Balazs Mikusi's heart started racing when he realized what the papers he held in his hand were: the long-lost original score of a famous Mozart sonata scribbled by the composer himself.
"When I first laid eyes upon the manuscript, the handwriting already looked suspiciously 'Mozartish'," said Mikusi, head of the music collection at Budapest's National Szechenyi Library.
Full StoryThe French illustrator of world-famous cartoon hero Asterix, Albert Uderzo, who had been locked in a bitter, years-long legal feud with his daughter said Friday the pair had finally buried the hatchet.
We are "reunited again and determined to make a clean sweep of the grievances raised by both sides," the 87-year-old and his daughter Sylvie wrote in a joint statement, adding they were dropping all existing complaints and legal actions.
Full StoryAn iconic building in Berlin that was occupied by squatting artists for two decades has been sold to an investment fund for 150 million euros ($190 million), German media reported on Thursday.
The five-storey Tacheles building, which was a magnet for tourists until its closure in 2012, was sold by the German Jagdfeld group to the New York-based Perella Weinberg Partners, reports said.
Full StoryA rare remnant of the Berlin Wall lies at the end of an overgrown path next to the Spree River but as the 25th anniversary of its fall approaches, the relic is under threat.
Berliners ripped down the despised Wall as fast as they could in the giddy months after November 9, 1989, when the border between East and West was finally thrown open.
Full StoryFrom war-ravaged Iraq and Syria to Ebola-hit Nigeria and dozens of other nations, pilgrims are converging on Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj, the world's largest Muslim gathering.
From early October, close to two million believers will congregate to follow the 1,400-year-old tradition of Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
Full StoryThe Mormon Church History museum is closing for one year for a total renovation of the 30-year-old building.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says the Utah museum will close on Oct. 6, following the biannual general conference. It is scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2015 with a new floor plan and exhibits.
Full StoryMalaysia's transgender population faces systematic repression, harassment and mistreatment, and the government must immediately repeal laws that criminalize their lifestyles, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
The U.S.-based group released a report it says details worsening abuses that transgender people face in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation.
Full StoryAn exhibition by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has transformed the former island prison of Alcatraz into a tribute to the world's political prisoners, some famous and some forgotten.
Called "@ large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz," the installation opens Saturday at the former maximum-security prison in the San Francisco Bay.
Full StoryA huge grin appears on the face of glass artist Jonathan Michael Davis as he burns hole after hole through spheres of glass, making a popping sound.
Davis, a glassblower by trade, uses a sabre of flame made of liquid oxygen and propane to manipulate glass into elaborate art and sculptures at his studio and playground in rural Chatham County, North Carolina. The temperature from the torch in Davis' studio rises along with the anticipation of a large glass sculpture in the making.
Full StoryElvis Presley. Marlon Brando. Andy Warhol. The A-list trifecta of music, film and art is going on the auction block at Christie's in November.
"Triple Elvis (Ferus Type)" and "Four Marlons" rate among Warhol's most famous portraits. The monumental paintings, each nearly 7 feet (2.1 meters) high, have never appeared at auction before and could bring a combined total of $130 million when they go up for bid on Nov. 12.
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