Category: Uncategorized (Page 28 of 66)

As a lover of all things art- and museum-related, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to learn more about the art world. Personally, I find that documentaries are a great way to get my fix: between Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, AppleTV+, YouTube, cable, and more, there’s no shortage of fascinating content to be found. With that in mind, I’m dedicating this week’s blog post to some of the best documentaries and films about art and museums!

This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist (2021)

This weekend, I spent some time watching This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist, a new Netflix-produced documentary about the infamous 1990 theft of thirteen works of art, collectively worth more than 500 million dollars, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum here in Boston. I’m a huge fan of the Gardner, so this documentary had been on my to-watch list for a while, and it definitely did not disappoint! The four-part series, currently streaming on Netflix, takes viewers on a deep dive into the theft itself, the lost artworks, the evidence found at the scene of the crime, a number of conflicting theories on the identities of the culprits, alleged sightings of the works in Boston and beyond, and more. The documentary never takes a firm position on what happened to the as-yet-unrecovered art, leaving it up to viewers to form their own opinions about the theft.

The Art of the Steal (2009)

Next up is a documentary about another infamous art museum controversy: the move of the Barnes Foundation collection to Philadelphia in 2012. When the Foundation’s founder, Dr. Albert C. Barnes, passed away in 1951, his will specifically stated that his multi-billion-dollar art collection was not to be moved from its original location in Merion, Pennsylvania. But in 2012, Barnes’ will was controversially broken when the collection moved to a new location in downtown Philadelphia. The Art of the Steal considers the perspectives of major players on both sides of the issue—those who wanted the collection to stay in Merion, and those who advocated for it to move to Philadelphia—and, like This is a Robbery, ultimately encourages viewers to form their own opinion.

Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present (2012)

Beyond museum-focused documentaries, there are also tons of fascinating films that uncover the lives and works of particular artists. One of my personal favorites is Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, a documentary that centers around Abramovic’s performance piece The Artist Is Present, exhibited at MoMA in 2010. The documentary also explores how Abramovic prepares herself for her often mentally and physically taxing performances, her complicated relationship with her former collaborator Ulay, her response to critics who question whether her work is truly “art,” and more. This documentary gave me a much deeper appreciation for performance art, and I can’t recommend it enough!

Bob Ross: Beauty is Everywhere (2016)

Much more relaxed than Abramovic’s challenging work is that of Bob Ross, the beloved host of the PBS series The Joy of Painting from 1983 to 1994. Bob Ross: Beauty is Everywhere is a twenty-five-episode Netflix series that features many of the painting tutorials first produced as part of The Joy of Painting. Whether you follow along with Ross’s tutorials or just appreciate his calming presence, you won’t want to miss Bob Ross: Beauty is Everywhere.

Unfortunately Bob Ross: Beauty is Everywhere is no longer streaming on Netflix as of this writing, but you can check out full episodes of The Joy of Painting on YouTube.

Loving Vincent (2017)

While not a documentary, Loving Vincent, a semi-fictional film about the life and death of Vincent Van Gogh, still deserves a place on any list of great films for art-lovers. Animated in the style of Van Gogh’s renowned oil paintings, this film posits a potential explanation for the circumstances of Van Gogh’s mysterious 1890 death. While we may never know for certain how and why Van Gogh died, this film is an interesting (and visually beautiful!) interpretation of the events.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Exit Through the Gift Shop is a documentary film directed by the elusive street artist Banksy that explores the life and work of Thierry Guetta, another contemporary street artist based in Los Angeles. The film does an excellent job of immersing viewers in the often mysterious and sensational world of street art.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)

Another great documentary for fans of street art is Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, which highlights the life and work of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat through a series of interviews with people who knew Basquiat personally. For more on Basquiat, you can check out the temporary exhibition of his work on view at the MFA through July 25, “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation”!

Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (2019)

The Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was a forerunner in the abstract art movement in the West whose work is relatively little known, but fascinating. Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint explores her work, much of which was based on personal practice of mysticism and spiritualism, and sheds some much-needed light on this fascinating, forgotten figure.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015)

Arguably one of the greatest art collectors in American history was Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979), whose wealthy and influential family lent its name to one of the most famous modern art museums in the country. Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict is a portrait of the renowned collector, her collection, and her relationships with some of the most renowned modern and contemporary artists today.

