"Born in 1869, (Rex) Brasher left an enormous body of paintings, almost 900 large-scale watercolors documenting American bird life and habitat, that became the source material for a monumental 12-volume compendium of hand-colored reproductions." (And he didn't defend slavery or shoot the birds before painting them.) - MSN (The Washington Post)
"Noh Huyn-soo was filmed brazenly removing the banana, which was duct-taped on to a wall at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, unpeeling it and eating it in front of stunned onlookers before reattaching the banana skin to the wall using the same tape." - The Guardian (UK)
One explanation: "In addition to being a woman and a woman of color, she was considered a craft artist operating on the fringes of the art scene." - The New York Times
The University of Nebraska mascot no longer makes an OK symbol "because the universal symbol of approbation—curling the index finger to touch the thumb, forming an 'O'—had become associated with white supremacy and hate speech." - Fast Company
Karin Hindsbo, a Danish art historian who oversaw the revision and remodel of Norway's National Museum, was named director of the Tate Modern "at a potentially challenging moment: "Britain’s government ... has been cutting funding for some of London’s major arts bodies." - The New York Times
Rex Brasher, who left "almost 900 large-scale watercolors documenting American bird life and habitat," was not a self-promoter. He preferred to learn from birds in the wild "by boat, bicycle, canoe and on foot," rather than kill them, as Audubon did. - Washington Post
The manuscripts, dating to the 16th and 17th centuries, were probably lost in 1917 "when Bulgarian combatants are said to have plundered nearly 900 items from the Theotokos Eikosiphoinissa Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery, often called Kosinitza." - The New York Times
Residencies need funding to continue to exist - and not to charge the artists for their time - but "even when funding is available, residencies can be exclusionary simply because they require artists to take time away." - The Guardian (UK)
"Karin Hindsbo, who oversaw the consolidation of four Norwegian art institutions into the National Museum in Oslo, will take up her new post in September. She will succeed Frances Morris, the first female director of Tate Modern." - The Guardian
"Protesters smeared black and red paint on the case and pedestal of Edgar Degas's Little Dancer Aged Fourteen sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. on Thursday to bring attention to the climate crisis and demand that President Biden declare a climate emergency." - MSN (The Washington Post)
In December, 31 of the museum’s 176 employees sent an open letter to Thomas Dermine, who, as Belgium’s Secretary of State, oversees federal museums. The letter detailed a number of allegations of inappropriate behavior. - ARTnews
Once venues for younger children that provided rainy-day entertainment through exhibits and a scattering of hands-on activities, they’re expanding their scope by offering a breadth of learning and support for a broader age group. - The New York Times
A decree has declared the traditional king of the region where the artworks were made, the Oba of Benin, their official owner. Now the museums and governments who'd been negotiating with Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments don't know whom they should be dealing with. - The Art Newspaper
To honor Kelly's 100th birthday, Jack Shear is dividing 146 works among 19 museums, with MoMA, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and SFMOMA getting 25 each. He's also giving $100,000 to those four and the Whitney and $50,000 grants to 45 other museums. - The New York Times
