Rare gold jewelry that dates all the way back to the 9th century has been returned to Cambodia, the southeast Asian country’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts announced Monday. 
In this stash of jewels were 77 gold relics, including crowns, bracelets, and necklaces that were believed to be looted from burial grounds and ancient tombs. They are being returned to Cambodia from the collection of Douglas Latchford, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64649771" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notorious</a> British art dealer who has been accused of trafficking looted artifacts and had been indicted in the United States. 
“It was not in any published books. The issue now is the team here has to evaluate it and look at each piece,” Brad Gordon, legal advisor to the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/ancient-khmer-crown-jewels-returned-to-cambodia-from-notorious-art-dealer-s-family-20230220-p5cm1l.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “It’s 77 objects altogether and the [National Museum of Cambodia] did not have much in terms of gold, so this is much more than it had in its possession.”
“I keep talking to Cambodians today who were taking a look at it, and they were just so excited. They were thrilled and surprised,” he added.
Researchers believe some of the artifacts were once worn by early Angkorian kings from the Khmer empire in the 9th century, which <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Khmer_Empire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and southern Vietnam. Some of the pieces include a gold necklace with a purple stone, a gold headdress, a gold belt or waistband, and a crown made from hammered gold, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/arts/cambodia-gold-jewelry-royals-latchford.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. One thing all the items have in common is that they ended up in the possession of Latchford. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Cambodian researchers say they believe some of the gold adorned the earliest Angkorian kings, who founded the Khmer Empire and built its majestic temples. 
📷Cambodia Ministry of culture and fine arts. <a href="https://t.co/Bax4fMbRbE">https://t.co/Bax4fMbRbE</a> <a href="https://t.co/QCoQuiyD8l">pic.twitter.com/QCoQuiyD8l</a>
&mdash; Ticia Verveer (@ticiaverveer) <a href="https://twitter.com/ticiaverveer/status/1628189428823760898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The lootings <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/arts/cambodia-gold-jewelry-royals-latchford.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely</a> took place between the 1970s and 2000s. The 1970s was a period of great turmoil under the communist rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. During these years, an <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/the-khmer-rouge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> 1.7 to 2.2 million Cambodians died in what&#8217;s known as the Cambodian Genocide. 
In November 2018, Latchford was indicted on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and crimes related to the trafficking and looting of Cambodian antiquities, which he denied, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-kingdom-government-cambodia-e0d037dedbf5615609edf6f6f73a8b4a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>. Officials from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York claimed that Latchford &#8220;built a career out of the smuggling and illicit sale of priceless Cambodian antiquities.&#8221; Upon his death in August 2020 at the age of 88, the indictment was dismissed. 
Latchford’s daughter made an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-kingdom-government-cambodia-e0d037dedbf5615609edf6f6f73a8b4a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreement</a> with Cambodia in September 2020, a month after her father’s death, to return various items. This jewelry, some of which was in a London warehouse, was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/arts/cambodia-gold-jewelry-royals-latchford.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part</a> of that deal. Many artifacts had been returned in 2021. Additional items that have been returned to Cambodia come from the Denver Art Museum and other artifacts from the United States by their respective owners, likely because of their connection to Latchford. While some of these actions were voluntary, others were court-ordered, according to the AP. 
Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts secretary told the Times receiving these important artifacts was “getting back the crown jewels of the Angkor Empire.” He also claimed that Cambodia didn’t know many of the items even existed, adding “This is much more than what is in our museum.”

Angkor Thom Gate Cambodia

‘The Crown Jewels Of The Angkor Empire’: Looted Jewelry Returned To Cambodia, Culture And Arts Ministry Says

Archaeology

General

History

World

A guest at a Florida <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arts">art show</a> caused one of the sculptures on display to fall off a pedestal and shatter beyond repair.
Witnesses at the annual Art Wynwood event in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/miami">Miami</a> said a female art collector ruined a &#8220;Balloon Dog&#8221; statue from artist Jeff Koons by causing it to fall and break into hundreds of pieces. The estimated value of the 16-inch by 19-inch porcelain sculpture was $42,000. 
It happened during the art fair’s V.I.P. preview night for art collectors and other industry insiders.
&#8220;The collector never intended to break the sculpture, in fact she never touched it with her hands,&#8221; the gallery&#8217;s district manager, Cédric Boero <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/jeff-koons-balloon-dog-broken-miami/index.html">told</a> CNN. &#8220;It was the opening cocktail, lots of people were on our booth, she gave unintentionally a little kick in the pedestal, which was enough to cause the sculpture to fall down.&#8221;
&#8220;This kind of thing unfortunately happens, that is why the artwork was covered by insurance,&#8221; he continued.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness <a href="http://nytimes.com/2023/02/18/arts/jeff-koons-sculpture-broken-miami.html">told</a> The New York Times that the woman tapped the statue with her finger. 
Local artist and collector Stephen Gamson told the publication he thought the accident was a &#8220;performance&#8221; at first. “Before I knew it, they were picking up the Jeff Koons pieces in a dustpan with a broom,” he continued. 
&#8220;When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway,&#8221; Gamson said.
&#8220;Life just stopped for 15 minutes with everyone around,&#8221; Boero <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/18/arts/jeff-koons-sculpture-broken-miami.html">told</a> the NYT of the incident. He went on to say the woman responsible for shattering the piece was &#8220;very, very sorry&#8221; and &#8220;just wanted to disappear.&#8221;
Koons, who lives in York, Pennsylvania, is well known for his balloon dog sculptures and currently has 799 different versions in his repertoire. The sculptures range in size from 10 inches to over 10 feet tall. The artist said he’s planning to send one of his pieces to the moon next.
In 2019, a sculpture from Koons called &#8220;Rabbit&#8221; from 1986 was sold for $91 million at Christie&#8217;s New York. This sale became the most expensive art piece sold by a living artist at auction.  
The artist also <a href="https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/14/an-orange-balloon-dog-sold-for-58-4-million-so-here-are-10-cool-jeff-koons-balloon-pieces/">sold</a> &#8220;Balloon Dog (Orange)” for $58.4 million in 2013.
One art collector asked the gallery owner if they could purchase the broken pieces, the NYT noted, though at the time of publication that offer hadn’t been accepted yet. The broken sculpture pieces are currently being stored in a box pending the insurance review.

