Anti-mask anger shuts children's museum
Plus: Adele's artist bust up
Happy Friday. And if you’ve been on dry January, it’s a very happy Friday as it’s the last one of the (long) month. Cheers to that.
The hottest show in town right now is definitely the new Francis Bacon exhibition at the Royal Academy. The critics (mostly) loved it, as evidenced by this Wordle-inspired tweet that made me chuckle. But with a new show on Van Gogh’s portraits opening next week, the crown of hottest ticket might be moving quite quickly to the Courtauld Gallery. This is definitely a good time to be an art-lover.
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For now, let’s read on for this week’s news!
Maxwell
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This week’s top story
Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day and many museums commemorated the date which marks the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In the UK, the most high profile event was HRH The Prince of Wales unveiling seven portraits he’d commissioned of some of Britain's last remaining Holocaust survivors. The works have gone on show at London’s Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, and Prince Charles was visibly moved as he met some of the sitters. The project is the subject of a BBC Two documentary which you can watch now on BBC iPlayer. ITV News.
In a four-star review of the show in the Telegraph, Alastair Sooke said “The power of this small exhibition is derived as much from their personal histories as it is from the artistic skill on show.” Media coverage of this exhibition was huge, including a major feature on BBC News at Six and Ten. Quite right too.
Across the Thames, the Imperial War Museums revealed a remarkable story where a Holocaust refugee had spotted her father in a huge photograph in the Museum’s new galleries. Police facial recognition technology confirmed she was right. “It was really powerful” the IWM said. (If you haven’t been to the major new Second World War and Holocaust Galleries at the Museum yet I suggest you do.)
Meanwhile, UK landmarks were lit up in purple to remember victims of the Holocaust, including the Natural History Museum, Titanic Belfast and the Imperial War Museum North.
This week’s other stories
The world’s oldest map of the stars, the 3,600 year old Nebra Sky Disc, has arrived at the British Museum for its first ever trip to the UK. But it’s actually a homecoming for the stunning golden decorations on the Disc, as this ancient gold was actually sourced in Cornwall four millennia ago. Cornwall Live
Dominic Cummings does have a use after all. His infamous eye-testing drive to the 12th century fortress Barnard Castle has helped the site record its highest ever visitor figures. 2021 was a 20% increase on 2019. English Heritage, which manages the castle, also said its “more intimate local sites” had seen a big uplift in visitors as the pandemic encouraged people to stay closer to home. Sky News
Adele’s tearful last-minute cancellation of her Las Vegas residency has been the talk of the town. She blamed covid for axing the shows, but it’s been revealed the real reason was behind-the-scenes clashes with acclaimed set designer Es Devlin. Devlin is a superstar artist and designer, and has worked on shows with Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus, but she’s also had an exhibition at Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, designed a Christmas Tree for the V&A, and was London Design Biennale's Artistic Director. Adele was unhappy with the sets and “made her feelings very clear to Es” according to sources. Doesn’t sound like she went easy on her. Mail Online
The Museum of East Anglian Life in Suffolk is rebranding. From March, it will become The Food Museum (although all the media reports said it would be called The National Museum of Food - not a great start). Why are the doing it? Because they want "a hook" as "we need people to visit in order to stay afloat” according to the Director. I applaud the honestly, but it does feel a little bit retrofitted. BBC News
One person who wasn’t impressed at Tracey Emin’s recent demand to have one of her neon artworks removed from display in Downing Street was fellow artist Grayson Perry. He told the Daily Mail he thought what she did “was a bit lame” and that it was “a bit ironic” since she’d previously said she was a Tory voter. Daily Mail
The Children’s Museum of Denver has been forced to close for 10 days. The reason? Escalating harassment of staff by adult visitors angry over a mask wearing mandate. What a depressing world we live in. The Independent
This is incredible. A 2,000-year-old Roman glass bowl has been unearthed “like new” in the Netherlands. Archeologists excavating a site in Nijmegen — the oldest city in the country - found it in pristine condition. Blows my mind this can survive absolutely in tact, and hurrah for it. Hyperallergic
And finally
Congratulations to pandemic hero Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert - who helped invent the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as she’s been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Are we finally getting back to normal? The return of late hours at the Met suggest we might be.
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