Tate’s rehang revealed
Critics are divided on the latest British art reshuffle
Also in this edition: Art Fund Museum of the Year nominees, RA’s 2024 exhibitions, Rijksmuseum’s biggest ever donation, Mel Giedroyc’s butter churn now a national treasure
Hello.
What sad news about Tina Turner. You’ll have seen that tributes have (quite rightly) poured in from across the world, including from the V&A, who said on Twitter she was “an era-defining icon” and that “her music, bravery, tenacity and style will continue to inspire.” There will almost certainly be an added poignancy to the museum’s DIVA exhibition — featuring looks worn by Turner — when it opens next month. Meanwhile in the US, tearful fans gathered at the Tina Turner Museum in Tennessee to pay tribute to the icon. RIP to The Best.
Now before we get into other news from the past week, some real talk from me if I may. This is the 18th newsletter I’ve sent you this year. That’s roughly over 70 hours of work for me (or 9 working days in total). The total number of times this newsletter has been read in 2023 is nearly 35,000. But the total number of readers who have donated to the newsletter since 1st January? Two.
Now I don’t do this because I think it’s going to make me rich. I do it because I love museums, I love newsletters, and I love bringing news and insight to people. I like helping you stay informed about what’s going on. But it is a lot of work. And after (almost) five years of doing this, I do wonder about the long-term sustainability of producing this content week-in-week-out, especially as a free-to-read newsletter.
I know that everyone is facing financial challenges right now, but even a small donation can make a big difference in terms of support. Just a few pounds, for example, would cover one of my many monthly news subscriptions which I use to source stories from each week.
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Maxwell
Need To Know
Tate’s rehang revealed
Tate Britain has unveiled a complete overhaul of its permanent galleries. 800-plus works, 350-plus artists, and six-plus centuries are in the new display. The gallery says much-loved works are now joined by new discoveries — namely 200 pieces acquired after the millennium. It’s the first time in ten years that Tate Britain’s free displays have been presented anew. Is that good? (Read more)
What do the critics think? They’re divided. The Telegraph’s Alastair Sooke said he left “convinced that Tate Britain’s bosses feel uneasy, even embarrassed, about the pictures in their charge.” Jonathan Jones at the Guardian believes “the gallery is now vacuous, worthy and fundamentally dull” and that the rehang’s attempt to bring in issues of slavery, empire, and gender results in a display that is “glib, patronising [and] belittling.” The FT were the definition of mixed feelings. “Revelatory 21st-century acquisitions [and] inspired juxtapositions” sit alongside “self-righteousness” and infuriating commentaries, they said.
Some loved it. Laura Freeman in the Times said “the result will be divisive but it makes for a powerful narrative” and that it demonstrates that “British art feels live [and] kicking.” The Evening Standard’s Ben Luke said he was “surprised and delighted in pretty much every room.” His review’s headline? ‘A masterclass in how to refresh a museum.’ So you might just have to visit to make up your own mind.
And the nominees are...
The shortlist for Art Fund Museum of the Year has been revealed. In case you’d forgotten, it’s the world’s biggest museum prize, and 2023 marks a decade of it being awarded. The winner gets a cool £120,000.
The Natural History Museum in London is by far and away the biggest nominee — in fact it’s the UK’s most visited museum with over 4.5 million visitors in 2022. It’s joined on the list by West London neighbour Leighton House. Also making the cut is the MAC, Northern Ireland's leading arts institution. The smallest museum nominated is the Scapa Flow Museum which tells the story of Orkney and its people during WWI and WWII.
Completing the shortlist is the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. In 2022 it reopened after a five-year £69 million restoration that was received broadly positively by critics. But its nomination comes as the charity running it — Glasgow Life — is proposing to slash 40% of the museum’s conservation team to save £1.5 million a year. It will almost certainly mean the Burrell will stage fewer exhibitions. Unions are warning that Glasgow’s museums are 'at risk’ by the proposed cuts. The redundancy threats must have dampened celebrations. (Read more)
🔗 In depth: The battle begins to win Art Fund’s Museum of the Year 2023
Please do touch
Norwich’s Sainsbury Centre has unveiled a totally reimagined visitor experience. In a radical change from tradition, visitors are being asked to touch — and sometimes even hug — the artworks on show.
The Centre is marking its 50th anniversary by becoming, it says, the first museum to “understand art as a living entity”. They’ve spent the past 18 months preparing ways for visitors to forge a relationship with art rather than simply looking at it. This includes by inviting them to interact in a variety of new ways, such as hugging a Henry Moore sculpture or by dancing with first millennium Tang dynasty figurines.
