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Good Morning!
- Betye Saar has died at 99, just four days before her 100th birthday.
- A worker of the National Museum of Ireland has been charged in connection with a bomb plot.
- Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Museum has reopened after a meticulous restoration.
The Headlines
AN ICON GONE. Yesterday evening, news broke that Betye Saar, the Los Angeles–based artist known for her assemblages that tackled the brutality of racism, died in her sleep on Sunday, just four days before she was to turn 100. She is likely best known for The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972), an assemblage that features a racist mammy figure whom Saar has given a rifle. As she once told ARTnews, “I transformed the derogatory image of Aunt Jemima into a female warrior figure, fighting for Black liberation and women’s rights.”
A leading practitioner of the assemblage movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Saar “was known for incorporating into her work delicate fabrics associated with domestic life, strong images of the Black female body and a heavy dose of spirituality,” Jori Finkel writes in the New York Times. Saar’s longtime dealer Julie Roberts told the Los Angeles Times, “Her singular vision transformed the course of contemporary art, and her legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists, scholars, and audiences around the world.”
Last year, with an eye toward her legacy, Saar started a group tasked with preserving it, creating a “resource for future generations—curators, researchers, writers, and art historians—helping them connect with the heart of my practice,” as she put it. One way to remember Saar is to see the exhibitions currently on view in honor of centennial.
BOMB PLOT. A museum employee at Dublin’s National Museum of Ireland has been charged with possessing an explosive device after Irish police intercepted what they described as a sophisticated car bomb allegedly bound for Northern Ireland, the Telegraph reports. Simon O’Donovan appeared before the Special Criminal Court and was remanded in custody after being denied bail. Prosecutors allege the device, containing military-grade explosives, was stored at the museum before being transported.
The Digest
After a wave of thefts from French museums—from the smash-and-grab at the Louvre and last week’s heist of a Celtic gold torque—the country’s culture ministry has announced new security measures, including mapping vulnerable sites and removing high-risk objects from display until protections improve. [ARTnews, Le Monde]
Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Museum has reopened after a meticulous restoration that returns its landmark modernist building to its original 1969 vision. [Wallpaper]
The Shenzhen Natural History Museum in southeastern China is also now welcoming visitors. [Domus]
Low Kee Hong, creative director of Manchester’s Factory International, has been appointed artistic director of the 2028 Biennale of Sydney, becoming the first Singaporean to lead the Australian exhibition. [The Art Newspaper]
Nearly 20 works by Georgia O’Keeffe will go on view in the UK for the first time as the Courtauld Gallery explores how New Mexico’s Ghost Ranch shaped the artist’s life and work. [The Guardian]
The Kicker
ART OF SOLIDARITY. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has thanked 11-year-old Layan Al Quqa of Gaza after she and other young artists painted a mural of him amid their enclave’s devastation. Al Jazeera reports that he called it a “beautiful gesture” and reaffirmed Spain’s support for the Palestinian people. In a video message, Sánchez told Gaza’s children, “We hear you, we see you, we love you, and we haven’t forgotten you,” praising their resilience despite the war. The mural, featuring Spanish and Palestinian flags, has become a symbol of the close ties many Palestinians feel with Spain, one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s military campaign and war.
