What We're Reading: 8/12/24

New Public Art Rides the Rails in Chicago, Timed to the Convention

Public art by world-renowned creators is a seminal part of Chicago’s urban landscape. Anish Kapoor’s beloved 2006 silver sculpture in downtown Millennial Park, known as “The Bean”(officially “Cloud Gate”), is as much a symbol of the city as Chicago’s sports stars and its skyscrapers.

Now, timed to the Democratic National Convention (Aug. 19-22), Chicago is debuting a new array of public art throughout the city, much of it by local talent, and all on democratic (with a lowercase “D”) themes.

Via The New York Times

Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund to Acquire Minority Stake in Sotheby’s in $1 Billion Investment Deal

ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, investment, and holding company, has entered into “a definitive agreement” to acquire a minority interest in Sotheby’s. The deal, valued at around $1 billion, will see ADQ purchasing newly issued shares of Sotheby’s. Patrick Drahi, the current majority owner of the auction house, will invest additional capital. The exact breakdown of the investment was not disclosed.

According to a press release, the capital infusion from the investment reflects Sotheby’s interest in the burgeoning economic diversification of the Abu Dhabi region. It’s likely that some of the funds will be earmarked for strengthening Sotheby’s finances and supporting the company’s ambitious and real estate expansion plans.

Via ARTnews

Was Manet’s Final Masterpiece Meant to Be a Riddle? Here Are 3 Facts About His Iconic Bar Scene

Edouard Manet’s last masterpiece, The Bar at Folies-Bergère, is also his most enigmatic. Painted in 1882, the year before he died, Manet was already in mounting physical decline and the artist knew his end was near. Which is to say, he painted The Bar with intentionality as a final testament. The same year it was created, The Bar was displayed at the Paris Salon. Manet’s history with the Salon was notoriously complex—he had often been rejected and, when his works were accepted, they were usually critically skewered (take for instance Olympia, from 1863, which people tried to attack). But the legacy of The Bar at Folies-Bergère has been enduring, if sphinx-like in its ambiguity. The art historian Griselda Pollock rightly deemed it “one of the canonical images for modernist art history.” But what does Manet’s final masterpiece mean?

Via Artnet

Image: Edouard Manet, A bar at the Folies-Bergere. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust.) ©The Courtauld.