National Trust at war
Plus: Menswear blockbuster coming to V&A
Happy Friday - I was up at midnight, so go Easy On Me.
An interesting project landed in my inbox this week. The Foundling Museum has commissioned five major artists, including the great Wolfgang Tillmans, to create portraits of former pupils of The Foundling Hospital. Until now, the Museum had no representation in the collections for the lost faces of 25,000+ children who have been cared for by the hospital. The photographs are on display from today.
This weekend I shall be darting across London trying to take in all the exhibitions that have sprung up to coincide with Frieze. It’s the Fringe of Frieze as it were. As usual I’ll be sharing it all on my Instagram @maxwellmuseums.
Now let’s read on!
Maxwell
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This week’s top story
The National Trust’s (NT) upcoming election is turning into a fight over the charity’s ideology claimed the Times this week. And the column inches are racking up on what is becoming a very bitter battle.
A splinter group - called Restore Trust (RT) - of more than 6,000 present and former trust members wants the National Trust to focus on what it believes are its traditional objectives. So they are backing a slate of candidates in elections for the NT’s governing council. But the charity has hit out at this group saying it was facing an ideological campaign trying to sow discord. Some members of the NT have expressed particular concern about RT’s endorsement of Stephen Green, the leader of a Christian fundamentalist lobby group. Except it turns out Green has no connection with Restore Trust (but welcomes their support). And neither does another candidate they are backing (who very much does NOT welcome their support).
But Restore Trust has hit back, with one member writing in the Spectator that the NT has “launched an extraordinary attack” on a group whose only aim is to rein in the “increasingly politicised” nature of the NT in recent years and “reverse the damage” this has done on the organisation. Writing in the Guardian, Simon Jenkins claims the NT “has needlessly provoked an ‘anti-woke’ campaign” and that its actions has politicised the forthcoming elections, which don’t even govern the Trust.
Today’s Guardian editorial column sums up the current state of play, and is well worth a read. It warns that the National Trust “must not lose its cool.” With 15 days still to go until the AGM, the temperature is likely to continue rising.
This week’s other news
The V&A made a major splash this week by announcing details of their menswear-themed exhibition coming next year - with a little help from Harry Styles and Billy Porter. Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear will see over 100 looks (including Styles’ Gucci suits and Porter’s hot pink cape Golden Globes 2019 ensemble) paired with art and sculpture. Stylist
“All the museums now are woke” claimed artist duo Gilbert and George this week. They particularly aren’t keen on Tate Modern, saying it is too ‘woke’ to exhibit any of the 23 G&G works they own. The Daily Telegraph
Remember that Banksy painting that shredded itself as soon as it was sold for £1m at auction? Well last night that shredded work sold again - this time for a whopping £18.5 million. It was an auction record for a Banksy work. Love is in the bin, but money is in the bank. Mail Online
You’ve probably seen them all over Instagram already, but Tate Modern this week unveiled the latest Hyundai Commission in the Turbine Hall. The latest iteration sees a fleet of floating jellyfish-like machines fill the air and perfume pumped into the space. Interesting to note it’s only on show until January, by my reckoning the shortest run of any commission for a good many years - and half as long as recent installations. Tate tell me it’s just due to ‘gallery scheduling.’ Evening Standard
Also in Tate news, they’ve been on their annual shopping spree at Frieze London, spending £150,000 on photographs, paintings and mixed-media works by living artists to add to their collection. The pot was supported by global entertainment group Endeavor. I just hope they also gave them expenses, as the flat whites at the fair were almost as much as the art. The Art Newspaper
The birth certificate of a Holocaust survivor who was born in a concentration camp will go on display as part of two major new galleries opening at Imperial War Museum London next week. Some 3,500 items and stories from 80 countries will be seen in the £31 million Second World War and Holocaust Galleries. The Daily Telegraph
I *think* Spain is my favourite country (although it changes on a daily basis) so I’ll definitely be making a trip up to Bishop Auckland in County Durham as today they have opened the UK's first gallery dedicated to the art, history and culture of Spain. They have “some of the greatest pictures in the world” on show according to the founder. Can’t wait. The Northern Echo
In a sensational discovery almost 50 years ago, two exceptionally well preserved ancient Greek bronze warriors were hauled out of the sea near Riace in Calabria in Italy. Now the town’s mayor is organising a major underwater excavation in a bid to find a third bronze. Wouldn’t that be amazing. The Art Newspaper
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