New at Williamsburg | Campbell Archaeology Center
The center opened earlier this year; from the press release (17 April 2026) . . . .
The Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center opened to the public on Saturday, April 25. The center boasts 40,000 square feet of collection, research, and education space dedicated to advancing archaeological research and deepening public engagement with Williamsburg’s rich history. Visiting the Campbell Archaeology Center is free and open to the public. Once the center is fully operational, visitors can immerse themselves in archaeologists’ daily work, including behind-the-scenes views of the laboratories and other facilities that help researchers uncover new aspects of Williamsburg’s—and America’s—history.
“We believe Colonial Williamsburg will be able to offer a one-of-a-kind experience,” said Jack Gary, associate vice president of Historic Resources and Kahler family director of Archaeology at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “So much of what we do as archaeologists goes unseen by the public. With the opening of the Campbell Archaeology Center, visitors will have the opportunity to engage with our process after we discover artifacts in the field and bring them into the lab for further examination.”
In addition to experiencing Colonial Williamsburg’s ongoing archaeological projects, visitors can view a selection of the Foundation’s extensive collection of artifacts on display throughout the center.
“Archaeology has played a pivotal role in Colonial Williamsburg’s first 100 years, from the discovery of many of the buildings that were recreated to recent revelations that enable us to learn about our nation’s history,” said Ron Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg’s chief mission officer. “The Campbell Archaeology Center brings our archaeology right to our visitors, allowing us to showcase our community-engaged approach and educate in a way we’ve never been able to do before.”
This tin-glazed earthenware basin, circa 1760, was excavated from the Thomas Everard House site. Virginia Royal Gov. Robert Dinwiddie was an investor in the Delftfield Pottery of Scotland where it was produced.
The Campbell Archaeology Center is unique in that it is dedicated solely to archaeology. Among the many highlights:
• An early 18th-century brick foundation viewed through a glass floor — The foundation of a building constructed around the time of the founding of Williamsburg was discovered by Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists and incorporated into the design of the new center.
• Wall of Wonder — A wide variety of more than 80 artifacts found in and around Williamsburg, including wine bottles, ceramics, and other items that show everyday life in 18th-century Williamsburg.
• Follow the ‘Squabbit’ — Is it a squirrel, is it a rabbit? It’s a ‘Squabbit’ (inspired by an artifact) that visitors can follow from lab to lab, helping them learn what happens as an artifact goes from the ground to washing to identification to analysis.
Colonial Williamsburg is the birthplace of historical archaeology, a subfield of archaeology that uses material culture to understand the development of the modern world. Decades of archaeological work in the Historic Area have resulted in one of the world’s largest archaeological collections of 17th-through-early-19th-century artifacts from colonial America. In addition to providing expanded storage facilities to properly steward this collection, the Campbell Archaeology Center includes classrooms, exhibition space, and a public archaeology teaching lab with room for visitors and community members to physically engage with artifacts.
“Even though Colonial Williamsburg has 100 years of artifacts, nearly 70% of the Historic Area has not been excavated in a modern way, meaning we have so much more to uncover and learn from,” Gary said. “This center enables us to be good stewards of the materials we excavate. What we have here—and will continue to unearth—is a national treasure, and now, we can provide the community with an emotional connection to our shared history.”
The Campbell Archaeology Center is one of the Foundation’s signature projects commemorating America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. The building, designed by the architecture firm of Clark Nexsen, will join several new sites on Nassau Street to help create a major visitor corridor to the Historic Area. The site of the Williamsburg Bray School, one of the earliest institutions dedicated to Black education in North America, opened to the public in 2025, and the African Baptist Meeting House, one of the first Black church congregations in the nation, will be dedicated in October 2026. Nearby, the Custis Square excavation site offers a self-guided tour that explores the life and opulent gardens of plantation owner John Custis IV.
