– Playboy Taps Cindy Sherman, Will Cotton, and Others: Next month's issue of Hugh Hefner's seminal men's magazine will feature centerfold-inspired artworks submitted by seven contemporary artists: Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Ryan McGinness, Will Cotton, Jill Magid, Wes Lang, and Tracey Emin. While Sherman contributed two — definitely un-erotic — works from a 1992 series, the others made new works, including Cotton's painting of a nude woman reclining in a cloud of cotton candy and Prince's photograph of a topless model posed beside a rusty bicycle. [AiA]

– Artworks Vandalized at India's First Biennial: The inaugural Kochi Biennale has only just opened, and already two artworks by foreign artists have been attacked. On Tuesday, a man splashed paint on a wall piece by South African artist Clifford Charles, while someone also tried to destroy a sketch by Australian artist Daniel Connell at the office of Cochin Carnival, an organization collaborating on the biennial. "While any artist would not want his works to be damaged, it is interesting to see how the locals feel free to try to engage with the work," Charles said. "This is all part of the process of working in a dynamic society which is changing." [Press Trust of India]

– Italian Monuments for Rent: In an effort to raise badly needed public funds, the Italian government has made over 4,600 historic monuments — including castles, dungeons, and prisons — available for long- and short-term rentals. (Plans to sell such properties fell through due to the plummeting real estate market.) Beginning in January, plum digs like the medieval Soriano nel Cimino castle near Rome or an 18th-century prison on an island off the coast of Naples will be available to rent for your next birthday or office party. [Libération]

– VAG Supporters Battle Over Museum's Future: An ongoing battle over the future of the Vancouver Art Gallery is getting ugly. Mega-collector and condo marketer Bob Rennie countered a recent VAG-commissioned study that was dismissive of his alternative proposal for a new gallery home with testimony from an influential museum planning firm. (Many at the VAG want to expand its existing site rather than break ground on new facilities.) Before long, VAG's director and chair struck back with their own — quite snippy — response to his response. Dizzy yet? [Globe and Mail]

– Serra Plans Shows at Gagosian and Zwirner: Amid talk of artists defecting from Gagosian Gallery, news of his artists exhibiting elsewhere is bound to be highly scrutinized. This April, Richard Serra — who has worked with Gagosian for several decades but has a non-exclusive relationship with the gallery — will do a show of historical sculptures dating from 1966 to 1971 with rival David Zwirner. Next fall, he will mount an exhibition of monumental new work at Gagosian's two Chelsea locations. [Gallerist]

– LACMA Gets Glass Gift: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired 37 new glass artworks, including vessel forms and sculpture, from longtime museum donors Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser. "We would never have had the resources to amass such a collection on our own," said Wendy Kaplan, decorative arts and design curator. (As it turns out, Greenberger and Steinhauser are responsible for the bulk of the department's 100-piece glass collection.) "This has brought us to a new level," added Kaplan. [LAT]

– Nude Paintings Removed at Turkish Gallery: Turkish officials dismantled a show of 29 oil paintings of nude women by prolific Turkish artist and teacher Emin Guloren. A director at the State Fine Arts Gallery in the northern city of Eskisehir claimed the paintings on show did not match those on a CD the artist sent ahead of time. Others blame censorship: "When the artist's students entered the gallery, they saw the paintings of the nudes had been taken down and were lying face-down on the floor," said Ali Pasa Sanli, head of the city's education union. [AFP]

– Henry Buhl's Collection Gets a Round of Applause: A hefty collection of photographs of hands formed by wedding photographer and philanthropist Henry Buhl sold for $12.3 million at Sotheby's in New York last week. Though new records were set for several classic modern photographers including Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray, and El Lissitzky, only 282 of the 437 lots sold. [Telegraph] 

– Liverpool Museum Takes EU Honors: The Council of Europe, a human rights organization, has bestowed the 2013 European Museum Prize on the Museum of Liverpool, which opened last year, in recognition of its complex engagement with the local region's political and social history. The prize, which has been given since 1977, comes with a Joan Miro bronze sculpture, which will remain in Liverpool until the end of 2013. [BBC]