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THE HEADLINES
CHURCH COVER-UP. A public debate is intensifying over whether to remove, cover, or leave untouched, the church mosaics, paintings, and stained-glass windows made by artist priests accused of sexual abuse, reports Le Monde. Jesuit Rev. Mark Rupnik and Fr Louis Ribes, are among a handful of Catholic priests who have made a large swath of artworks for churches and basilicas around the world. For decades they were acclaimed for their creations, but recently they faced accusations of rape by multiple individuals, including children in the case of Ribes. Over 5000 people have also signed a petition to remove newly installed mosaic murals by Rupnik on the façade of Brazil’s Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida, which will be unveiled next month. However, its rector seems poised to go through with a planned opening ceremony.
CHURCH COVER-UP. A public debate is intensifying over whether to remove, cover, or leave untouched, the church mosaics, paintings, and stained-glass windows made by artist priests accused of sexual abuse, reports Le Monde. Jesuit Rev. Mark Rupnik and Fr Louis Ribes , are among a handful of Catholic priests who have made a large swath of artworks for churches and basilicas around the world. For decades they were acclaimed for their creations, but recently they faced accusations of rape by multiple individuals, including children in the case of Ribes. Over 5,000 people have also signed a petition to remove newly installed mosaic murals by Rupnik on the façade of Brazil’s Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida, which will be unveiled next month.
Picasso’s daughter Paloma is defending her father against depictions of him as a womanizer and abuser, in an exclusive interview. “My father was not the satyr that we’d like to believe,” she told Le Figaro. Speaking on the occasion of the Paris Picasso Museum’s rehanging, including a separate room for her mother’s artwork, Francoise Gilot, whose practice was long overshadowed by her partner, Paloma asks, “Why should he be perfect?” [Le Figaro]
THE DIGEST
Pivotal artist Faith Ringgold, whose seven-decade career encompassed bestselling children’s books, activism, and richly detailed painted quilts, has died. She was 93. [ARTnews]
The Lebanese American artist and poet Etel Adnan has been honored with a Google Doodle. [The National]
The art collection of television producer Norman Lear heads to Christie’s in May, worth an estimated $50 million. It includes works from the 1950’s through the 1980’s, and many made in California. [ARTnews]
Paintings and tapestries saved from the Paris Notre Dame cathedral fire in 2019 go on view in a new exhibition. They include a collection of restored 17th century paintings, which will go on view together, as intended, for the first time in over 160 years. “We were lucky to get them out quite quickly with just a little water damage and dust. It was rather miraculous,” said Emmanuel Pénicaut, the director of the Mobilier National collections, which will host the exhibition April 24 to July 21. [The Guardian]
A German federal court has upheld the conviction and four-year-prison sentence of four young men sentenced for stealing historic jewels, including diamonds worth over $124.4 million from the Green Vault in Dresden’s Treasury Museum in a 2019 heist. The defendants had attempted to appeal the May 2023 verdict, and four of the youth at the time of the crime returned the majority of the loot. [dpa]
Maria Piana, the architect responsible for the maintenance of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, is warning that chronic rising water levels are destroying the inner structure of the city’s historic buildings. He is calling for swift action to help preserve the city’s architecture against an increasingly hostile environment, and in his recently published book Costruire Venezia (Building Venice) implicitly tells readers not to blindly assume Venice will remain standing, simply because it has been around for centuries. [The Art Newspaper]
Inspiration for the Olympic flame-lighting ceremony in southern Greece was taken directly from the imagery adorning ancient temples, vases, and other remnants of Greek Antiquity. In a sneak peek at rehearsals for the performance, The Associated Press describes how volunteer dancers, partly chosen for their resemblance to figures in ancient Greek artifacts, mimic poses from those artworks. “Basically, what we are doing is joining up those images. Everything in between comes from us,” said choreographer Artemis Ignatiou. [The Associated Press for Bloomberg]
THE KICKER
WHOSE MUSEUM IS IT? After hearing news that a technician snuck his own artwork onto the walls of a Munich Museum, a gallery in Edinburgh not only took note, they also drew direct inspiration, and decided to invite the public to do the same. “Castle Mills Then & Now: Whose Gallery is it Anyway” at Edinburgh Printmakers will allow the public to show their art, and also curate hanging artwork by others, moving and rearranging the display as they choose. “The rules are simple: anyone can add work and/or choose to co-curate the exhibition by moving artworks in the space in ways that make sense to them,” said a spokesperson. The all-inclusive show will run April 19 to June 30, reports The Guardian.