Balloon Dog Blue 2021 By Jeff Koons & Bernardaud

Art Show Visitor Shatters Jeff Koons ‘Balloon Dog’ Sculpture Worth $42,000: ‘Very, Very Sorry’

Art Show Visitor Shatters Jeff Koons 'Balloon Dog' Sculpture Worth $42,000: 'Very, Very Sorry'

Culture

Miami

U.S.

The art gallerist who deals in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunter Biden</a>&#8216;s artwork issued a fawning statement on Thursday about the first son&#8217;s paintings, just a day after Republicans requested his records.
George Berges, the owner of the George Berges art gallery in New York City, praised the younger Biden and his artwork effusively in a statement to the New York Post. Berges&#8217; statement came just a day after the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to him demanding he hand over any and all communications he may have had with the White House, as well as information on his dealings with Hunter Biden.
“I represent Hunter Biden because I feel that not only his art merits my representation, but because his personal narrative, which gives birth to his art, is very much needed in the world,” Berges said in his <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/26/hunter-biden-dealer-plugs-his-unrelenting-divinity-after-gop-sales-record-request/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> to the New York Post. “His is a story of perseverance; Hunter’s story reflects what I believe is the beauty of humanity, judged not by the fall, but by having the strength to rise up, by having the character required to change and the courage to do it. Hunter Biden’s art reflects all of that and more. His art gives us hope; it reminds us that tomorrow brings a new day, a new beginning, a new possibility.&#8221;
“Hunter Biden will become one of the most consequential artists in this century because the world needs his art now more than ever,&#8221; Berges continued. &#8220;In a world that beats us down, we need art in our lives that reminds of the unrelenting divinity within each of us.”
“Almost 10 years ago I opened a gallery that has a global perspective on the human experience and that seeks to find artists who I feel will be consequential not just in the art world but in the broader culture,” the art dealer went on. “Artists that are relevant to the times, not to esoteric circles where art and exhibitions come and go unnoticed by society, by the people, by culture, but relevant innovative artists and exhibitions that challenge us, and engage us.”
Berges told the outlet that further inquiries should be referred to his lawyers. He added that his primary focus is &#8220;the integrity of our artists and the privacy of our art collectors.&#8221;
Berges&#8217; fawning statement comes just a day after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-01-25-Letter-G.-Berges-HB-art.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Comer</a> (R-KY) sent a letter to Berges demanding information on Hunter Biden&#8217;s art dealings as part of their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-gop-will-trace-the-money-flowing-into-penn-biden-center-hunter-biden-art-sales-comer-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> into the Biden family&#8217;s business dealings. In the letter, Comer slammed Berges for not cooperating with the Committee when Republicans were in the minority, then requested the same information again.
In the letter, Comer demanded all relevant documents and communications between the dealer, his gallery, and the Biden White House or Hunter Biden; the agreements or contracts between Berges or the gallery and Hunter Biden; documents related to the prices for his artwork; any ethics guidelines set down in conjunction with the White House; and documents sufficient to show who attended the opening of Biden&#8217;s art shows and bought his pieces.

Hunter and Joe Biden

Hunter Biden’s Art Dealer Declares Him ‘One Of The Most Consequential Artists In This Century’ After House Demands His Records

Hunter Biden's Art Dealer Fawns Over First Son's Artwork After Oversight Committee Demands His Records

