Friday's Art Notes

_People look at a stage curtain entitled 'The Minotaur's body dressed as Harlequin' painted by Picasso in 1936 for Romain Rolland's play 'Le 14 Juillet' at the Abattoirs Museum in Toulouse, south of France, on April 28, 2011. The museum will be hosting its 'Modern and Contempory Masterpieces' exhibition from April 15 to August 21, 2011. Photo by Eric Cabanis/ AFP/ Getty Images_ * A museum of Islamic art planned for Tripoli and funded by Muammar Gadhafi's son Saif has halted construction ahead of a planned September opening, when it would have celebrated the anniversary of the Libyan leader's ascension, via "The Art Newspaper":http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Saif+Gaddafi%E2%80%99s+Islamic+art+museum+at+a+standstill/23670. * There are questions about whether the guest curator of MOCA's much-reported on "Art in the Streets" exhibit, Roger Gastman, stands to profit financially from the show, via "ARTINFO":http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37576/is-mocas-art-in-the-streets-a-money-making-hustle-for-curator-roger-gastman/. Art Beat talked to Gastman recently about his new book, "_The History of American Graffiti_":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2011/03/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery.html. * Scholars in Florence, Italy, have begun the physical search for the remains of the possible real-life model for the Mona Lisa, but her descendents have voiced opposition to the plan, via "Reuters":http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/29/us-italy-monalisa-odd-idUSTRE73R5C320110429.