Do you consider your organization’s deepest responsibility to be to art or to people? I don’t mean what is your mission. Rather, in extreme instances, what is most important? If many in your community are hurting is your focus on art? – Doug Borwick
Author: Matthew Westphal
Alan Shestack, 81, Old Master Prints Scholar, Generous Mentor, Thrice Museum Director
Considering his long, illustrious career as an art scholar and museum director, not to mention his generosity in sharing his deep insights with others (including me), I’m puzzled as to why there’s been so little mention of his death last week. – Lee Rosenbaum
How Art Galleries In One Country Have Stayed Healthy Through The COVID Epidemic
“Although its museums have been closed since February, commercial galleries were allowed to remain open. Several have done so, some throughout the crisis, putting South Korea alongside Taiwan and Hong Kong as one of the few places to have an art scene still running, or at least limping, throughout this extraordinary spring.” – The Art Newspaper
For Quarantine, A Salute To The Literature Of Idleness
Dwight Garner: “With so many hours to obliterate, I’ve found myself turning to the experts. I’ve pushed away the Tootsie Roll wrappers and empty root beer cans and gathered around my bed what I will call my library of indolence,” featuring such heroic figures as Bartleby the Scrivener and Oblomov. – The New York Times
Last Of The Lost Medieval European Pigments Rediscovered
Folium, an ink with hues ranging from blue to purple that was used extensively to illuminate manuscripts, was derived from the small fruits of an unassuming weed native to southern Portugal. But folium had fallen out of use, so the recipe had been lost, along with the exact identity of the plant. Researchers have now found both, and conservators will be able to use it when manuscripts need restoration. – Smithsonian Magazine
Even You And I Can Learn This Merce Cunningham Dance At Home
Seriously? But Merce is hard. “And yet, this is what Patricia Lent, the director of licensing at the Cunningham Trust, is proposing. In a new online series, she has been systematically breaking down Cunningham’s solo 50 Looks into digestible slices.” Marina Harss explains. – The New York Times
Disney Heir Calls Out Walt Disney Co. Execs Taking Huge Bonuses While Slashing Employees’ Pay
“Abigail Disney, an Emmy award-winning film-maker and a granddaughter of the company’s co-founder Roy Disney, launched a Twitter tirade against the world’s biggest entertainment group … for protecting executive bonuses and dividends of more than $1.5bn while cutting the pay of more than 100,000 workers to help weather the financial impact of coronavirus.” – The Guardian
Pandemic Has Brought Netflix Record Number Of New Subscribers
Just a couple of months ago, there were articles suggesting that the streaming service may have tapped out its pool of potential customers. But, as with most things on Earth, everything changed in March, and Netflix ended up getting nearly 15.8 million new subscribers in the first quarter of 2020, a record. – Vulture
Four Out Of Five ‘Most Challenged’ Books At U.S. Libraries Are LGBTQ-Themed
“Attempts to remove books from libraries across the US rose almost a fifth last year, with children’s books featuring LGBTQ characters making up 80% of the most challenged books,” according to the annual report from the American Library Association. – The Guardian
Can Music Can Boost Your Immune System? Yes, Evidently
“Sound like quackery? It’s not. Numerous studies … have found that both performing and listening to music can have a significant impact on the immune system” — including one review that found levels of Immunoglobulin A to be “particularly responsive to music.” Jeremy Reynolds reports. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette