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
Tag: 10.30.20
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