Reina Sofia Nixes ‘Guernica’ Photo Ban, Dior Designer Marc Bohan Dies at 97, and More: Morning Links for July 27, 2023

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The Headlines

PHOTOGRAPHER PATRICIA CAULFIELD, whose shot of flowers in Barbados was appropriated by Andy Warhol for his famed “Flowers” series, died in July at the age of 91, the New York Times reports. Caulfield sued Warhol, who had balked at purchasing her image after learning the price; in the resulting settlement, the Pop star created two “Flowers” paintings for her (his gallery, Castelli, sold them for $6,000, according to journalist Richard Sandomir), and he gave her a share of profits on a portfolio of “Flowers” prints. Caulfield was executive editor of Modern Photography, where the photo appeared, at the time, and she went on went on to have an acclaimed career photographing animal and plant life, inspired by the example of Eliot Porter.

ARTISTS ON THE RECORD. Artist and educator Sable Elyse Smith is having her first show with Regen Projects in Los Angeles, and chatted with Cultured. “I am interested in visual seduction, but I’m more interested in what happens once the viewer gets there, which is intense and sometimes uncomfortable,” she said. ● The multi-hyphenate poet and artist Julianknxx, aka Julian Knox, is currently showing a new film installation at the Barbican Centre’s Curve gallery in London that looks at communal singing in different cultures, and spoke with the Financial Times. “There’s a release and relief when people come together and sing together—even if they’re not the best singers,” he said. ● And Abdulrahman Adesola Yusuf, who goes by Arclight, and whose radiant works are inspired by life in his native Lagos, was profiled by CNN.

The Digest

Fashion designer Marc Bohan, who was artistic director of Dior from 1961 to 1989, has died at 97. Bohan took the helm of the brand after Yves Saint Laurent was drafted into the French army. In a statement, Dior termed him an “immense visionary and passionate creator.” [The Associated Press]

The Reina Sofia museum in Madrid is now allowing visitors to take photographs of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937), ending a ban that had been in place for more than three decades. Intriguingly, the hope is to reduce congestion around the painting, since “it only takes a few seconds to take a selfie,” a spokesperson said. [The Art Newspaper]

Sarah Burton will step down as creative director of Alexander McQueen after presenting a show at Paris Fashion Week on September 30, and depart Kering SA, the luxury firm founded by collector François Pinault. It’s “the latest in a string of management moves” there, Angelina Rascouet reports. [Bloomberg]

In an interview about his plans to open a branch in Tokyo, Pace Gallery CEO Marc Glimcher said that it is “hard to get the artists to show in Hong Kong,” but that the city “should retain its ability to be the meeting place for all of Asia.” He sees it as “kind of neutral territory,” but if that changes, “then it’s not going to have a role.” [The Japan Times]

London auctioneer Richard Beale pleaded guilty in New York to forging provenance materials in order to sell ancient coins. He faces 25 years in prison. [Artnet News]

The Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, which was founded in 1934 “to promote the study of philosophy, comparative religion, mysticism, and metaphysics,” has become a freewheeling venue for arts and cultural events of all kinds, Deborah Netburn reports. [Los Angeles Times]

The Kicker

A LIFE IN ART. The storied critic and curator Lucy Lippard has a new book out today, Stuff: Instead of a Memoir, and Hyperallergic has an excerpt. It touches on her time as a graduate student at the NYU Institute of Fine Arts, where her adviser was art historian Robert Goldwater, husband of artist Louise Bourgeois. At the time, Lippard writes, “Institute students were not allowed to work for a living, as it distracted from studies (assuming class superiority and financial support). Goldwater busted me working in the MoMA Library. I told him if I didn’t work I didn’t eat, that I was living with an artist and so was he, so he should know the economics. He concurred with a wry smile.” The rest is history! [Hyperallergic]