The director of Russia’s State Hermitage Museum, Mikhail Piotrovsky, wants to rebuild the ancient city of Palmyra, which was destroyed by ISIL militants last year. The Hermitage boasts one of the few galleries dedicated to objects from Palmyra, which Mr. Piotrovsky would like to use for the reconstruction. He told The Art Newspaper that if the works “hadn’t been brought in their day from Palmyra to St Petersburg, they would no longer exist.”
Psychologists have found that people chose favorite colors not based on some abstract personality profile, but rather on the color of objects they have an affinity for. For instance, if you love red flowers, you might be more inclined towards red, but if you have a thing for lakes and the ocean, blue could be your color.
A Zurich arts museum is under fire for plans to exhibit the collection of Emil Georg Bührle, a Nazi arts dealer whose impressive art collection is comprised of work stolen from Jewish owners. The museum is currently undergoing a $208 million expansion, but already there have been demonstrations by members of the Orthodox community at Swiss embassies in New York, London, Montreal and Tel Aviv.
New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham made the art fair rounds, and for the second year in a row he was most smitten with the youthful crowds at the Spring/Break Art Show. He also made it to opening night at The Armory Show, where he said the art and the “fashion parade” will “knock your socks off.”
MCH Group, the company that oversees Art Basel and the Baselworld show, has announced that it plans to create “a new portfolio of leading regional art fairs.” However, the new fairs won’t be an extension of Art Basel, and will be overseen locally and autonomously, the company explained in a statement. For some of the new shows, MCH will partner with existing regional art fair groups.
A documentary film about painter David Hockney will premiere in the New York and Los Angeles on April 22.
Here’s a look at how much pressure galleries face to help fund museum exhibitions.
