V&A to slash 10% of staff
All the latest museum news in your friday briefing
maxwell museums friday briefing - 2 October 2020
Happy Friday! How was your week? On Wednesday I was lucky enough to see a preview of the hotly-anticipated Artemisia at the National Gallery. It was spellbinding. (It opens tomorrow so do go!)
A reminder of the new schedule for this newsletter: I now send you all the latest museum news every Friday. The friday briefing offers you a round up of everything you need to know at the end of every week. It’s to make it all more digestible. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the newly-branded maxwell museums magazine, which has all the other great features I put together such as an interview with a culture mover and shaker, which will land in your inboxes every other Tuesday from now on.
Happy reading! (And as ever, do share this with any museum-loving friends to help spread the word)
V&A redundancies. The collapse in visitors and income due to covid claims more museum jobs, as the V&A in London announces it will cut 10% of its workforce. The Guardian
Smithsonian redundancies. Meanwhile the world’s largest museum group also lays off staff in a bid to slash costs in the wake of its current $49 million-coronavirus-loss. Washington Post
More COVID delays. The hugely influential Whitney Biennial has been postponed until 2022 because, well…you can spot the theme. New York Times
Mona Lisa discovery. The most famous painting in the world is still offering up its secrets, even after 500 years. Researchers have now discovered that da Vinci traced the image from a drawing. The Times
London’s V&A Museum will slash 10% of jobs due to the financial impact of the pandemic. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Trois années, non?! One of my favourites, Paris’ Centre Pompidou, could close for three years for essential renovations - the first ever done on the iconic building. The Art Newspaper
Meanwhile à Paris. But the historic Grand Palais in the French capital will have a more “sober” restoration after the government steps in to halt ballooning costs. The Art Newspaper
Sumerian plaque is going back. The British Museum is helping return an ancient sculpture to Iraq after it was secretly smuggled out of the country and offered for sale in the UK. The Guardian
FLOTUS exhibition. There might not yet have been a female President of the US (2016 is still raw) but there have been plenty of women in the White House. So the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC has announced the largest exhibition of first lady portraiture ever held. ArtNet News
Ellen sale. Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres is quietly selling millions of dollars worth of art - including a flock of sheep. Bloomberg
and a bonus read
ahead of the opening next week of a major retrospective of Bruce Nauman at Tate Modern - his first in London in 20 years - read the Guardian’s wonderful interview with him. There’s a great story of getting sloshed with Jasper Johns.
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