Executive

House Republicans

Hunter Biden

James Comer

New York Post

Politics

A state court building in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> unveiled a new art project that is not going over well online.
The sculpture, entitled &#8220;NOW,&#8221; was installed on the roof of the Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State, First Department on Madison Avenue last week as part of an art exhibit from artist Shahzia Sikander. The statue is meant to represent the legacy of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but New Yorkers and other viewers on Twitter noticed that the statue is both unsightly and unsettling.
Corporate consultant Andrew Beck shared pictures of the art installation in a Twitter thread. &#8220;A new statue atop a New York City courthouse,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;The artist says it’s part of an &#8216;urgent and necessary cultural reckoning underway as New York reconsiders traditional representations of power in public spaces and recasts civic structures to better reflect 21st-century social mores.’”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A new statue atop a New York City courthouse. The artist says it’s part of an “urgent and necessary cultural reckoning underway as New York reconsiders traditional representations of power in public spaces and recasts civic structures to better reflect 21st-century social mores.” <a href="https://t.co/4IFRj7hCsf">pic.twitter.com/4IFRj7hCsf</a>
— Andrew Beck (@AndrewBeckUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewBeckUSA/status/1618248543537606656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
The roof of the court building is lined with statues of famous lawgivers from history and legend. The statue is situated on the corner of the building, with brazen metal standing out against the weathered stone statues next to it. It depicts a woman with hair braided into long spirals like ram&#8217;s horns, and a web of tentacle-like protrusions at each arm, wearing a lace apron like the one Ginsburg wore over her robe, and standing on a pink lotus flower.
A profile for the statue written by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/arts/design/discrimination-sculpture-madison-park-sikander-women.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> said that the statue is the first female figure placed on the court building. “She [the statue] is a fierce woman and a form of resistance in a space that has historically been dominated by patriarchal representation,” Sikander told The New York Times. Sikander said she entitled the piece &#8220;NOW&#8221; because it is needed in the current year when abortion rights are being challenged in the wake of the Supreme Court returning abortion law to the states in Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#8217;s Health Organization.
Sikander has another piece with similar designs placed in the area. That statue, an 18-foot tall recreation of the same figure, but with a metal cage symbolizing a hoop skirt, is entitled &#8220;Witness&#8221; and is placed in Madison Square Park across from the court building. The two statues together are entitled, &#8220;Havah…to breathe, air, life.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” Never fading words by Coretta Scott King. Inspired and humbled that Havah..to breathe, air, life’ ‘NOW’ &amp; ‘Witness’ are open on MLK day Jan16, 2023 ✊🏽❤️⚖️ <a href="https://twitter.com/MadSqParkNYC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MadSqParkNYC</a> <a href="https://t.co/TSpDl5C4TH">pic.twitter.com/TSpDl5C4TH</a>
— Shahzia Sikander (@shahziasikander) <a href="https://twitter.com/shahziasikander/status/1615129164465729536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
But Twitter users immediately pointed out that besides being visually unpleasant, the sculpture idolizes abortion and has pagan or even demonic motifs.
&#8220;They turned abortion into a pagan idol to worship and put it on a courthouse,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/BillyGribbin/status/1618289675122388992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618289675122388992%7Ctwgr%5E30efe78ae6474befa57361f37ae990cc0100fe42%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FBillyGribbin2Fstatus2F1618289675122388992widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Billy Gribbin</a>, communications director for Republican Georgia Congressman Rich McCormick, wrote on Twitter.
&#8220;The New York Courthouse has added this aesthetic atrocity to its sculptures of great lawmakers,&#8221; Daily Wire podcast host <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewklavan/status/1618335013480828930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618335013480828930%7Ctwgr%5E77b5ab54309b7133ba8f47f37b91ec38f0e65aa4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fandrewklavan2Fstatus2F1618335013480828930widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Klavan</a> wrote. &#8220;It is meant to honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg&#8217;s pro-abortion stance by depicting a woman with demonic goat-horns who has clearly lost the power to reproduce. Or something.&#8221;
&#8220;The next Republican mayor of New York should not only remove but publicly destroy this monstrosity,&#8221; Daily Wire host <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1618358045003874306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618358045003874306%7Ctwgr%5E3a37c265f9e10933f3eb042594bc830d02ba9df4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fmichaeljknowles2Fstatus2F1618358045003874306widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a> added.
&#8220;New York has put an androgynous baphomet with tentacles digging into its own torso on top of the courthouse in order to ‘better reflect 21st century social mores.’” writer <a href="https://twitter.com/NoJesuitTricks/status/1618330987339059200?s=20&amp;t=K550eA55xVco3ZOA2HVw_w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Meeks</a> said. &#8220;Sounds about right.&#8221;
&#8220;[T]he ugliness is the point,&#8221; New Founding and American Firebrand digital director <a href="https://twitter.com/loganclarkhall/status/1618290699845373953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618290699845373953%7Ctwgr%5Ec9a4b5813dfee00c9d3ccbaa2ab44f549fce81dc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Floganclarkhall2Fstatus2F1618290699845373953widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Logan Hall</a> added.
&#8220;What a visual desecration of the landscape,&#8221; America First Legal Foundation founder <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenM/status/1618290002139701248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1618290002139701248%7Ctwgr%5Ea05c992adddc6075e77e9266e6cb27f1b7edc6db%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FStephenM2Fstatus2F1618290002139701248widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Miller</a> tweeted.
&#8220;WOW the baphomet/Aries symbolism is… a lot,&#8221; one Twitter user chimed in. &#8220;Especially given the opposite or sister sign Libra represents the scales of balance or ‘arms’ of Justice.&#8221;

NYC Court Sculpture

‘They Turned Abortion Into A Pagan Idol’: New York Courthouse Installs Statue Symbolizing Abortion And RBG

New York Courthouse Installs Statue Symbolizing Abortion And Ruth Bader Ginsburg, And Social Media Has Thoughts

New York City

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Statues

Twitter

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Jamie Lee Curtis</a> just issued a statement responding to criticism earlier this week about a strange piece of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arts">art</a> in her home.
“Last week I posted a picture of some chairs that included a photograph on the wall by an artist that was gifted to me 20 years ago,” she <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CnmuH6CvFEs/?hl=en">wrote</a> as an explanation. “I understand it has disturbed some people. As I have said, I am a truth teller, so here’s the truth.”
She went on to defend the photo.
“It’s a picture of a child, taken by her mother, of her playing in their backyard in a tub of water. Nothing more, nothing less. I took down the post because I didn’t want to keep something up that upset anyone,” she wrote.
The image in question showed a child in what appeared to be a plastic tub of water. It was created by artist Betsy Schneider, who social media users discovered had several other <a href="http://www.betsyschneider.com/new-gallery">photos</a> of nude children in her image portfolio.
An image of the photo hanging on Curtis&#8217; wall originally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/strong-epstein-vibes-jamie-lee-curtis-posts-deletes-artwork-featuring-naked-child-stuffed-in-a-box">went viral</a> when it was shared on Twitter.
“Why does Jamie Lee Curtis have a picture of a naked child stuffed inside a suitcase on her wall? Strong Epstein vibes,” podcast host Stew Peters shared alongside a screenshot of Curtis’ original Instagram post.
“5 days ago Hollywood has-been Jamie Lee Curtis posted a vaccine ad for Pfizer on Instagram,” Rogan O’Handley shared with his followers. “3 days ago she posted an extremely disturbing picture she has in her home of a child stuffed in a suitcase. We have serious questions.”
Curtis’s explanation about the art on her wall isn’t sitting well with some of her followers, who claim it’s still creepy. 
“Jamie Lee Curtis clarifies THAT artwork on her wall by revealing it&#8217;s an image of a naked child taken by the kid&#8217;s mother &#8216;playing&#8217; in a tub of water, which was then gifted to Curtis,” one response <a href="https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/1616129312322732042">said</a>. “Well, that explains it then. Totally normal. I prefer landscapes.”
“Nah sis, there ain’t no logical explanation for having a picture of a naked child contorted in a tub of water in your home,” an Instagram user wrote in the comments. 
“Especially a child you don’t know. And there’s no logical explanation for a mother selling a picture of their naked child in a tub of water. I don’t see how it’s in any way cute or appropriate. I wouldn’t even post a picture like that of my child on social media. And if someone gifted me that, I’d be concerned about their thought process.”

