Column: Roundup: Preserving L.A., Italian museum robbed, the significance of bathroom graffiti

An art theft in Italy. A death sentence in Saudi Arabia. A whistle-blower loses her job in San Francisco. Plus: whitewashing O.C.’s Chicano murals, preserving Los Angeles, and military bathroom graffiti. Lots of good stuff in the roundup this week:

—Thieves steal paintings by Tintoretto, Mantegna and Rubens from a museum in Verona, Italy.

—Prominent artist and poet Ashraf Fayadh has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia (our ally) after being found guilty of apostasy.

—More drama at the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums: Whistle-blower Michele Gutierrez, who reported on possible financial improprieties involving board chair Dede Wilsey, is out of a job.

—Orange County is whitewashing its Chicano murals.

L.A. artist Edgar Arceneaux at rehearsals for his experimental play ‘Until, Until, Until ...” The artist was just awarded the Malcolm McLaren Award by the Performa biennial for his risk-taking work.

(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

—L.A. artist Edgar Arceneaux, whose play “Until, Until, Until …” explored a racially charged performance by Ben Vereen at the 1981 Reagan inaugural, has won the Performa biennial’s Malcolm McLaren Award for risk-taking.

—Pioneering performance artist Carolee Schneeman, known for staging actions such as “Meat Joy,” in which performers rolled around in paint and raw fish, is getting a museum retrospective dedicated primarily to her painted works. Hope to see a retrospective of all of her works at some point soon.

—Plus, video art by women is having a moment in L.A.

—The skull of the black bear that inspired A.A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh” is going on view in a London museum.

Gymnast and dancer Sadie Wilhelmi performs as part of Allora & Calzadilla’s work “Gloria” at the Venice Biennale in 2011. Such events have one critic asking if art can be defined by nationality.

(Jori Finkel / Los Angeles Times)

—”Does ‘American Art’ exist anymore?” asks Jacoba Urist in the Atlantic. My answer: Yes. Yes, it does.

—“Jack the Dripper as Jack the doodler, sketcher and lifelong printmaker.” The Museum of Modern Art reconsiders Jackson Pollock.

—An all-around terrific essay by famed art critic Robert Hughes on when Andrew Wyeth’s “Helga” paintings whipped up a ridiculous media frenzy. A huge lesson in not falling for hype.

—Vaguely related: Can collectors tell which works will stand the test of time? Probably not, says L.A. County Museum of Art Director Michael Govan on a panel the Frick Collection in New York: “The importance of what we see now depends on the work of artists who haven’t even been born yet.”

—And the best, most bitterest rant about Art Basel Miami Beach.

—Because what LAX really needs is a special terminal for celebrities and the rich instead of a functioning airport for everybody.

—A ballot measure to “preserve” Los Angeles has Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne asking, “What about L.A. does the measure seek to preserve?”

—An essential piece of writing: Scott Beauchamp on the significance of bathroom graffiti in the military. Just, wow.

—Creating a Nazi-occupied United States: a fascinating piece on how the designers of Amazon’s “The Man in the High Castle” established the show’s look. One of the rules: “a strict no-fins policy” on cars. I’m addicted to this show.

—Essayist Rebecca Solnit’s terrific retort to Esquire’s list of “The 80 Best Books Every Man Should Read” (which, quite irritatingly, is laid out like 80-page clickbait).

—Life at Sony after the hack. Couldn’t stop reading.

—And last but not least, your moment of original GIFs.

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