Do you think that it’s possible to be addicted to attacking famous works of art? It might seem like an odd question, but given the fact that Susan Burns was arrested last week for “attempting to rip” The Plumed Hat, a $2.5 million Henri Matisse oil painting, off the wall of the National Gallery of Art just four months after trying the same thing with an $80 million work by Paul Gauguin in the same museum, we think that it’s one worth asking..
You might remember Burns’ interesting explanation for the April attack; she considered Gauguin’s Two Tahitian Women to be evil. “He has nudity and is bad for the children,” she said at the time. “He has two women in the painting very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.” As part of her release agreement with authorities, Burns signed a document at the time promising that she would “stay away from all museums and art galleries in Washington DC including the National Gallery of Art.” So much for that.
While the logic behind this more recent incident has yet to be revealed, we enjoy this take by a police officer on the scene: “What she did was strange, but when you think about all the homicides in this city, it’s really not so bad. Maybe she just really hates art.” Or maybe she just really hates French artists? [via Washington Post]
At the turn of the 20th century, Paris was the center of the art world. The first significant avant-garde art movement of the time took place in the studios of Matisse, Picasso, Derain, and their contemporaries, who liberated painting from the academic traditions. Two Moscow businessmen — Ivan Morozov and Sergey Shchukin — supported the experimental efforts of these visionaries and, in the process, assembled impressive collections of their works.
The annual art and antiques fair in Maastricht is arguably the grandest event of its kind in the world. Mixing ancient relics, coveted old master works, precious antiques, and prime examples of modern art and design in a stylishly designed hall — overflowing with colorful displays of roses and tulips — TEFAF Maastricht has no rivals.
The 2010 show, which continues through March 21, features 263 exhibitors from 17 countries and boasts an endless array of masterpieces, including Botticelli’s magnificent Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John, Danish designer Poul Henningsen’s surreal interpretation of a grand piano, Damien Hirst’s troubling split-pig in two shifting tanks of formaldehyde, and Gilbert Stuart’s iconic Portrait of George Washington, which was the basis for his image on the dollar bill. With so many treasures on view, it’s no wonder that private jets dominate the runways of the Maastricht airport on opening day and more than 60,000 visitors animate the aisles during the run of the show.
Back in October the White House released a list of 45 artworks on loan to the Obamas from Washington museums. The artists selected vary in age, race, gender and geographical roots, reflecting the administration’s continued celebration of diversity. One particular painting, Watusi (Hard Edge), by African-American woman Alma Thomas (1891-1978) and on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum, caused quite the controversy. The 1963 painting, it turns out, is extremely similar to a 1953 piece entitled L’Escargot by Matisse, a maestro whom Thomas openly proclaimed an inspiration to her evolution as a painter.