Ways of Seeing (1972)

Finally, a film series that should probably be required viewing for all art-lovers: John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, which was later adapted into a book of the same title. In four episodes, Ways of Seeing makes several claims that were somewhat controversial when first introduced in the 1970s but have since become widely accepted among art historians, perhaps most prominently its introduction of the idea of the male gaze.

Do you know of any films not featured on this list? Let us know in the comments!

Working on the National Mall means passing many museums everyday. As we enter the month of June and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, the museums and many other businesses alike will begin to post their celebratory rainbow-themed posters, flyers, merchandise, etc. Though this wash of rainbow has come under recent fire in the news, the National Building Museum, only a few blocks off the Mall, has put forth their own large-scale project to celebrate this Pride month: a massive art installation titled Equilateral Network by Lisa Marie Thalhammer. Thalhammer’s work spans the entire lawn of the National Building Museum and was designed to allow visitors to safely distance themselves while viewing the piece.

Thalhammer credits her inspiration for the piece to Pierre L’Enfant, who planned the design of the federal district in D.C. along the Potomac River. L’Enfant’s large, wide roads and clean angles dividing the city are evident in Thalhammer’s piece, which feature similar triangle-shaped sections outlined in different rainbow hues. These rainbow hues are based on a specific palette chosen by Thalhammer herself, who states that the colors “represent the intersection of people’s lived identities.” The triangular shapes were also chosen to show the balance of the three branches of government, the pink triangles serving as an important cultural reference for how LGTBQ+ individuals were identified and as a reference to the AIDS/HIV epidemic. To learn more about the history of the pink triangle, you can visit actupny.com.

The National Building Museum serves as a fantastic site for Equilateral Network because of their common ground in architecture and engineering. The museum itself is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of building and all its aspects – urban planning, architecture, design, construction, etc. At its core, the National Building Museum commits itself to teaching the public about building from both a practical engineering perspective and a more culture-oriented design perspective. The latter lends itself to Thalhammer’s work, which draws upon culture and history in its unique architectural design.

Thalhammer’s Equilateral Network is a welcome and warm sight in the heart of D.C. Its size and dedication to history and culture invite visitors of all backgrounds to spend time with the piece and reflect. This invitation is even more important as museums and other cultural organizations in D.C. begin to open up, albeit with extensive safety precautions in place. Equilateral Network offers a haven for those wanting to celebrate Pride at the museum with history and art while safely engaging with their community.

For those in the D.C. area or those planning on visiting, you can view a regularly updated list of the museum reopening schedule here.

As Museum Studies students, we love to celebrate museums year-round. But did you know that there’s an internationally-recognized day each year when museums get to take center stage? Last week, on May 18, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) hosted the forty-fourth annual International Museum Day, an observance that has taken place every year since 1977. According to ICOM’s website, the primary goal of International Museum Day is to raise awareness that “museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”

The first International Museum Day was observed in 1977, but the idea of setting aside a day each year to honor museums first emerged nearly three decades prior. In 1951, ICOM hosted an international gathering for museum professionals called “Crusade for Museums,” where the necessity of increasing education and accessibility in museums was a hot topic of conversation. Out of these discussions emerged the idea of an annual observance celebrating museums, and during the 1977 ICOM General Assembly in Moscow, International Museum Day was formally established.

The theme of this year’s International Museum Day was “The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine.” After a year that has presented museums worldwide with immense economic, social, and political challenges, this theme asks museum professionals and museum-lovers alike to consider how all types of museums can best serve their publics as we move into a hopefully-brighter future. As ICOM President Alberto Garlandini expressed in his message for International Museum Day 2021, it is not enough for museums to simply recover from the difficulties of the past year; they must reinvent themselves “and seize the opportunity to build back a better world.” You can check out the full message in the video below!

But while International Museum Day has a unique theme each year, the overall goals of the observance have remained the same through the decades: to encourage museums around the world to plan fun and engaging events for their publics and to raise awareness of museums’ ever-important role in our world. Accordingly, museums around the world planned a wide range of digital and in-person activities to acknowledge International Museum Day, many of which you can still enjoy via ICOM’s interactive WeMap.

If you missed this year’s International Museum Day, don’t fret—there will be another opportunity to celebrate museums coming up in June with MuseumWeek, an international event slated for June 7–13. MuseumWeek, first established in 2014, will take place virtually across a range of social media outlets, and the theme for this year is Creativity. You can read more about MuseumWeek and how you can participate on the MuseumWeek website, and you can also follow along on their Twitter feed!