It is unclear who, if anyone, will represent South Africa at this year's Venice Biennale with a court due to hear the whole sorry saga today.

The legal case brought by Gabrielle Goliath, who was chosen to represent the country at the event before being canceled by culture minister Gayton McKenzie, aims to overturn his decision but there are fears even if she is successful it might not be in time.

The Daily Maverick newspaper reports the biennale has extended its deadline for a decision to be made to this weekend and says the government has not officially withdrawn from the event yet.

But it also quotes a spokesperson for the Department of Culture saying it is "not planning any exhibition in Venice this year”.

It comes after last month's decision by McKenzie to pull his support for Goliath after he said her proposed video work Elegy, which refers to events in Gaza, was a "highly divisive political narrative".

The amount given by the World Monuments Fund to support 21 preservation projects this year. Among them is the 17th-century Chapel of the Sorbonne in Paris which is home to a series of paintings by Philippe de Champaigne and the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu.

The Art Institute of Chicago has hit a home run with the acquisition of its first-ever work by Norman Rockwell.

The painting, called The Dugout, shows members of the Chicago Cubs baseball team and was a donation from former state governor Bruce Rauner and his wife Diana.

It shows members of the team during a game they went on to lose against the Boston Braves during the 1948 season when the Cubs finished bottom of the National League.

Rockwell's popular images of daily life in mid-century America have seen him dismissed by some critics and his name become synonymous with a nostalgic view of American life, though recently his legacy has started to be reassessed.

Curator Sarah Kelly Oehler said: "We are so thrilled to provide our visitors with an opportunity to experience this quintessential American artist, known for capturing relatable facets of American society from politics to social rituals and in this case, America’s favorite pastime, baseball."

Painter Ali Eyal has won the Hammer Museum's $100,000 Mohn Award for artistic excellence.

Zoe Ryan, the director of the museum in Los Angeles, said the Iraqi artist's work in the Made in L.A. biennial was "both surreal and deeply personal" and "speaks powerfully to the impacts of war, globalism, and the immigrant experience in the US".

Carl Cheng won the Career Achievement Award and Greg Breda was given the Public Recognition Award which is decided by votes cast by the 90,000 people who visited the show. Both received $25,000.

The awards have been funded by philanthropists and art collectors Jarl and Pamela Mohn since the first biennial in 2012.

1 - Derriann Pharr, Simonette Quamina and Taylor Simmons are this year's artists in residence at the Studio Museum in New York. The trio are the first to work in its purpose-built studios designed for the long-running program that are part of its new David Adjaye-designed building in Harlem which opened in November.

2 - Politicians in Sicily have demanded a recently-bought renaissance masterpiece by Antonello da Messina be brought home to the island. The double-sided panel was bought by the Italian Ministry of Culture for $14.9 million just days before it was due to be sold at auction. Regional deputy Sebastiano Fabio Venezia said it should go to a museum on the island where Antonello was born and lived most of his life.

3 - Frieze New York is returning to The Shed arts center again this year with the fair running from May 13 to 17. The 2026 event will include seven galleries taking part for the first time in its Focus section which promotes galleries that have been open for 12 years or less.

4 - LEGO has teamed up with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to create a 3,179-piece set based on Claude Monet's Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. The original 1899 painting is in the museum's collection and on show in its Fifth Avenue building.