2019 American Music Awards – Red Carpet

Jamie Lee Curtis Responds To Photo Of Naked Child In A Box: ‘Here’s The Truth’

Jamie Lee Curtis Responds To Photo Of Naked Child In A Box: 'Here's The Truth'

Celebrities

Entertainment

Instagram

Actress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamie Lee Curtis</a> is facing criticism for a now-deleted Instagram post featuring a piece of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">art</a> hanging in her home.
&#8220;Ok. This is a weird post. But I have Covid, so f*** it. During one of the SAG nomination panels for @everythingeverywheremovie I told the story of how I ended up with my office furnished with my beautiful Pollack chairs from that movie,&#8221; she wrote in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/instagram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> image caption.
&#8220;I mentioned if people followed me, that was not a cheap trick to try to get people to boost my numbers, but I couldn&#8217;t figure out how else to get the picture out into the world, that I would post a picture of them on my IG in my offices for @comet.pictures and I am a truth teller so here you go.&#8221;
The photo featured a table and chairs, but followers immediately noticed the artwork hanging on the wall. The image showed what appeared to be a naked child stuffed into a box. Many social media users called Curtis out, after which she deleted the post entirely.
“Why does Jamie Lee Curtis have a picture of a naked child stuffed inside a suitcase on her wall? Strong Epstein vibes,” podcast host Stew Peters shared alongside a screenshot of Curtis&#8217; original Instagram post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Why does Jamie Lee Curtis have a picture of a naked child stuffed inside a suitcase on her wall?
Strong Epstein vibes. <a href="https://t.co/DJSIaZkkVm">pic.twitter.com/DJSIaZkkVm</a>
&mdash; Stew Peters (@realstewpeters) <a href="https://twitter.com/realstewpeters/status/1615447979715878937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;5 days ago Hollywood has-been Jamie Lee Curtis posted a vaccine ad for Pfizer on Instagram,&#8221; wrote Rogan O’Handley. &#8220;3 days ago she posted an extremely disturbing picture she has in her home of a child stuffed in a suitcase. We have serious questions.&#8221;
The <a href="https://afvs.fas.harvard.edu/people/betsy-schneider">piece</a> is called “The Tub” (2003) and is attributed to artist Betsy Schneider. 
This incident comes at a time when social media users are on high alert following the Balenciaga ad campaign featuring children holding teddy bears wearing bondage-themed gear. The high fashion house yanked the campaign following public outcry and apologized for its misstep.
“This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images. The responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone,” the company said in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/balenciaga-responds-to-child-bdsm-photo-shoot-scandal-we-could-have-done-things-differently">statement</a>.
A second Balenciaga shoot also became the topic of conversation. It featured an art book by Belgian artist Michael Borremans, who is known for creating controversial pieces involving naked children being covered in blood or maimed.

The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures Opening Gala – Arrivals

‘Strong Epstein Vibes’: Jamie Lee Curtis Posts, Deletes Artwork Featuring Naked Child Stuffed In A Box

Jamie Lee Curtis Posts, Deletes Artwork Featuring Naked Child Stuffed In A Box

Children

The Embrace Statue

After The MLK Debacle, Here Are The Top 10 Statue Fails

Martin Luther King Jr.

Readers Pass

A family member of Coretta Scott King, the wife of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., despises a new monument unveiled late last week in Boston to honor him.
The 22-foot tall bronze statue, dubbed “The Embrace,” was meant to capture a hug Dr. King shared with his wife after he won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monument-honoring-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-coretta-scott-king-unveiled-boston-the-embrace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-reader-unique-id="4">reported</a>.
It cost $10 million and was designed by Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group, the report said, and is located in Freedom Plaza of the Boston Common.
“The mainstream media … was reporting on it like it was all beautiful, ’cause they were told they had to say that,” Seneca Scott, Coretta’s cousin, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/15/woke-mlk-penis-statue-insults-black-community-coretta-scott-king-kin/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter">told</a> the New York Post. “But then when it came out, a little boy pointed out — ‘That’s a penis!’ and everyone was like, ‘Yo, that’s a big old d***, man.&#8221;
“If you had showed that statute (sic) to anyone in the hood, they’d have been like, ‘No, absolutely not,’&#8221; he continued, according to the Post. “Ten million dollars were wasted to create a masturbatory metal homage to my legendary family members — one of the all-time greatest American families.”
Seneca Scott blamed &#8220;woke&#8221; activists.
“The woke algorithm is just broke, I don’t know what else to tell you,&#8221; he said. “If you went through all of that and that’s what you came up with, something’s wrong.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: The bronze sculpture called “The Embrace” honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King has just been unveiled on the Boston Common <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7news?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7news</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLKWeekend?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLKWeekend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLKDay2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLKDay2023</a> <a href="https://t.co/IckphP15FL">pic.twitter.com/IckphP15FL</a>
&mdash; Amaka Ubaka (@AmakaUbakaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmakaUbakaTV/status/1614002232180998145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of Embrace Boston, the group responsible for overseeing the installation of the statue, said that he cried when he first saw it.
“And someone said to me, before I saw it for the first time, ‘Imagine when you see it, you’re going to cry,’” Jeffries said. “And I said, ‘I’ve seen monuments before. I’m not going to cry when I see a monument.’ And I actually did.”
“And despite the fact that we’re in the middle of the city, it is a quiet place. And so it’s a place of both contemplation and joy simultaneously,” he said. “And so I think it’s one of America’s most miraculous pieces of public art.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mlks-the-embrace-statue-unveiled-in-boston-and-people-have-thoughts-hideous-and-depressing">MLK&#8217;s &#8216;The Embrace&#8217; Statue Unveiled In Boston And People Have Thoughts: &#8216;Hideous And Depressing&#8217;</a>

