An exhibition in the US celebrates Estonia’s Renaissance artist Michel Sittow

ESTONIAN WORLD

"Assumption of the Virgin" (circa 1500) by Michel Sittow. National Gallery of Art - Washington DC (United States):

WASH., DC---A new exhibition opens this month at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC to celebrate Michel Sittow, an Estonian master of the early Netherlandish art. Considered Estonia’s greatest Renaissance artist, Sittow (c. 1469–1525) was sought after by the renowned European courts of his day, including those of King Ferdinand of Aragón and Queen Isabella of Castile, Philip the Handsome, Margaret of Austria and Christian II of Denmark. The exhibition of Sittow’s works will be held from 28 January to 13 May. Among the highlights are "The Assumption of the Virgin" (c. 1500/1504, National Gallery of Art) and "The Ascension of Christ" (c. 1500/1504, private collection). [More]

‘Encountering the Buddha’ at Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.

BLOUIN ARTINFO

Detail, The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room from the Alice S. Kandell Collection Photograph: 2010 Objects: Tibet, China, and Mongolia, 13th–20th century Mixed media Gifts and promised gifts from the Alice S. Kandell Collection (Courtesy: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery)

WASH., DC---The exhibition titled “Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia” is currently on view at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C. The show highlights the role and function of art and place as central to Buddhist understanding and teachings. The selections of works on display are drawn from the Freer and Sackler collections of Buddhist art. It features more than 250 pieces from India to Indonesia and Afghanistan to Japan coupled with two immersive environments and integrated digital platforms. “Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia” narrate the stories of Buddhist objects and artworks. [More]

Synagogue’s mix of arts and religion helps shape Jewish life in Wash., DC

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Noah Weiland

The synagogue reopened in 2004 after serving as a Methodist church and nearly becoming a night club. Credit Jared Soares for The New York Times

WASHINGTON, DC---On a wet night in August, in a bare room in the basement of the Sixth and I synagogue, one of Washington’s oldest, the comedian Joe Mande was preparing backstage for his stand-up set. While other Jewish organizations have tried a culture-centric model — the 92nd Street Y in New York is perhaps the best-known example — Sixth and I’s blend of the religious and the artistic has become a local template, a convergence of intellectual and spiritual currents that has helped shape the character of Judaism in Washington. At a time when young Jews see synagogue affiliations as less of a social obligation, Sixth and I’s nonmembership, ticketed model has given them a way to be spiritually self-structured, to come and go, to pay by the activity.[More]

DC's new Bible museum could change the museum business

THE WASHINGTON POST

By Philip Kennicott

The $500 million Museum of the Bible opens this weekend. (Essdras M Suarez/for The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC---When the Museum of the Bible opens this weekend, it will set a new standard for how this country’s museums fuse entertainment and education. It is rich in content, stocked with historic treasures and carefully plotted to appeal to audiences of all ages. It brings to museum design the sophisticated marketing intelligence of the Oklahoma City-based Green family, who have used a fortune made from the Hobby Lobby retail chain to promote evangelical Christian causes. Their latest venture is a museum that offers a one-stop-shopping cultural experience, with history, art, architecture, theater and music conveniently packaged under one roof. [More]

New DC museum invites visitors to 'engage' with the Bible

NPR
By Tom Gjelten

The Museum of the Bible is located near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The entrance is flanked by large bronze doors re-creating the first page of the Book of Genesis. Jennifer Kerrigan/NPR

WASH, DC---The newest museum in Washington, D.C., is a $500 million institution dedicated to a single book. The privately funded Museum of the Bible, set to open Nov. 17, will focus on biblical history, biblical stories and the Bible's impact on the world. "We only have one mission statement," says Cary Summers, the museum president, "and that is to engage people with the Bible." Summers and other museum officials insist the institution has no sectarian or evangelical agenda, even though the museum is largely the brainchild of Steve Green, the CEO of Hobby Lobby — the family-owned craft store chain known for supporting conservative Christian causes. [More]

Museum of the Bible set to open this week

THE CHRISTIAN HEADLINES

The highly anticipated Museum of the Bible is opening in Washington D.C. this Friday, November 17. CBN News recently spoke with Museum co-founders Steve and Jackie Green about their vision for this project and their hope for what it will accomplish. Steve Green explained that they first began requiring historical, and particularly, biblically significant, artifacts in 2009: "So it's been a fairly rapid journey and as our collection grew, that's when the family really felt the sense of responsibility that we needed to make sure that this dream of a Bible museum became a reality," said Green. The Museum of the Bible promises to be “an innovative, global, educational institution whose purpose is to invite all people to engage with the history, narrative and impact of the Bible,” according to its website. [More]

The Museum of the Bible opens Friday. Here’s what to expect at its restaurants.

