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The Headlines
CHANGING HANDS. In the Art Newspaper, Gareth Harris notes that an exhibition on the artist Artemisia Gentileschi at the Gallerie d’Italia in Naples, Italy, gives full credit to the pioneering figure for four paintings that had previously been attributed in other ways. The ca. 1650 Triumph of Galatea, for one, is catalogued as the work of Bernardo Cavallino by its loaning institution, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., while the Naples show lists it as a Gentileschi; co-curator Giuseppe Porzio writes that “we believe that she is the owner of the commission and the creator of the composition.” Gentileschi collaborated extensively with other artists, and little is known about her workshop assistants in some years, making it trickier to established exact authorship of some pieces. As Gentileschi’s position in the canon has been elevated in recent years, experts have been on the lookout for her work. Earlier this year, it was revealed that an anonymous picture damaged in the 2020 Beirut explosion was her work.
LOOKING FORWARD. Ready or not, 2023 arrives on Sunday. In the new year, starting in February, Princeton University will stage a series of exhibitions and events devoted to the late author Toni Morrison, with its art museum’s Art@Bainbridge gallery hosting a show about artist Alison Saar‘s engagement with her writing, the New York Times reports. Over in the Guardian, columnist Simon Jenkins writes, “For Vermeer obsessives, next year is to be an annus mirabilis,” with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam planning to show around 28 of the maestro’s too-few paintings. That opens in February, too.
The Digest
Frank Clarke, a beloved Irish artist who hosted a widely syndicated television show in the 1990s called Simply Painting, has died at 84. He had taken up the art in retirement, and said he left one painting group because fellow members told him that he was without talent. [The Irish Times and RTÉ]
Menahem Schmelzer, who was chief librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York for more than two decades, until 1987, overseeing a renowned collection of manuscripts and books that spans millennia, has died at 88. After a 1966 fire at the library, he undertook efforts to repair damaged material. [The New York Times]
After dealer Gavin Brownshut down his operations in 2020, longtime director Lucy Chadwick set up her own gallery, Champ Lacombe, in the storied French seaside town of Biarritz. “It’s very rare to find an internationally connected town that hasn’t been scooped up into the contemporary art bubble,” she said. [Cultured]
Artist Lita Albuquerque and her artist daughters, Isabelle (who currently has a show at Jeffrey Deitch in New York) and Jasmine (a dancer and choreographer), chatted with journalist Jori Finkel. “This might sound strange, but growing up in very big, empty spaces—these huge art studios and galleries—inspired dance for me, because they are like sacred spaces for dance,” Jasmine said. [The New York Times]
Behold: This Zurich home was designed by architect Ernst Gisel, renovated by Victoria-Maria Geyer, and features art by Pamela Rosenkranz, David Shrigley, Kevin Cosgrove, and more. [Architectural Digest]
The copyright on the Mickey Mouse featured in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie is set to expire in 2024, but experts urge appropriation-minded artists to be careful. Later versions of the character are still protected. “The question is where Disney tries to draw the line on enforcement,” one lawyer said. [The New York Times]
The Kicker
HATCHET JOB. Authorities are trying to figure out who chopped off the head of a statue of Charles Swanston, a 19th-century meat-packing king, in William Land Park in Sacramento, California, the Associated Press reports. Swanston is, of course, something less than a household name, and Sacramento’s historian told the AP , “I have no idea why anyone, unless they’re vegetarians and didn’t like meat-packers,” would attack the sculpture, which was created by artist Ralph Stackpole and donated to the city by Swanston’s son. “I find this very bizarre.” The head was recovered on the ground near the piece. A $1,000 reward is being offered for tips about the crime. [AP]