$10M ‘Wasted’: Family Of Coretta Scott King Has Crude Comparison For MLK Statue

Family Of Coretta Scott King Has Crude Comparison For MLK Statue

Boston

Massachusetts

monuments

VATICAN CITY — The Italian company accused in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/italian-firm-peddling-rights-to-vaticans-priceless-art-attorney-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombshell Daily Wire report</a> of improperly selling licensing rights to the Holy See’s vast trove of priceless art denied wrongdoing in a statement Wednesday even as reports suggested Pope Francis is looking into the matter.
Scripta Maneant, which a New York attorney accused of misrepresenting itself as the custodian of rights to art including masterworks by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, denied that it had ever claimed the authority to broker rights to images and video of the art owned by Vatican Museums. The denial came after the Italian press picked up the story and preceded statements from other key subjects of the unfolding story.
“Scripta Maneant has never claimed and never will claim to be able to assign any image or any image license to anyone, either for this kind of activity or for activities of a more purely editorial nature,” Scripta Maneant CEO Giorgio Armaroli said in a statement released hours after the Daily Wire report.
Armaroli said that his company, which in 2015 secured rights to Vatican art for a high-end book that sold for $22,000, had entered into talks with New York-based Museum Masters International (MMI), which sought rights to Vatican art for a virtual exhibition. MMI was at the time represented by attorney Sarah Speno, who told The Daily Wire she came to question whether Scripta Maneant had the Vatican’s permission to broker licensing rights.
The Daily Wire reported that correspondence between Speno and Scripta Maneant from over the summer revealed that the Italian company claimed to be working with Vatican Museums Vice Director Monsignor Paolo Nicolini when it sought an $82,500 advance from MMI for a mid-six-figures deal. But when Speno pressed for assurance that Scripta Maneant was indeed authorized to broker rights to the artworks, her concerns were not put to rest.
“How can we ask the Vatican on Monday to authorize us to transfer the rights of Sistina virtually for the world (their most precious and sacred asset) to a defaulting customer?&#8221; Armaroli wrote in a September 10 email obtained by The Daily Wire. &#8220;The Vatican now … asks us not to disclose the authorization letter to MMI until payment has been made … therefore I really don’t understand how to fix the problem without your making such a payment.”
Armaroli&#8217;s reaction heightened Speno&#8217;s suspicions, eventually resulting in the deal being scuttled.
The Daily Wire revealed that at least one other company had used images and video of Vatican art for an “immersive” exhibit after striking a deal with Scripta Maneant. But Nicolini told The Daily Wire he had never signed off on allowing Scripta Maneant to act as an agent of the Vatican in such deals.
In his statement, Armaroli said the aborted deal with MMI would have involved his company’s close involvement and indicated that it would have been subject to other unspecified “agreements,” although he provided no claim or evidence of an ongoing contractual relationship with the Vatican.
“In the present case, we were to produce a series of videos intended to give rise to the above-mentioned virtual exhibition,” he said. “These videos are then marketed by us through a ‘license,’ which stipulates that the use be made according to very detailed agreements.”
As Armaroli was releasing his statement, MMI chief Marilyn Goldberg released a statement of her own disavowing Speno. Goldberg said MMI fired Speno after the attorney advised MMI not to go through with the deal and said she intended to go public with her suspicions about Scripta Maneant.
“We prepared to pay the $82,500 advance refundable guarantee, [but] Ms. Speno advised us NOT to pay, because she stated that it (document submitted by Scripta Maneant, which were referenced in correspondence as ‘proof of Vatican approval’) was not an authentic signature, and that it was a fraud.”
That prompted MMI to drop Speno, who then made good on her pledge to go public with her suspicions.
“We immediately terminated her because we never approved any negativity against Scripta Maneant, Vatican Museum, or the Vatican,” Goldberg said.
The Vatican has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Speno says she acted because she believes the cash-strapped Holy See may have been deprived of substantial revenue, potentially for years. On Wednesday, the Italian newspaper <a href="https://www.ilmessaggero.it/vaticano/musei_vaticani_truffa_furto_opere_arte_ultime_notizie-7113119.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Il Messaggero</a> confirmed that a November meeting between Pope Francis and Nicolini had been prompted by a Daily Wire inquiry and concerned the sale of rights to Vatican art. Il Messaggero also reported that the Vatican is conducting an investigation into the matter, although another outlet, <a href="https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/22_dicembre_15/maxi-truffa-vaticano-diritti-cappella-sistina-51fd00c5-89cc-4c0b-8fe6-7d7cce955xlk.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Corriere della Sera</a>, quoted a Vatican Museums source saying there is no investigation ongoing.
Speno told The Daily Wire she had simply performed due diligence while serving as MMI&#8217;s attorney and sought to ensure that her client was legally obtaining rights to high-resolution digital images of artworks owned by the Vatican.
“As with any jurisdiction or country, there are always ‘bad actors’ to avoid, who pretend they own legal rights for exploitation commercially,” Speno said.
Scripta Maneant and MMI now seem to be working together to “exculpate Scripta Maneant from any exposure to the Vatican,” the attorney said.
“It is also clear that MMI/Marilyn Goldberg believes, today, that collaborating with Scripta Maneant, clearly a ‘bad actor,’ is in their best interests,” Speno said, adding that Scripta Maneant has still never demonstrated it is authorized to license images of Vatican artworks.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/italian-firm-peddling-rights-to-vaticans-priceless-art-attorney-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Related: Italian Firm Peddling Rights To Vatican’s Priceless Art, Attorney Says</a>

Pope Francis Attends His Weekly General Audience In The Pope Paul VI Hall At The Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022.

