Category: By Amara Shorts

  • Amara Andrew

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    $77 million Museum Cover-up!

    How does a museum not have knowledge or at least footage of the people who broke over $77 million worth of priceless artifacts?!

    Transcript

    Imagine breaking about $77 million worth of stuff that isn’t yours.

    This is a really strange kind of story. Over the past 18 months, a bowl, a teacup, and a plate from the Ming and Qing dynasties were broken in 3 separate incidences at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum.

    The director of the museum has been accused of instructing the staff to cover up the incidences and to treat all paper work of these as classified. They deny covering things up. They just say it’s kind of been a “process.”

    What’s also sketchy about this, though, is that even though they’ve allegedly checked all their CCTV footage, they were unable to idenitfy who was responsible for 2 out of the three accidents.

    They were able to identify who was responsible for one incident, though!

    It was apparently a senior staff member who placed an artifact on a 3-foot high desk and it fell off of it. So, there’s one mystery solved!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    Fake Vermeer Painting: Update! 😱

    I have an update to the fake Vermeer painting that I covered a few weeks ago! 🎨🖼️

    Transcript

    So, in Episode 5, we talked about a fake Vermeer painting. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. figured out that the painting, “Girl with a Flute,” that’s in their collection wasn’t actually painted by Vermeer.

    They used formal analysis, which I’ve talked about before in some of my TikToks, where they looked at the physical, visual attributes of the artwork in question.

    That is how they were able to identify that this painting may not have been painted by Vermeer. There are some sceptics, though!

    So, even though the National Gallery of Art stated that they don’t believe this was painted by Vermeer, the Rijksmuseum stated that they believe this is inconclusive.

    The director of the Rijksmuseum stated that because Vermeer took so many different approaches in his career, we shouldn’t rule out that this was painted by Vermeer.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

    Read More: Fake Vermeer Painting: Update! 😱

  • Amara Andrew

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    Why are people protesting climate change with famous artworks?!

    Why are people protesting climate change using famous artworks? 🤔 Sure, your organization’s name ends up in headlines, but, beyond that, what good is this doing for your cause? And, more importantly, how does this help the environment?

    Transcript

    There have been a lot of activist protests in art museums lately. By the time this episode comes out, there will probably be like 10 others in this time span…

    …but why art museums?

    This is a question that a group of museum directors tried to figure out or at least have a discussion about. So, Weinberg, from the Whitney Museum responded, “It’s people putting themselves on a stage in order to bring attention to something. But you have to ask, does this really change anything? Does this really open up a question? And, also, is it an understanding of how art functions even in its time?”

    I think there are different ways to go about this. You’re making more work for the people who are not executives at these museums. People have to clean these up. These are the workers who are getting paid $15 an hour or something that have to deal with this.

    It’s worked because we’re talking about this, but, otherwise, I don’t know if it’s actually going to be successful in the long-run to get their message across.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

    Read More: Why are people protesting climate change with famous artworks?!

  • Amara Andrew

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    Mysterious 17th century painting identified!

    A mysterious 17th century painting from the Sursock Palace was damaged in an explosion in Beirut. It has now been identified as a work created by Italian Baroque artist, Artemisia Gentileschi!

    Transcript

    In August 2020, there was a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. This explosion killed 145 people and injured thousands.

    In addition to the loss of life, many, many buildings were damaged, including the Sursock Palace and Museum, which is the building we’re talking about today.

    Much of the palace was destroyed in this explosion and, amongst the wreckage, was this 17th century mystery painting. This piece had extensive damage, but this actually worked out because this was sent to be restored at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

    When restoration experts at the Getty were working on it, they were like, “Holy shit, this was made by Artemisia Gentileschi!”

    This particular painting depicts the Myth of Omphale and Hercules.

    It’s supposed to take until 2024 to complete the restoration. Once it’s finished, though, it’ll be exhibited at the Getty and will hang near another recently identified Gentileschi work titled, “Lucretia.”

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    The tomb of Santa Claus has been found!

    The tomb of Santa Claus was allegedly just found in Demre, Turkey!! That isn’t the only surprise that archaeologists found on this site, though!

    Transcript

    It’s a little early in the season, but we’re going to talk about Santa Claus, specifically the guy who inspired Santa Claus.

    Saint Nicholas was an actual person. He was an early Christian bishop who lived between 270-343 CE.

    The reason why we’re talking about Santa Claus is because of the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey.

    It’s believed an empty tomb that was found within the church during excavation work is St. Nicholas’ original resting place. They also found these really beautiful Byzantine mosaic floors.

    There was an old church on this site originally that’s from the 3rd century CE, Byzantine era church. This spot, however, flooded because of rising sea levels sometime during the Middle Ages, so they built this other church on top of the flooded one.

