Opinion
A Patronizing Argument Against Cultural Repatriation
In the past few decades, cultural institutions in the West have increasingly felt pressure to return artifacts acquired through questionable means during the colonial era.
Opinion
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, swapping a run-down house and a Henry Moore sculpture, only 18% of Artforum covers have featured art by women, the mysterious world of the "sneakernet," how Imelda Marcos bought a Goya, and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Happiness
This week it was reported that the first recordings ever made by Elvis Presley, "My Happiness" and "That’s When Your Heartaches Begin" (both 1953), have been digitized and will be released by Jack White’s Third Man Records.
Opinion
Should Media Be Charged for Using Citizen News Footage?
The convention has been to let media companies, particularly television channels, use newsworthy footage without paying a fee because it's in the public interest to disseminate the images.
Opinion
How Viral History Accounts Are Hurting the Past They Purport to Celebrate
Although it only started in March, the Twitter account @MedievalReacts has soared to over 270,000 followers — all because it takes images without attribution from libraries and other sources and pairs them with punchy, modern text.
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, overcharging billionaire art collectors, the recent fascination with medieval art, the world's last male white rhino, discovering the previous life of Jean-Honoré Fragonard's “Young Girl Reading,” and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Dry
In response to a prolonged dry spell, the state of California has instituted mandatory water restrictions, bringing to mind the line from Chinatown (1974): "Middle of a drought, the water commissioner drowns. Only in L.A."
Opinion
As Multiculti Emojis Debut, Bleach Company Stains Its Reputation with Off-Color Joke
On the day that the world could finally send diverse-looking emoji, US-based bleach company Clorox made a very bad joke.
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, sound art theory, Yemen's embattled museums, troubled arts philanthropy in Toronto, British Surrealist Leonora Carrington, Russian internet trolls, galactic Easter eggs, and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Egg
It's Easter, have an egg.
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, the secrets of late Barnett Newman paintings, Parviz Tanavoli in the spotlight, Asian-American poetry and visual art, glitch art, old US infographics, dinosaurs at MoMA, and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Sight
John Bramblitt of Denton, Texas, lost his sight 13 years ago but paints vivid portraits and landscapes by "feeling" the textures of different colors.