Category: visual

Robert Indiana’s Caretaker And Publisher Sued For Putting Out Flood Of Counterfeits

“In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, a day before Mr. Indiana’s death at 89, a company that says it has long held the rights to several of Mr. Indiana’s best-known works proposed an answer, arguing in court papers that [caretaker Jamie Thomas] and New York art publisher [Michael McKenzie] had tucked the artist away [in his island home in Maine] while they churned out unauthorized or adulterated versions of his work.”

Rothko Chapel In Houston Vandalized With Paint And ‘It’s Okay To Be White’ Leaflets

In the early hours of Friday morning, “white paint was spilled near the chapel’s entrance and in the reflection pool surrounding the Barnett Newman sculpture, The Broken Obelisk, which is dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. [There were also] ‘handbills’ strewn around the grounds and the pool that read, ‘It’s okay to be white.'”

Him, Too: Chief Of Cape Town’s Contemporary Art Museum Resigned After Accusations Of Harassment

When Mark Coetzee resigned as the first executive director and chief curator of Zeitz MOCAA on Cape Town’s waterfront, and the museum’s trustees said they were investigating his “professional conduct” and the museum’s “institutional practices,” reporting suggested that the concerns were about a too-close relationship with a group of collectors. But the problem was nothing so highbrow: “Numerous high flyers in the art world, who did not wish to be named, said they had witnessed Coetzee making lewd and sexually suggestive comments at work and inappropriate advances and suggestions of a sexual nature towards men in public.”

German Museums To Audit Their Collections For Colonial Restitution

German museums’ collections of colonial-era artifacts, statues and art are being put under extra scrutiny as the country moves towards a nation-wide restitution effort. Germany’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, and the German Association of Museums published a code of conduct this week that outlines how curators can determine whether historical artifacts were acquired unethically or unlawfully by today’s standards.

Artist Amy Sherald, Who Painted The Portrait Of Michelle Obama, Has Won A Major Prize In Maryland

Sherald won the $40,000 Mary Sawyers Imboden Prize, capping off a couple of big years for the artist. “It’s only been in the past two years that the 44-year-old Sherald has received the career recognition of which most artists dream. In May 2016, she bested 2,500 other entries nationwide to win first place in the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, which carries a $25,000 prize. In October the National Portrait Gallery announced that Sherald had been selected to paint the official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama.”

Gala Dalí Was Far More Than A Muse For Her Husband

New photos show her own art and photographic eye. “Gala never spoke to the press about their relationship, so her impact on Dalí’s art must be decoded through his incredibly performative memoir, public appearances, and gossip from those who passed through their famous parties and orgies. But in Women Photograph Dalí, her gaze directed back at him is on display.”

The New Lynching Memorial May Be A Massive Gamechanger For Alabama Tourism

There are few direct flights to Montgomery, where the memorial opened, and it’s a three-hour drive from Atlanta. Still, officials estimate it may attract 100,000 people in its first year. “One young man, Dimitri Digbeu Jr., who drove 13 hours from Baltimore to see the memorial, said he thought it had singlehandedly ‘rebranded’ Montgomery.”