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The Headlines
A ‘FLATTERING’ PORTRAIT of President Donald Trump gifted to him last month by Vladimir Putin was recently unveiled, reports George Nelson for ARTnews. Unsurprisingly, the painting once again shows Trump raising his fist, after having been grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, marking a pivotal moment in his re-election campaign. Trump also looks several pounds lighter. CNN revealed the artwork, which is similar to another of the president, which the White House recently hung in place of an official, Barack Obama portrait in the foyer in the East Room. Russian artist Nikas Safronov is behind the newer work, which was commissioned by a patron he suspects was the Kremlin. As for Trump’s take, he reportedly thought it was “a beautiful portrait.”
CULTURE MINISTER SHUFFLE. In a surprise twist, the journalist and media entrepreneur Wolfram Weimer will become Minister of State for Culture in the next German federal government, reports Monopole Magazine and dpa. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) reportedly announced the news in Berlin, contradicting earlier reports that Berlin’s culture senator, Joe Chialo, was slated for the role. Chialo has been a controversial figure within the CDU party, and in contrast, Weimer is non-partisan and describes himself as Catholic. He even wrote a book about the societal benefits of a “return to religion.” Weimer will succeed Green Party member Claudia Roth.
The Digest
Experts can’t agree on how many penises are depicted in the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry. [The Art Newspaper]
Related Articles
More details and a slew of problems are emerging from the massive “renaissance” plan to renovate the Louvre museum in Paris. Conservationists are worried about changes to the monument, while museum workers complain they have been left in the dark. Then there are the hundreds of millions of euros in funding still needed. [Le Monde]
A letter by survivor of the Titanic first-class passenger, Co. Archibald Gracie, has sold at auction for nearly $400,000. He wrote the letter, which describes the ship just days before it sank. “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her,” he wrote. [The New York Times]
Vienna is grappling with what to do about a monument honoring its former mayor, Karl Lueger, whom Hitler admired for notoriously stoking antisemitism. [Haaretz]
The Kicker
HAUSER SPRING? The New York Times has delved into explaining a phenomenon many are familiar with, the outsized influence of mega-galleries, and their ability to get artists major solo museum exhibitions. NYT reporters focused on what has been dubbed a “Hauser spring” in New York, with a slew of exhibitions featuring artists represented by the Swiss-originating gallery. The report argues that increasingly, galleries like Hauser & Wirth are funding museum shows, and therefore, according to some critics, creating potential conflicts of interest. Few details are provided on how their financial support adds up exactly, beyond certain museums saying they accept funding from galleries, and galleries reportedly paying for things like fancy catalogs, shipping costs, and setting up lucrative connections between top dealers willing to shovel cash into institutions. (A spokeswoman for the Met declined to provide these details, while confirming the museum accepts some financial support from galleries.) While it certainly appears mega gallery representation more often means mega exhibits, the article equally points out that unrepresented artists enjoy only slightly less institutional recognition. In short, nearly 25 percent of solo shows since 2019 went to artists in the 11 biggest galleries, most of them from Hauser & Wirth, out of 350 exhibitions, according to NYT. In comparison, artists without gallery rep’s made 20 percent of all solo shows at top New York museums in the same period. All to say, curators taking risks on lesser-known artists at key institutions are, thankfully, still out there doing important work.