The Headlines
STICKING IT TO HITLER. A previously unseen trove of World War II–era photographs by Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton has surfaced in a carefully preserved, personal scrapbook by their former assistant, Roland Haupt, reports the Times of London. The discovery of this “empirical time capsule” is being celebrated as one of the greatest photographic records of the pivotal period in world history, and yet, for decades, it sat out of sight in the home of Haupt’s descendants. That is about to change, as the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries has managed to acquire the book, which includes the iconic photo of Miller in Hitler’s bathtub—her way of “sticking two fingers up at Hitler,” according to Miller’s son. In a sign of their deep trust in their assistant, both Miller and Beaton sent their films to Haupt in London to be printed from their various, far-flung locations. He would then forward their images to magazines like Vogue . It was a surprise to discover that, “knowing what she had in the can, [Miller] was entrusting her film to this man,” said dealer Michael Hoppen. “He has clearly been instrumental in showing us how extraordinarily brave this woman was.”
KAHLO CAN COME HOME. Following an outcry, artworks by Frida Kahlo and other Modern Mexican artists in the Gelman Collection will be returned to Mexico in 2028, following their loan to Spain, reports dpa . Professionals in Mexico’s arts community had protested the initially vague plans to export the collection of 160 artworks, seemingly for an indefinite period of time, to the Santander bank’s new cultural center, the Faro Santander. As a listed national treasure, Kahlo’s works are protected, which means they can only leave Mexico temporarily. Now, in compliance with Mexican law, the administrators of the collection at the Fundación Santander have agreed on a set timeline for their return.
The Digest
Billionaire art dealer David Nahmad and his family have lost an 11-year-long legal dispute over a prized Amedeo Modigliani painting looted during World War II, handing a restitution victory to heirs of its original Jewish owner, Oscar Stettiner. [ARTnews]
On Friday night, the Trump administration filed an appeal to a judge’s order to stop construction on a White House ballroom, arguing that halting the building project would threaten the safety of the president, his family, and White House staff. [The Washington Post]
Canadians are opting out of vacationing in the US, which is hurting attendance at smaller museums and institutions along their shared border. [The Art Newspaper]
Art historian and curator Charlotte Gere, who tracked the jewelry of architect William Burges and encouraged the appreciation of 19th-century art, including in books that became standard references, has died at age 88. [The Guardian]
After two Smithsonian trustees stepped down a month ago, their positions are still empty as President Trump seeks to get his favored candidates onto the board. [The New York Times]
The Kicker
THE ART OF IMITATION. A famed but creatively stagnant, aging painter, and a young, talented art restorer posing as an assistant with plans to forge his works are the protagonists of the intriguing plot of Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, The Christophers, as described by the New Yorker. For regular ARTnews readers, parts of this fictional story may sound only somewhat realistic. An unexpected kinship develops between the would-be forger (Lori Butler, played by Michaela Coel) and the artist (Julian Sklar, played by Ian McKellen). The latter ultimately finds “an artistic and intellectual near-equal,” in Lori, who is not afraid to offer an unsparing critique of the artist’s practice—to his surprising delight. The question remains whether Lori will ever apply her talent at imitation to expressing her own voice, and forego “the art of … becoming someone else” for that of becoming herself.
