“After six years of renovation work delayed by archaeological mishaps, Claude Monet’s giant Water Lilies are finally back on display at the Orangerie museum in Paris, in a space restored to match the French impressionist’s vision of how his work should be hung.”
Category: visual
Egypt Makes A List Of Antiquities It Wants Back
Egypt is making a list of antiquities it wants returned from other countries. The list of national icons “starts with the Nefertiti bust in Berlin and the Rosetta stone (ca. 200 b.c.) in the British Museum in London. Both of these objects left Egypt a long time ago, the Rosetta stone in the 1820s and the Nefertiti bust in 1912. From the Louvre, [secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities] Zahi Hawass wants the Dendera zodiac (50 b.c.), a map of the heavens that was sawed and blasted out of the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera by the agent of a French collector in 1821.”
An Abu Dhabi Guggenheim?
Guggenheim director Thomas Krens still has dreams of world empire. He’s negotiating to open new Guggenheims “in Abu Dhabi and Moscow, ARTnewsletter has learned. According to an informed source, Abu Dhabi representatives have made a $2 million deposit to the foundation in connection with their discussions.”
Provenance And Scholarship Do A Dance
The study of old artifacts is becoming problematic when it comes to looking at objects. “On one side are archaeologists and other experts who say that most objects without a clear record of ownership or site of origin were looted, and that the publication of such material aggrandizes collectors and encourages the illicit trade. On the other side are those who argue that ignoring such works may be even more damaging to scholarship than the destruction caused by looting.”
An “Anti-Meier Committee Forms In Rome
To his admirers, architect Richard Meier has “the most consistent portfolio of any architect alive; to his detractors, the most repetitive. You can identify one of his buildings in an instant, yet they tend to go with everything. Currently, Meier finds himself at the centre of an almighty controversy. His new Ara Pacis Museum is the first significant structure to go up in Rome’s historic centre since Mussolini’s time, and as such it has attracted a great deal of attention, mostly negative.”
Three Convicted In “Scream” Theft
Sentences have been handed down in the trial of six men charged in the theft of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” “They faced various charges relating to the theft of the paintings on 22 August 2004 from the Munch Museum in Oslo. The three convicted men received prison sentences of between four to eight years for their role in the theft.”
“Scream” Still Missing
Despite convictions in “The Scream” theft, the iconic painting is still missing. “As long as the world-famous artworks remain missing, today will not be viewed as a conclusion by many here. The three convicted men provided the getaway car, drove it and planned the operation – meaning the two men who actually carried out the robbery are still free.”
Time Warp – A Seattle Museum Takes A Giant Leap
Charles and Emma Frye were Seattle collectors with reactionary Old World taste in painting. They left behind a flawed collection with a seriously large $92 million endowment, and now the institution’s new handlers have jumped both feet into the 21st Century with advnturous shows. “What is the frye’s core audience thinking? In a twinkling, rip van winkle became a wide-awake laboratory of contemporary experiment. Put another way, the frye time-traveled from a stuffy 19th century to a progressive 21st, without stopping, even to refuel, in the 20th.”
Tate Modern Does A Rehang To Tell A Different Story
“I don’t envy the curators at Tate Modern, whose job it is to present art from 80 or 100 years ago next to the art of today. It’s hard to juxtapose the very new with the overfamiliar – hard to set the violent originality of Léger alongside the tired formulae of Gary Hume or Fiona Rae. And yet that is what the museum does.”
Metal Detectors And Archaeologists Make Truce
“While amateur users of metal detectors have made some of the most spectacular archaeological finds of recent years, many archaeologists have regarded them as little better than hobby looters. Now, after months of negotiation, the two sides are set to announce a code of conduct. The code, which will be launched at the British Museum today, has been agreed by all the main metal detector clubs, landowners, archaeologists, museums, archaeological societies and English Heritage.”