John Galliano Met exhibition is withdrawn after public and donor outcry over the designer’s past antisemitic and anti-Asian remarks, capping a week that mixed controversy with moments of reflection across the arts. In a personal note, the editor-in-chief describes finding gratitude in small rituals and the late-summer light, even as debates over cultural institutions continue.
In a viral Instagram clip, a 25-year-old Chicago finance worker, heading home to his downtown apartment, a partner, and a new puppy, marvels at a perfect evening and wonders aloud if he is peaking. The sentiment, both earnest and uncomplicated, lands as a reminder to savor the basics. Not everyone is convinced, though, as one texted reply asks if the video is even real.
John Galliano Met exhibition and a week in reflection
The week’s dominant arts headline turns on John Galliano, a fashion designer convicted in France in 2011 for antisemitic and anti-Asian hate speech who once professed admiration for Hitler. He withdrew from a planned exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute following sustained criticism from donors and the public. For some, including this editor who previously paid little attention to fashion, the saga became an unwelcome crash course in couture history.
There were brighter notes. As the first year in the editor’s role nears its close, plans for fall coverage are underway with the support of a strong newsroom team. Daily frictions still intrude, including a tense exchange with a barista beneath a sign declaring that ICE is unwelcome.
Elsewhere, a concrete mixer’s ceaseless churn becomes a metaphor for processing life without letting experience harden. A televised interview with American painter Alex Katz, now 99, offers a distilled directive: keep moving and look outward.
An impromptu detour down Orient Avenue opens onto a spacious park alive with activity. Runners circle the paths, dogs tug at leashes, and courts fill with tennis, basketball, and squash. Skaters arc through the air. A reader on a bench is midway through Anna Karenina, while two others type intently, manuscripts by the look of it. Children’s voices rise from the playground. In the upper 70s and sunlit, the day feels complete.
—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief
What I Got Wrong About Krasner and Pollock
Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art previewed its upcoming show Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous, paired with a Hans Namuth photograph of the artists. The comments filled quickly, including calls to give Lee Krasner a solo spotlight. Months before, a visit to the Pollock-Krasner House in Springs, East Hampton, revealed how much more was known about Jackson Pollock than about Krasner. As a painter arriving after another relationship with a painter had unraveled, the writer believed she already understood Krasner’s narrative. She did not. | Lia Strasser
News
- The British fashion designer John Galliano withdraws his upcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which was slated to coincide with the 2027 Met Gala, after intense criticism of his past racist behavior.
- The National Park Service removes a 24-foot-tall sculpture by the late Joel Shapiro from the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
- The British Museum hosts Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel for a VIP viewing of the Bayeux Tapestry, prompting concern among some staff.
- Following reports of Yayoi Kusama’s death this week, artists, galleries, museums, and fashion houses worldwide share tributes and reflections on her outsized impact.
- Thieves steal a platinum and diamond necklace from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts.
- Demolition work at the Rike Park Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall in Tbilisi, Georgia sparks protests from local residents and the project’s architects.
- A New York City exhibition highlights Snoopy’s lasting influence on art and fashion.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order the removal of 40 Palestinian memorials in the Occupied West Bank.
- Art Movements: Mildred Howard receives the Artists’ Legacy Foundation Award, artists secure support from the Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants, the Art Gallery of Ontario director steps down, Alex Katz appears on PBS, and more.
From Our Critics
Our critics parse new exhibitions and ideas across Europe and the United States, tracking how artists reckon with history, place, and shifting publics.
Features
Profiles and reported essays explore artists at work, including a close look at painter Catherine Murphy’s sustained attention to perception and detail.
Guides
Plan your art itinerary with roundups of must-see shows, including notable exhibitions upstate in New York and beyond.
- A View From the Easel: printmaker and self-described mountain ultrarunner Hilary Lorenz turns paper into boats, books, and weavings inside a self-built studio.
- In Memoriam: tributes to Geles Cabrera, a sculptor of the body; Helch, a street artist known for irreverence toward the crown; Jay Maisel, a commercial photographer who shaped the medium; and others.
Opportunities This Month
Residencies, fellowships, grants, and open calls from the Gulf Coast Journal, the Harry Ransom Center, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Vermont Studio Center, and more, in our monthly opportunities list for artists, writers, and art workers.
Thieves steal a platinum and diamond necklace from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts.
Read more in our coverage of the Vienna museum diamond theft.