February 18, 2023

Vermeer never seems to go out of style, and this week people couldn't get enough of AX Mina's review of the "largest-ever" Vermeer retrospective currently taking place at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Then there's the question about what that famous "pearl" earring was actually made of.

In other news, a new art reality show is brewing in DC, Banksy sent out a somber message on Valentine's Day, an exhibition looks at marijuana's Jewish side, and RISD is the first art school to withdraw from US News & World Report's annual "best colleges" list.

We're happy to announce that later this month we'll be starting the 2022/23 Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators conversations. The first one will take place on Tuesday, February 28, and you can RSVP to all the events online.

And, if you're in New York, come join us for the launch of our Spring 2023 New York Art Guide on the evening of Thursday, February 23 at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (doors open at 7 pm). Please RSVP at this link, and see you there!

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

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Basking in Vermeer’s Light at Rijksmuseum

In Vermeer’s paintings, the world is much larger than we imagined and yet somehow deep, meaningful, and magical. | AX Mina

(And, was that really a pearl earring? Researchers don't think so.)

THE LATEST

• Banksy’s somber Valentine’s Day mural was partially removed hours after it appeared in the English town of Margate.

• Seven artists will compete for a cash prize and a chance to exhibit their work at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in a new reality show.

• RISD announces that it would no longer be participating in US News & World Report’s annual “best colleges” round-up list.

• Germany, France, Italy, and Spain offer cash stipends to their younger citizens in an effort to revitalize the arts after the pandemic.

• Applications are now open for Stoneleaf Retreat’s residency for artist mothers in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Hear From Curators About Projects on Chicanx Drag, South Asian Futurism, and More

Tune into our series of online events next month with Hyperallergic Fellows Dakota Noot, Beya Othmani, Kelli Morgan, Angelina Lippert, and Sadaf Padder.

LA ART WEEK HAPPENINGS

In our guide to LA Art Week, we’re bringing you all you need to know about the big fairs:

• The LA Art Show, LA Convention Center, February 15–19

• Felix Art Fair, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, February 15–19 (Read Renée Reizman's round-up!)

• Spring/Break Art Show, Skylight Culver City, February 15–19 (Sarah Quiñones Wolfson was reminded of the artistry and creativity this show welcomes.)

• Frieze Los Angeles, Santa Monica Airport,February 16–19 (Matt Stromberg reports on the fair's tamales, celebs, and hungry collectors.)

• Photo Forward Los Angeles, Bergamot Station Arts Center, February 18–19

As well as all the art you can find in historic homes, at an airport, planted in a garden, spinning on a carousel, and even at a gravesite.

(Yes, you’ll have to cross the 405 after 3pm, but we promise it’ll be worth it!)

FROM OUR CRITICS

Edward Hopper’s Views of Isolation

He was interested in a kind of realism, inseparable from the cold structures and isolated people that populate his compositions. | Ekin Erkan

The Cold Gaze and the Myth of Objectivity

A Copenhagen exhibition offers a rich view into the creative production and daily life in the Weimar Republic, with its glamour and its grotesquerie. | AX Mina

The Art World “Darling” Who Went Rogue

Joan Brown resented the easy commodification of her work, and the incessant demand for her to create something just so others could own it. | Bridget Quinn

HISTORIES & STORYTELLING

Shalom and Pass the Joint 

An exhibition reveals how Jewish people throughout history have embraced marijuana both spiritually and politically. | Billie Anania

Jewelry Shines as a Fundamental Art Form

The Stories We Carry displays the breadth and scope of the medium, and its inherent storytelling capacity. | Maria Manuela

Who’s the Artist Behind These Unsettling Tudor Paintings?

The identity of the painter known as the Master of the Countess of Warwick has long been a mystery. A new exhibition hazards a guess. | Sarah Rose Sharp

MORE ON HYPERALLERGIC

Impressions From Mexico City’s Bustling Art Week

Alternative curatorial projects are taking creative risks and shaping Mexico City’s art fair ecosystem on their own terms. | Mebrak Tareke

Icons of Black American History, Illustrated 

Graphic designer George McCalman presents a book featuring 145 portraits of Black pioneers, including the celebrated and unsung. | Emily Wilson

Native Filmmakers Decolonize the Screen

“Only Indigenous voices can tell their stories with dimensionality, and the tools to make that happen are incredibly accessible,” says film director Christian Rozier. | Lynn Trimble

Netflix Forgot to Include Puerto Ricans in Production of Reggaeton Show

Critics say the new comedy series Neon was written, directed, and produced by non-Puerto Ricans. 
| Denise Zubizarreta

Required Reading

This week, a new portrait of André Breton, the problem with painted shadows, the story of a misidentified 19th-century potter, and more. | Hrag Vartanian and Lakshmi Rivera Amin