ArtCurious News This Week: February 3, 2023
Hi there, listeners. It’s Friday, which means that it is time for ArtCurious News this Week, our short-form news roundup meant to bring you up to date on some of the latest goings-on in the realm of art history. I’m your host, Jennifer Dasal, and we’ve got some great stories for you today, Friday, February 3, 2023.
This week’s stories:
BBC: Mystery portrait likely to be Raphael masterpiece
The Guardian: Archaeologist hails possibly oldest mummy yet found in Egypt
The Daily Mail: Don't use the word 'MUMMY'... it's offensive to ancient Egyptians: Museums stop using age-old expression out of 'respect' for 3,000-year-old dead
ArtNews: Christie’s Ordered to Return Painting That Was Confiscated During World War II to Proust Heirs
The Art Newspaper: Musée d’Orsay acquires Caillebotte masterpiece thanks to €43m donation from LVMH
The Daily Mail: 'Don't take spell check for granite!' NYC officials are left red-faced by typo misspelling the name of artist Georgia O'Keeffe on plaque at Grand Central's newly unveiled $11B LIRR terminal
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Episode Transcript
Happy Friday, ArtCurious listeners! Jennifer here with your short-form news roundup meant to bring you up to date on some of the latest goings-on in the realm of art history. This is ArtCurious News this Week and today is Friday, February 3, 2023. Alright, let’s go.
For today’s first story, we’re going to merge fine art with technology. Late last week researchers from a joint project with the University of Nottingham and the University of Bradford, both in the U.K., reported using facial recognition technology to determine the authorship of a painting long known as the de Brécy Tondo. The work is strikingly similar to a famed altarpiece by the Renaissance painter Raphel, a work called his Sistine Madonna, now in Dresden, that portrays the Virgin Mary cradling a cherubic blond Christ child in her arms. It’s also probably most famous for the two little angels painted at the very bottom of the scene, the ones you’ve seen reproduced a million times over, who are resting their little chubby chins on their hands and their arms as they look skyward. The facial recognition software has determined a 97 percent similarity rate in the Madonna of de Brecy to the Sistine Madonna, and an 86 percent similarity rate in the case of the child. To which I kinda want to say, “duh,” and that we didn’t need tech to tell us that the pieces are similar, because they look like they are using the same source material. But that’s not actually the point here. The point is that the software, the researchers say, actually narrows down the understanding of the painting’s structure here that they think it’s close enough to state that it was indeed Raphael who painted it, and not a copyist following in Raphael’s footsteps. The painting was first identified as a, quote, “possible Raphael” in 2000, and in the past thirty years, a lot of research has been done on this painting, including pigment analysis, that does point to a Renaissance creation period, so moving closer to being able to confirm it is a Raphael is kind of exciting, to say the least. Although I have to say that I’m not 100% certain—because it looks like a Raphael in that it looks a lot like the Sistine Madonna, but it’s off, slightly less finessed in comparison. But that could be explained away by a bunch of stuff, like the artist not having a good day, feeling ill, making a copy in a rush, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, it’s kind of cool to see how tech can be harnessed to help us with a different understanding of art and art history. So keep your eyes on this one.
Next up. It’s mummy madness! Two stories from the mummy world for you. First, a report in the Guardian newspaper was released from Egyptologists working near Cairo, announcing the finding of what just may be the very oldest and most complete mummy ever discovered in that country. It was discovered at the bottom of a 15-meter shaft at Saqqara, near the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser. The mummy, based on the hieroglyphics found therein, note that it is the body of a man named Hekashepes. It was found inside a large limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed with mortar. Other than that, no further details about Hekashepes and the tomb have been released, but officials did say that his was not the only tomb found nearby, with others belonging to priests, an inspector of officials, and more. The mummy is thought to be 4,300 years old.
Speaking of mummies: there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle in the news over the past week because the British Museum announced that they will no longer be using the term “mummy,” as first reported by the U.K.’s Daily Mail. Instead of using “mummy,” descriptions, wall labels, and documents made to the public will now use the phrases “mummified person” or “mummified remains”—a shift noted particularly in reference to Egyptian artifacts as part of a larger reexamination of colonial era practices and histories, especially regarding how mummies have historically been treated over time.
