View of the ancient ruins of Palmyra in 2010 (photo by Marc Veraart, via Flickr) (click to enlarge)
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, the Syrian director of antiquities, told Newsweek that the Syrian army is “at the gates” of Palmyra. ISIS have occupied and systematically destroyed sections of the ancient city since May 2015.“We will rebuild the two temples under supervision from UNESCO and other international organizations,” Abdulkarim told the AFP. “The message of the Syrian people is that we cannot leave the two temples in ruins. We are determined to bring Palmyra back to life.”
Dissident artist Danilo Maldonado (aka “El Sexto”) and 50 members of the Ladies in White — a protest group composed of female relatives of Cuban political prisoners — were detained prior to President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba.
The Shukhov Tower (1922) was placed on the 2016 World Monuments Fund Watch List of endangered cultural heritage sites.
The Frick Collection renewed their expansion efforts, seeking out new proposals that will leave the museum’s garden untouched. The Frick was forced to abandon its earlier proposal following widespread criticism by local organizations, preservationists, and critics.
A team of archaeologists concluded that William Shakespeare‘s skull was “probably stolen” from his grave at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. A ground-penetrating radar scan revealed evidence of an “odd disturbance” at the head end of the playwright’s final resting place.
A live stream of an artist’s modified version of Grand Theft Auto V became a huge hit online. Brent Watanabe modified the popular video game to include an indestructible, teleporting deer. “I was really drawn to the project because of the slapstick but tragic nature of it,” the artist told the BBC. “And then there is an odd draw to simply keep watching, to see what the deer is going to do next.”
Tate is accepting nominations for the 2016 Turner Prize through April 4.
Chris Burden‘s “Urban Light” (2008), the artist’s popular light installation outside of the Los Angeles County Museum of At, will be temporally shut down for a two-month restoration project.
Transactions
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquired its first two works by Thornton Dial (1928–2016). The acquisitions are part of a larger gift of 18 works given to the museum by Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr. — the president of the museum’s board of trustees.
Richard Gilder, the chairman emeritus of the New-York Historical Society, donated Childe Hassam’s “The Fourth of July, 1916 (The Greatest Display of the American Flag Ever Seen in New York, Climax of the Preparedness Parade in May)” (1916) to the museum.
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art acquired Rachel Maclean’s film “Feed Me” (2015).
The Cleveland Museum of Art acquired works by Arthur Wesley Dow, Raoul Dufy, Yves Tanguy, Jon Pestoni, Robert J. Pattison, and Ben Shahn.
Yves Tanguy, “Rhabdomancie” (1947), color etching, 29.7 x 22.4 cm, purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund (courtesy The Cleveland Museum of Art)
Transitions
The Musée Dupuytren permanently closed its doors.
Max Hollein was appointed director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Ann Goldstein was appointed deputy director and chair and curator of modern and contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The San Jose Museum of Art appointed Lauren Schell Dickens as curator.
The Walker Art Center appointed Adrienne Edwards as curator at large, visual arts, and Vincenzo de Bellis as curator, visual art.
Jenny Hutchinson was appointed head of museum education at The Hyde Collection.
Anne Butler was appointed director of education at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
Scott Indrisek will succeed Daniel Kunitz as the editor-in-chief of Modern Painters.
The DuSable Museum of African American History was granted Smithsonian affiliation.
The proposed new Munch Museum won the approval of Oslo’s city government. The project, which was first put into motion in 2008, has been repeatedly delayed by cost concerns.
Chelsea gallerists Anton Kern and Andrew Kreps are collaborating to open a large, temporary space in San Francisco.
Accolades
Arai Takashi, “April 26, 2011, Onahama, Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture” from the series ‘Mirrors in Our Nights’ (2011), daguerreotype (© Takashi Arai / courtesy of PGl and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Takashi Arai was awarded the 41st Kimura Ihei Award for Photography [Press Release].
The American Academy of Arts and Letters will award prizes to nine artists as part of its annual awards, including Anthony McCall, Joan Synder, and Chuck Webster.
The J. Paul Getty Trust will posthumously award Ellsworth Kelly the J. Paul Getty Medal. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will also be awarded the Getty Medal at a ceremony scheduled for October 17.
Phyllida Barlow, Steve Claydon, Helen Marten, and David Medalla were shortlisted for the first Hepworth Prize for Sculpture.
Dan Finsel and Mariah Garnett were announced the awardees of the 2016 Los Angeles Artadia Awards.
Jackie Saccoccio was awarded the inaugural Brooke and Hap Stein Emerging Artist Prize.
Sean Scully was awarded the Harper’s Bazaar Art International Artist of the Year Award.
Obituaries
The cover of ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ by Barry Hines
Bob Adelman (1930–2016), photographer. Best known for his images of the Civil Rights Movement.
Ernestine Anderson (1928–2016), jazz and blues vocalist.
John Christian (1942–2016), art historian. Expert on the work of Edward-Burne Jones.
Bruce George (1915–2016), architect. Designed the Guards Chapel in London following the destruction of the original building in 1944.
Geoffrey H. Hartman (1929–2016), literary critic.
Barry Hines (1939–2016), author. Best known for A Kestrel for a Knave (1968).
Charles Kaufman (1928–2016), former head of the Mannes College of Music.
Jack Masey (1924–2016), designer. Created the kitchen model that inspired Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev’s impromptu “Kitchen Debate” in 1959.
Eric Medalle (1974–2016), graphic designer. Creative design director for Pokémon International.
Peter Moores (1932–2016), philanthropist and arts patron.
Jan Nemec (1936–2016), filmmaker. Leading figure of the Czech new wave.
Malik Isaac Taylor, aka Phife Dawg, (1970–2016), musician. Member of A Tribe Called Quest.