Funding for the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center was provided in part by a lead gift from the late Forrest E. Mars. Jr., former Colonial Williamsburg trustee and longtime donor, who chose the name in honor of the Campbells’ service to the institution. Colin Campbell, a chairman emeritus of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation who passed away in 2024, served as the organization’s president and CEO from 2000 to 2014, during which time he expanded the Foundation’s educational programs and increased its endowment. Nancy Campbell is chair emerita of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Together, the couple received The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s prestigious Churchill Bell Award in 2014.
Glass Gallery at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery Reopens
Now back on view at Bristol:
Elisa Ricci, “Refreshing the Glass Gallery,” Bristol Museum & Art Gallery News
(17 July 2026).
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery holds a world-class collection of glass, spanning from ancient times to the present day. The gallery has just reopened, having been refurbished using the existing display cases wherever possible, alongside the addition of a new case showcasing Roman, Persian, and Egyptian glass from the Bomford Collection. This three-year project has given new life to a gallery that had been affected by leaks and other structural issues. The redisplay features over 510 objects from the museum’s glass collection, including exciting new acquisitions such as works by Chris Day. The gallery also offers new interactive experiences, with digital displays, tactile objects, and opportunities to explore a range of topics connected to Bristol’s history. These include the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved African people, the working conditions of Bristol’s glassworkers in the 18th century, and the environmental impact of glass production.
We are deeply grateful for the support of the Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives, Giles Woodward, Bristol Museums Development Trust, the generous bequest of Sylvia Coppen-Gardner through the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society and Linda Wilson and Graham Mullan, all of whom helped make this project possible.
Elisa Ricci is Curator of Applied Art at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.
The Clark Unveils Design for New Tavitian Wing
Campus of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, as depicted with an addition designed by Selldorf Architects (Rendering: Playtime). The new building, to be clad in Calacatta Malva marble, will connect a 1970s red granite gallery wing with the Clark’s original marble building, a 1950s neoclassical design by Daniel Perry. The new building is scheduled to open in 2028.
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From the press release (16 July 2026) . . .
The Clark Art Institute has unveiled Selldorf Architects’ design for the new Aso O. Tavitian Wing, a permanent home for the Aso O. Tavitian Collection, among the most significant private collections of European art assembled in the 21st century and one of the largest gifts in the Clark’s history.
“This elegant new addition to the Clark campus will be the physical manifestation of two great visions: the unparalleled eye of collector Aso O. Tavitian, and the peerless design of architect Annabelle Selldorf. When complete, the building will fit seamlessly into our landscape and greatly enhance the experience of all visitors,” said Esther Bell, Hardymon Director of the Clark.
Clark Art Institute with the new building proposed by Selldorf Architects shown in the center (Rendering: Playtime).
Twelve galleries on a single level will complement the exquisite works in the Tavitian Collection, many intended to be seen up close in an intimate setting. The new purpose-built wing will significantly expand the Clark’s gallery and art storage spaces and seamlessly connect the main museum building and Manton Research Center, both previously renovated by Selldorf Architects.
Like the Manton Research Center and the museum building itself, the facade of the new addition will be made of stone, set in a thoughtfully designed pattern of multicolored veined marble in tones resonant with the adjacent buildings.
Reed Hilderbrand, longtime collaborators with the Clark and Selldorf Architects, will accentuate the naturally elegant appearance of the building with a serene landscape design that will help the building blend harmoniously with the surrounding pastoral setting.
“We conceived the new wing as a companion to the Manton Research Center and the 1955 museum building. It is sympathetic to each of the volumes it connects, yet its architectural identity and layout are distinct,” said Annabelle Selldorf, principal of Selldorf Architects. “The scale, materials, use of natural light, and views of the landscape will enable visitors to view the extraordinary works of art in new galleries that are at once intimate yet present memorable proportions. They are focused on the experience of the eminent collection and orient visitors to the surrounding Berkshires and the Clark campus,” said Selldorf.
