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The Headlines
TURKISH DISSIDENTS SUPPRESSION. The Turkish government has been arresting cultural workers as it cracks down on political opposition to its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reports The Art Newspaper. Protests erupted following the March 19 arrest of Erdogan rival and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was detained along with Istanbul’s cultural heritage department head, Mahir Polat and nearly 50 other people. Additionally, at least seven photographers were reportedly among thousands of people arrested during street protests against İmamoğlu’s arrest. Meanwhile, artists are gathering to discuss forms of resistance. “It is our duty to use our art as a form of criticism,” said visual artist Ali Ibrahim Ocal.
REMBRANDT REASSESMENT. Three paintings in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague are indeed all Rembrandt copies, likely from his own studio, according to new research shared in a museum press release April 17. Until now, experts at the museum weren’t confident about whether two paintings in its collection were by the 17th-century master, or were instead copies from his studio. They include Study of an Old Man (c. 1655-60) and Tronie’ of an Old Man (c. 1630). A third painting, Portrait of Rembrandt with a Gorget (c. 1629) was known to be a copy of an early Rembrandt self-portrait, but was further examined and restored in an attempt to understand who painted it. Unfortunately, the answer to that riddle remains a mystery. To learn more about their findings, the research results are on view in the museum’s exhibition appropriately titled “Rembrandt?” until July 13, 2025.
The Digest
The Vatican confirmed Pope Francis’s funeral will take place on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square, and also released an image of his open casket. Many world leaders are expected to attend the ceremony for the head of the Catholic church and proprietor in trust of the Vatican’s library and art collections. [Reuters]
Georgian-Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli has died at age 91. He was the chief artist of the USSR’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and headed Russia’s Academy of Arts, as well as a known Putin-supporter. However, his monumental sculptures favored by Russian elites were controversial in his native country. [AFP]
Some museums have been quietly working on all-gender restrooms in an effort to offer more inclusive facilities. Their work takes on new importance amid the current administration’s rejection of LGBTQ+ rights. [Hyperallergic]
Architect Annabelle Selldorf defends her controversial renovation of London’s National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing. She also said it was “tragic” that artworks must now be displayed behind protective glass due to environmental activists who, among others, targeted Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.” “I abhor any form of violence — it’s naïve, stupid, and aggressive,” she said. [The Telegraph]
The Kicker
CHICAGO’S MOST INFLUENTIAL DEALER. As Chicago’s EXPO art fair returns this week, locals muse over the lasting impact and “huge hole” left by the closing of Rhona Hoffman’s eponymous gallery next month, reports WBEZ Chicago. After some 50 years of spotting talent, and helping catapult the careers of artists, including the likes of Sol LeWitt, Cindy Sherman, Mickalene Thomas, Carrie mae Weems, and Kehinde Wiley, Hoffman, 90, is shuttering her space for a variety of reasons, including her age and mounting overhead costs, as ARTnews also reported. Hoffman also offers some telling insights into her life devoted to art, including some arguable mistakes, which she nevertheless doesn’t entirely regret. “I turned Rashid Johnson down when he was begging me to do a show,” she said. “I was either busy or just stupid, because I didn’t understand the work,” she said of the star artist now showing an acclaimed career survey at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. “He’s a lovely man, but I still don’t understand the work,” she added. Hoffman plans to continue working in some form, and remains open to a variety of possibilites. “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” she said. “But I’m not done.”
