Category: visual

The controversial minister of antiquities was fired this week – for the second time since the Tahrir Square revolution. But his designated successor withdrew after a rebellion by ministry employees, and now Hawass says he’s been asked to stay on the job.

“More than a generation after Pop Art became holy writ, it is rather tiresome to be announcing yet again that we live in a democracy where one person’s treasure is another person’s trailer trash, and that their masterworks are not necessarily inferior to the Picasso’s and Matisse’s in our museums.”

“More than 220,000 visitors, almost half from outside the island, have explored MONA’s rambling subterranean galleries, which display ancient and contemporary artworks from Walsh’s private collection. Mid-winter is usually the low tourism season in Tasmania but still they keep coming, at an average 800 people a day.”

Facing a deficit, Graham Beal “approached the trustees of the estate of one benefactor two years ago, asking if the income generated for acquisitions could be diverted to operations. (The original donor may have helped pay the DIA’s staff wages during the Depression, the museum believes.) The trustees agreed. Beal also sought permission from probate court. The transfer of the funds became effective 15 months ago.”

“Antiquities professor Abdel Fatah al-Banna, who was announced as Egypt’s new minister of antiquities has been removed from the list of the new Cabinet members as worries over his character surfaced.” Banna was to replace the famous and controversial Zahi Hawass, who was fired (for the second time) over the weekend.

“A painting like Poussin’s Golden Calf is made by a great artist, cherished by owners, and miraculously preserved down the centuries. It is looked after in a museum, cleaned, studied, and silently enjoyed by thousands. And then in an instant someone can brutally attack this venerable human creation and make a vile mark on it.”

“Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities minister, who has been under fire for his ties to the Mubarak regime, will lose his job in a cabinet reshuffle intended to appease the protesters in Tahrir Square.”

“The good times began to slow after 9/11, but nosedived with the recession in 2008. Dragon now does double the number of fairs — 20 to 24 — for half his previous income. He now makes between $30,000 and $40,000. Gallery owners stopped buying, too.”

“A man who was arrested in the theft of a Picasso drawing from a San Francisco gallery last week was keeping a virtual museum in his apartment, including 11 works stolen from New York galleries and hotels, according to the police.”

A 17th-century painting by Nicolas Poussin was vandalised at the National Gallery in London after a 57-year-old man reportedly sprayed it with red paint before being arrested by police.