The Aso O. Tavitian Collection
Donated to the Clark in 2024 from the foundation of the late art collector, philanthropist, and connoisseur Aso O. Tavitian, the gift includes 132 paintings, 130 sculptures, 39 drawings, and 30 decorative arts objects, creating an important addition to the Clark’s holdings and more than doubling the size of its sculpture collection. Highlights include portraiture, religious and mythological subjects, landscapes, and still lifes. The gift provides $45 million to endow two new positions on the Clark’s curatorial staff to oversee the collection, support its long-term care, and fund construction of the new wing.
Visitors to the Clark can see the new collection in An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection. Featuring 150 highlights drawn from the complete collection of 331 works, the exhibition will remain on view through February 21, 2027. The exhibition is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Esther Bell, Hardymon Director, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, Aso O. Tavitian Curator of Early Modern European Painting & Sculpture.
Selldorf Architects
Selldorf Architects is an internationally renowned Architecture and Design practice founded by Annabelle Selldorf in 1988. Based in New York City, the firm works on a wide spectrum of projects from residential to institutional and has a particular expertise in the complex requirements of cultural projects, having completed numerous museums, galleries, exhibition spaces, study centers and artists’ studios. Selldorf is recognized for forward-looking architecture that welcomes the public and is imbued with a sense of place.
In May of this year Selldorf Architects, along with their partner Studios Architecture, won the competition to design the Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance project. The first major renovation to the Musée du Louvre in nearly forty years, it will provide a new entrance to the Louvre and a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa.
Other clients include The Frick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, The Wallace Collection, Chateau Haut-Brion, Musée Yves Saint Laurent, National Gallery London, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Dumbarton Oaks, Clark Art Institute, and Neue Galerie New York. In addition, the firm has completed galleries for David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Gladstone Gallery among others and has designed exhibitions for the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Jewish Museum, Corning Museum of Glass and Toledo Museum of Art.
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Rendering of the site with Selldorf’s envisioned intervention outlined in red, (Drawing by Reed Hilderbrand).
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As reported by Anna Fixsen for Wallpaper* (16 July 2026) . . .
. . . The addition will include 12 dedicated galleries to house more than 300 works of art donated by Aso O. Tavitian, a self-made entrepreneur who amassed a formidable collection of European art between 2004 up until his death in 2020. Tavitian also allowed for a $45 million gift to fund construction and support his collection’s curation and care.
“Before Aso Tavidian’s untimely passing, we had a discussion with him about who would be the ideal architect of the wing. Annabelle Selldorf was the person that he wanted, and the person that we wanted,” said museum director Esther Bell during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
The architects, who had renovated the Clark’s Manton Research Center a decade ago, faced a challenging task: how to unite a 1970s red granite gallery wing with the Clark’s original marble building, a 1950s neoclassical design by Daniel Perry. (Tadao Ando also has two structures on the 140-acre campus). Previously, the buildings had been connected in a “shall we say, inelegant way,” via a bridge, Annabelle Selldorf said. “It never felt like it was a gracious transition between one and the other.”
“They’re personalities,” the architect added, “So, what is one to do but to create a companion?”
That architectural ‘companion’ was revealed Wednesday for the first time. The insertion is Selldorf’s brand of quiet elegance, appearing as a simple rectilinear volume nestled between two existing buildings. The facade, however, is a pixelated array of Calacatta Malva marble, whose rich indigo veining helps create a visual transition between the all-white ‘50s building and the speckled red-and-blue granite one from the ’70s. The move, “creates a kind of mosaic but also brings together colouration and a sympathy in two directions,” Selldorf explained. . .
The full article is available here»
Prado Opens New 18th-C. Galleries, Highlighting Goya
From the press release from the Prado:
The Museo Nacional del Prado has unveiled a fresh look at its 18th-century collections, placing Francisco de Goya at the heart of a thoughtful and immersive re-installation on the south side of its second floor. The highlight is a near-complete presentation of the artist’s celebrated tapestry cartoons, now brought together in rooms 85 and 90–94, offering visitors a rare chance to follow nearly two decades of Goya’s early career in a single, continuous narrative.
