"spiritless hunk of nonsense"
Critics slam Diana statue. Plus: V&A East details revealed
Hello - and welcome to the 59 (!) new readers who signed up since last Friday’s edition. It’s great to have you here.
I was totally shocked and utterly delighted this week to have this newsletter featured in the influential contemporary art publication Elephant Magazine. They named maxwell museums as one of the “20 Best Culture Newsletters to Sign Up to Now.” After nearly three years of putting this together it really was a wonderful honour. So thank you to the team at Elephant!
For the newbies, Friday is news round-up day, where I bring you all the latest news from the world of museums, galleries and art. Twice a month I also send a big interview: if you missed it earlier this week, you can read my chat with superstar British artist Julian Opie here.
Now, read on for the headlines!
I need your help! If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider buying me a digital coffee. Every donation helps keep it free
This week’s top story
V&A East is coming…just a couple of years later than planned. The new east London outpost of the Victoria and Albert Museum will now open in 2025 (a new publicly accessible collections centre will open the year before) and promises to be a “youth-focused institution.” The first details of the vision (and the first acquisitions) were revealed this week, with Director Gus Casely-Hayford also pledging to visit every single school in the surrounding area to get young people hyped up.
V&A East needs to navigate a rather turbulent time in the museum world. It’s a multi-million pound project within a massively cash-strapped sector, and it wants to offer “a wider context of what Britain’s history is” while the culture wars are raging. A project to keep an eye on over the next few years. The Guardian
This week’s other stories
Thomas Gainsborough’s masterpiece the Blue Boy is returning to the UK – exactly 100 years since it left. It will go on loan to the National Gallery in January, offering “a unique opportunity” for visitors. One not to miss. BBC News
Also early next year, the newly revamped Courtauld Gallery will open the very first exhibition dedicated to Vincent van Gogh’s self-portraits. Several of the works were last seen together in the artist’s studio and have never been reunited before. (Interestingly, the show will be in the Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries, newly-named after a donation by the founder of online gambling empire Bet365.) the i
The long-awaited new statue to Diana, Princess of Wales was unveiled at Kensington Palace yesterday by Prince William and Prince Harry. Basically, everyone hates it, including Lorraine Kelly (so it must be bad). Mail Online offer a roundup of the scathing views from critics, but the full Guardian review of the “spiritless hunk of nonsense” is definitely worth a read.
Manchester Jewish Museum reopens today after a £6m revamp. Thousands of objects are on show in the 1874 Grade II*-listed synagogue building and its new modern extension, plus an installation by Turner Prize-winner Laure Prouvost. The Guardian
A freedom of information request has revealed the responses from England’s national museums to the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s controversial letter urging alignment with government policy on ‘contested heritage.’ The V&A said it is was “impossible and ahistorical to seek to ‘decolonise’ a museum” like theirs. The Guardian
Greek police recovered a Picasso painting that had been stolen from the National Gallery in Athens nine years ago…only to drop it in front of the media at the press conference. You do need to watch the video through your fingers. Metro.co.uk
The Met in New York has just announced its first-ever Walt Disney exhibition, which will hang stills from Disney films alongside the works of European art that inspired their visual style. Travel + Leisure
A portrait of David Hockney by Lucian Freud sold at Sotheby’s in London for nearly £15 million. ART News
I need your help! If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider buying me a digital coffee. Every donation helps keep it free.