Italian Firm Denies Claims It Peddled Rights To Priceless Vatican Art After Daily Wire Report

The Vatican

VATICAN CITY— Rights to the Vatican Museums&#8217; priceless trove of art treasures may have been illegally sold without the Holy See&#8217;s approval in what one attorney described as a “high-tech heist,” according to a Daily Wire investigation.
The Vatican Museums own some 70,000 works of art, including works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s ceiling mural in the Sistine Chapel. Its museums draw over <a href="https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/05/21/the-profitable-vatican-museums-remain-closed-look-toward-a-june-opening/">six million visitors annually</a> and bring in more than $120 million in revenue. But an Italian company is allegedly selling the rights to reproduce the Vatican artwork in six-figure deals, while claiming to be working in “collaboration with” the Vatican Museums.
“This scheme is nothing less than a pre-meditated, high-tech heist of world-class treasured art from the Vatican Museums under the disguise of bogus licenses, as if sanctioned by the Vatican,” Sarah Rose Speno, a New York attorney, told The Daily Wire.
Rights to reproduce the art could bring in needed revenue for the Vatican, which reported a deficit of more than <a href="https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=192954">$3 million</a> last year amid ongoing <a href="http://www.theepochtimes.com/">financial</a> and sex abuse scandals. Speno believes the parties misappropriating rights to Vatican artwork housed exclusively within Vatican Museums and under the jurisdiction of the Vatican are in effect stealing from the Holy See.
Speno said she stumbled upon the alleged scheme in March when she sought permission to use images of Vatican art for an exhibition by a client.
<div id="attachment_464793" style="width: 527px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464793" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-464793" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-16-at-10.10.01-AM-300x269.png" alt="Speno, an attorney who has done contract work for decades, said the Italian company's demands raised her suspicions." width="517" height="463" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-16-at-10.10.01-AM-300x269.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-16-at-10.10.01-AM-643x576.png 643w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-16-at-10.10.01-AM-768x688.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-16-at-10.10.01-AM.png 824w" sizes="(max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px" />Speno, an attorney who has done contract work for decades, said the Italian company&#8217;s demands raised her suspicions. (Sarah Speno)</div>
“We discovered that a large table book had been published with high-resolution images of the interiors of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel,” Speno said. “We very much wanted to pursue an opportunity to license these images, as soon as possible.”
Speno, who has worked on licensing contracts for more than 30 years, contacted <a href="https://www.scriptamaneant.com/sm/negozio/la-cappella-sistina-3-volumi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scripta Maneant</a> — the Italian publisher that licensed the photos in the book. Scripta Maneant claimed authority to broker the publishing rights via its “collaboration” with Vatican Museums vice director, Monsignore Paolo Nicolini. Scripta Maneant wanted $550,000 for the rights — with a portion being paid to the Vatican through Nicolini, according to Speno. Although Scripta Maneant claimed the fee would be shared with the Vatican, Speno said she later became suspicious.
“The Scripta Maneant scheme became obvious when the Scripta principals demanded a cash wire in the amount of $82,500 no later than their return from summer holiday in late August,” Speno said. “They said that they would produce Vatican approval for our Italian Renaissance Immersive project ‘if and only if’ the fee were wired to the Scripta bank account they provided. It was at this point that grave suspicion entered my mind.”
Ultimately, Speno said, “we terminated the deal when Scripta could not provide us with documented consent by the Vatican.”
According to the contract Scripta Maneant provided Speno, the company had been given exclusive access to the Sistine Chapel by the Vatican Museums back in 2015. But documents reviewed by The Daily Wire suggest that the deal only covered access to take high-resolution images of Vatican artwork for a limited edition book, priced at over $22,000 a copy. Vatican Museums told The Daily Wire that Scripta Maneant’s licensing rights to the images obtained in 2015 were contractually restricted — limited solely to their company, for one project. No exclusive, unlimited, worldwide rights were provided, and no rights to sub-license the photos of Vatican Museums artwork to third parties were granted, officials said.
Nicolini, whom Scripta Maneant cited as its authorizing Vatican contact, told The Daily Wire he never gave Scripta Maneant approval to broker rights to Vatican art images. He denied Scripta Maneant’s claims it had rights to reuse or sub-license images from the 2015 contract. He also adamantly denied handling any funds related to the Vatican’s dealings with Scripta Maneant.
Communications reviewed by The Daily Wire indicate Scripta Maneant sold licensing rights over a year ago to <a href="https://lighthouseimmersive.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lighthouse Immersive</a> for its “<a href="https://immersivevatican.com/home-old/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Immersive Vatican</a>” exhibition, which launched in October. Speno suspects that exhibition was facilitated by a Scripta Maneant contract much like the one she rejected.
“At the same time my investors received their &#8216;exclusive license agreement&#8217; from Scripta, Lighthouse Immersive announced their ‘Immersive Vatican Exhibition in collaboration with The Vatican,’” Speno said.
“Immersive Vatican” appears set to follow Lighthouse Immersive’s other events, such as “<a href="https://immersive-kingtut.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Immersive King Tut</a>,” nationwide. According to its website, visitors in Boston paid up to $79.99 to experience “the art world’s best-kept secrets” and “iconic and rarely seen masterpieces brought to life.” The site touted the event as being conducted in “collaboration with the Vatican.”
Nicolini denied any knowledge of Lighthouse Immersive or Scripta Maneant’s dealings with the company. He said no contracts permitting rights to artwork exist between Lighthouse Immersive and the Vatican Museums, or through Scripta Maneant on behalf of Lighthouse Immersive.
Lighthouse Immersive creative consultant <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-ouzounian-842b204/?originalSubdomain=ca" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Richard Ouzounian</a> told The Daily Wire his company obtained the high-resolution images and rights to use them from Scripta Maneant. When The Daily Wire asked to what extent Lighthouse Immersive was “in collaboration with the Vatican,” as stated on advertisements and their website, Ouzounian said that Vatican officials &#8220;did not have to approve it.&#8221; “They did not have veto power over it,” said Ouzounian.
Ouzounian said his company’s deal via Scripta Maneant gave Lighthouse Immersive rights to “reproduce artwork from the Vatican Museums, which include all paintings, sculptures, frescos, architecture, blueprints and artifacts.” He declined to say how much his company paid Scripta Maneant.
The Daily Wire reached out to Lighthouse Immersive co-founder Svetlana Dzoretsky and Operations and Special Projects Manager Natasha Abramova to seek clarification of their claims to licensing rights.
“Please know that at Lighthouse, we work very carefully to obtain all the appropriate documents when producing our exhibits,” Dzoretsky replied.
Lighthouse Immersive declined further inquiry and did not provide additional documents.
Scripta Maneant head of logistics, Francesco Iori, told The Daily Wire his company has done nothing wrong.
“I can assure that all the materials used have been approved and we have all the documents needed,” Iori wrote in an email.
When asked to provide documentation of its licensing rights, Iori said he would need approval from the Vatican. Although he proposed coordinating a three-way call between him, The Daily Wire, and Lighthouse Immersive officials, he declined to follow through when The Daily Wire insisted the call be recorded and on the record.
Scripta Maneant subsequently threatened to sue The Daily Wire for defamation.
Speno said she raised her concerns to Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, who told her he would report the allegations to the Secretariat of State. Cardinal Farrell did not respond to a request for comment. On November 7, Pope Francis met privately with Nicolini, according to the <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2022/11/07/221107a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Holy See Press Office Bulletin</a>. It is not known what the two discussed.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/italian-firm-denies-claims-it-peddled-rights-to-priceless-vatican-art-after-daily-wire-report">Italian Firm Denies Claims It Peddled Rights To Priceless Vatican Art After Daily Wire Report</a>
<div dir="auto">Editor&#8217;s Note: In accordance with Article 8 of the Italian Law regulating the Press, we are publishing the following “Rectification Request” statement drafted by Scripta Maneant: </div>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">
<div dir="auto">“In relation to the news article published by The Daily Wire entitled, &#8216;Italian Firm Peddling Rights To Vatican’s Priceless Art, Attorney Says,&#8217; published 14 December 2022, the editorial staff announces that the party to which this affair would have been attributed firmly disputes the reconstruction made and declares that the alleged facts declared by the online periodical DailyWire.com do not correspond to the truth.</div>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">&#8220;The company Scripta Maneant (SM) offers itself on international markets with high quality editorial products and recently also in the production of immersive exhibitions because, at the moment, it appears to be the only Italian company that has requested and obtained from the MISE a specific patent concerning photographic shootings reserved for works of art, thanks to which it is possible to obtain immersive experiences of high artistic value.</div>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">&#8220;The allegations made against MS are defamatory and untruthful. SM reserves the right to intervene through its lawyers to protect its image and its business, members and employees, if such dissemination of defamatory accusations is not immediately withdrawn.”</div>
</div>