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Holley Simmons

The Autumn Harvest Rice Blend, with butternut squash, falafel, za'atar, roasted vegetables and cumin tahini at Manna Restaurant. (Essdras M. Suarez for The Washington Post)

WASH, DC---Ellen Kassoff Gray admits that she and her husband, Todd, love getting geeky when it comes to food history. It's one of the reasons the couple was interested in developing dishes for the Museum of the Bible's two dining concepts. Her time in Israel, and their research on the cultural aspects of religion, helped spark Milk & Honey, a casual cafe, and Manna, a cafeteria-style restaurant serving Israeli street food, at the museum. Milk & Honey (Ellen: “What else would a Jewish girl call her cafe?”) is on the museum's mezzanine level. The small 70-seater serves coffee and espresso drinks made with beans from Missouri-based Churchill Coffee, grab-and-go sandwiches ($9-$11), salads ($7-$10), fresh-squeezed juice and pastries. [More]

Biblical History at What Cost? Hobby Lobby, the Museum of the Bible and the antiquities market

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY
By Roberta Mazza • 07/24/2017

This cuneiform tablet is one of the thousands of ancient objects purchased by Hobby Lobby that was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Photo: United States Department of Justice.

On July 5, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York issued a press release stating that a civil complaint was filed to forfeit thousands of cuneiform tablets and clay bullae originating from modern Iraq and smuggled into the United States through the United Arab Emirates and Israel. As explained in the complaint available online, these artifacts (over 3,500 items) were purchased in the context of amassing what is known as the Green collection—around 40,000 objects of various kinds, from ancient papyri to modern prints of the Bible, assembled by the Green family, owners of the Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. This collection was meant to form the core of what is nowadays known as the Museum of the Bible, which opens in Washington, D.C. in November. [More]

The Museum of the Bible references Islam twice, and other things we learned on our tour

PBS NEWS HOUR
By Elizabeth Flock

WASH, DC---The Museum of the Bible, the sprawling, 430,000-square-foot tribute to the good book, has been dogged by controversies long before opening day. It’s been criticized for not including enough Jesus, for excluding various religious traditions, and for being evangelical propaganda. The museum is funded by evangelical businessman Steve Green, the head of craft-store giant Hobby Lobby, who has maintained the museum will be nonsectarian. It is slated to oepn next week just blocks from the U.S. Capitol and National Mall. Now that the museum is finally finished (or close to it), its detractors will finally see whether their concerns are justified, and the nearly 50 percent of Americans who regularly turn to the Bible will have an opportunity to learn more. [More]

Chinese Buddhist Art Recalls Freer's Passion

ARTFIX DAILY

Chinese Buddhist fresco, Song Dynasty. Lot 38, Gianguan Auctions, December 9, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC---When the 12th century Chinese fresco “Water-Moon Guanyin” comes to the podium at Gianguan Auctions on December 9, it will be a poignant reminder of the esteem in which Chinese Buddhist art was held by Charles Lang Freer, one of the great 20th century collectors and founder of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. According to a 2016 paper by the Peabody-Essex Museum’s Curator Daisy Yiyou Wang, the works of Chinese Buddhist art “were the crowning achievement of the (Freer) collection.“ The Buddhist tradition continues across all categories, including ceramics. [More]

Setting the record straight about the upcoming Museum Of The Bible

FORBES MAGAZINE
By Jerry Bowyer

Created in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Version, Makoto Fujimura's “The Four Holy Gospels" is now an inaugural exhibit of the Museum of the Bible.

Earlier today I sat down at my desk to write an article about the soon-to-be-opened Museum of the Bible. Steve and Jackie Green granted me an interview about the museum recently and I was anxious to get something written in advance of the grand opening later this month. Before digging into the project, I did my usual unadvisable visit to Facebook, and I saw there a link to an article from the Washington Post about the museum written by the paper’s local arts reporter, Peggy McGlone. The article was clearly negatively slanted: Snarky in tone and fixated on points of criticism. The relationship between Hobby Lobby, the Green family, the National Christian Foundation, and charity is 'murky,' the finances 'tangled'. I sat down across a Skype line from Steve and Jackie Green recently to talk about all things Museum of the Bible. It was edited for clarity and you can listen to it right here. [More]

Will money from conservative Christians sway Bible museum’s professed mission?

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Peggy McGlone

he high-tech ceiling at the entrance to the Museum of the Bible will feature digital images and movies as well as running scripture verses. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

When the $500 million Museum of the Bible opens Nov. 17 just blocks from Capitol Hill, it won’t promote a specific religion, its leaders say. The museum’s finances tell a different story. Financial documents and interviews reveal a tangled relationship between the nonprofit museum; Hobby Lobby and its owners, the conservative-Christian Green family; and the National Christian Foundation, a donor-advised fund that supports key soldiers in the national battle for conservative Christian values. “The museum’s role is not to espouse faith,” said Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby. “We just want to present the facts of this book . . . to celebrate this book. We want the visitor to make their own decision.” [More]

Exuberant circles hark back to another era

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Mark Jenkins

Works from Linling Lu’s series of minimalist yet exuberant pictures “One Hundred Melodies of Solitude” are on display at Hemphill Fine Arts as part of the “Linling Lu” exhibition. Some of the circles in the series are punctuated by unexpected touches, such as the white pith of “No. 112,” above. (Linling Lu/Hemphill Fine Arts)