    Now, archaeologists are excavating in this 3rd century church, so they’ve found this tomb and also these Byzantine mosaic floors.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    Missing Cubist painting hidden in plain sight!

    On the back of Fernand Léger’s “Bastille Day” is a painting that’s been believed to have been missing for over 100 years!

    Transcript

    This is a painting by Fernand Léger. It was believed to have been lost for the last 100 years. It’s been found, but not how you might think!

    It’s believed that an unnamed piece from his “Smoke over the Rooftops” series was discovered on the back of “Bastille Day” that he painted in late 1912.

    “Bastille Day” was sold to the Dutch Triton Foundation in 1999 and they own it now.

    In 2016, they had restoration work done to “Bastille Day” and, apparently, restorers noticed something strange on the back. They had to remove a bunch of white-grey material as well as a backing board.

    When they peeled the backing board off, they noticed that there were distinctive painted forms and colors, depicting billowing smoke.

    This newly discovered painting is going to be displayed at the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands from November 19, 2022 – April 2, 2023.

    For the first time in its history, it’s going to be placed in a glass cabinet so you can see the paintings on either side!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    Shocking Frank Lloyd Wright home for sale!

    If you’ve ever wanted to own a Frank Lloyd Wright home, this might be your chance! It’s one of the most affordable Frank Lloyd Wright homes to ever be listed! 🏠

    Transcript

    This, without a doubt, is one of the most affordable Frank Lloyd Wright homes that’s ever been on the market.

    This is called the Socrates Zaferiou house. It sits on 2 ½ private acres, 4 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths.

    This property is a modified Usonian house…what the hell is that? “Usonian” was a term that Frank Lloyd Wright used to describe his properties and how they interacted with nature and included it, rather than discluding it. (That isn’t a word, but you know what I mean.)

    You’re probably wondering, how much does this cost? This particular property was listed by Sotheby’s for $1.52 million.

    That isn’t a lot of money when you consider that it’s a Frank Lloyd Wright home. I still think it’s an insane amount of money to spend on anything, but that isn’t a lot if you want to own this piece of historic architecture.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    Rarest image of Trojan War found!

    The rarest depiction of the Trojan War has been found buried under a building in Syria!

    Transcript

    This week, one of the rarest depictions of the Trojan War was found.

    While it’s not the oldest, archaeologists are calling it the rarest because it’s one of the most complete, intact mosaics that’s ever been found that’s depicting the Trojan War. That’s pretty frickin’ sweet!

    This mosaic was found underneath a building in Rastan, Syria. It’s dated around 1600 years old, so it was created sometime during the 4th century CE.

    This particular mosaic is believed to have been the flooring in an ancient bathhouse, but it’s not exactly known yet.

    So far, archaeologists have revealed 65 feet of this mosaic, but it’s believed to measure 1,300 square feet.

    They’ve got a lot of work ahead of them!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    Andy Warhol: copyright infringer?!

    The Andy Warhol Foundation is currently battling it out in the Supreme Court with noted photographer Lynn Goldsmith for a possible copyright infringement case 😅

    Transcript

    Even in death, Andy Warhol is still shaking up the art world.

    There’s a case against the Andy Warhol Foundation by photographer Lynn Goldsmith that he didn’t get proper license rights to reproduce her photograph of Prince.

    This dispute started in 2016 when Vanity Fair re-used a painting that was created by Warhol in the 1980s.

    The Warhol Foundation preemptively sued Goldsmith after concerns were being raised about the use of her image.

    This case has meandered through many different courts from 2016 to now, but it finally ended up in the Supreme Court which began its hearings on October 12.

    This case all hinges on copyright, particularly fair use. In this case, this particularly boils down to the commercial vs. non-commercial, and “transformative.” And, no, I don’t mean how your crystal retreat was in Sedona. I mean, how much it’s been changed from the original.

    I’m very curious to see where this goes. This will be a really big case and will be used in many art classes for years to come.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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  • Amara Andrew

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    RIP Cartoon Network?!

    Since the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery in April 2022, a lot of changes have been made! But, most importantly, is this the end of Cartoon Network as we knew it?!

    Transcript

    Cartoon Network–are they dead?

    Fans got quite a shock this past week when rumors started circulating that Cartoon Network was no more. People were even using “#RIPCartoonNetwork” on Twitter.

    While Cartoon Network isn’t leaving us, something equally as terrible is happening.

    Eighty-two staffers in its scripted, unscripted, and animation departments got laid off last week. There are also 43 other vacant positions that are going to go unfilled.

    These are part of a $3 billion project that started April 2022 with the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery.

    Another interesting part of this merger is that Cartoon Network had its own level of autonomy, so they could make decisions in creative and operational matters. Now, however, they will not be able to do that. It’s just getting folded into the rest of the major company.

    That’s never happened before in the history of Cartoon Network.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

    Read More: RIP Cartoon Network?!