– Frank Gehry Goes Pro Bono: The starchitect, who designed L.A.'s signature Walt Disney Concert Hall, will create the new Culver City home for the beloved music venue Jazz Bakery. The theater's artistic director said she didn't know Gehry, or ask for his help, before he swooped in six months ago to volunteer his services, like some kind of dashing architectural crusader. [LAT]   

– Three Museums Jointly Scoop Up "The Clock": The Israel Museum in Jerusalem has plunked down a low six-figure sum to jointly acquire Christian Marclay's 24-hour film collage with Paris's Pompidou Center and London's Tate. Because there are only six editions of the piece, sharing is encouraged: the MFA Boston and National Gallery of Canada purchased a copy jointly, while LACMA and MoMA wanted one all to themselves. Curators, stay alert: only two copies left! [Bloomberg]

– Earliest Copy of "Mona Lisa" Found: Conservators at Madrid's Prado museum recently made an astonishing discovery, hidden beneath black overpaint. What they assumed to be a replica of the "Mona Lisa" made after Leonardo da Vinci's death was actually painted by one of his key pupils working alongside the master himself. [TAN]

– Asia Society Expands: The Asia Society will open two new branches this year, one in Houston and one in Hong Kong (which you can read more about here). The expansion signals a change in mission: once focused on explaining Asia to Americans, the organization now emphasizes strengthening partnerships among Asians themselves. [NYT] 

– Patron Kate at the NPG: Kate Middleton will visit London's National Portrait Gallery for a preview of its Lucien Freud exhibition, which opens to the public February 9. The Duchess, who has a degree in art history, is said to be a fervent admirer of the painter's grim canvasses. It will be her first visit since becoming an official patron of the gallery last December. [Artlyst]

– Robert De Niro Recruits Big Art Names For Film Fest: Cindy Sherman, Kara Walker, and street artist JR are among the artists whose works will be given as trophies to winning filmmakers in the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival's jury competitions. [Variety]

– Russian Protest Art Sprouts on the Web: Ahead of antigovernment protests on February 4, Russian Web sites have seen a flowering of visual art espousing opposition to the government. [Radio Free Europe] 

– Anthony Gormley Speaks Up for Squatters: Speaking at the launch of an exhibition to benefit the homeless, the British artist severely critiqued the government's aim to render squatting illegal. "It's a no-brainer that properties that are awaiting renovation or don't have commercial tenants can be used for creative things, and indeed to provide shelter for the homeless," he said. Together with Tracey Emin, Gillian Wearing, and Jonathan Yeo, Gormley has created a new piece to be sold next spring to benefit the charity Crisis. [Guardian]

– Italian Soccer Team Sponsors Old Masters Exhibition: Novara Calcio, a premier Italian soccer team, is backing the show "Treasures of the Prince," which includes 80 Old Master paintings drawn from the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein. "It generates curiousity because there is no link between a football team and the world of arts and culture," said Novara Calcio's managing executive. [TAN] 

– Stolen Aboriginal Art Sold on eBay?: Authorities in South Australia are investigating the whereabouts of a piece of aboriginal rock art that was temporarily advertised on the auction Web site. Officials from eBay are working with police to track down the seller. [ABC]  

– Olympic Art Mimics Post-Impressionists: Artist Neville Gable has recreated Georges Seurat's famous pointillist painting "Bathers at Asnieres" with a photographic tableau of the workers in London's Olympic Park. [BBC]

– Freud's Portrait of Restaurateur Up for Grabs: A never-before-shown portrait of restaurant owner Bernard Walsh by Lucien Freud will be included in the Sotheby's contemporary art evening sale on February 15. It comes with a presale estimate of £1.5 to £2 million ($2.3 to $3.1). [Guardian]

– Lewis Biggs Appointed Folkestone Curator: The former artistic director of the Liverpool Biennial has been appointed curator of the next Folkestone Triennial, to be held in 2014, in Folkestone, Kent. In 2013, he will curate the Aichi Triennial in Nagoya, Japan. [Art Review]

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