Tuymans, Others Protest SMAK Director's Departure; Leipzig Museum Reopens; Artists Told to Pony Up at the Louvre
TUYMANS, OTHERS PROTEST SMAK DIRECTOR'S DEPARTURE
Peter Doroshenko has been relieved of his position as artistic director of the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK) in Ghent. The American curator succeeded Jan Hoet just one year ago, although the legendary Hoet, who headed SMAK from the time of its opening in 1999, has remained on the museum’s board. According to Belgian news service VRT, the museum now claims that "Doroshenko's vision and that of the board are too far apart." Luc Tuymans and Wim Delvoye are among the many artists and curators who have written letters of protest to the board. Tuymans accuses the museum of provincialism and claims that its artistic direction has been "kidnapped" by the old guard: "To us, it seems impossible to judge after only one year how successful Doroshenko has been. If a director is given an artistic mandate, then the board cannot take it away from him so quickly. The firing is far too sudden and the reasons are too vaguely formulated." But in an interview with the Brussels daily De Standaard, Tuymans strikes a more conciliatory note. "There is a vision for the future at SMAK," Tuymans told the paper, "one that can be realized without disavowing Jan Hoet."
LEIPZIG MUSEUM REOPENS
Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's Niklas Maak celebrates the opening of the new incarnation of Leipzig's Museum der bildenden Künste. Sixty-one years after the original museum was destroyed in World War II, its collection—one of the oldest and most important in Germany—has finally been reunited in one building. "An art association was founded in Leipzig in 1837 and in 1858 the old museum was built," writes Maak. "Yet since its destruction in 1943, one could only see parts of the collection of 3,500 paintings, one thousand sculptures and sixty thousand prints in makeshift venues around the city. The new building allows for the rediscovery of treasures that have been sleeping in the archives." The collection is presented on three floors. The first is dedicated to Leipzig artists Max Klinger and Max Beckmann, the second to Old Masters, and the third to 19th-century works. Contemporary art, including paintings by Neo Rauch and Daniel Richter, is scattered throughout the building.
ARTISTS TOLD TO PONY UP AT THE LOUVRE
The Louvre has caused a small scandal by canceling its longstanding policy granting free entrance to artists. As Le Monde's Harry Bellet reports, the decision comes at a particularly inopportune time, since the museum has recently promised to bring more contemporary art into its stately exhibition rooms. Members of the association Maison des artistes now must pay an annual membership fee of €30 ($40) to get the "Louvre professionnels" card, which is also available to teachers and critics. Artists have launched a protest, and seem to be gaining sympathy among politicians who are "disturbed" by this change in policy. It seems that the dispute has more to do with principle than with the nominal fee. "Artists were living in the Louvre during the reign of Henri IV, and the museum was created for them in 1793," Bellet notes. "Right up to 1855, they were the only ones who were able to visit the museum during the week—the public was admitted only on Sundays."