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Italian Firm Peddling Rights To Vatican’s Priceless Art, Attorney Says

Italian Firm Peddling Rights To Vatican's Priceless Art, Attorney Says

Italy

Religion

Famed auction house Christie’s is pushing a non-fungible token (NFT) this week: the infamous 1987 work from artist Andres Serrano titled “Piss Christ,” a photo of a crucifix submerged in a glass tank allegedly filled with Serrano’s urine.
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American photographer/artist <a href="https://twitter.com/andres_artwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@andres_artwork</a> is best known for pushing boundaries.
Case in point: “Piss Christ,” a photograph of a crucifix submerged in what is widely speculated to be the artist’s urine. The iconic piece will now be available as an NFT for the very first time. <a href="https://t.co/Zd7xeAQwSS">pic.twitter.com/Zd7xeAQwSS</a>
&mdash; nft now (@nftnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/nftnow/status/1596989377564921856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) partially funded “Piss Christ,” precipitating outrage. The photo received a $15,000 award from the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, which was funded partly by the NEA. In 1989, New York GOP Senator Alfonse D’Amato called Piss Christ “a deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity” on the Senate floor and tore up an image of the photograph.
“What it symbolizes is the way Christ died: the blood came out of him but so did the piss and the s***,” Serrano told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/apr/03/andres-serrano-interview-donald-trump-piss-christ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a> in 2016. “Maybe if Piss Christ upsets you, it&#8217;s because it gives some sense of what the crucifixion actually was like &#8230; I was born and raised a Catholic and I&#8217;ve been a Christian all my life.”
“The dynamic video NFT replicates three historic vandalisms of the original 1987 photograph on a yearly cycle. [Skillfully] applying the time-based mechanisms of digital art, Serrano both archives and transforms the story of his infamous photograph, underscoring its enduring legacy in the history of art and the right to creative expression,” Christie’s <a href="https://www.christies.com/features/andres-serrano-transfigures-piss-christ-into-nft-12556-3.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boasts</a>.
The NFT was produced in collaboration with a/political, an organization whose <a href="https://about.apolitical.co/our-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">co-founder</a>, Lisa Witter, has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/global-womensrights-top100-idINKCN1T000R" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “It’s time to showcase the inspirational people who are pioneering change and shaping gender policy around the globe.”
In 2019, a/political released its Gender Equality Top 100 list which included people such as transgender rights activist Sarah McBride, who works at the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, and Leana Wen, the then-head of Planned Parenthood.
In 2019, Christie’s was one of the first businesses to <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/christies-asks-excluded-trumps-tariffs-chinese-imports-claiming-cause-significant-loss-business-1695027" target="_blank" rel="noopener">file for exemption</a> against former President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese art and antiques. Those tariffs imposed a 15% duty on seven types of artwork and antiques from China.
“It also will severely impact the U.S. art market as a whole, drying up any ability to purchase Chinese artworks outside of the United States,” Christie’s declared. “Punishing the U.S. art market in this manner flies in the face of an important American value of support for the art world.”
In March 2021, Christie’s announced a global sustainability initiative. Prior to that, in 2019, Christie’s <a href="https://www.christies.com/home/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility/sustainability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sold</a> the personal guitar collection of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour for $21.5 million; all proceeds went to ClientEarth.

