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A GREAT DEAL. of British Museum in London revealed this week that he had received a large bequest of Chinese porcelain and jade Sir Joseph Hotunga member of a powerful Hong Kong family who died last year. George Osbornesaid the chairman of the board of the British Museum Guardian that the bequest is “one of the most generous gifts we have ever received.” In it are an abundance of riches—namely, “246 jades, 15 yuan of very good (1279-1368) and Ming dynasty (1368-1644) blue-white porcelain and a dried lacquer head of a Bodhisattva,” according to Guardian. These objects are expected to go on display at the museum in the coming months, which could mean they will coincide with Sotheby’s $50 million sale of art from Hotung’s collection.
VEGETABLE LOVE. Here’s a match for the ages: the comedian John Oliver and a head of cabbage. asset Last week Tonight with John Oliverthe host married vegetables in homage, apparently, to a piece of art created by AI. Baking reports that the ceremony was hosted by none other than the actor Steve Buscemi. A bit of history: this unusual marriage between man and vitamin-rich food was originally thought up by a Discord user named postpoopzoomies, and Oliver set out to make it happen, even anticipating every step of his new relationship along the way. “What a trip we all went on,” Oliver said as he recounted it.
Digest
Before a major Museum of Modern Art retrospective, photographer Wolfgang Tillmans took New York Times profile handling. Details about the show remain scarce, though the piece does contain one nice tidbit: every photo in the show is a personal print that Tillmans either pulled from his archive or reprinted. [The New York Times]
Climate change activists jumped on the ea frame Peter Paul Rubens painting in Old Pinakothek in Munich on Friday, marking the latest in a series of high-profile protests of this kind. Officials at the museum said the protesters had damaged the painting’s frame. [Deutsche Welle]
Curator Helen Molesworth is working on a podcast about the artist Ana Mendieta and her husband, the minimalist sculptor Carl Andrewho was acquitted during a trial for her death. entitled Death of an artistthe podcast will launch next month. [Vanity Fair]
Jack Coulteran artist with synaesthesia, has created a painting that transcribes a speech from Greta Thunberg and music from Year 1975 in abstraction. It will be sold in Sotheby’swhere it is expected to earn £20,000 ($23,400), with proceeds going to Thunberg’s foundation. [The Guardian]
Staff at Ohio’s Columbus Museum of Art announced plans to form a union. Workers at the museum said they faced uncertainty during the pandemic, and one employee reported that the institution had responded in a “positive” way to their unionization effort. [The Columbus Dispatch]
A teacher’s TikTok about her $50 annual budget for her art class has racked up 2 million views. “This is just wrong,” one viewer wrote. [Newsweek]
Kicker
‘PHIGITAL’ MOHA. The Hong Kong-based billionaire Adrian Chengwhich is listed in ARTnews The Top 200 Collectors List has certainly been busy lately, having recently revealed plans to open a $1.4 billion waterfront cultural complex in Shenzhen. His latest effort seems to have been an investment in Chiru LabsAzuki NFT Collection. According to Artnet News, the Azuki Collection, although not as popular as other NFT clusters, has brought its creators $29 million. In a tweet, Cheng revealed himself as her supporter. He hinted at possible future arrangements like this: “Artist collaborations, expanding ‘figital’ experiences and innovative contributions to web3 culture and art nouveau are all on the table and will be explored.” [Artnet News]