The Headlines
AMID REPORTS OF NAZI-LOOTED ART within the holdings of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, its director, Bernhard Maaz, is stepping down, the German press company dpa experiences. An investigation is reportedly being launched into the establishment, which oversees masterworks proven by Munich museums such because the Alte Pinakothek and the Museum Brandhorst. Bavaria’s tradition minister, Markus Blume, stated there had been “indications and allegations of misconduct and organizational failure” on the establishment, prompting an inside investigation by a former public prosecutor. Blume didn’t present particulars, however a report printed yesterday by Deutschlandfunk Kultur states that Maaz was dismissed attributable to not less than 19 claims in opposition to prime staff on the establishment, together with ones concerning “sexual harassment of minors and racist harassment by supervisory employees.” In the meantime, a staff led by artwork historian Meike Hopp will look into the provenance or artworks within the collections, which a Süddeutsche Zeitung report in February revealed could embrace far more Nazi-looted art than was initially made public.
WHITE HOUSE SLAMS SMITHSONIAN CHIEF. After the White Home ordered a review of the Smithsonian Institution, the Trump administration’s communications director, Steven Cheung, has referred to as Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III a “rabid partisan,” the New York Times experiences. Cheung particularly made reference to Bunch’s 2019 e-book A Idiot’s Errand: Creating the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition within the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump, which describes a museum tour Bunch did with Trump a number of years prior. After stopping at a presentation about enslaved folks being traded in locations just like the Netherlands and elsewhere, Trump allegedly responded, “You already know, they love me within the Netherlands.” Bunch recalled saying one thing alongside the strains of: “let’s proceed strolling.”
The Digest
The mayor of a village the place Vincent van Gogh painted one among his last works has misplaced a authorized bid to grab the land the place the artist as soon as labored. That portray, Tree Roots (1890), depicts the trunk of a tree that also stands at present in that Auvers-sur-Oise backyard. [Independent]
Lisa Lengthy is leaving the Julia Stoschek Basis, after about seven years as its inventive director and curator. Starting in Might, Lengthy will dedicate her time to founding a curatorial company, Companion Tradition, to assist “create new synergies within the artwork ecosystem and promote sustainable constructions for revolutionary initiatives.” [Monopol Magazine]
Amid tumult in South Korea, museums and galleries throughout Seoul shuttered in anticipation of a verdict on whether or not the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol can be upheld. He has since been faraway from his publish. [The Art Newspaper]
In different South Korea information, worldwide galleries have relocated their Seoul areas. Portugal’s Duarte Sequeira unveiled its new area within the Hannam-don neighborhood yesterday, after relocating from Gangnam-gu, whereas Berlin’s Esther Schipper. Duarte Sequeira unveiled its new area within the Hannam-dong neighborhood yesterday, whereas Esther Schipper introduced plans to maneuver to Hannam-dong in February. [ArtAsiaPacific]
The Kicker
ART THAT’S NOT FOR EVERYBODY. A brand new documentary, Artwork for All people, makes an attempt, however finally fails, to reboot the legacy of in style American painter Thomas Kinkade, “a savvy peddler of kitsch,” in response to Washington Post critic Philip Kennicott. Kinkade bought his mass-produced work of backyard landscapes in buying malls, making him tens of millions of {dollars} within the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. He later misplaced his fortune and died of an overdose at age 54. However, Kennicott notes, “his actual expertise was to intuit the insecurities of the American public and exploit them, with a poisonous fusion of artwork and faith.” He calls Kinkade a “televangelist” who resented the artwork world’s rejection and argues that this artist’s work reveals how “unhealthy artwork can destroy democracy.” We’ll allow you to learn extra to seek out out why.
