Recent links of note:
“The archaeological discovery of the century? What the San Casciano bronzes tell us about Roman and Etruscan life”
Ben Munster, The Art Newspaper
Earlier this year, in what’s being touted as the greatest archaeological discovery of the century, researchers from the field unearthed a large group of ancient Roman and Etruscan bronze sculptures preserved in near-perfect condition. The excavation took place in San Casciano dei Bagni, a small town in the hills of Tuscany with a reputation for its thermal springs that stretches back to antiquity. The twenty-four sculptures come from the buried ruins of a third-century B.C. sacred bathhouse. In addition to the pristine preservation of the sculptures, what makes this discovery so significant is the possibility that modern archaeological methods and techniques will shed light on not only the religious purposes behind the sculptures and their subjects, but also the demographic and political changes occurring at the time. The research emerging now suggests that these sculptures, featuring inscriptions in Etruscan and Latin, were used in healing rituals by both of the competing cultures. A possible conclusion, reports Ben Munster for The Art Newspaper, is that the process of Romanization “was more gradual than previously imagined.”
“‘Like Hell’: Henry Moore drawings of coalminers’ wartime work on show”
Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian
Henry Moore (1898–1986), the modernist sculptor known for his large, abstract bronzes depicting the female figure, was also an avid draftsman, writes Harriet Sherwood for The Guardian. During the winter of 1941 to 1942, Moore spent a week in the coal mines of Yorkshire, a scene that he later likened to Hell. Britain’s War Artists’ Advisory Committee had commissioned Moore to capture the back-breaking underground work of the young men there in sketch form as a way to recognize their vital contribution to the war effort, part of a broad program to build public support for the war. The son of a coal miner, Moore produced over one hundred drawings of the miners at work, many of which have recently been gathered together for the first time in an exhibition at the St. Albans Museum + Gallery in the United Kingdom.
“2022 will be remembered as the year men finally lost their grip on the art world”
Alastair Sooke, The Telegraph
The art world of 2022 may be best understood when compared to the iconoclastic Beeldenstorm (“image storm”) of the Reformation in sixteenth-century Northern Europe, writes Alastair Sooke for The Telegraph. The instances of iconoclasm we have witnessed in recent years—from lone-wolf attackers, such as the Russian security guard who drew crude cartoon eyes on the figures of a twentieth-century painting by Anna Leporskaya, to the nonsensical vandalism of Just Stop Oil—are “warning signs of more trouble ahead.” This iconoclasm is evolving into a plague that, Sooke fears, will only spread and grow in intensity. The International Council of Museums is redefining what a museum is based on woke puritanism, and the British Museum will soon be alone in rejecting calls for restitution. Though the emphasis on gender in this characterization of 2022 as the year of the art patriarchy’s downfall is shortsighted and inaccurate, Sooke provides an effective recap of the year’s controversies in the realm of art and culture.