The Easel

8th August 2017

Japanese Bamboo Art: The Abbey Collection, The Met, New York

Bamboo’s great virtue is strength with flexibility. Its cultural significance in Japan is expressed in many ways, one of which is basketry. Since the 19th century basketry has evolved from decorative art to a fully developed art form. As one critic notes “In a show like this, baskets can start to look like one of the world’s most complete, resonant art mediums.” An interesting time lapse video is here and more images here.

Philippe de Montebello on How the Metropolitan Museum of Art Can Reclaim Its Glory

De Montebello mulls over ructions at his former institution and advocates that it – and perhaps other museums – follow a non-populist role for museums. As director “I concern myself with the very long term. It’s a fiction that everyone loves contemporary art …the contemporary art world is a very small world. Something is trending? Museums shouldn’t be trending! They should set trends.”