NEED-TO-READ
Harriet Tubman’s Childhood Home Unearthed – The brick foundation of the home where the famed American abolitionist grew up in Thompson Farm in Maryland has been fully unearthed after two years of excavation. The project has also turned up hundreds of small items which will go on display at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center. ()
Ibrahim Mahama Reclaims Colonial-Era Trains – The Ghanian artist’s studio Red Clay will incorporate 19th century train coaches from the British colonial times. The artist acquired the carriages for £24,000 ($28,930), and these coaches will be transformed into classrooms, sculptures, libraries, studios, and residency spaces. ()
Tate Britain Plans Complete Rehang – The London museum is embarking on a complete rehang of its free collection displays, which will see a fresh presentation of the national collection of British art for the first time in 10 years. Opening on May 23, total of 800 works by more than 350 artists, including some 200 pieces acquired after the millennium and 70 from the past five years, will be featured. A particular focus of the rehang will be on female artists; half the contemporary artists on display will be women, and the gallery will showcase great women artists from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, including many who have never been shown at Tate before. ()
Works in NGA Collection Sold Under Duress in WWII – Three Old Master drawings in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. have been identified as once belonging to Jewish dealer Siegfried Laemmle in Munich. (1773) by Johann Baptist Enderle, (c.1600) by Georg Neher, and (c.1545) by Luca Penni—were found to have been sold under duress after Laemmle was ordered to close his business in 1935. The NGA is now looking into these works and the possibility of restitution. ()
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Major Gift of Degas Works Heads to Purdue University – Businessman Avrum Gray gifted 74 bronze works to his Illinois-based alma mater, including Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen, which has a value of $21 million. The works are set to star in an exhibition this fall. ()
TBA21-Academy and Audemars Piguet Contemporary Co-Commission Venice Installation – Artists Petrit Halilaj and Álvaro Urbano are preparing to unveil a new site-specific installation as part of the ongoing exhibition, “Thus waves come in pairs” at TBA21-Academy’s Ocean Space in Venice. The installation, which is drawn from the Spanish children’s song in which fish are sent to the school at the bottom of the sea, will be staged in part at the deconsecrated San Lorenzo Church, juxtaposed with a piece by artist Simone Fattal. The exhibition runs from April 22–November 5, 2023, to coincide with the Venice Architecture Biennale. ()
National Museum of the Women in the Arts Gets Reopening Date – After a nearly complete overhaul, the two-year renovation of the Washington, DC-based museum has announced it will reopen on October 21, 2023. The museum now boasts more than 20 percent more exhibition space, a new learning center, performance hall, and a forthcoming special exhibition featuring the work of 12 women artists. ()
Cassi Namoda Gets New Representation – The Mozambique-born New York- and Massachusetts-based artist has joined the stable at 303 Gallery. Namoda’s paintings draw from mythology, literature, and cinema, blending Western tropes with African indigenous religions. Namoda is also represented by Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, Cape Town, and London. ()
FOR ARTS SAKE
Freezer Returned to Banksy Artwork – The freezer that provided the setting for Banksy’s most recent mural was returned to its location in Margate, after the local council removed it just hours after the artwork appeared, citing safety concerns. The image, titled , appeared to reference domestic violence, with a 1950’s-style housewife having disposed of her abuser in the freezer. ()
Banksy’s newly intact Valentine’s day mascara. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.
