Author: Matthew Westphal

Yves Tanguy Painting Rescued From Airport Dumpster

An anonymous businessman had been planning to bring the surrealist work, worth an estimated $340,000, with him from Düsseldorf to Tel Aviv last week — but he mistakenly left the painting behind at the airport, where cleaners saw the cardboard carton containing the painting and put it in the recycling bin. And that is where the piece was found the following day. – Smithsonian Magazine

Mexico’s Museums Are Desperate — And Afraid To Say So: Commission

This isn’t even about COVID. According to the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art, the austerity measures that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador introduced in May of 2019 have led to budget cuts of 50% in the capital’s museums and 75% in regional museums; many staffers haven’t been paid for weeks or even months. And museum directors won’t raise this with the public or high officials for fear of reprisal. – Artnet

French Arts Workers March Against Extension Of COVID Restrictions

“Cinemas, theatres, museums and concert halls had been set to reopen, but days in advance Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a change of heart in response to France’s stubbornly high infection rate. No reopening will take place now until at least 7 January. … Holding slogans like ‘we’re going to die, and not even on stage’, some of the demonstrators told the BBC of their anger and distress at the lockdown.” – BBC

Ballet Company Ordered To Reinstate Dancer Fired For Breaking Quarantine

In February, the Korea National Ballet was on tour in the city of Daegu when a major coronavirus outbreak arose; the company cancelled the remaining performances and ordered its dancers to self-isolate. Na Dae-han, a corps dancer who had achieved some fame on Korean reality TV, skipped off to Japan with his girlfriend instead, and he was sacked. Now the National Labour Relations Commission has ruled Na’s dismissal unfair and told the KNB to take him back. – Gramilano (Milan)

Archaeologist Deciphers 4,400-Year-Old Writing System, Now Tied For World’s Oldest

“François Desset has succeeded in deciphering Linear Elamite, a writing system used in Iran 4,400 years ago. In its archaic proto-Elamite version (from 3300 BC), it joins the two oldest writing systems known in the world, the proto-cuneiform of the Mesopotamians and the Egyptian hieroglyphics.” (in French; for Google Translate version, click here) – Sciences et Avenir (France)

New Dance Park On The Hudson Announces Its First Spring Festival

In August, Kaatsbaan, the former-farm-turned-dance colony upstate, founded by former ballet star Stella Abrera, hosted the East Coast’s first professional public dance performances since the pandemic began. It will launch a two-weekend festival next May, with performers including ABT, Mark Morris Dance Group, and members of Ailey and NY City Ballet. – The New York Times

Vox Media’s CEO Doesn’t Want It To Be Like Condé Nast. He Wants It To Be Like Disney.

Jim Bankoff: “Disney makes money by bringing its properties to consumers in different ways. … We have everything from programmatic advertising to podcasting, to creating TV shows to having a magazine, to affiliate e-commerce to subscriptions. So we have our own way of making money off our creative franchises.” – Vanity Fair

New York City’s Arts Groups May Start Performing Again This Spring — Outdoors

“The City Council passed legislation on Thursday that allows any [city- or borough-] funded artist and cultural organizations, venues or institutions to be able to utilize public outdoor spaces for ticketed events and performances. And any artist and venue can partner with an eligible organization for permits as well.” The program, called Open Culture, begins March 1. – Gothamist

Controversial Korean Filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk, 59, Dead Of COVID

“[He] was known as the bad boy of Asian art-house cinema and made his name with a series of visually stunning but extremely violent films, including The Isle (2000) and Bad Guy (2001). … Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter … and Spring (2003), .. a sharp contrast with Kim’s previous work, was an international art-house hit. Pieta (2012), a story of redemption featuring a loan shark mobster (and more of Kim’s trademark visceral violence), won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Kim’s directing career was derailed in 2018 when three women came forward accusing him and his Bad Guy star Cho Jae-hyun of rape and sexual assault.” – The Hollywood Reporter