Executive Director Jago Cooper says: “The Sainsbury Centre is a place where amazing art is alive, egalitarian and freely available for everyone to enjoy and experience in their own way.” The Times’ art critic Laura Freeman said her preview visit “was one of the most moving experiences of my gallery-going life.” (Read more)
🔗 In depth: Do touch the art! How galleries became the new playgrounds
News from the UK
Nosetta Stone | The expected plan to radically overhaul the displays of the British Museum are still…well, only expected. But we do now know the work won’t be titled the Rosetta Project. The museum has “quietly dropped” this title, in favour of the more sensible Masterplan. Still no real word on when details will be revealed, and whether the reported £1 billion price tag is accurate. (Read more)
Future blockbusters | The Royal Academy of Arts has announced its 2024 exhibitions. There’ll be a show about art and its role in shaping narratives around empire, slavery and colonialism. Works by Joshua Reynolds, JMW Turner, Sonia Boyce and Frank Bowling will be amongst the highlights. There’ll also be an Angelica Kauffman show, and the largest ever exhibition in the UK by Michael Craig-Martin. (Read more)
Dalí departure | The ‘greatest work of art in Glasgow’s civic collections’ is to leave the city for the first time since it was purchased 70 years ago. Salvador Dalí's Christ of St John of The Cross will temporarily move from Kelvingrove Art Gallery to go on loan to The Dalí Theatre and Museum in Dalí’s home town of Figueres, Spain. It’ll be the highlight of the largest show the Spanish museum has hosted since it opened nearly 50 years ago. (Read more)
Milking it | The real star of this year’s Eurovision — Mel Giedroyc’s butter churn — has been acquired for the nation by the Museum of Liverpool. Yes, like The Hay Wain and Stephenson's Rocket, it is now owned by all of us. The museum has acquired a number of other objects — including Sonia’s costume from her interval performance — so they can tell the story of the “wonderful mayhem” of 2023’s Song Contest. (Read more)
Holding it | The real star of the coronation — Penny Mordaunt’s sword — is expected to become the star attraction at the Tower of London as it goes back on show as part of a revamped display of the crown jewels. Mordaunt carried the 17th-Century sword upright throughout the service, becoming a huge talking point. "It's not an object we might have seen visitors looking for… we expect that they definitely will now," a spokesperson said. (Read more)
News from around the world
Netherlands | The Rijksmuseum has received its largest ever donation in its 138-year history. €12.5 million has been gifted to the Amsterdam institution, which will use it to guarantee the continuation of the their free annual sculpture exhibitions for another decade. The 2023 sculpture show has just opened, and features work by British artist Richard Long. (Read more)
Italy | The architectural biennale has only just opened, but already eyes are turning to the 2024 art biennale. It’s been announced that to coincide with the art jamboree a major exhibition exploring Willem de Kooning’s passion for Italy will run at the Gallerie dell’Accademia and will be the first to explore the impact of De Kooning’s two stays in the country. (Read more)
USA | Do you know your FYP from your YBA? (ok these acronyms don’t work with this story but go with me). The Peabody Essex is the first American museum to recruit a TikToker-in-residence. They’ll give preference to students of art schools, and applicants need a strong TikTok portfolio. Compared to the Peabody, who have just over 500 TikTok followers, that shouldn’t be too hard. (Read more)
USA | Louise Bourgeois’ mammoth 10ft work Spider sold for £26 million at Sotheby’s in New York. It set a new auction record for a sculpture by a woman artist, and a new auction record for a work by Bourgeois. This is only the fourth time the French-American artist’s arachnid creations have ever appeared at auction. (Read more)
Lebanon | The Sursock Museum — Beirut’s largest and oldest independent cultural institution — is reopening today, nearly three years after 70% of it was destroyed in the city’s fatal port blast. What survived has been restored, with help of organisations such as Paris's Pompidou Centre. The $2.5 million restoration has been funded by Italy. (Read more)
Best of the rest
🔗 Top jobs at national museums don’t come around that often. So if you fancy one, how about Sir John Soane’s Museum, as they’re looking for a new Director.
🔗 The top job at the London Transport Museum comes around even less often. But it’s just changed hands, as Elizabeth McKay becomes the first new Director of the venue in nearly 30 years.
🔗 Mega-dealers Hauser & Wirth have announced they’re opening a third gallery in New York…as well as a restaurant and bar.
🔗 The Vagina Museum has met a £85,000 crowd-funding target to secure a new home. Exactly where that is remains a bit of a mystery — all we know is it’s at ‘twin railway arches in east London.’
🔗 A Suffolk couple have spent £200,000 to REMOVE a Banksy mural from their own home. The artwork had been targeted by vandals, thieves and council bureaucrats. “If we could turn back the clock, we would” they said.
— This is the 18th newsletter I’ve sent you this year. That works out at over 70 hours of work for me (or 9 working days in total). If you're able to donate, I really would be incredibly grateful.
Thank you Maxwell