While Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring is out on loan to the Rijksmuseum, the Mauritshuis museum in the Hague has temporarily replaced the painting with five other renditions of the famous artwork, solicited through an open call. Among them is an A.I.-generated image of an Instagram-ready woman wearing glowing lantern earrings, which has caused a massive stir on social media. But what do you think—as one of five re-imaginings of Vermeer’s painting, should A.I. be able to have a respected take on this old master?
Singer-actress-producer Kelly Rowland has added yet another title to her list: that of curator. Indeed, the Grammy award-winner is the curator of the upcoming Sotheby’s contemporary auction, which will take place on March 9th. The artworks she has selected reflect her personal taste and include Ernie Barnes, Reggie Burrows Hodges, Stanley Whitney, and others.
A Miami-based collector wants to purchase the accidentally shattered Jeff Koons sculpture, as a video of the incident attests to. Last Thursday, a VIP attendee knocked over the balloon dog during an art fair in Wynwood, Miami. Still, it is unclear if the acquisition will go through.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art will open a center for African art, and the search for a director is underway. The branch, whose opening date has yet to be determined, will require the institution to acquire more African art. Such adjustment was certainly necessary, especially considering that half of Philadelphia’s population identifies as African American.
The V&A Museum is assembling an archive to house items that belonged to, or were created by, David Bowie. The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts will allow the “Bowies of Tomorrow” to study the artist’s artifacts. The collection, which will contain over 80,000 pieces of paraphernalia, is set to open in 2025.
The United States has agreed to repatriate a collection of 77 looted objects, mostly funerary stones, to Yemen. However, the pieces will remain at the Smithsonian for at least two more years, as the Yemeni civil war persists. The Yemeni embassy will advise the Smithsonian on conserving the objects on display in the meantime.
The Metropolitan Museum is allowing the French government to make 3-D scanned copies of two 16th-century sculptures. The pieces adorned the Biron chateau for almost 400 years, until 1908, when they went on display at the Met. Now 3-D scanners will make a digital “cast” of the sculptures to once again adorn the chateau in Dordogne, France.