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News
Two months after the Smithsonian reopened the National Zoo and the National Air and Space Museum, four more museums will welcome back visitors on Friday: the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Renwick Gallery. “We have not had any infections of staff, which means our safety protocols are working,” said Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. [The Washington Post]
FIAC, one of very few art fairs with standing plans to continue this year, canceled its next edition, which had been scheduled for late October in Paris. [ARTnews]
“The Italian culture ministry has appointed new directors at 13 museums and heritage sites across the country, putting in place mainly Italian-born candidates after years of seeking foreign experts to head Italy’s most prestigious institutions.” [The Art Newspaper]
Steven A. Cohen, finance titan and noted art collector, reached an agreement to buy the New York Mets. [Sportico]
Opinion
Christopher Knight comes out strongly against the Everson Museum of Art’s plan to auction off a Jackson Pollock painting at Christie’s in October. “A key public asset is being privatized,” he writes. [Los Angeles Times]
In response to a new biography of the great Spanish painter, Peter Schjeldahl wrote about “Goya and the art of survival.” [The New Yorker]
Wondering about experiential art and the kind of group gatherings it occasions, Melanie Gerlis questions the new Pace Gallery-affiliated enterprise Superblue and how it “aims to attract younger audiences by selling tickets for immersive events, but its model is at odds with a socially distanced society.” [The Art Newspaper]
Misc.
Thanks to the Criterion Collection, you can stream a bunch of documentaries about artworks by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. [ARTnews]
The lead artist on a Black Lives Matter mural that was vandalized in Kansas City wants to turn the gesture around. “Rather than satisfy the vandal by going through the effort to erase their act of hate,” said Harold Smith, “we should use artistic and creative means to make it a part of the art.” [Kansas City Star]
RM, a member of the gargantuanly popular Korean pop music group BTS, has donated 100 million won ($84,500) to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. “The museum said the money will be used to reprint some of the books printed by the museum that have been discontinued or that need to be reissued.” [Korea JoonAng Daily]
Published at Tue, 15 Sep 2020 13:34:00 +0000