Academy Museum to Revise Exhibit on Hollywood's Jewish History and More

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IN THE STUDY. THE Museum Film Academy in Los Angeles announced Monday that it would revise an exhibit on Hollywood's Jewish history following backlash, as first reported in THE New York Times. The exhibit, titled “Hollywood: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Cinema Capital,” opened May 19 and was quickly criticized by a group of Jewish activists for its depiction of Jewish studio founders, whom some have called it anti-Semitic. An open letter from the United Jewish Writers, reported by the Hollywood journalist Monday protested the use of the words “tyrant,” “oppressive,” “womanizer” and “predator” in the show's wall text. Some cultural critiques pushed back against these critics, noting that these descriptions were appropriate when applied to certain Hollywood figures with mixed heritages. For its part, the museum said in a statement that it would “immediately implement the first set of changes – they will allow us to tell these important stories without using language that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes.”

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BAKE AND WATCH. The largest art fair in the world, Art Baselis upon us, and guides to must-see shows, riddles about what products will be on offer and artist spotlights are arriving. ARTnewsDevorah Lauter traveled to the bucolic suburbs of the Swiss city to report on Basel Social Club, which she describes as an “art fair and social gathering” located on 50 acres of farmland in Bruderholz, where cows graze among installations by Tomás Saraceno and David Medalla, among others. THE Art Journalmeanwhile, organized the party inside, while his journalist was present. the chic dinner for the impending crowd of artists in a unique restaurant in a former water reservoir in the heart of Basel. The menu apparently included mussels served with tarragon and ginger.

THE SUMMARY

An old Vatican An employee was arrested for trying to sell a manuscript through Gian Lorenzo Bernini which he allegedly stole from official archives of the Holy See. The suspect was arrested as part of a major undercover operation. [The Art Newspaper]

Hundreds of protesters staged a massacre in the streets outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to protest against the massive losses in Gaza. Between the bodies, a monumental Palestinian flag was displayed. [Al Jazeera]

In his excellent review of the exhibition “I saw him: Francisco de Goya, engraver”, at Norton Simon Museum, Christophe Chevalier compares the show to a balm for “criminality, scandalous racism, gaslighting, antediluvian misogyny, pedestrian hatreds, cruel religiosities, [and] fascist violence” that has prevailed in American politics in recent years. This is the first presentation at the museum of Goya's four main series of prints; This seems like a must-have. [Los Angeles Times]

A new museum dedicated to science fiction television memorabilia is coming to Santa Monica. Rightly called world of science fictionthe institution was conceived by the non-profit association called New Starship Foundationand benefits from the support of Star Trek old students William Shatner And George Takei. [Deadline]

Archaeologists have discovered around 19,000 artifacts dating from the Middle Stone Age, at a “once-in-a-decade” excavation site in the UK. [Newsweek]

THE American Institute of Architects is under scrutiny after 22 former AIA presidents signed letters containing allegations of misconduct against the executive vice president and CEO of the organization, Lakisha Ann Woods. The letters accuse current leaders of “potential waste, nepotism, cronyism and seeking personal gain.” [Bloomberg]

Oxford University will return a 500-year-old bronze sculpture of a Hindu poet and saint to India, the university's headquarters Ashmolean Museum said. [AP News]

IS CARAMBA. The British Museum, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and even the Louvre: each institution was the target of a headline-grabbing art heist, but are authorities overlooking an active network of thieves that operates in full view, although in a more modest location? Taco Bell-Yes the fast food chain– has an art collection, and it has been missing since at least 2015. In an incident at a Taco Bell in Westlake, Ohio, a thief snatched an acrylic painting created by the artist Mark T. Smith on commission and worth $800, immediately came out of the wall, to the great shock of the staff. (Although this place is bad luck: “It caught fire, someone crashed into it and it caught fire. This place is kind of cursed,” said Westlake Police Capt. Guy Turner said Artnet.) The stolen paintings have been spotted for sale on online marketplaces, where a lot of two or three could fetch thousands of dollars. When will the madness end? Justice for Taco Bell, we say.