Sponsors swerve Turner Prize
Only £30,000 raised for UK's biggest art prize
This edition also features: Venice tourist tax | Mona Lisa moves? | Masterpieces in Liverpool
Happy Friday
Two news stories relating to overcrowding feature in today’s edition. One from Paris, one from Venice. These stories have coincided with my visit to Legion: life in the Roman army at the British Museum. (Which is FAB btw.)
It was actually my second visit. The first — in February — I aborted as I realised only once I’d arrived that I’d booked during the school half-term. IT WAS PACKED.
It was so busy that I just couldn’t continue beyond the first room, and I judged it was worth throwing in the towel and coming back at a quieter time. I’m pleased I did as the Friday nights are much calmer FYI.
It did make me rethink. For various reasons, I’ve never seen busy exhibitions as a problem per se. Hey, it’s the price you pay to see the crème de la crème right? And when people complain that museums let too many people into a show, I always think that’s easy to say once you’re inside the gallery. If the numbers were restricted, you might not have even have managed to nab a ticket full stop.
It’s a delicate balance — with financial implications also playing a part. And I don’t have answers I can squeeze into this intro’s word count.
But I would love to know if you’ve ever left an exhibition because it was too busy? Do regular exhibition-goers like you judge it as a problem?
Before we jump into the news, I’m excited to reveal that next week I’ll be sending you the latest in my ‘views and interviews’ editions, and this one will be a special dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the National Gallery. The Gallery’s former Director Charles Saumarez Smith has penned a piece for it, plus much more. So keep your eyes peeled for that landing mid-week!
— maxwell
Need To Know
Sponsors swerve Turner Prize
The shortlist for the 40th anniversary Turner Prize has been announced. Yet perhaps in a sign of the award’s diminishing influence, it’s revealed that it has struggled to attract sponsorship.
Only £30,000 in sponsorship has been confirmed for the UK’s biggest art award according to the Times — not enough to cover the £55,000 prize money. These were two £15,000 donations — one from the charitable foundation of the gallery’s former Chair, and the other from another foundation set up by a Trustee of Tate’s fundraising arm. Alex Farquharson, Tate Britain’s director and chairman of the Turner Prize jury, told the newspaper they were “very grateful” for the money and insisted there was still “public appetite” for the prize. (Read more)
The four shortlisted artists this year are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas. The annual exhibition of the Prize will return to Tate Britain in September — its first showing in London since 2018. The Guardian calls it a “great shortlist” ; the Telegraph thinks it’s just “fine.
Moving the Mona Lisa?
The Director of the Louvre has floated the idea of moving the Mona Lisa into a room of her own to counter the disappointment visitors feel when they see the work. Laurence des Cars says “Visitors are not being properly received in the current room so we feel that we’re not doing our job properly.”
Up to 25,000 people a day cram into the current gallery displaying the painting. The new plan would see it displayed in isolation. Vincent Delieuvin, the curator in charge of the da Vinci work said that “At the Louvre, everyone agrees that it’s now time to move Mona Lisa.” The current first visitor impression is that “she looks like a postage-stamp” he added. (Read more)
Meanwhile, the Louvre will host yoga, dance and sport sessions in its famed galleries as part of a city-wide cultural programme ahead of the Paris Olympic Games this summer. They also this week opened a new exhibition on the creation of the first modern Olympic Games, featuring over 120 items.
Protests in Venice
Venice has finally introduced its tourist tax for day-trippers, with visitors who do not stay overnight now required to pay €5 (£4.30) to visit the city in peak times of the year. Yesterday’s first day of the charge saw nearly 16,000 people paying for a ticket.
The initiative has been bitterly contested in Venice, with opponents arguing that it is against the principle of freedom of movement and will do nothing to meaningfully address over-tourism. As the change came into force, there were protests and tense confrontations with riot police from groups against the move. One activist said “This goes against the Italian constitution and the European principle of freedom of movement.”
