The Fiesole Altarpiece, painted in the 1420s, suffered its first damage during an updating in 1501; it was subsequently broken up, had some of its parts looted or sold off, and was gnawed by wood-boring insects. The work has now been restored to roughly its 1501 condition with an ingenious spring-fitted wood frame. - Artnet
“Until 2001, many of the capital’s most important cultural institutions required visitors to pay for entry. … It’s impossible to overstate just how revolutionary this (change) was. In the decade after free admission was introduced, visits to formerly paid-for museums in London increased by around 151%.” - LBC (UK)
To choose the 25 most important works of sculpture made since 1945, we asked a panel of experts to gather at the New York Times building in March. - The New York Times
She complained of a “lack of context” in the exhibition about the forced displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel, such as the omission of information about the Palestinian rejection of a state that was offered in the United Nations’ 1947 partition plan and about Jews displaced in Arab lands. - The Art Newspaper
“This is because it was only as the exhibition — ‘Democracy Matters’ — was about to open on June 18 that the museum fully reckoned with the fact that windows in the new gallery would shower sunshine on some very light-sensitive artworks.” - The New York Times
“After a long period of being fenced off and closed to the public, a reflecting pool will soon be reopening after a major renovation. No, not that one. This reflecting pool is in the center of the Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden, which will reopen Oct. 31.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“Of almost 1,500 monuments in London, more than a fifth dedicated to named men and only 4% dedicated to women, half as many as those that celebrated animals. And of all the public sculptures in London, only 13% were created by women.” - The Guardian (UK)
"Hockney used visibly different etching techniques in different territories of the image—soft mats of color for the window blind, meticulous linear hatching for the floor, and splotchy, translucent color for the surrounding wall.” - The Atlantic
It is often assumed that a gallery is a prerequisite to finding commercial success and a place in the history of art. But a growing number of artists are rejecting that notion and going—to use the kind of commercial lingo that the art market likes to avoid—Direct to Consumer (DTC). - Ocula
Kumamoto Castle, built in 1607 on the island of Kyushu, is considered one of Japan’s three great surviving castles. A portion of its moat wall collapsed following Tuesday’s 7.1 earthquake. In 2016, a different portion of the wall came down in another temblor. - Hyperallergic
What with all the complaints Trump has about the Smithsonian's “bias,” the State Department has decided to “make visual arts great” (their phrase) with the exhibition “Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy.” No historians or professional curators are involved, and the show includes pieces by the planners’ friends. - The New York Times
“For this list, we focused primarily on the breadth and distinction of each institution’s permanent collection. Additional considerations included the strength of its temporary exhibition program and the grandeur of its architecture.” - ARTnews
The union’s dispute with management is over pay, working conditions, and the museum deciding not to seek living-wage accreditation. Staffers at the new V&A Storehouse in particular complain of inadequate restroom breaks and chances to get water, comparing conditions there to those at an Amazon warehouse. - The Guardian
