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- Major critic slams the billionaire-funded Lucas Museum of Narrative Art’s entrance fee.
- Three public artworks by Banksy have cost UK taxpayers almost £150,000 in cleaning and security fees.
- David Hockney’s former lover, the artist Peter Schlesinger, says he no longer wants to be remembered as the late painter’s muse.
The Headlines
MAY THE FEES BE WITH YOU. Los Angeles is a city of stark inequality, which makes the arrival of George Lucas‘s billion-dollar Lucas Museum of Narrative Art especially charged, as Jori Finkel writes in the Art Newspaper. The museum promises ambitious programming and free gardens and public spaces, but it will charge $25 admission and offer memberships costing up to $600 a year. Critics have questioned why a billionaire-funded institution needs to solicit additional public support, particularly in low-income South Los Angeles, where free museum admission has become increasingly common. Unlike Crystal Bridges, Glenstone, the Getty, and the Broad, the Lucas Museum has not committed to universal free entry. Its location offers an opportunity to serve local communities, but its pricing risks undermining its claim to be “the people’s” art institution.
BANKSY’S BILL. Three public artworks by Banksy have cost UK taxpayers almost £150,000 in cleaning, security, and other expenses, with costs expected to rise, the BBC reports. The largest bill, which topped £85,000, relates to his September 2025 mural on London’s Grade II–listed Royal Courts of Justice, including £50,000 for paint removal and £35,300 for overtime and security. Westminster City Council spent almost £60,000 securing and managing a Banksy statue installed near Trafalgar Square, while removing his 2024 piranha mural from a City of London police sentry box cost £2,200. The spending has reignited debate over whether Banksy’s work constitutes vandalism or valuable public art.
The Digest
Ireland’s museum sector is reportedly plagued by precarious contracts, low pay, unpaid labor, and toxic workplace cultures, driving burnout, excluding talent, and risking the loss of vital institutional knowledge. [ICOM]
Several UK museums and cultural organizations are reeling after a cybersecurity incident at Beacon, a CRM provider used by more than 1,000 charities. [Museums Association]
BMW has brought together its legendary Art Cars in Munich, including one painted by Andy Warhol. [Robb Report]
Notre-Dame rose from the ashes, so why has the UK given up on restoring Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art? [Times of London]
The Kicker
A RELUCTANT MUSE. Peter Schlesinger, the artist and former lover of David Hockney, spoke to the Times of London about their five-year relationship, which began when Schlesinger was an 18-year-old UCLA student. The relationship became a defining chapter in Hockney’s life and work. Schlesinger appeared in several celebrated paintings, including Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures). Their relationship ended in 1971, when Schlesinger fell in love with Eric Boman, his future husband of 51 years. The split deeply affected Hockney and inspired some of his most significant work. Now in his late 70s and pursuing his own career in ceramics and photography, Schlesinger says he does not want to be remembered merely as Hockney’s muse.
