When it comes to stealing from museums, Stéphane Breitwieser is virtually peerless. He is one of the most prolific and successful art thieves who have ever lived. Done right, his technique—daytime, no violence, performed like a magic trick, sometimes with guards in the room—never involves a dash to a getaway car. – GQ
Author: Douglas McLennan
Study: Here’s How Dr. Seuss Books Are Racist
“[This study reveals] how racism spans across the entire Seuss collection, while debunking myths about how books like Horton Hears a Who! and The Sneetches can be used to promote tolerance, anti-bias, or anti-racism,” Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens write in their February 2019 report, “The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, AntiBlackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’ s Children’s Books,” as part of St. Catherine University’s Research on Diversity in Youth Literature. – People
Artists Accuse Tehran Museum Of Selling Their Work Without Permission
A growing number of artists claim that their works in the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) have gone “missing” and may have ended up on the market without their knowledge. – The Art Newspaper
There Will Finally Be A Ballet Emoji (And No, It Won’t Look Like This)
A placeholder image that went viral last month had bunheads worldwide worried. But it’s merely a placeholder for engineers. – Pointe
Has Email “Productivized” Smart People Into Being Stupider?
On his website, Donald Knuth offers the following explanation for his refusal to use email: “Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things.” The idea that the life of a professor should be radically different than other professions, and that universities should take far-reaching steps to allow faculty members to be “on the bottom of things” is easy to dismiss as eccentric utopianism. But the time has come to take Knuth’s vision seriously. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Why It’s Important To Be Bored (At Least Occasionally)
UK psychologist and author Sandi Mann explores how embracing boredom and letting our minds wander can get us to step off the ever-accelerating hedonic treadmill, and might even encourage creativity. – Aeon
Artist-Endowed Foundations Are A Growing Force In The Arts World
“Although representing only a small portion of all private foundations in the U.S., by virtue of their strong focus in the arts and direct charitable activities involving their art assets, artist-endowed foundations are an increasingly influential force shaping cultural philanthropy and stewarding the country’s artistic heritage.” – Inside Philanthropy
A Major New Player In Miami’s Visual Arts Scene Reveals Its Plans
The ArtCenter is finally announcing plans for its Cinderella-like windfall (one that, thanks to investments, has since swollen to $100 million, more than the endowment of any other South Florida visual arts organization, many of whom have been struggling to fund-raise even a fraction of that sum). It will be moving to the mainland Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti, where it will build a new $30 million, 40,000-square-foot art center with 22 studios for resident artists, a 2,500-square-foot exhibition space, a 120-seat theater, as well as classrooms and work spaces for an expanded array of instructional courses on mediums like painting and filmmaking. – The New York Times
Signs Are Pointing To A Big Slowdown In Charitable Giving
Signs of an impending slowdown in charitable giving are emerging from multiple studies examining contributions last year, particularly those from donors of modest means. For example, a new analysis of giving to more than 4,500 charities released by the Association of Fundraising Professionals this week found that overall donations in 2018 were up by only 1.6 percent, lower than the rate of inflation. – Inside Philanthropy
Early Hollywood’s Morality Code Was Silly, Self-Righteous And Obsessive. But It Provoked Some Genius Work
It is usually believed that the anti-sex, anti-violence Code was harmful to art, intellectually unsophisticated, imposed from above and un-American in its disregard for First Amendment Rights. This is far from the full picture. Often the Code encouraged greatness, was intellectually nuanced, self-regulated and conformed to American values of Judeo-Christian ethics and free enterprise. For good and bad, it was as American as apple pie. – History Today