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The Headlines
FREE AND SMALLER MUSEUMS MAKE SENSE. A new study by think tank Remuseum, argues museum admission should be free for smaller institutions, because it drives greater attendance without raising costs, reports NPR. The study doesn’t explain how cash-strapped museums can make up for the lost income, arguing that admissions “don’t generate profit, but instead subsidize the museum experience,” said Stephen Reily, Remuseum founding director. Similarly, the new data suggests that museum expansions intended to serve larger audiences often do not make financial sense, adds The Art Newspaper. “In fact, in some important ways, the data show that it gets much harder to fulfill your mission the bigger you get,” said Reily.
Related Articles
ITALIAN VILLAGE VERSUS THE LOUVRE. Since 2019, leaders in the small Italian town of Avezzano in the Abruzzo region have been calling on the Louvre museum in Paris to return a medieval stone bas-relief that was once part of their local church, San Nicola, which was destroyed in a 1915 earthquake, reports Le Journal des Arts. More recently, they have been supported in their efforts by the Italian government. The 13th century sculpted item is currently on view in the Louvre’s Denon wing, where a label says it was acquired during the German occupation of France, with the intention of displaying it in a Düsseldorf museum. It eventually entered the Louvre in 1983. The Louvre website also labeled the item MNR or “National Museums Recovery,” meaning it is not officially part of France’s national collection, because its rightful owners are not known. In recent years, the Louvre has made an effort to publicize the presence of such MNR-labelled artworks in French museums, which for years, few knew existed. The museum also pledged to be more proactive about their return. Most MNR artwork were looted during the Nazi occupation and returned to France by allied forces after the war. The Louvre has reportedly denied that an official request for restitution was made for the church carving.
The Digest
After signing an executive order dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), President Donald Trump has appointed a new head of the agency, Keith E. Sonderling. Sonderling will be pulling double duty, as deputy secretary of the Department of Labor and acting director of the IMLS. [ARTnews]
Deputy director and Chief Curator of New York’s Guggenheim Museum, Naomi Beckwith, has presented her vision for the 2027 Documenta in Kassel. It follows the last, scandal-ridden event. Beckwith told reporters that she is open to debate and discussion, “but I will not tolerate physical, verbal, or symbolic violence against others,” though withheld details of the forthcoming event. [Monopol Magazine]
From March 21 to April 3, Sotheby’s will auction an original model of E.T. used in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film, from the collection of Oscar-winning special effects and makeup artist Carlo Rambaldi. It is estimated to be worth $600,000-$900,000 and will be sold in a lot with other items from Rambaldi’s collection, such as sketches of E.T.. [The Hollywood Reporter]
The 14th edition of the Taipei Biennial will explore the many dimensions of yearning. Titled “Whispers on the Horizon,” and curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, it will feature 54 international artists and 33 newly commissioned artworks. [ArtReview]
The Kicker
ICEBERG PAINTING BREAK. Influential Canadian author and artist Douglas Coupland talked to art critic Eddy Frankel about his latest muse — icebergs— for Independent. Witnessing their melting on a regular flight over Greenland, as if a “hex” has transformed them, sparked the artist’s obsession with depicting the icy structures in paintings, which will be visible in a solo presentation at Independent with Toronto gallery Daniel Faria in May. Symbolizing Coupland’s anxiety about climate change, the semi-abstract, more restrained paintings are also a major break from his past aesthetic of “confrontational figuration,” which was “in some way mediated by technology.” The artist explained that after his mother died, he told himself, “you have to stop using machines, you have to start using your brain, electric signals going through your muscles, bones on the wood, bristles, paint, surface.”