August 22, 2022 • View in browser
Good morning. 🌧️ As the value of blue-chip art rises, it seems inevitable that scams follow. This new gray space of the art world means museum leaders are often being hoodwinked by those trying to pass off fakes and forgeries. The Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) recently had egg on its face when in June the FBI seized 25 paintings reputedly by Jean-Michel Basquiat from the museum. Now the museum has decided to review its entire exhibition schedule. The decision comes after six donors withdrew support and the Martin Andersen-Gracia Andersen Foundation announced they’d migrate a collection of American paintings to a neighboring museum.
The OMA has become an example of how a museum can severely damage its reputation by undermining public trust.
In Montana, another attack against Native American heritage occurred as vandals defaced an ancient pictograph panel at the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. These incidents are becoming all too common and no one appears to have a solution.
And from London, Naomi Polonsky reviews a curious show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery that looks at the theme of “woman in the window” in art. Writing about Vermeer’s “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window” (1657–59) she points out, “while the magic and beauty of the composition remain, one woman’s hopeful moment is transformed into a hopeless scenario for another. The work brings up fascinating questions about home and womanhood. For example, who owns the window?”
— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor
Why Do Artists Keep Painting "The Women in the Window"?
The exhibition Reframed: The Woman in the Window explores the acts of looking and being looked at, framing, and art making. | Naomi Polonsky
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LATEST NEWS
(courtesy the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest via Facebook)
Authorities are searching for the vandals that etched their initials on the Hellgate pictographs of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.
The Orlando Museum of Art institutes a new damage control task force in an attempt to reestablish credibility after displaying fake Basquiats.
Two Manhattan-based artists claim law enforcement officers forced them out of Christopher Street Pier for exhibiting their work.
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ART & FILM
Call This Real Estate Company to Hear a Poem
Steven Yazzie’s project “Gold King & Associates” addresses environmental concerns around urbanization, land use, over-development, and colonization. | Tya Alisa Anthony
Funny Pages Mocks the Idea That Hardship Makes Art More Authentic
Owen Kline’s directorial debut follows a privileged teenage artist who decides to impose some grittiness on his life to improve his work. | Dan Schindel
