The Headlines
TARIFF WOES. The tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration were designed to support American manufacturers in industries like construction, pharmaceuticals, and automobile production. However, these measures have unintentionally harmed international trade in antiques and decorative arts, the Art Newspaper reports. Memphis-based antique dealer Millicent Ford Creech expressed dismay over the new tariffs on all furniture imports, noting that while they may help domestic producers, they unfairly affect dealers specializing in pre-1800 pieces that have no American equivalent. Under Trump’s September 29 executive order, wood imports and derivative products, including upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets, face tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent, with rates set to rise to as high as 50 percent by 2026. Although the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act exempts fine art from such duties, many collectible and decorative items, such as furniture, wine, and classic cars, are not protected.
WE ARE FAMSF. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) has received a gift of 1,600 works from local collector Kirk Edward Long, ARTnews reports. Long’s holdings are rich in early modern European prints but also include paintings, antiquities, and decorative arts, all of which feature in his donation to FAMSF. The Long gift is part of FAMSF’s larger multiyear “Gifts of Art,” which began in 2022. In total, the museum has added 2,000 works by 275 donors across all of the museum’s collecting departments. (Click to see a slideshow of highlights of recent gifts.)
The Digest
A misread Arabic tale reportedly misleads generations of historians about the Black Death’s rapid spread. [Phys Org]
The family of Norman Rockwell has called out the US Department of Homeland Security after it posted the artist’s work on social media “for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color.” [Artnet News]
A rare jewelry box identified in Vermeer paintings had shed new light on the artist’s connections. [The Art Newspaper]
Billionaire precious metals mogul Thomas S. Kaplan is selling a Rembrandt drawing of a lion at Sotheby’s New York in February, and it’s been given a $20 million high estimate. All proceeds will go to his wild cat conservation charity, Panthera. [Sotheby’s]
MR. GRUMPY. As the Guardian writes, on a fall evening in Düsseldorf’s Kunstpalast, tour guide Joseph Langelinck paused before a Renaissancesculpture and challenged his 18 visitors to identify the hero with a club. When one woman softly guessed “Hercules,” he scolded her for not speaking up and demanded she list the hero’s 12 labors in order. Her hesitation earned an eye roll. “Oh god, I feel like I’m back at school,” sighed 62-year-old Corinna Schröder. Langelinck’s €7 “Grumpy Guide” tours are advertised as “highly unpleasant”—and with good reason. For 70 brisk minutes, the ponytailed art historian snaps at guests for checking phones, sitting, or showing ignorance. Yet the act, performed by 33-year-old artist Carl Brandi, has become a hit, every session since May sold out. Brandi insists he never insults individuals, only collective ignorance. The appeal, he says, lies in the “emotional ride”: audiences relish his mock contempt and the rare thrill of being scolded in a museum.
