“Turning Klimt to kitsch”
Alexander Zubatov, The Critic
A recent trend for art exhibitions has been the introduction of the “immersive experience.” These installations often include extensive visual effects that project animated art onto open wall space, thereby making the visitor feel as if he were a part of the work itself. For the casual millennial, immersive experiences can seem a sensational new way to bring to life and enjoy captivating art from painters such as Klimt, Van Gogh, or Monet. But for Alexander Zubatov, this approach, in which masterpieces are fleetingly projected for ten to twenty seconds at a time, amounts to theft and reduces art to kitsch.
“‘A discovery that will rewrite history’: 24 exceptionally well preserved bronzes unearthed by archaeologists in Tuscany”
Ben Munster, The Art Newspaper
Earlier this week, twenty-four bronze Roman sculptures were excavated from an ancient bath house in San Casciano, Tuscany, in what experts have described as the “most important discovery” in the field “since the Riace bronzes.” Dating from the second to first century B.C., the bronzes, ranging from several inches in size to over three feet tall, depict the gods and local community leaders of the Etruscans, a pre-Roman civilization that had inhabited the region since around 900 B.C. The Etruscans are thought to have used these specific bronzes as votive sculptures for healing in the San Casciano bath house, writes Ben Munster for The Art Newspaper. Experts posit that Christians sealed the bronzes underground in the fifth century A.D., burying the sculptures in a way ultimately protected them from deterioration.
“The Arts Council has launched an attack on opera”
Nicholas Kenyon, The Telegraph
Arts Council England (ACE) has dramatically cut funds for opera in the United Kingdom, reports Nicholas Kenyon for The Telegraph. ACE has suggested that it could relocate the English National Opera from its home in the capital to a regional city, such as Manchester, in a move Kenyon has described as “another nail in the coffin” for London’s “preeminence on the international cultural scene.” In addition, ACE plans to cut funding for regional operas such as Glyndebourne (by 51.8 percent) and the Welsh National Opera (by 35.9 percent). The same plans will also cut funding for classical music companies in the country. For the Arts Council, Kenyon says, opera, shamefully, has become “an embarrassment.”