Footnotes 5.18.2010

• Dramatically shortening a process that used to take years, archaeologists have shown how to use airborne laser signals to penetrate thick jungle cover and discover ancient Mayan cities, such as Caracol in Belize.
  
• Artwork stolen from a popular Vancouver restaurant have been returned 20 years later.
• Marguerite Hoffman, a prominent Dallas art collector, has filed suit against the financier for failing to keep a 2007 Mark Rothko sale a secret.
• The Guardian's Jonathan Jones has an interesting take on recent Picasso sales.
• Kurt Lidtke, a disgraced Seattle gallery owner who served three years in prison for art theft, was arrested for, among other crimes, attempting to steal more art with a cellmate.
• Don Thompson, author of the $12 Million Stuffed Shark, offers his thoughts on the art market.
• Jeanne Marchig, the original vendor of a misattributed Leonardo da Vinci work, is suing Christie's for negligence.
• UNESCO launched its "bizarre" World Anti-Piracy Observatory (WAPO) on April 21, 2010.