March 21, 2023
Good morning. 🌤️ The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York holds over 1,000 illicitly trafficked artifacts, according to a new report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. That's a devastating number, and it might only be the tip of the iceberg. For now, it seems that The Met is counting on the Manhattan DA to decolonize its collection instead of taking a hard look at its past and current acquisition practices.
Also: What did the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston do when it learned that climate activists were planning a protest at its premises? It closed for the day. To be fair, the protest was scheduled for the 33rd anniversary of the Gardner Museum art heist, a painful occasion for the institution.
In other stories, NYC is replacing artist Milton Glaser's famous “I ❤️ NY” with a lackluster design, the "Free the Nipple" movement has PR problems, and art writer and consultant Paddy Johnson answers the question: How do I get a public art commission?
— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor
1,000+ Objects at The Met Linked to Antiquities Smugglers
A report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed hundreds of works once owned by people accused of or convicted of antiquities crimes. | Rhea Nayyar
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LATEST NEWS
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum closed after it heard about a planned climate protest. (courtesy Extinction Rebellion)
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum closed its doors Saturday after catching wind of a “guerrilla action” by Extinction Rebellion.
Launched to inspire civic engagement throughout the city, New Yorkers don't ❤️ the design for the "We ❤️ NYC" campaign.
A bizarre auction at Christie’s features a lunar bead necklace, asteroid “emoji,” and other space rocks on stands like sculptures.
Researchers have created the first full brain map of a fruit fly.
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Mondays at Pratt Institute: Weekly Openings of Work by Graduating Artists
Free and open to the public, Pratt Shows celebrate the school’s graduating students. MFA and BFA work on view this spring in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more.
FROM OUR CRITICS
Rose B. Simpson Embeds Ancestral Histories in Clay
She has taken clay and used it to recall its ancestral roots in Pueblo culture and address the present history of postcolonial recovery and ongoing trauma. | John Yau
Quiet Paintings at a Time of Sensory Overload
Where Kim Mikyung’s process suggests an obsessive burrowing into the self, Kim Hyung-dae casts his gaze upward and outward into the sky. | Alex Paik
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The Bruce Museum Announces Grand Reopening After $67M Expansion
The new building in Greenwich, CT, triples the space for art and science exhibitions and includes community spaces like an auditorium, café, and education wing. Learn more.
MORE ON HYPERALLERGIC
Art Problems: How Do I Get a Public Art Commission?
Want to leave a mark on your city or town, but don’t know where to start? Paddy Johnson has some tips. | Paddy Johnson
Is the “Free the Nipple” Movement Too White?
Online representations of the activists lean White and thin, creating an image problem for the movement. | Emma Shapiro
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