Good morning. 🌤️ So, MoMA seems to be planning to enter the NFT space with the support of a foundation's planned auction sale of $70 million worth of art. My advice to MoMA: Please don’t! Nobody wants to see crappy PDF art. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

September 15, 2022 • View in browser

Good morning. 🌤️ So, MoMA seems to be planning to enter the NFT space with the support of a foundation's planned auction sale of $70 million worth of art. My advice to MoMA: Please don’t! Nobody wants to see crappy PDF art. I have a better idea: Use the money to pay decent wages to your frontline workers, whose salaries start at $36,131, or make admission free, or fund other needed structural changes to become a more equitable, welcoming museum.

In other stories today, Virginia Dwan, the art patron who shaped the land art movement in the United States in the 1960's and '70s, is no longer with us, and have you heard of the viral AI-generated "Loab" images? Warning: These images cannot be unseen.

— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor

When Will Museums Tell the Whole Truth About Their Antiquities?

Some US museums will overlook the dubious origins of acquisitions if it suits their purposes. | Elizabeth Marlowe

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WHAT'S HAPPENING

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Les Fraises" (ca. 1905) is one of 29 paintings and sculptures on long-term loan to the Museum of Modern Art that will head to Sotheby's this fall. (courtesy Sotheby's)

A store of 29 works valued at around $70M will go to auction this fall to support MoMA’s “ambitious goals in digital media and technology.”
The city of Paris will turn off the Eiffel Tower’s famous lights an hour earlier to conserve power as Russia tightens its grip on natural gas resources.
Workers at Dia Art Foundation join Local UAW 2110 after a landslide victory, with only six employees voting in opposition.
Gallerist and art patron Virginia Dwan died earlier this month at 90.