Each week, we scour the internet for the most significant, surprising, and outrageous art news—helping you stay informed (and sound smart). Have a suggestion? Let us know on social media (@meetmeural) with the tag #thisweekinartnews. (See all installments.)

1. “An Artist’s Life, Refracted in Film” by Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker

The lead image is so good, it’s impossible not to want to know the story behind it. Pictured is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (and dog), a German filmmaker whose new movie, Never Look Away, is unabashedly based on the life of German artist Gerhard Richter. Though Richter conducted a series of interviews (and befriended) Donnersmarck, he now disavows the film. The article is rich in details, but expertly navigates the ambiguities that sprout when personal relationships and arts combine.

2. “Van Gogh’s wilting Sunflowers taken off wall at Amsterdam museum for restoration” by Andy Gregory, The Independent

While “art restoration” might not be the most sensational news topic you’ll find online, this article deftly answers a lot of questions frequently asked about it. Centered on van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1889), Gregory explores how much of restoration is actually research. We might know all there is to know about a work and yet be unaware of the provenance of its pigments—the sort of information that’s crucial for keeping the painting “alive.”

3. “His Art, Their Ideas: Did Robert Indiana Lose Control of His Work?” by Graham Bowley, New York Times

Though Bowley doesn’t mention it, this story rings a very loud bell—that of the estate of Harper Lee. Shortly before Lee passed away, it was announced that a sequel to her seminal To Kill a Mockingbird would be published, called Go Set a Watchman. Controversy ensued. How much of the decision to publish was Lee’s, and how much was those (her estate, her family) who stood to profit from it? The same story is now being told about Robert Indiana, an American pop artist who passed last May. How much of his final work was, well, his? The answer is complicated and now left to be answered by the federal courts.

4. “The original emoji: Why The Scream is still an icon for today,” BBC

This piece retraces some of what we covered in our Why Is This Famous installment, but emphasizes the ways the painting has seeped into pop culture, ending, of course, with that most current signifier—the emoji. For a more politically minded perspective, head over to The Guardian to hear it from Jonathan Jones. “By removing all individuality from this being, Munch allows anyone to inhabit it,” Jones says. “He draws a glove puppet for the soul.”