Tag: 03.12.03

The story and legacy of Francis Bacon’s £60 million estate are growing murkier and more complicated after the death of his sole beneficiary last week.

After more than 50 years of hiding them away, Russia has decided to reveal the whereabouts of “thousands of paintings, archives and rare books looted by Soviet forces in Germany and Eastern Europe during and after World War II and taken to Russia as so-called trophy art. (Now the preferred term in Russia is ‘displaced cultural treasures.’) Hitler’s forces had previously pillaged many of the works from Jewish owners and other Nazi victims.”

Richard Eurich was a “awfully good painter” writes Richard Dorment. But he was a stubborn independent who went his own way. And though pleasant, he fired off a savage critique of critics in the form of a painting. “The contrast between the foolishness of the impotent critics and the moral clarity of the virile artist is the picture’s unmistakable point. A reproduction of The Critics should hang over the desks of all of us who write about the arts, for it reminds us how easy it is to become focused on emerging artists, while neglecting true but idiosyncratic talent.”

British museum directors have been warned about protecting their collections in case of a flood. “In London, a string of national museums is located along both banks of the Thames. These include Tate Modern and Tate Britain, and the priceless Gilbert precious metal collection at Somerset House, to be joined next month by Charles Saatchi’s new gallery at County Hall, and, in May, by a new museum in Docklands. Many museums, such as the V&A, which stand a safe distance inland, have stores much closer to the river, while others, such as the Wallace Collection, just north of Oxford Street, recently gained space by excavating large basement areas.”