“Everyone knows about the looting of Iraq’s museums during last year’s war. What almost no one knows is that most of the museums’ holdings had been stolen and sold years before—and not by mobs of Iraqis off the street… The earlier looting was carried out so systematically, and on such a large scale, that it dwarfs the thefts that occurred after the fall of Baghdad. Moreover, the April looting may have occurred in part because it would provide cover for the prior thefts.”
Category: visual
When Is A Munch Only Partly A Munch?
A major work by Edward Munch (no, not that one,) is being offered for sale in an online auction based in Denmark. But Munch authorities in Norway are questioning the auction house’s claims that the lithograph in question was actually hand-colored by the artist himself. The piece has been appraised at over $100,000, and as a whole is unquestionably authentic, but much of its value is dependant on whether Munch can be verified as the individual who filled in the color.
National Gallery Embraces A Stepchild
“For the first time in its 63-year history, the National Gallery of Art is permanently dedicating galleries to photography, giving prominence to the work of Alfred Stieglitz, Walker Evans, Man Ray, Paul Strand and Ansel Adams.”
American Lives, Painted By Iraqis
“Turning photos into paintings has long been a side business for the commercial artists of Baghdad, but it has never found more eager consumers than the Americans.” Even under current conditions, Iraqi artists can do brisk business with U.S. troops — though the artists and their subjects no longer meet because fraternization is too dangerous. Instead, they rely on go-betweens to shuttle soldiers’ snapshots and the paintings they become.
Suburb Says It Wants Barnes To Stay
Although a judge in the Barnes Foundation case has blamed some of the foundation’s financial problems on the township it’s trying to leave for Philadelphia, two of the suburb’s commissioners testified yesterday that they want the Barnes to stay and will try to help it if it does.
Bloomberg: MoMA’s $20 Too Much? Too Bad
New York City’s billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has an idea for those who find the Museum of Modern Art’s new $20 admission fee beyond their price range: Go to a different museum. “Some things people can afford, some things people can’t,” he said.
With Cartoons, Anatomizing The Sense Of Humor
Virtually every cartoon ever published in The New Yorker will be put to work as researchers at the University of Michigan attempt to discover why people find certain things funny. As visuals, the single-panel cartoons’ uniformity and simplicity are key.
Abstract Brilliance Or Child’s Play?
A 4-year-old painter’s abstracts have earned her nearly $40,000 so far, and her most recent canvases are commanding $6,000. Grownups debate whether she is a prodigy or a typical little girl just having fun.
Design Museum’s Chairman Quits
Vacuum cleaner magnate James Dyson has angrily resigned from his position as board chairman of London’s Design Museum, declaring that the institution is “ruining its reputation” and “betraying its purpose”. Dyson had been in a years-long feud with director Alice Rawsthorn over the true mission of the museum, and his resignation letter accuses her of allowing it to “become a style showcase [when it should be] upholding its mission to encourage serious design of the manufactured object.”
Art That First Does No Harm
St Bartholomew’s hospital in London has been around since medieval times, and as you might imagine, it can be a dreary place to convalesce. But a major renovation of the hospital’s cancer wing has transformed the place into an art-filled oasis for patients, made up of “calm, elegant spaces, flooded with daylight… The art is everywhere, included in the design from the start and taking up 3% of the £15.5m project cost.”