Painted between 1775 and the mid-1790s, these works were originally designed to decorate royal residences such as El Escorial and El Pardo for the Princes of Asturias, the future Charles IV and María Luisa of Parma. Now reunited in the museum, they reveal not only Goya’s technical brilliance but also the gradual emergence of a distinctive artistic voice—one that would later redefine Spanish painting. The Prado holds 50 of the 57 cartoons he created, making this installation an exceptional opportunity to grasp the full scope of the series, especially given that several others are either lost or dispersed in different collections.
The new layout guides visitors through Goya’s evolution with clarity and intention. Early works show the strong influence of court painters like Anton Raphael Mengs and Francisco Bayeu, under whom Goya began his career in Madrid. But as the rooms unfold, so too does his independence, with later pieces hinting at the originality and psychological depth that would come to define masterpieces such as Los Caprichos and the Black Paintings. A particularly striking moment comes in the final gallery, where a direct comparison between works by Bayeu and Goya underscores just how far the younger artist had pushed beyond his teacher’s shadow.
Beyond the Goya display, the re-installation expands into a broader exploration of 18th-century art. Nearby rooms present a rich mix of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts that evoke the refined interiors of royal palaces. Works by figures such as Corrado Giaquinto, Giambattista Tiepolo, and Louis-Michel Van Loo share space with British masters like Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, painting a vivid picture of a cosmopolitan Europe shaped by courtly taste, classical revival, and artistic exchange. Intricate marquetry and hardstone objects, including pieces from the Royal Laboratory of Buen Retiro, further deepen the sense of material culture from the period.
The museum has also taken the opportunity to open a window into its conservation work, highlighting ongoing restoration efforts supported by Fundación Iberdrola España. Visitors can explore technical insights into how these fragile works are preserved, including a rare glimpse at an X-ray of one of Goya’s cartoons alongside a reproduction of The Blind Guitarist, the only print he created based on this series. These elements bring the creative and physical processes behind the artworks into sharper focus.
In parallel with the physical redesign, the Prado is extending the experience online with a new microsite dedicated to a set of 31 marble reliefs from the royal collections. The digital platform offers updated research, attribution, and historical context, shedding light on an ambitious 18th-century sculptural program tied to Madrid’s Royal Palace. Several of these reliefs can now be seen in the newly arranged galleries, reinforcing the connection between scholarship, display, and public engagement. Altogether, the Prado’s latest re-installation is more than a simple reshuffling of works—it is a carefully crafted narrative that brings visitors closer to the artistic, cultural, and political currents of the 18th century, with Goya’s early genius shining at its center.
On Tour in the UK | Mignard’s Portrait of Marquise de Seignelay
From the press release:
Pierre Mignard, The Marquise de Seignelay, 1691, oil on canvas, 195 × 154 cm (London: National Gallery).
The National Gallery announced the second painting for the National Gallery Masterpiece Tour, 2025–27. Pierre Mignard’s portrait of the Marquise de Seignelay (1691) will travel to our four partners between 2026 and 2027: South Shields Museum and Art Gallery (29 August 2026 – 8 November 2026); The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley (13 November 2026 – 20 February 2027); Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool (27 February 2027 – 5 June 2027), and Ferens Art Gallery, Hull (11 June 2027 – 5 September 2027).
In this striking portrait, Mignard depicts the recently widowed Catherine-Thérèse de Goyon de Matignon-Thorigny, Marquise de Seignelay (1662–1699), as a woman of cultural and international importance. She is portrayed as the sea-goddess Thetis, while her eldest son Marie-Jean Baptiste (1683–1712) is dressed as the Greek hero Achilles, Thetis’s son by the mortal Peleus. Her sumptuous robe is painted using ultramarine, a highly expensive blue pigment, as a show of her wealth and status. The extensive marine imagery references her late husband, the Marquis de Seignelay’s position as head of the French Navy. The landscape in the background likely represents the shores of Martinique, an island in the West Indian ocean which was purchased for the French crown by the Marquise’s late father-in-law in 1664.
