Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

We talk to Max Hollein, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, about the new plans for the museum’s wing of modern and contemporary art, including the appointment of the architect Frida Escobedo in place of David Chipperfield. 

As The Art Newspaper is about to publish its annual museum attendance survey, showing that visitors are beginning slowly to return to museums after the height of the pandemic, we ask Hollein how the vision for the museum has changed following the events of the past two years. Plus, Aimee Dawson talks to the curator Sam Bardaouil about the exhibition Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility at the Gropius Bau in Berlin. And in this episode’s Work of the Week, as the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, opens a major Meret Oppenheim survey, the show’s curator Natalie Dupecher discusses Oppenheim’s Surrealist object Ma gouvernante – My Nurse – Mein Kindermädchen (1936): a pair of white heels on a silver platter, trussed like a chicken.

The Art Newspaper’s visitor attendance survey is in the April print edition, and online next week at theartnewspaper.com, or on our app for iOS and Android, which you can get from the App Store or Google Play.

Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility, Gropius Bau, Berlin, until 12 June.

Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition, Menil Collection, Houston, until 18 September; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 30 October-4 March 2023

Walking Tour: Nice – On The French Riviera (4K)

Nice, capital of the Alpes-Maritimes department on the French Riviera, sits on the pebbly shores of the Baie des Anges. Founded by the Greeks and later a retreat for 19th-century European elite, the city has also long attracted artists. Former resident Henri Matisse is honored with a career-spanning collection of paintings at Musée Matisse. Musée Marc Chagall features some of its namesake’s major religious works.

Morning News: Biden To Visit Poland, Elections In Malta, Fashion World

Joe Biden heads to Poland to address Russia’s war on Ukraine. Plus: a look ahead to Malta’s parliamentary elections, top stories from the fashion world and Andrew Mueller’s unique assessment of what we’ve learned over the past seven days.

Cover Preview: Outdoor Photography – April 2022

Previews: The Economist Magazine – March 26, 2022

Walks: Torquay In Devon, Southwest England (4K)

Torquay is a seaside resort town on the English Channel in Devon, south west England. Known for beaches such as Babbacombe and cliffside Oddicombe, its coastline is nicknamed the English Riviera. Torquay Harbour near the town centre offers shops, cafes and a marina. Torre Abbey, a monastery founded in 1196, has art galleries and extensive gardens featuring plants from local writer Agatha Christie’s novels. 

Research: How Africa Keeps The Amazon Green

Jet streams sprinkle North African dust over the Amazon, providing the rain forest with much needed nutrients. Changing wind patterns and increasing smoke may shift the system.

Science: Subgiant Stars Age, Yellowstone’s Hot Water, Birds & The Moon

Precisely ageing subgiant stars gives new insight into the Milky Way’s formation, and uncovering Yellowstone’s hydrothermal plumbing system.

In this episode:

00:45 Accurately ageing stars reveals the Milky Way’s history

To understand when, and how, the Milky Way formed, researchers need to know when its stars were born. This week, a team of astronomers have precisely aged nearly a quarter of a million stars, revealing more about the sequence of events that took place as our galaxy formed.

Research article: Xiang and Rix

News and Views: A stellar clock reveals the assembly history of the Milky Way

09:53 Research Highlights

Archaeologists reveal an ancient lake was actually a ritual pool, and how the Moon’s phase affects some birds’ altitude.

Research Highlight: Ancient ‘harbour’ revealed to be part of fertility god’s lavish shrine

Research Highlight: These birds fly high when the full Moon hangs in the sky

12:34 Uncovering Yellowstone’s hot water plumbing

Yellowstone National Park’s iconic geothermal geysers and volcanic landmarks are well studied, but very little was known about the ‘plumbing system’ that feeds these features. Now a team of researchers have mapped the underground hydrothermal system, showing the specific faults and pathways that supply the park.

Research article: Finn et al.

19:27 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, 0why an Australian university has been suspended from winning a research foundation’s fellowships, and the ongoing debate about the cause of ‘COVID toes’.

Nature: Funder bars university from grant programme over white-male award line-up

Rainy Day Views: Place du Tertre, Montmartre, Paris

Situated in the very heart of Montmartre, one of the most famous squares of all of Paris is that of Place du Tertre, which is world-famous for its painters, cafés, and ambiance. 

The area known as Montmartre is located in  the 18th arrondissement or district of Paris, due north of the Louvre. It can be easily reached by metro, stations  Abbesses (line 12), Pigalle (lines 2 and 12) or Anvers (line 2).  The classic way to get up to the top of the hill of Montmartre, known in French as La Butte Montmartre,  is from the Anvers metro station. From here walk up the Rue Steinkerque until you reach the gardens at the end. From here you can either take the funicular railway up to the top, or walk up more than 250 steps to the basilica at the top. The exact number of steps depends on the path you take.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious