Oxford professor George Garnett announced in 2019 that he had counted 93 penises stitched into the embroidered account of the Norman conquest of England — 88 belonging to horses and five to humans. Historian Christopher Monk now argues that there is a 94th appendage; Garnett insists that that one is a scabbard. - The Guardian
The looting of the Sudan National Museum is the most striking example of the destruction of cultural heritage. Dramatic images of the remains of the temple of Buhen, rescued during the UNESCO campaign and brought to the museum, suggest that they have been damaged. - Apollo
“A New York City firm known for integrating architecture, art, infrastructure, and landscape will reimagine Kansas City’s premier museum for the next generation of visitors. … The Weiss/Manfredi architecture firm was selected to design a new wing on the west end of its campus.” - KCUR (Kansas City)
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS ) has terminated two grants for Black history and culture that were awarded to the Whitney Plantation, a former plantation in Louisiana that focuses on the truths of slavery and the experiences of people who were enslaved. - The Guardian
Chicago History Museum Workers United formed in February with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31. It was the latest in a wave of unionizing efforts at several of Chicago’s cultural institutions all part of AFSCME’s nationwide Cultural Workers United campaign. - Chicago Sun-Times
“A judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that the Art Institute of Chicago must surrender a 1916 drawing by Egon Schiele to investigators who plan to return it to heirs of a Jewish cabaret entertainer from Vienna who was murdered in a Nazi concentration camp in 1941.” - The New York Times
“The museum (in The Hague) has 11 pieces currently attributed to Rembrandt, including the famed Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632). The museum also has artworks that were purchased as Rembrandts, but have since been written off or had their authenticity questioned. There are now seven of these works.” - ARTnews
Davide Renzoni was inspecting cables in the Pompeian Hall of Rome's Villa Farnesina when he opened two trap doors in the ceiling and happened on a set of perfectly preserved frescoes, likely by Carlo Maratta, one of the last masters of Baroque classicism, and two of his students. - The New York Times
“Glenn Steven Bednarsh, 58, has been charged with knowingly buying a stolen Warhol trial proof depicting Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin in February 2021 for $6,000. He then attempted to sell it to a Dallas-based auction house … (and later) lied about the scheme to federal agents,” prosecutors allege. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“Members of the U.S. DOGE Service met with National Gallery of Art leadership Thursday, ... signaling that cuts or other changes may be on the horizon for the Washington institution that makes its world-class art collection freely accessible to roughly 6 million visitors a year.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“You don’t notice them at first. ... But once the marks carved into the stonework of Salisbury Cathedral by centuries of pilgrims, churchgoers and mischief-makers are pointed out, they begin to pop out all over the place.” - The Guardian
“The scale and beauty of the site still impress, although some of the showcase monuments are so badly damaged that it is hard to imagine what they had looked like.” - The New York Times
Over the past half century the art history industry has produced reams of interpretation, incorporating no shortage of words by Serra himself. The author of work so totally laconic has set the terms of its understanding as if the death of the author bypassed him entirely. - N + One
“The continued fight over Van Gogh’s tree roots has cast a pall over what is usually a celebratory season in Auvers, population 7,000, where art tourism is a big business that heats up in the spring.” - The New York Times
Despite the decades of neglect, when a new “Chicago museum’s leadership was pursuing oral histories of public housing, they found other narratives as well — of community, empowerment and self-sufficiency.” - Washington Post (MSN)
