Monster Mash: L.A. arts high school completes first year; Caravaggio painting believed recovered

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-- Report card time: It’s been rocky but, overall, a successful first year for downtown L.A.’s High School for the Visual and Performing Arts. (Los Angeles Times)

-- Found masterpiece: Police in Germany have recovered a 400-year-old painting attributed to Caravaggio. (Daily Telegraph)

-- Passing: Wu Guanzhong, one China’s most revered artists, died in Beijing on Friday. (Xinhua)

-- Take a chance: A production of the hit musical ‘Mamma Mia!’ is set to open in Paris in October. (Playbill)

-- Promotional push: Broadway producers are trying to market more toward African American audiences. (New York Times)

-- Historical artifact: The Detroit Institute of Arts is selling an 1876 U.S. flag that was used at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (Detroit Free Press)

-- Dance champions: The winners of the USA International Ballet Competition hail from China, Portugal and South Korea. (Associated Press)

-- Major construction: Work is set to begin soon on the $78.7-million renovation of Kiel Opera House in St. Louis. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

-- Public acrimony: A planned sculpture park in Oslo, Norway, dedicated to depictions of women is causing controversy. (CBC News)

-- Also in the L.A. Times: Art critic Christopher Knight on LACMA’s John Baldessari exhibition; music critic Mark Swed looks back on the ‘Ring’ cycle at L.A. Opera; theater critic Charles McNulty reviews ‘Surf Report’ at La Jolla Playhouse.
-- David Ng