The Easel

10th December 2019

The Baltimore Museum of Art Made a Pledge to Buy Art by Women. Is It Just a Stunt?

Just 4% of artworks held by the Baltimore Museum of Art are by women artists. <Blink> The museum now proposes a “canon correction” – in 2020 it will only purchase works by women. Women’s groups seem underwhelmed. Curators can propose new directions, but “museum committees review them, and the board of trustees approves them.” Such changes to acquisition processes “can take years to reach a verdict”.

3rd December 2019

Why Video Is the Art Form of the Moment

Calling video the “art form of the moment” is probably over-stating it. Still, something is happening. Critical recognition is getting easier for video artists, judging by recent Turner Prize nominees. Collectors are still cautious – that may well change now that museums are more actively collecting.  New digital technologies are allowing the creation of immersive, interactive environments, a possible future competitor to the cinema.