns headsDELRAY BEACH, Fla.

June 30th, 2009 German choreographer Pina Bausch diesBERLIN — Pina Bausch, a German choreographer known for her pioneering work, died Tuesday. She was 68. The Wuppertal Dance Theater in western Germany, where she had served as director, announced the death.

June 24th, 2009 German actress Hanne Hiob dies at 86BERLIN — German actress Hanne Hiob, a daughter of playwright Bertolt Brecht, has died, officials said Wednesday. She was 86. Hiob — the daughter of Brecht and his first wife, opera singer Marianne Zoff — died on Tuesday in Munich, the Berlin office that represents Brecht's descendants said.

June 21st, 2009 Greece's New Acropolis Museum opens to visitorsATHENS, Greece — The new Acropolis Museum opened its gates Sunday to hundreds of visitors eager to explore its vast collection of sculptures and artifacts from ancient Greece. The museum holds more than 4,000 ancient works, including some of the best surviving classical sculptures that once adorned the Acropolis.

June 20th, 2009 New Acropolis Museum to open with lavish partyATHENS, Greece — The golden age of ancient Athens comes to life Saturday as Greece opens its new Acropolis Museum with a lavish party, bolstering its long campaign for the return of 2,500-year-old sculptures stripped from the citadel more than two centuries ago. Years of delays and often vociferous criticism about the museum's hulking design and location in the capital's old district come to an end with a nearly euro3 million ($4.1 million) opening ceremony to be attended by foreign heads of state and government — though conspicuously not from Britain, where the sculptures currently reside.

June 19th, 2009 New Acropolis Museum highlights missing marblesATHENS, Greece — Greece opens its long-anticipated new Acropolis Museum Saturday, boosting its decades-old campaign for the return of 2,500-year-old sculptures removed from the ancient citadel by a 19th century British diplomat. After years of delays and legal wrangling, the museum opens its doors to the public on Sunday at a nominal €1 ($1.40) charge — the price of a public bus ticket.

June 18th, 2009 Greece to open new Acropolis Museum this weekendATHENS, Greece — About 1,500 years after Christian zealots vandalized the Parthenon's pagan sculptures, Greece's Orthodox Church has formally blessed the new Acropolis Museum, set to open this weekend after years of delays. Standing near the remains of an inaugural sacrifice for a 3rd century B.C.

June 17th, 2009 Police: Mia Farrow's brother killed himself in Vt.CASTLETON, Vt. — Mia Farrow's brother, a sculptor and local fixture in this college town, killed himself at his art gallery, state police and a spokeswoman for the actress said Wednesday.

June 14th, 2009 Indiana's EAT sign to go up after 44-year hiatusVINALHAVEN, Maine — Robert Indiana never saw his oversized EAT sign illuminated after it went up at the New York World's Fair in 1964. A day after being turned on, the sign with its hundreds of light bulbs was turned off because it was attracting hungry tourists who thought it was a restaurant, not a piece of art.

May 8th, 2009 Picasso, Giacometti works fetch $7.7M each in NYCNEW YORK — Pieces by Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti sold Wednesday for more than $7 million each at an auction of impressionist and modern art, showing that collectors still are willing to spend despite the global recession, the Christie's auction house said. The 1971 Picasso painting "Woman with Hat" was consigned by film director Julian Schnabel to help finance a real estate project.