Auction Houses Charged with Conspiring to Fix Rates

Famed Auction House Christie’s Pushes New ‘Piss Christ’ NFT

Famed Auction House Christie’s Pushes New 'Piss Christ’ NFT

Christie's

Jesus Christ

United Kingdom

The following is a transcript excerpt from Dr. Jordan Peterson’s new series on marriage. You can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/negotiation">watch</a> the special on DailyWire+.
Episode time: 9:44
Tammy and I collected a lot of art. This is part of beautifying the house, let’s say — not just putting it in order. I went online (on eBay mostly), and I looked at, I think, a million paintings. I looked at 300 or 400 paintings a day for six years, and I bought about 500 paintings. And for those of you who think you can’t afford art, art is free; taste is expensive. If you develop your taste, you can find art online for nothing. I bought collections of 40 Impressionist paintings from Russia for like $200 — $5 a painting. You can afford that, but you have to have some taste.
I would go in and look at hundreds of paintings and then I’d select like 20, and I’d print them out, put them on the floor, and then Tammy would come in, and I’d say, ‘Get rid of 15 of these. Which ones have flaws?’ She’d point out the flaws, and then we’d end up with a collection of about five, and I’d buy them. Then we put art all over the house — like 300 paintings. Some of them were pretty brutal because I bought a lot of Soviet realist art. Some of that featured Lenin and, you know, he was a very bad guy. And some of it featured war scenes, so there was a real harshness. I was studying propaganda and totalitarianism, and so that was kind of rough. Then we renovated our house and took all the art out, and then we got sick. The art didn’t make it back.
So we started to negotiate again about bringing the art in-house. And it was real tense for a while because Tammy had made the house bright and airy — because it was a dark house, semi-detached, without very many windows, hard to make it light — and she didn’t really want to have the war and propaganda paintings back. But I really liked some of them. They were very high-quality paintings and I had focused a lot on totalitarianism. So that was kind of a sticking point for us. And then I thought, ‘Well, maybe those paintings served their purpose. And they are kind of dark and we have a lot of other paintings, so maybe we could just decorate the house with the other paintings, and we could try that and see how it goes.’ So we decided to do that, and then we put up all the paintings. We had to make joint decisions that appealed to both of our tastes, and we actually had a really fun time doing it. Now there’s like 150 paintings back up in the house, and it’s a very vivacious place, and it’s well lit. I liked it before — before we did the last renovation — but it’s better now.
One of the bones of contention was, I was buying these often museum-quality paintings that were made by expert artists — because the Russians kept their traditional art capacity and skill going even during the Soviet era, although it was subverted to propaganda often — but many of these paintings were very high quality. They’re up on the walls, and we had little kids around. Then the issue is, well, can the little kids touch the paintings? And is now the house such a museum that nobody can have any fun in it? Our jointly negotiated solution to that was, we’ll put the paintings up on the wall and we’ll have the kids, and if the paintings get damaged — apart from stupidity on the part of the children which we’ll stop — that’s life. They’re not behind glass. This isn’t a sterile environment. It’s a welcoming environment. Plus, it turns out that oil paintings on canvas are unbelievably tough, even if you dent the hell out of them. Julian dented one with a basketball and put a pretty decent size bulge in it, and I found out if you just sprayed the back of the canvas with water, it would shrink and tighten back up. No chips. Oil paintings are tough and so that was fine. But we had to negotiate that. That was a balance between order and chaos, right? Because the paintings are on the walls, and they’re all placed very carefully because we looked at a lot. We put every painting in the place we thought it was best, and we went through every room like that multiple times.
You get your house in order, but you allow for that interleaving of chaos because there have to be dogs and cats and children and guests, and they have to be able to disrupt things while they’re alive, just like you do. So it can’t be too sterile and perfect because that’s a tyranny. And so you set that up — that order and the balance between order and chaos — and then you elevate that to beauty. That’s the next stage. You develop your artistic tastes doing that. That’s been very useful for both of us because Tammy’s become a better artist, and so have I because I’ve been able to see the world through the eyes of artists. We have a much more kinesthetic sense, which has helped me in clothing selection, for example. I have a much deeper and well-developed sense of geometric arrangement that’s pleasing synthetically because of studying suprematists and the constructivist artists. Plus, the house is real fun because it’s full of all these crazy paintings, and it’s a place that invites creativity. That was good for the kids when they were growing up because they had these great works of art on the wall, and they just took that as a matter of course. Our original house, before the last renovation, had 38 different paint colors in it, which was really lovely. The house is, in some sense, a work of art, but it’s also a habitable work of art. That’s really fun, and that’s all been a consequence of intense negotiation.
I’ve lived in many houses and I’ve renovated three almost from scratch — with other people’s help, obviously — but I’ve done a lot of the renovation work myself and so has Tammy, and a lot of the design work, and so we know the house. Any place in your house that you haven’t attended to in detail — and that might mean cleaned off with a cloth or brushed or sorted or organized or arrayed, your bookshelves, your drawers — is not part of the habitable order that is good. It’s part of chaos still, and you react to it as if it’s unfamiliar and foreign. That makes you uncomfortable and makes you feel not at home. The advantage you gain by pouring your attention into every nook and cranny in your house is that the house becomes familiar. The house turns into a home and that’s all a consequence of dedicated attention. And if you jointly dedicate your attention to that, then it’s the house that you both inhabit. If you do that properly, you produce a better house as a consequence of your dialogue than either of you would have produced in isolation even if you would have got exactly what you wanted. That’s a really good deal, and that’s a good mantra for negotiations.
<a href="https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1998 he served as assistant and then associate professor of psychology at Harvard. He is the international bestselling author of Maps of Meaning, 12 Rules For Life, and Beyond Order. You can now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast">listen</a> to or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/jordan-peterson">watch</a> his popular lectures on DailyWire+.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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