Tourists who are caught without the QR code ticket granting entry face fines of up to €300. Yet journalist Greg Dickinson reporting from Venice said he crossed the bridges into the city nearly 20 times yesterday without his ticket being checked. (Read more)
🔗 OPINION | That sinking feeling: why long-suffering Venice is quite right to make tourists pay | Simon Jenkins in the Guardian
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News from the UK
Acquisitions 🎨 | Two masterpieces by Monet and Degas have been acquired by National Museums Liverpool (NML) and will go on display from tomorrow. The two Impressionist works were allocated to the Walker Art Gallery through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which allows works to be gifted to offset inheritance tax. NML curator Kate O’Donoghue said “it’s difficult to overstate quite how special it is to obtain these new works.” (Read more)
Denied 🛑 | Authorities in Birmingham have unanimously refused permission for a 42-storey glass skyscraper to be built on top of a Grade-II listed Georgian building. One councillor said the plan was “utterly bonkers.” It had sparked backlash among historians, conservationists and residents. The Georgian Group described it as a “preposterous proposal”, with its director David Adshead saying that building over or around a listed building “is clearly a worrying new trend.” (Read more)
Arson 🔥 | An historic railway carriage has been destroyed after an arson attack at a transport museum in Nottinghamshire. No injuries were reported at the Rushden Transport Museum and Heritage Railway but the police believe it was started deliberately outside of public opening hours. The carriage itself is now “beyond salvage" the museum said, while a second sustained severe heat damage. (Read more)
Unveiled 👑 | The first memorial statue to Queen Elizabeth II since her death has been unveiled. Created by artist Hywel Brân Pratley for Oakham in Rutland, it depicts the former monarch surrounded by her beloved Corgi dogs. The unveiling was watched by cheering crowds and nearly 50 corgis from The Welsh Corgi League. The statue comes ahead of an official memorial being overseen by the Royal Household and the UK government. (Read more)
🔗 OPINION | The horrific new impression of the late Queen proves the age of the statue is dead | 💬 Ben Lawrence in the Telegraph
News from around the world
Austria 🇦🇹 | An Austrian auction record has been achieved in Vienna when a Klimt work — lost for nearly a century — went under the hammer for €30m (£26m). The unfinished work called Portrait of Fraulein Lieser is controversial as there are questions over what happened to it during the Nazi era. The work was commissioned by a family of Jewish industrialists in 1917, a year before Klimt's death. (Read more)
France 🇫🇷 | The Centre Pompidou “does not have the means to finance its development” France’s top audit court has ruled, adding that its economic model is unsustainable. Due to delays, the museum must find an additional €200m (£171m) on top of the original €358m (£329m) bill for its upcoming renovation project. It’s also committed to building a new storage space in Paris at a cost of £339m (€396m). The audit court says it must have a better grip on expenditure and payroll. (Read more)
Australia 🇦🇺 | A proposed "reimagining" and restructure of the South Australian Museum in Adelaide has been halted due to a backlash by the public and Indigenous staff and stakeholders. The proposed changes would abolish 27 research roles, replacing them with 22 more junior positions. These were blasted as "[threatening] to irrevocably diminish the museum's stature” according to one critic. The state government has now called for more consultation. (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸 | “An out-of-the-box, next-level, spectacular find” has been unearthed at Mount Vernon, the former home of US President George Washington. The find of two glass bottles stuffed with cherries has amazed archeologists as the fruit seems to have survived intact despite being buried for over 250 years. The cherries were probably picked at Mount Vernon in the 1770s and stored for the future. “It’s a time capsule” on excavator said. (Read more)
Best of the rest
Farewell | The Director of the Museum of Brands — who helped me get my first steps on the museum career-ladder — is stepping down after 18 years. Anna Terry said “it’s been a privilege to be part of this journey.”
Crumbling | Fellow Millennials may remember Channel 5’s Fort Boyard (Melinda Messenger running around an 1860s naval fort, TV gold). Well, said Fort needs €44 million for a “colossal project” to save it from a watery grave. (More)
Milestone | Congratulations to Dudley’s Black Country Living Museum as it’s just welcomed its 11 million visitor since opening in 1978. School teacher Ian Castelino — on holiday from India — was the milestone guest. (More)
Closing | Farewell to one of the Science Museum’s oldest galleries as it’s announced it’ll be closing for good after 30 years. You have until 2 June to pay The Secret Life of the Home and its display of household appliances one last visit. (More)
👀 Last week’s most read news | Copenhagen Stock Exchange facade collapses after fire
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I have become much less tolerant of crowded exhibitions. I think this is partly age, partly COVID hangover. But so much of the "crowd" part seems due to poor crowd & space management by the museums. The Rothko show at LVF was a miserable way for anyone seeing his work for the first time.
Thank you for flagging the South Australian Museum story. Adelaide is my hometown. Super interesting to read.