'Nothing to apologise for' over Parthenon Sculptures
New report urges resistance to returning the marbles to Greece
Also in this edition: Met has over 1000 looted items, Ai Weiwei’s largest lego work, Whitechapel Gallery staff cuts, Thomas Heatherwick’s Saudi Arabia museum
Happy Friday.
Yes, I’m in your inbox two days in a row. You can never have too much of a good thing though, right? If you missed me yesterday, don’t worry. Catch up on my interview with Bernard Donoghue OBE, Director of ALVA, on sluggish museum visitor numbers and Culture Minister musical chairs here.
A tale of two ticket releases this week. In unfortunate timing, both the V&A and Tate went live with major ticket drops at 10am on Thursday. The V&A went all-guns-blazing for their major Chanel exhibition. Unfathomably, it was only to put two weeks of tickets on sale (the show will run for five months). They sold out within hours of course, and the rest go on sale in June. The official line from the V&A is that this release schedule gives eager-beavers the chance to book early. I’d love to know what the unofficial line is.
For Tate Modern, it was the release of the next batch of tickets for Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms. And it came with the news that it was being extended YET AGAIN — this time to April 2024 — perhaps due to some misunderstanding on what the Infinity in the title is supposed to refer to. If it does indeed end next spring, it will have been on show for three years. But is it starting to run out of steam? At the time of writing, there is plenty of availability. Perhaps everyone’s still recovering from that Harrods takeover.
Now onto the news.
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Need To Know
No apologies necessary
Britain has 'nothing to apologise for' over the Parthenon Sculptures a major new report concluded this week. Think-tank Policy Exchange said that the claim that Lord Elgin's removal of the sculptures from the Acropolis was illegal, is false.
It also said that pressure to loan or return the marbles to Greece must be resisted as there would be a significant risk of non-return. It said the Government should affirm its support for retaining the artworks, and should make no change to the current law. The Prime Minister was ahead of the game on this, with his recent comments. (Read more)
Also this week, former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis penned a lacerating assessment of British Museum Chair George Osborne’s plans to strike a deal involving potential loans back to Athens. Calling it “sordid” and “shameful,” he said it is a smokescreen to help raise cash for the museum’s upcoming refurbishment. (Read more)
Crown Jewels redisplayed
The first major change to the display of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London for over a decade is aiming to offer visitors a “richer understanding” of the collection and some of the controversial diamonds within it.
Historic Royal Palaces — which looks after the Tower — have said they will display the the Koh-i-Noor diamond in greater historical context, which will be referenced as a “symbol of conquest” that has passed through the hands of many empires. The diamond’s origins have never been explored in this level of detail in an exhibition before.
The aim of the display is to explore the history of the jewels themselves in more depth in light of the King’s Coronation, during which many will be used. HRP’s Charles Farris, said: “With 2023 bringing the first coronation in 70 years, there has never been a better time for people to come and learn about the jewels and to appreciate these awe-inspiring objects in person.” (Read more)
Met Museum’s looted objects
Over 1,000 objects in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have links to people allegedly involved antiquities trade crimes, a new report has claimed. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists say many items were previously owned by individuals who have been indicted or convicted of crimes including looting and trafficking.
Of the identified objects, fewer than half have records available that detail how they left their countries of origin. Nearly all the objects under scrutiny were acquired since the 1960s when the museum embarked on an ‘aggressive’ collecting spree. The investigation follows multiple high-profile seizures from the Met over the past few years.
Experts now question how many more pieces in the museum’s catalog could be repatriated, and what that might mean for the art world at large. In response, a spokesperson said “The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and goes to great lengths to ensure that all works entering the collection meet the laws and strict policies in place at the time of acquisition.” (Read more)
🔗 Go deeper: How Kim Kardashian unwittingly exposed a museum’s dubious morals
News from the UK
Brick Wall | A 15 meter-long recreation of Monet’s Water Lilies made entirely of Lego has been unveiled as a major highlight of the Design Museum’s upcoming Ai Weiwei exhibition. Featuring 650,000 bricks, it’s the largest-ever Lego artwork made by the celebrated artist. It can be seen from next month. (Read more)
Staff Cuts | London’s Whitechapel gallery is axing jobs to balance its books. Six staff have been laid off, with fundraisers and curators worse hit. The gallery said it’s experiencing a “significant deficit” partly due to a reduction in Arts Council funding. But former Director Iwona Blazwick said the funding cut “was relatively modest so it is alarming to learn that highly experienced curators and fundraisers are losing their jobs.” (Read more)
Last Push | The National Portrait Gallery has been granted more time to raise the remaining cash needed to save the £50 million Joshua Reynolds painting Portrait of Omai. The UK government-imposed temporary export bar on the work will now run until 10 June. But there’s still half the money to raise, in the same time the gallery is preparing to reopen after a major refurb. (Read more)
Back Open | Nottingham Castle museum will reopen in June, over six months after the Trust running it went bust despite a £33 million redevelopment. It’ll reopen as a council-run venue, with clear stipulations on how it must perform. It’s also been revealed the Trust’s collapse has cost the local authority nearly £600,000 so far. (Read more)
Shoes Off | You’ll soon be able to experience one of Britain’s greatest medieval art treasures — but you’ll have to take your shoes off. Barefoot access to the Cosmati pavement at Westminster Abbey will soon begin, after King Charles III is crowned on the same spot like all previous monarchs. It’s previously been out of bounds to the public. (Read more)
News from around the world
Germany | A museum dedicated to German-Russian relations is trying — and failing — to cut its ties to Moscow after Ukraine’s invasion. The Berlin-Karlshorst museum which marks the site of Nazi surrender, has the Russian foreign, defence and culture ministries on its board. A 1994 diplomatic agreement is preventing the German culture minister removing them. (Read more)
France | The French villa where King Edward VIII lived with his American wife Wallis Simpson is to become a museum, which will allow public access for the first time. The grand house in Western Paris will experience a multi-million euro renovation in time for the 2024 Olympics. The villa has been recreated in recent series of The Crown. (Read more)
Bulgaria | A previously unknown painting by artist Jackson Pollock has been discovered in Sofia by police investigating international art smugglers. The painting dates from 1949 and could be worth up to €50m, according to experts. The back of the canvas features a dedication to actress Lauren Bacall, written by Pollock himself. (Read more)
USA | More details about the upcoming major Karl Lagerfeld exhibition at the Met have been revealed. Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty will open on 5 May following this year’s Met Gala. The show is (apparently) inspired by William Hogarth’s 1753 book The Analysis of Beauty, and the majority of the 150 garments on show will be accompanied by Lagerfeld’s sketches. (Read more)
Saudi Arabia | Thomas Heatherwick will transform an industrial plant in Saudi Arabia into a major new museum. The Jeddah Central Museum Museum is promised to be a "new home for craft, making and production" with the main turbine hall converted into a "dramatic" exhibition space. Heatherwick is the latest British studio to work in Saudi Arabia, despite human rights criticism. (Read more)
Best of the rest
Moving Pictures | An iconic Sunderland cinema is being moved and rebuilt 14 miles from its original home so it can be part of Beamish Museum’s new 1950s street.
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