This is not a change limited to the British Museum—other outlets in Britain have done the same, including the Great North Museum: Hancock and the National Museums of Scotland. According to a spokeswoman for the National Museums of Scotland, quote, “The word ‘mummy’ is not incorrect, but it is dehumanizing, whereas using the term ‘mummified person’ encourages our visitors to think of the individual,” the statement read, according to the Daily Mail, which first reported the shift. Given that we sometimes do, at least in Egyptian culture, know the names of the … ahem, mummifed person, like Hekashepes, that makes total sense. But in a strangely dissonant response statement, a rep from the British Museum noted that, quote, “The Museum has not banned the word ‘mummy’ and there are no plans for it to be phased out.” Which is weird, because that’s literally the news headline, that the word has been banned. So, perhaps blame the Daily Mail’s inaccuracy here. So I’m curious to see how much this new turn of phrase is adopted throughout the museum world and through archaeological and art historical communities. I bet we’ll see more locations following in step very quickly but getting visitors to stop referring to them as “mummies” will be the much harder road. Just like how we’re so used to the idea of ancient sculpture and architecture being a pristine white when they were actually brightly painted, we’re just so used to calling things “mummies” especially because of popular culture exposure. It’s just going to take a little time and some cultural reprogramming. And that’s okay. Either way, remembering that mummified remains are indeed the remains of a real person, who lived, who deserves to be treated with respect.
Alright, this is a good moment for a little break before we get back to more ArtCurious News This Week. If you like this show, would you please consider buying me a cup of coffee as a way to say thanks? For the price of a latte, just $4 a month, you can listen to ArtCurious from here on out, ad-free. Learn more and join now at patreon.com/artcurious. A thank you and welcome aboard to my latest patron, Holly T. Thanks so much for the coffee, Holly! Big ongoing thanks, as always, to my VIP patrons Flamestress, Gaston, Stephanie, John, JL, Rhonda, Lance, and Robin. You guys absolutely ROCK. Want your name read here every week? Become a VIP—our most helpful level of support. We’ll be right back. Thanks for listening!
Welcome back to ArtCurious, and our News this Week. For our last round of stories today, we’ve got one restitution order and one major acquisition announcement. First: a French court has ordered the return of an 18th century Dutch painting held by the Parisian branch of the auction house Christie’s. The work, a painting of Mary Magdalene completed by the artist Adriaen Van Der Werff, “resurfaced”—I say that in quotes—in 2018 when it was sold as part of a sale from an anonymous consigner. At that point, Christie’s notified the potential descendants of the original owner—a distant relative of the writer Marcel Proust-- of the painting, but at that point hadn’t been able to reach an amicable agreement, and the work has been in private hands since that 2018 sale. And now the courts are getting involved. This feels right in line with the story I mentioned last week about the Guggenheim being sued over the ownership of an outstanding Blue Period Picasso. But Christie’s might fight back and attempt to block the return: so I’m guessing that this will be an ongoing story for at least a little while.
Now onto some happier news. In brief: the Musée d’Orsay announced this week that they have acquired a fantastic Impressionist painting by the artist Gustave Caillebotte thanks to the purchasing powers of LVMH, the luxury brand conglomerate--LVMH as in Louis Vuitton Moët and Hennessy. The Washington Post reported that this was one of the few Caillebotte masterpieces in private hands, so now that it has moved into a public institution, it’s a win- now more people than ever can experience Caillebotte’s unique take on the Impressionist mode and subject matter. This work, titled The Boating Party, from around 1877-78, went on view at the Orsay just this week, but will travel to around 20 separate museums next year in honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Impressionism—which first made a splash in 1874. The timing’s also perfect for the Orsay, who is planning on holding a major Caillebotte retrospective late next year. So—clear your calendars now if you’re an Impressionism or Caillebotte fan. You’ll want to be in Paris in 2024.
One final story before I sign off today and it’s of the eye-roll variety. At the end of January, the much delayed and very expensive terminal of the Long Island Railroad opened at Grand Central Station in New York City. As part of its design, quotes from various New York luminaries were etched into the stone walls of the concourse—quotes from folks like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Toni Morrison. One massive stone plaque read, quote, “One can't paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.” It’s a beautiful statement from none other than Georgia O’Keeffe herself. But it’s attributed to Georgia O’Keefe—O’Keefe, one f, instead of two. And look, I get it. It’s an interestingly spelled surname, and it’s just one of those things that you have to remember as an art person. It’s spelled O-K-E-E-F-F-E. The good news, though, is that we don’t have to live with the mistake in perpetuity. As the spokesperson for the MTA, the Metropolitan Transit Authority noted, quote, “We clearly f-ed this one up and it's being fixed.” In the meantime, though, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum won my heart when they posted an image of the misspelling on Instagram with the caption, “Don't take spell check for granite!” You can read more about this snafu and more about every story mentioned today over on my website: artcuriouspodcast.com.
Alright folks, I hope that provided you, perhaps, with a little chuckle today, and that you’re feeling more informed about the art world. That’s all I have for you today. Thank you so much for listening to ArtCurious News This Week! We’re all done with our season about Women Artists of Renaissance Europe, but I’m already hard at work on writing and recording the next season, coming at you this spring. I’ll be back next week, though, for another installment of this news series, and bonus content coming to you ASAP as well. Thank you all for your support and for listening today—until next week, stay curious.
