Some artworks coming back and some moving out from the originall place: Insights from the art world

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!

Mass looting of Ukrainian cultural heritage

‼️According the General Staff of the Armed Forces of ??, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Ukrainian Crimea, the occupying authorities issued an order specifying the procedure for evacuating museums to ??@MCIPUkraine appeals to @UNESCO https://t.co/UVqunEHvHQ pic.twitter.com/LCqseFV33w

— Tkachenko Oleksandr (@otkachenkoua) October 15, 2022

On October 19, Vladimir Putin imposed martial law in four Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Russia. When he did so, he also effectively legalized the looting of cultural heritage in Ukraine. As per Russian law, the declaration of martial law grants the country the power to “evacuate” items of economic, social, and cultural significance. Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk are the four regions specified in Putin’s decree. However, looting has taken place in the occupied Ukrainian territories now for months. Russian forces have already forcefully commandeered the Shovkunenko Regional Art Museum in the city of Kherson, and a similar fate likely awaits dozens of other institutions in the four annexed regions, including the Kherson Regional Art Museum, the Donetsk Republican Art Museum, and the Luhansk Art Museum. Read more on Artnet News.

Raising of the Cross now beleives to be a true Rembrandt

An oil sketch that has languished in obscurity at a Dutch museum for more than a century is now believed to be a true Rembrandt. The Bredius museum in the Hague, which has owned the work for over 100 years, previously believed the sketch to be the work of one of Rembrandt’s followers. On Thursday, it revealed that experts have attributed it to the Dutch master himself, according the Guardian. The Raising of the Cross was executed in the 1640s and was brought to the museum by Abraham Bredius, the museum’s original curator. Bredius was confident that the picture was a true Rembrandt, but for years the sketch was shrugged off as a copy by experts who cited the work’s lack of refinement and precision. “I looked at this work again and again. At the brush strokes. They are brilliant,” Jeroen Giltaij, former chief curator of old paintings at Rotterdam’s Boijmans Van Beuningen museum, told Agence France-Presse. “Just a few broad brush strokes” had him convinced the picture was the work of the famous Dutchman. Details on Art news.

Brutal cuts to London arts organisations

Several major central London museums and arts organisations will see cuts in their Arts Council England (ACE) funding from 2023, after the organisation was “instructed” by the UK government to shift funding to other cities and towns, and the London suburbs. Comparing the newly announced 2023-26 annual funding to the average for 2018-22, Camden Arts Centre will lose £319,673 a year, the Crafts Council £280,964, the ICA £184,131, and the Serpentine Galleries £485,725. Other organisations have seen their funding maintained or increased, including the Jewish Museum London and Autograph ABP. The theatre sector has also been hit hard, with the English National Opera among those no longer receiving regular funding. Speaking at the press conference announcing the funding package, Nicholas Serota, the chair of ACE, said: “I think the position was made clear when the Secretary of State instructed us to take money out of London. And also encouraged us to take funding from central London to parts of the city that haven’t previously had funding.” Read more on Art Newspaper.