With a Bombed Car, Jeremy Deller Expands Brit Art's Take on the Iraq War (ARTINFO) ARTINFO - "Tonight, I’m announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended," President Obama declared last week. Seven years after the United States-led invasion of the country, the war is officially over. In the U.K., however, the debate over Britain's involvement in the conflict is as fractious as ever: the government’s "Iraq Inquiry" has been severely criticized, and former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s newly published autobiography, "A Journey," has triggered angry protests. Bill T. Jones, Oprah, and a Singing Outlaw Are Named for Kennedy Center Honors (ARTINFO) ARTINFO - A Kennedy Center Honor, which the Kennedy Center’s website likens to a knighthood in Britain, is the ultimate reward for a person’s “lifetime contribution to American culture.” This year those contributions included outlaw country music, "Yesterday," uplifting car giveaways, and scintillatingly vibrant choreography. U.S. Returns Spoils of War and Archaeological Loot to Iraq (ARTINFO) ARTINFO - As a reminder that the looting of Iraq's heritage has hardly been restricted to the militant thieves who pillaged the Iraqi National Museum after the 2003 American invasion, the United States has repatriated a group of objects, some of which were apparently taken as war booty, and others that reflect the region's history of artifact smuggling. This step, by all accounts, is only a small one in what will have to be a concerted international effort to undo the work of all kinds of opportunistic raiders. Phillips de Pury Hopes to Sell the Spoils of Another Disgraced Collector (ARTINFO) ARTINFO - As Sotheby's and Christie's stake out their blue-chip consignment territory in advance of the fall market season, second-string boutique Phillips de Pury seems to be working a burgeoning, if unglamorous, niche: helping disgraced financiers sell off their ill-gotten art. After bringing in more than $24 million this spring by auctioning the collection of debt-ridden Internet entrepreneur Hasley Minor, Phillips is now angling for the corporate art collection of the defunct law firm of Marc Dreier, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for federal fraud after having attempted to sell $700 million bonus promissory notes to investors. According to the Wall Street Journal, a bankruptcy official has filed for court approval for a November 21 Phillips auction of the modern and contemporary works Dreier amassed before his 2008 arrest. The 81-piece collection includes works by Damien Hirst, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, and Willem de Kooning, as well as photographs of the Dreier family and of Audrey Hepburn playing that other fiscally inept individual Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany’s." Valentino Retrospective Sweeps into Australia (ARTINFO) ARTINFO - With Fashion Week fast approaching, a grateful look to the golden age of couture, when clothing design approached the realm of art, seems to be merited. Thankfully, it is readily available at the Brisbane’s Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, which is hosting "Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future" until November 14. Developed by curator Pamela Golbin from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the show highlights 100 ensembles, celebrating the past half-century of garb by the Italian fashion house. Artists, protesters target Blair book party (Reuters) Reuters - Former British premier Tony Blair has been forced to postponed a party at the Tate Modern art gallery celebrating the launch of his autobiography because of threats from anti-war protesters, his office said on Wednesday.