Welcome to a new year of museum news!
art // architecture // culture // design // lifestyle // travel
maxwell museums
Happy 2019! Hope you've had a stellar start to the new year. To long-term readers, welcome back. To new subscribers, just welcome. This is how this newsletter works. It's museums and everything that's brilliant about them: art, architecture, culture, design, lifestyle and travel. We start with catching you up on the latest news, then some more in-depth reads to enjoy over a cuppa. We end with review round-up of a hot new show, before some recommendations of what to see that's coming up. It's still all a work in progress, so PLEASE tell me what you think. Just reply to this email. Let's dive in!
catch up
all the news
Superstar British artist Bridget Riley has added a splash - or rather a few spots - of colour to a wall at the National Gallery. She's unveiled a huge new permanent mural at the Gallery which will greet visitors as they arrive. Simple but stunning. Read more at the Evening Standard.
The Banksy artwork du jour, Season's Greetings, which appeared on the side of a garage in Port Talbot in Wales, has been sold for a six-figure sum. The buyer has pledged to keep the graffiti work in the town for at least 2-3 years. With 20,000 visits to see it in the past month, it's great news that the town can continue to draw the crowds. Read more on the BBC.
One of the world's most popular tourist attractions Machu Picchu has had to introduce a new ticketing policy due to it being, well, too popular. You'll now have to book an hour slot if you're planning to tick this off your bucket list. Read more on Sky News.
Ever been to Japan? If not you might want to start penciling in a trip in 2020. Not only will Tokyo host the Olympic Games that year, it will also see a mammoth touring exhibition from the National Gallery in London. The exhibition will be the largest international loan the gallery has ever sent and will also include Van Gogh's sunflowers, the first time the painting has ever left Europe. Excuse me while I take a little look at Skyscanner.... Read more at the Art Newspaper.
The US government shutdown is entering its 4th week. All federal museums including the 19 museums of the Smithsonian remain completely closed and employees aren't getting paid. The situation is bleak. Some museums across the US are now offering free entry to Federal workers, but many museum workers are in limbo and are struggling to make ends meet. Artnet has been speaking to them. Read more at Artnet.
*SCREAM* The Scream is coming to the British Museum in April! See it in the exhibition Edvard Munch: love and angst. Buy tickets.
gen up
in depth
If I've been doing my job right (!), you'll have heard that Edvard Munch's the Scream is coming to the British Museum in April (hurrah!). The news has really captured people's imagination, not least because this famous depiction of fear and angst has taken on a new resonance as it returns to the UK at the height of the Brexit debacle. This week the Guardian asked - on it's front page no less - why the Scream has become "the ultimate image for our political age." Well worth a read to chart the history of this iconic image Read the article at the Guardian.
How long do you spend looking at art in galleries? Is there an optimum time? Tate Modern are suggesting that people should cut their viewing speed and are trying to encourage 'slow-looking'. Editor of the BBC Today programme Sarah Sands thinks they are on to something. Read her comment piece on the i paper.
Which museum has the best duck? The Independent has their say on which museum won the Twitter duck wars. As you do. Read the result here.
weigh up
review roundup
The dizzy world of exhibitions has yet to fully kick off yet this year, so new shows are thin on the ground. But an interesting new display has opened at the Whitechapel Gallery in East London. The ”la Caixa Collection of Contemporary Art" is a small selection of works from the collection of Spanish bank La Caixa, hand-picked by preeminent Spanish novelist Enrique Vila-Matas. The Evening Standard was impressed, awarding it 4 stars and describing it as "an exhibition of puzzling and sinister conceptual art" that "you can visit it quickly then leave and think about it." The Guardian took the opposite view. With just the two stars, it's labelled "safe" and with "the dead hand of corporate, official taste [muting the] attempt to create a writerly and eccentric vibe." I'm looking forward to visiting to see which side I take.
La Caixa collection of contemporary art: Selected by Enrique Vila-Matas is at Whitechapel Gallery, London, until 28 April.
A work from ”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art at Whitechapel Gallery. Carlos Pazos, A+V Agencia de Creadores Visuales, 2019
get up
don't miss
2019 is going to be an incredible year for all lovers of museums and galleries. There's so much I'm looking forward to, but I've picked my absolute top 5 London exhibitions I'm most excited about. Read my picks featuring Tate Modern, the National Portrait Gallery, and British Museum here.
If you're hankering for some culture further afield, the Smithsonian have put together a great list of 12 anniversaries and events from around the world that'll also scratch any travel itch you have for the year ahead. Highlights include commemorative exhibitions marking 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and events in Florida marking 50 years since man first walked on the moon. Read the full list here.
Thanks for reading. PLEASE SHARE by clicking below