A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!
Large iron staples found in Notre Dame’s stonework
Courtesy- Big Think
Large iron staples have been found in Notre-Dame Cathedral’s stonework among the walls, columns, and tribunes. A recent study in the peer-reviewed journal Plos One revealed the find—and suggested that because of the staples, Notre-Dame may be even more significant than experts even realized. Researchers used a radiocarbon-based dating method to determine that the iron staples were from the 800-year-old monument’s original construction. Historians have long thought that the metal pieces were added during renovations in the 18th and 19th centuries. This discovery makes Notre-Dame “the first known Gothic cathedral where iron was massively used as a proper construction material to bind stones,” the researchers note. “Whereas other buildings used wooden tie rods stretched between the arches… the first master builder of Notre-Dame de Paris made the bold choice of a system using a more durable material that could be more easily concealed.” Details on Big Think.
Damien Hirst’s new project lets buyers generate their own ‘Spin’ NFTs
Courtesy- USA Art News
The (art) revolution may be randomised. The British mega-artist Damien Hirst has launched a new tech-heavy take on his splashy three-decades-old Spin Paintings. It is called The Beautiful Paintings and allows collectors to use an app dashboard—developed with the art services and technology business Heni—to order a non-fungible token (NFT), minted on the Ethereum blockchain, make it round or square and have it printed out or not, in one of four sizes. All without a hint of the spinning turntable or splash of paint that characterised Hirst’s Spin collaborations with the musician David Bowie—in the shape of Beautiful, hallo, space-boy painting (1995)—and others. The “drop”, during which buyers will be able to generate and buy the NFTs, runs until 10 April. A project statement describes The Beautiful Paintings as “a radical move to expand the limits of digital and physical art creation”. Read more on USA Art News.
National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC is the most popular US art museum for first time since 2008
Courtesy- MenaFN
The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC was the most popular art museum in the US last year, with almost 3.3 million visitors. It is the first time since 2008 that the gallery comes out on top in our annual visitor figures survey, pushing the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York into second place with 3.2 million visits. While the National Gallery of Art almost doubled its figures from lockdown-hit 2021, it was still down by 20% on its pre-pandemic figures with almost 818,000 fewer visitors compared to 2019. the met, meanwhile, was down by 1.7 million visitors, a fall of 34%. The Met is usually the most popular US museum in our survey and its building on Fifth Avenue had around 48,000 fewer visitors that the NGA. Our survey separates the Met’s main building and its Cloisters in Upper Manhattan-which had 196,000 visitors in 2022-to give a more accurate representation of visitors to each venue. If the attendance of the two buildings was combined, it would greater than that of the NGA. Details on MenaFN.