WASHINGTON, DC---The concentric-circle paintings that Kenneth Noland and Jasper Johns began making in the 1950s were often called “targets.” Linling Lu, their successor as a maestro of orbiting bands of color, has a more elaborate term. She calls her ongoing series of minimalist yet exuberant pictures “One Hundred Melodies of Solitude.” Linling Lu is on display at Hemphill Fine Arts, a gallery that often shows art by Washington colorists in the spirit of Noland and his D.C. colleague, Morris Louis. The kinship between Lu and Noland is clear. (The link to Johns is weaker.) But Lu’s works differ from their 1950s predecessors in significant ways. [More]

DC's Sackler Gallery explores interfaith dialogue with ‘Terminal’

THE HOYA

AISHA MALHAS FOR THE HOYA

WASHINGTON, DC---Subodh Gupta’s monumental installation “Terminal,” is currently on display at the Sackler Pavilion of the Smithsonian Institution’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery to celebrate the reopenings of the Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art. Featuring 30 gleaming brass towers, the exhibit by the internationally renowned Indian artist also marks the 30th anniversary of the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery. The Sackler Gallery presents artwork from contemporary Asian artists through several exhibitions and public programs. Gupta’s installation reflects the gallery’s goal: “to share the rich diversity of Asian art across time and space.” The exhibition is on display at the Sackler Gallery until June 24, 2018. [More]

Freer and Sackler Galleries reopen during celebration of Asian culture

THE HOYA

AISHA MALHAS/THE HOYA

WASHINGTON, DC---Patterned paper lanterns, a vast maze of Asian food stalls and the sounds of traditional Middle Eastern songs greeted visitors of the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery during their grand reopening celebration last weekend. The two-day celebration, “IlluminAsia: A Festival of Asian Art, Food and Cultures,” featured interactive programming throughout the galleries in addition to highlighting a number of new and updated exhibitions in the remodeled space. The Freer Gallery welcomed visitors for the first time since January 2016, when the gallery closed for what was the museum’s second large-scale renovation in its 94-year history. [More]

Washington National Cathedral to remove windows honoring Confederate generals

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
By Adelle M. Banks

Stained-glass windows honoring Confederate Generals Robert Lee and Stonewall Jackson will be removed from the Washington National Cathedral. In August 2016, the cathedral quietly removed the panels depicting the Confederate flag and replaced them with red and blue panes to match surrounding glass. Photo courtesy of Washington National Cathedral

WASHINGTON, DC---Following “considerable prayer and discussion” prompted by last month’s white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Va., Washington National Cathedral has decided to remove stained-glass windows honoring two Confederate generals. The leadership of the landmark church in the nation’s capital had planned to spend a lengthy period discussing race-related issues before deciding what to do with the windows. That plan was made after the fatal shooting of nine members of a Bible study group at a black church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015. But a statement released Wednesday (Sept. 6) said that “after considerable prayer and discussion,” the cathedral’s board, or chapter, voted a day earlier “to immediately remove the windows.” [More]

Edvard Munch: Color in Context at National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

APOLLO MAGAZINE

Madonna (1895, printed 1913/14), Edvard Munch. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Washington

WASHINGTON, DC---In the late 19th century, advances in physics, electromagnetic radiation theory, and optics provoked new thought about the physical and spiritual worlds. Aspects of that thought are revealed in this exhibition of 21 prints that consider the meaning of color in light of spiritualist principles. Informed by popular manuals that explained the science of color and by theosophical writings on its visual and physical power, Edvard Munch created works that are not just strikingly personal but also are charged with specific associations. [More]

Museum of the Bible to offer free admission when it opens in November

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Peggy McGlone

The entrance to the Museum of the Bible, under construction and set to open Nov. 17 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC---The Museum of the Bible will offer free admission when it opens its 430,000 square-foot facility on Nov. 17, officials announced Friday. The nonprofit museum will suggest a donation of $15 for entry but it will not require guests to pay anything. Operating in a city where many museums have free admission, officials decided a suggested donation was the best policy. Museum officials also announced advanced timed passes will be available online starting Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. The tickets extend 90 days and will be available on the website, museumofthebible.org. [More]

Artists resign from President Trump's Committee on the Arts & Humanities

ARTNET NEWS
By Nate Freeman

WASHINGTON, DC---Yesterday morning, the Washington Post reported that many of the remaining members of the White House Committee on the Arts and Humanities have announced their resignation. In a letter to the president, 16 actors, artists, writers, and architects said that they could no longer stay in their positions following the president’s “support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville.” The full letter is below. [More]

Exhibit showcases the earliest stirrings of American religious diversity

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
By Adelle M. Banks

Quotes from Jonathan Edwards, left, and Omar ibn Said in the “Religion in Early America” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks

WASHINGTON---Enter the “Religion in Early America” exhibit and there are objects you expect to find: Bibles, a hymnal and christening items. But on closer inspection, a broader picture of faith in the Colonial era emerges: a Bible translated into the language of the Wampanoag people, the Torah scroll of the first synagogue in North America and a text written by a slave who wanted to pass on the essentials of his Muslim heritage. The exhibit, which closes June 3 next year, is part of a larger initiative by the museum to feature religion in a variety of dimensions, including theater and musical presentations. [More]