VISUAL

What’s Behind The Amazing Starchitect Building Boom In… Albania?

Sixty top architecture firms from around the world have mooted 500 eye-catching projects across Albania, sparking fury and protests. - The Guardian

Calder Sculpture (His Last Work) Is Restored To US Senate Office Building

The piece was the only one created by Calder to have a separate stabile and a mobile. Set against Hart’s white marble walls and filling nearly the entire nine-story atrium, it was the kind of avant-garde, modern sculpture that defined Calder’s final works. - The New York Times

Trump Explores Landmarking The Oval Office So Future Presidents Can’t Reverse His Changes

In the Time interview, the president said he was exploring the possibility of a new federal designation for the Oval Office, which he suggested could protect the office from being torn down and preserve his changes to it. - Washington Post

Wave Of Robberies Has Europe’s Museums Wondering What Is And Isn’t Worth Displaying

“Replicas have long been used by museums when originals are too fragile, valuable or difficult to travel, and the recent spate of thefts has encouraged some to consider this practice more widely. … Visitors are finding more stand-ins and, in some cases, an empty space where a treasure used to be.” - BBC (Yahoo!)

After 11 Years, Spain’s Spectacular Royal Museums At El Escorial Have Reopened

El Escorial, the largest building erected anywhere during the Renaissance, was both a monastery and a royal palace; since the 1960s, the compound 45 miles northwest of Madrid has housed museums of painting and of architecture. In 2015 those museums were closed for updating; only now can the public visit again. - Art in Context

World Monuments Fund: Funding Is The Biggest Threat To World Heritage

Of 372 nominations for the 2027 Watch list, 65% of nominators cited funding shortages and economic development as a primary challenge, up from 55% in 2024. - The Art Newspaper

It Was Challenge After Challenge To Get Calder’s Clouds Back In Place At The Senate Office Building

They came down in the first place because they were too heavy, so they were remade. Restorers had to find a motor to move them the way Calder intended. Installing them in a Congressional building meant extra bureaucratic hurdles. And the particular black paint Calder used had been discontinued. - The New York Times

Blind Man Sues British Museum Over Lack Of Bayeux Tapestry Audio Guide

“Dr. Yusuf Ali Osman alleges that the museum is breaching equality laws by failing to provide audio-described tours of the exhibition for blind visitors.” - The Independent (UK)

How The Architecture Of Sound Is Changing Cities

The sounds of the city weren’t just decorative, musical — they could define the physical contours of a space as dramatically as a concrete wall or an open door to the street. - Reasons to be Cheerful

Uzbekistan Now Has Its First Contemporary Art Museum Since Independence From The USSR

“Tashkent is reinventing itself. The Uzbek capital, which is home to 3 million, was once the fourth-largest city in the Soviet Union and has long been a cultural hub in Central Asia. … The Center for Contemporary Arts Tashkent has opened. It’s a watershed moment for the nation as it expands its cultural ambitions.” - Artnet

How Did The World’s Largest Collection Of Marcel Duchamp End Up In Philadelphia?

A forward-looking director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art wooed Duchamp, that’s how. Sidney Fiske Kimball “offered what Duchamp wanted: space and control. Lots of it.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Influential MoMA Curator To Retire

Ann Temkin has been a curator at the museum since 2003 and was promoted to chief curator in 2008, becoming the first woman to lead MoMA’s richest and most powerful department. - The New York Times

A Reprieve For Philly’s Academy of Natural Sciences?

Drexel says that while it appreciates the William Penn Foundation’s “public suggestion that it assist in temporarily keeping the Academy’s museum open,” they have “not received a formal proposal with a defined level of financial support.” - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Whitney Museum Staffers Are Going On Strike Right Before Major Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective

“Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum of Art will begin striking on Monday, October 5, if they cannot reach a contract agreement with the museum, Local 2110 UAW announced. … (That’s) only three days before member and press previews open for the museum’s major Roy Lichtenstein retrospective (the show opens to the public October 11).” - ARTnews

England’s National Museums Will Keep Free Admission For Everyone, UK Government Confirms

“The decision follows months of discussions between the Government, museums, the tourism sector and local leaders to examine whether charging tourists from abroad could boost the institutions’ finances. … Free entry to museums was introduced by Sir Tony Blair’s government in 2001.” - The Independent (UK)

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss