This year's Venice Biennale does not open until May 9 but has already generated its fair share of controversy and it seems certain more is to come.

The latest talking point comes courtesy of the South African government which appears determined to turn its own local difficulties into an international incident by blaming Qatar for the decision to cancel its own pavilion.

It comes after the last-minute decision to withdraw support from its nominated artist, Gabrielle Goliath, with culture minister Gayton McKenzie describing her proposed work Elegy, which refers to events in Gaza, as a "highly divisive political narrative".

McKenzie then poured fuel on the fire with a lengthy statement where he said it had been "brought to my attention that a foreign country had allegedly undertook to fund South Africa’s exhibition" which would mean "South Africa’s platform was being used as a proxy by a foreign power to endorse a geopolitical message about the actions of Israel in Gaza."

He did not name names but reports in Israel say South African officials identified the country as Qatar in off-the-record briefings to journalists.

In a further twist, it emerged today Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo have appealed to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to overturn the ban.

He is already one of the world's richest men but now Bernard Arnault is immortal as well.

The head of the French luxury giant LVMH was inducted into the country's Academy of Moral and Political Sciences on Monday in a two-hour-long ceremony witnessed by the likes of French First Lady Brigitte Macron, singer Pharrell Williams and art dealer Larry Gagosian.

Lifetime members of the institution are known in France as Immortals. Arnault's induction ceremony was broadcast live online and ended with him being presented with a ceremonial sword created for him by the late architect Frank Gehry.

Gehry, who died in December, designed the Fondation Louis Vuitton building after Arnault invited him to work on the project.

Arnault has been the force behind establishing the firm as a major patron of the arts in France. His own art collection includes works by Yves Klein, Henry Moore and Andy Warhol and he previously owned Phillips auction house.

What do you do with 710 tonnes of unwanted brutalist public art?

San Francisco is about to find out after city politicians upheld a plan to remove the monumental Vaillancourt Fountain from its home in Embarcadero Plaza as part of a revamp of the area.

The 200-feet-long concrete sculpture, by Canadian artist Armand Vaillancourt, was installed in 1971 but the fountain has not been working for more than a year and was fenced off in summer after being ruled a safety hazard.

It will now be taken apart and put into storage while a final decision is made on its future - a process estimated to cost around $4 million.

1 - Highlights from a huge collection of Japanese art are going on show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to mark 50 years since its acquisition. The Infinite Artistry of Japanese Ceramics opens on Monday and includes hundreds of pieces collected by Harry Packard and donated to the museum in 1975.

2 - A senior South Korean policeman is under investigation after holding an unauthorized exhibition of his own artwork. Public officials are barred by law from "profit-making activities" and the unnamed officer and self-taught artist told local media he would refund all the sales of his work which came to just under $7,000.

3 - A pair of monumental bronze sculptures has been criticized as being like something from "the superhero comics of the Marvel universe" after plans were unveiled to install them outside the port in the Spanish city of Malaga. The works by sculptor Gines Serran, which show Roman gods Neptune and Venus alongside two lions, are up to 26-feet tall and will cost $81,000 to install.