The library can’t be sold piecemeal; only everything together. “Access to this library and the language that mattered most to her could be a key to her brilliant mind. Now, that would knock even Sherlock’s socks off. And, appropriately, The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle sits boldly in her collection.” – Galerie Magazine
The Guston Show Problem: Racist Images Versus Depicting Racists
The real tell is that in a statement he [Darren Walker] said that to mount the exhibition now would have been “tone deaf.” That’s the language of corporate image control. To many of the people who run our museums—not art people but bean counters—art is merely branding for the institution. – The Nation
Unethical Museums Are Unsustainable
“If institutions had not already demonstrated their steely commitment to protecting power – how a museum director who depletes an endowment ends up at the helm of another museum, for instance, or how sexual harassment allegations against an administrator disappear as he moves from one post to another – it would seem that the institutional artworld was in a freefall from which it might not recover. Yet even if institutions do manage to survive, thanks to donors, endowments, and blind eyes, it has become clear that museum employees feel greater allegiance toward each other than to their employers.” – MOMUS
Two Hours of Twenty-Four
I’ve been e-mailed a rich, if daunting array of hour-long videos that make up Yoshiko Chuma’s Love Story, the School of Hard Knocks.There are twenty-four of them in all. Think about it. No, don’t. I’m about to try writing about just two of them. – Deborah Jowitt
Deaccession Deactivation: Fallout from Baltimore Museum’s Pullout from Sotheby’s (& other pratfalls)
The misadventures of Sotheby’s David Galperin, hyping four anticipated highlights of Sotheby’s Oct. 28 Contemporary Art sale, would be ripe for parody if the underlying issues weren’t serious. – Lee Rosenbaum
The House Where Jane Austen Wrote All Of Her Novels Is In Some Structural Trouble
The building’s roof issues threaten the collection of the Jane Austen Museum, the museum says. – BBC
Can’t Make It To The Gallery Because Of COVID Concerns?
That’s OK; your mobile robot can do it for you. (The show at the Saatchi in London also has some tightly restricted in-person options as well.) – BBC
Here Are Some Soothing Movies You Could Watch Multiple Times
If you needed to this week. No reason. Just in case. For instance, Moonstruck. “The deepest, richest, most romantic kind of a movie, a full-bodied glass of red wine to be enjoyed anytime one’s faith in humanity is fraying, Moonstruck might be the most comforting film ever made.” – The Atlantic
Conductor Alexander Vedernikov Has Died Of The Coronavirus At 56
Vedernikov conducted at the Bolshoi Theatre from 2001 to 2009, “a tenure that is hailed for its renewing of the Bolshoi Theatre’s long reputation for artistic excellence.” He also founded the Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra in 1995 and served as chief conductor for Denmark’s Odense Symphony Orchestra for many years. – Gramophone
Is Hollywood Changing For Women Of Color?
Well, the two actors who responded in this interview had their own show when they did the interview – but by publication time, it was gone. Gabrielle Union: “When you talk about who is in positions of power, who has the ability to green-light something, who has the ability to help get someone paid, who has the ability to keep something on the air or yank it off … we are under-indexed on positions of power that control this town.” – Vulture
Two Museums Tried To Deaccession Some Art Through Sotheby’s Last Week
But only the Baltimore Museum caught so much grief that it “paused” its sale. The Brooklyn Museum? Well, its sales were “almost $20 million for seven works by artists including Henri Matisse, Joan Miró and Claude Monet.” What’s up with the tale of two museums? – The New York Times
Britain’s So-Called Equalities Minister Suggested That Some Black Authors Wanted Racial Division
More than 100 British authors reacted quickly. “The allegation here is not only clearly false but dangerous. It risks endangering the personal safety of anti-racist writers. In recent years progressive writers, politicians and activists across Europe and the United Kingdom have been physically attacked and killed by far-right extremists.” – The Guardian (UK)
Turns Out Universal Accessibility At Museums Can Help During A Pandemic
For instance, the Guggenheim’s audio guide, “Mind’s Eye,” was designed for the blind and low-vision community. Now it’s also serving the sighted people who miss the musuem. “It’s a vivid escape for those of us stuck inside during the pandemic.” – NPR
Games Are The New Battleground (State)
Games, and their social context, are where many people shape their political ideas. And, of course, they’re where candidates go as well. “The presidential campaign for Joe Biden took the former vice president’s message to Animal Crossing, where players could visit a Biden HQ island. And on Oct. 19, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) proved to be an affable Twitch personality when she brought a low-key get-out-the-vote effort to indie game sensation Among Us.” – Los Angeles Times
The NEH Will Pay To Erect New Statues Of Columbus And Others
In an open slap at protesters who took down statues they considered to be celebratory of racism, colonialism, and sexism, Trump’s National Endowment for the Humanities is giving money to rebuild or repair three toppled statues. – The New York Times
How To Compose Over The Internet: 17 Players, Five States
Sixteen instrumentalists from the contemporary music ensemble Alarm Will Sound were scattered across several states and four makeshift home offices and professional studios, working with Tyshawn Sorey on his “Autoschediasms.” To synchronize everyone’s efforts, each “pod” of musicians was simultaneously logged into two different internet conferencing applications. – The New York Times
Poland’s Hottest Rapper Walks Right Into The Culture Wars
“Taco Hemingway is a household name in Poland. One of the country’s biggest rappers, he has songs that get millions of views, and before the coronavirus hit, he filled arenas. … Over the summer, he released a track, ‘Polskie Tango’ (‘Polish Tango’), which many saw as a direct criticism of Poland’s right-wing government and [its] culture of fear. … He soon found himself under attack on social media and becoming a target for conservative journalists.” – The New York Times
Why composers shouldn’t attack each other in public
In the end, everyone comes out looking bad. And so it was when composer Matthew Aucoin, age 30, took on Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) in the Nov. 5 New York Review of Books. – David Patrick Stearns