The Headlines
A MASSIVE WILDFIRE IN SOUTH KOREA has killed at least 27 people in Uiseong County in North Gyeongsang and destroyed the Buddhist Gounsa temple, founded in 681 CE, according to Korea JoongAng Daily and the BBC. Though the temple’s structure could not be saved, some relics were rescued; emergency crews are still trying to save other artifacts from the fires. Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced by what is being described as the country’s largest wildfire ever. The blaze began on Saturday, and was most likely caused by human activity, according to authorities. Cultural sites near the temple remain threatened, including the evacuated Hahoe Folk Village, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Andong.
MOTHER’S KEEPER. An X-ray of Joan Miró’s 1925–27 abstraction Pintura (Painting) has revealed a secret: a portrait of his mother, reports the Times of London. Why did he paint over her? Art historians at the Barcelona-based Fundació Joan Miró, which owns the artwork and is showing it in a new exhibition, believe it was an act that both reflected the artist’s desire to break with convention—and family constraints, without expressing disdain for his mother, according to the Guardian. A team of experts who analyzed the X-ray of the painting point out that Miró chose to keep the original portrait of his mother’s face. “There’s a respect there,” said Elisabet Serrat, who led the team of preventive conservation and restoration that discovered the under-painting.
The Digest
Vancouver Art Gallery director and chief executive Anthony Kiendl is departing from his role after five years. He faced criticism after the institution scrapped a new Herzog & Meuron–designed building due to exploding costs; the museum spent CAD$60 million on it before it was canned. [The Art Newspaper]
President Trump has whined that a since-removed portrait of him in the Colorado Capitol was “purposefully distorted.” But the artist, Sarah Boardman, said in conversations in 2018 and 2019 that “any personal feelings about any subject are not relevant and are left outside the studio per my training to ‘leave those emotions at the door.’” [The New York Times]
A trial has begun in France over the sale of fake 18th-century chairs passed off as real ones belonging to historic figures including the Comtesse du Barry and Marie-Antoinette. The fakes even managed to fool clients such as the Palace of Versailles and a Qatari prince. [Le Monde]
The Wagner Foundation in Massachusetts has announced the winners of the newly created Wagner Arts Fellowship, an award program designed to support mid-career Boston artists who address “issues confronting society and demonstrated ability to transform our understanding of social change.” The inaugural fellows, L’Merchie Frazier, Daniela Rivera, and Wen-ti Tsen, will each receive an unrestricted $75,000. [Press release]
New venues and the full program of the next Liverpool Biennial were just announced. Taking place from June 7 to September 14 this year, the exhibition is titled “BEDROCK,” a nod to the region’s distinctive geography and social make-up. [Liverpool Echo]
The Kicker
GARDEN OF BURIED TREASURE. A mysterious, obsessive European coin collector was worried his valuable trove, including thousands of gold and silver coins dating as far back as the times of ancient Greece, would be stolen by the Nazis if ever they invaded. So, at the dawn of World War II, he carefully packed up his treasure in labeled cigar boxes and buried it in his garden, only telling his wife about it at the time. Now, his heirs are auctioning his so-called “Traveler Collection” via a series of sales organized by Numismatica Ars Classica (NAC), with over $100 million in coins set to hit the block, according to the Financial Times. The sales came after the collector’s widow asked the NAC to dig up the coins, which weren’t shown to auctioneers until 2022. The experience of cataloging them was “like going to a candy store every day for us,” said Arturo Russo, director and co-owner of NAC. Among the incredible finds is a 1629, 100-ducat gold piece from the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg, valued at about $1.4 million.
