A group of life models in Florence have threatened legal action - and a potential nude protest - against what they describe as "exhausting" working conditions.

The models, who sit for artists at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Fireze, are protesting against annual contracts with no paid holidays or sick leave.

One of them told the Corriere della Sera newspaper: "We sometimes do eight-hour sessions, with a ten-minute break every 30 minutes. We go home limping and mentally drained.”

A spokesman for the academy, which was founded in 1784 and has around 2,000 students, said senior staff had met with the models and their representatives in a bid to come to a deal that would "properly value their irreplaceable contribution to education”.

Two men have been arrested and accused of intimidating a Los Angeles artist who has previously criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping.

An FBI investigation resulted in the arrest of Chinese citizen Cui Guanghai, 43, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom.

A statement released by federal prosecutors said the pair contacted a man, who unbeknown to them was an FBI informant, and offered to pay him to follow the unnamed artist, slash his car tyres and buy and destroy statues he had made showing President Xi and his wife, both topless, and with their hands tied behind their backs.

They added they will seek to extradite the pair who were arrested in Serbia at the request of US authorities.

The campaign of intimidation is said to have begun in October 2023 ahead of President Xi’s appearance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco that November.

Taiwan's contemporary art scene was boosted on Friday when the New Taipei City Art Museum (NTCAM) opened its doors to the public.

Describing itself as "the city’s first public contemporary art institution", NTCAM celebrated by holding four different inaugural shows.

Its opening ceremony was attended by members of its international advisory committee which includes Clara Kim, chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and Mami Kataoka, director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum.

Korean sculptor Suki Seokyeong Kang, whose work is currently on show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, has died aged 48.

The artist, who worked in video and performance art as well as sculpture using material from steel and brass to wool and grass, died on Sunday according to her gallery which said she had cancer.

She was described by the Tina Kim Gallery as "a visionary artist and educator who leaves behind a body of work that will resonate with generations to come."

Her Denver exhibition, which was her largest ever US museum solo show, features more than 70 works and runs to May 4.

An art gallery and sculpture park which is home to work by artists including Sarah Lucas and Louise Bourgeois is in the running for a major UK award.

Compton Verney in Warwickshire, which is based in an 18th century mansion and 120 acres of surrounding parkland, is on the shortlist for this year's $160,000 Museum of the Year award.

The shortlist for the award, won last year by the Young V&A in east London, is dominated by smaller, local museums including the Chapter arts centre in Cardiff, Wales, and the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The winner is announced on June 26 and the four losing institutions all get $20,000.

1 - Human remains stolen from burial caves in Hawaii almost two centuries ago are being repatriated. The bodies were taken by Gordon Augustus Thomson in 1840 and donated to Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society in 1857 before ending up in the city's Ulster Museum which has now returned them.

2 - Two new art spaces are opening in Venice. The San Marco Art Center (SMAC) opens in St Mark’s Square next month along with the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation which takes over a building on Dorsoduro which was previously home to artist Ettore Tito.

3 - Nova Contemporary opened its new space in Bangkok with a group show featuring works by 28 contemporary Thai artists, organized in collaboration with Bangkok City City Gallery. The show includes pieces from the Thai pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale created by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and Montien Boonma.