Anselm Kiefer: Coagulation was organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, where it ran at the end of last year as part of a four-city China tour. Kiefer himself says that the exhibition is happening without his consent, and the galleries that represent him are objecting as well; the show’s (German) chief curator calls this an attack on her curatorial freedom and says that commerical interests are trying to interfere.

Thinking about the potential gap between design that’s good and design that succeeds raises the obvious question: What is “design,” anyway? This is a question that has been picked over for decades. Advocates of the profession—critics, curators, designers themselves—insist that the work is underestimated, if not flat-out marginalized. Design (they are forever pointing out) is not merely an exercise in superficial aesthetics or styling, as the public may assume. It is, rather, a far more serious matter of problem-solving and experience-shaping, driven by a uniquely rigorous approach to the human-made world in all its dimensions.

“Experts made comparisons, including microscopic analyses, with other Rembrandt originals in Amsterdam, Paris and Vienna to confirm that the chalk drawing indeed came from the world-renowned Dutch master’s hand. The museum noted how unusual the discovery was as worldwide only few drawings of animals by Rembrandt exist.”