That era should be over. The director’s job is to set clear priorities for staff, to mentor, coach, and be clear-sighted about what is next; to leverage the expertise of the board; to make hard choices when needed. - Hyperallergic
Some employees said that a carousel of different directors bringing new approaches has exhausted staff, strained relationships with some artists and damaged trust in the board. Former directors described the institution’s woes as reflective of bad board governance. - The New York Times
"I’ll claim that my response to art is more complex than the average museumgoer’s because it’s my professional responsibility—and passion—to be as well informed as I can about what I’m looking at (and where, when, and why I’m looking at it)." - Vasari 21
Following in the footsteps of the Uffizi in Florence, the St. Petersburg museum will auction off digital tokens of five works in its collection, one each by Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Monet, van Gogh, and Kandinsky. - Artnet
Among the monuments added are Madrid's Paseo del Prado and Retiro Park, the old port of Guangzhou, Peru's ancient Chankillo observatory, Mexico's 16th-century Tlaxcala Cathedral, Ramappa Temple in south-central India, Sudanese-style mosques in the Ivory Coast, and the city of Nice. - The National (Abu Dhabi)
‘Looted’ is a contested term: it covers a spectrum from out-and-out pillage to ostensibly legal transfers of title that may have occurred under coercion or under rigged laws. - Apollo
The exhibition of works by Paolo Veneziano includes the reassembly, for the first time in decades, of pieces of the so-called "Worcester triptych," which are usually housed at, respectively, the Getty, the Worcester Museum of Art in Massachusetts, and the National Gallery in DC. - Smithsonian Magazine
Just days after the UN body stripped Liverpool's waterfront of the same title, UNESCO approved a report recommending that the prehistoric site be added to the World Heritage in Danger list if plans for a nearby highway tunnel aren't amended. - The Guardian
Palermo is ugly for a reason: "Vito Ciancimino, a mobster from the violent Corleonesi clan, ordered the demolition of splendid art nouveau mansions to make space for brutalist tower blocks, covering vast natural and garden areas with tonnes of concrete." - The Observer (UK)
Accusations of xenophobia, and two more high-profile resignations, follow an email about "restructuring" that eliminated the positions of Tanya Barson, the English curator, and Pablo Martínez, the head of programs. - The Observer (UK)
Apologies alone aren't going to suffice. "Tribal representatives and archaeologists are demanding an accounting of protected cultural sites in order to identify damage caused by unpermitted research. They are also calling for researchers to be held accountable for such transgressions." - Los Angeles Times
The citizens of Liverpool should be on the same side as UNESCO. "They have the same enemies: the shoddy and contemptuous treatment of the world heritage site, over years, both by the city’s government and private property companies." - The Guardian (UK)
Henry wasn't planned, but his beloved status even survived this: "Charles and Diana received one of the first models as a wedding present in 1981." - The Guardian (UK)
Yikes: "Rearing up at the western end of Oxford Street as a faceted green shell ... the 25-metre high Marble Arch Mound is one of the more unlikely strategies for stimulating our Covid-stricken high streets." - The Guardian (UK)
