Says one Christian artist, “One major Washington [D.C.] dealer said to me, ‘Ed, I’ve liked your work for years, but I don’t want to mark my gallery with your subject matter.'” Says another, whose work treats Judaic themes, “I’ve been told by dealers all the time, ‘I don’t want that crap in my gallery.'” And the reason may not be outright prejudice so much as a particular, now-standard ideal of what new art is and isn’t supposed to be.
Category: visual
Online Startup Artspace Lays Off Three-Quarters Of Its Staff
“Artspace, a startup that launched in 2011 with the aim of facilitating online sales for galleries and nonprofits, will part with the bulk of its staffers,” particularly on the editorial side.
Buffalo’s Abandoned Train Station Is An Art Deco Treasure
“Opened in 1929 for the New York Central Railroad, the Buffalo Central Terminal was every bit as grand and opulent as Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station and Washington DC’s Union Station.” (In fact, its architect is the same one who designed Grand Central.) One group is trying not only to restore it, but to get Amtrak to move in again.
With The New Administration, Art Loans Between U.S. And Russian Museums Could Resume
“All Russian loans to the US were halted in 2011 amid fears that they could be impounded after a US federal judge’s ruling that Russia must transfer a collection of books seized by the Bolsheviks to the Brooklyn-based Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish community that fled the Soviet Union. Russia refused and, as a result, major US museums stopped lending to Russia.” But that deadlock seems to be about to break.
Egyptian Surrealism (Oh Yes, They Did It There, Too)
“The calls to revise the canon of art history have grown louder in the last few years, but the research, curation, and collection of art from regions that have long been overlooked or ignored is a slow process. Egyptian modern art appears to be the latest to undergo this process of rediscovery and integration into the larger history of art.” (includes audio podcast)
An Algorithm That Games Art Investment Values?
“The site, launched in 2014, offers investment advice to subscribers—the current cap is ten—who pay $3,500 per quarter for early access to a ranking of emerging and blue-chip artists. Like a brokerage analyst’s report, it uses terms such as “buy,” “sell,” and the even more alarming “liquidate” to guide clients. ArtRank’s algorithm arrives at its valuations through a combination of publicly available data such as past sale prices, forthcoming exhibitions, and social media posts from art world influencers as well as insider advice from collectors and dealers.”
New Galleries In Africa Follow International Interest (Or Is It The Other Way Around)
“Despite the challenges, the international market attention has also proved to be a catalyst to formation of new galleries on the continent, who could see a path and a model of sustainability, which did not rely on philanthropic funding as in the past or domestic markets. As a result, the past four years have seen something of a surge in the number of new galleries on the continent, adopting a more internationally focused commercial operating model.”
Why Are Universities Investing So Much Money In Their Art Museums?
Sure, students want more art, but it also comes down to this: Universities have a steady supply of cash, and they know a good investment when they see it.
Restoring A Millennia-Old Repository Of Rome’s Jewish History, At Long Last
A budget allocation, meant to restore the catacombs of Jewish residents of Rome from more than two millennia ago, has finally been realized, 10 years after it was first approved. “One of the grander niches has small columns at each corner and a frescoed cross vault with a depiction of a menorah. There are images of sacred Jewish symbols, including an ark with the scrolls of the Torah, and several inscriptions referring to synagogues in the city.”
New York’s Municipal Art Society Suddenly Ousts Its New President
Is money involved? Perhaps.