THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Michael Hardy
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgYtwvJfprIei-_wTUbTGhF-qD9RxrlHlHS7dYPFlrOsSGuAtUWDUd97a4o5Qh_yjkRJKaZ0vDQLY1wvaypPIHQOeBkjJYTl0H753gtmWvbu2h8xZPqY_nnlcvf8mYphLx6cZFNDF4jA/s400/merlin_141193179_266a744e-8a48-4a13-a7b5-f138bf0e3725-jumbo.jpg) |
Vincent Valdez’s “The City I,” at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Tex., depicts a modern-day Ku Klux Klan gathering. Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times |
AUSTIN, Tex. — The
Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin knew it had a painting on its hands that required sensitivity: a 30-foot-wide panorama by the Houston-based artist
Vincent Valdez that imagined a modern-day Ku Klux Klan gathering. And a string of recent art-world controversies had emphasized the need for such curatorial caution. So after acquiring Mr. Valdez’s
four-panel painting in 2016, the Blanton spent two years preparing for the work’s public debut on July 17. To display the painting, the curators had a special gallery built with a sign warning that the work “may elicit strong emotions.” Such warnings are relatively rare. [
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