The exhibition programme plans to highlight the unique strengths of the partner venues, with three located on the coast—an ideal context for exploring the maritime themes of the painting and deepening its resonance with their surrounding landscapes and local collections.
At South Shields, the exhibition will be enriched through co-created elements developed with New Writing North’s Young Writers programme, students from South Tyneside College, and members of Our Voice Counts. The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley will co-produce its iteration of the exhibition with Next Big Thing, Barnsley Museums youth group, ensuring strong local engagement and creative collaboration. Grundy Art Gallery will shape its presentation by working for a 2nd year with Blackpool’s Young People’s charity The Magic Club. Grundy is working for all three years of The Masterpiece Touring Project with The Magic Club providing the opportunity for deep engagement over time. Ferens Art Gallery will further shape their presentation by working closely with community groups, drawing on local insights to inform and animate each exhibition, whilst providing a perspective which enriches our understanding of this painting.
Claude Monet, The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil 1872, oil on canvas, 53 × 72 cm (London: National Gallery).
The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour: Monet was recently on display at South Shields Gallery (until 25 March). Monet’s The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil was presented with works from the South Shields, Laing and Shipley art collections, and artworks co-created by EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidant) young people, teachers, and local organisations. At Grundy Art Gallery (28 March – 13 June), the painting will be displayed alongside a new sonic art work produced by participants of Blackpool’s Young People’s charity, The Magic Club. Working with artist Kelly Jayne Jones, Blackpool’s young people have produced a sound-based response to their experience of Monet’s painting. The first round of the tour will then finish at Ferens Art Gallery (19 June – 13 September), where the picture will be part of an exhibition co-curated with Flourish, Ferens Art Gallery’s creative group for children and young people. Organised with and for disabled and neurodivergent visitors, the show will present select works from the Ferens’s vast collection alongside contemporary responses from Flourish.
Since its inception in 2014, The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour has reached 401,000 people across the UK. Our National Touring programme, including The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour and other travelling exhibitions, has now reached 1,467,618 people since 2014. As part of our ongoing commitment to sharing the collection, this exhibition partnership, made possible by the generous support from Hiscox, offers four UK museums and galleries outside of London the opportunity to work with the National Gallery for three years and display three major artworks from the collection.
For the second edition of the Masterpiece Tour, partners will each connect with a local community organisation to support the exhibition or public programme related to the selected painting each year. Each partner will develop their own display to explore and draw out themes most relevant to them and their communities.
National Gallery Director Sir Gabriele Finaldi said: “The National Gallery’s collection belongs to all of us. It is part of our duty and our honour to look after these paintings and to bring them to where people are, not just expect them to come to us. Partnering on touring exhibitions does so much more than bring beloved paintings from the collection to other places in the UK—it supports the whole country’s cultural ecosystem, connects people with paintings that belong to us all, and allows us to learn and expand our own practices and interpretations through the creativity of our partner organisations and their communities. That over one million people have visited these exhibitions in the last decade proves the desire to engage with our collection is growing, and we look forward to welcoming the next million visitors across the UK.”
North East Museums Director, Keith Merrin said: “We’re delighted to be part of the next chapter of the Masterpiece Tour and to welcome this extraordinary painting to South Shields Museum & Art Gallery. Bringing a work of this significance to our communities reflects the shared commitment between partners to making world-class art accessible, relevant and inspiring. Since the launch of the Masterpiece Tour on 17 January, when the museum welcomed Monet’s The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil (1872), footfall to the museum has increased by over 70%, highlighting the strong appetite for high-quality art experiences amongst our community.”
Strawberry Hill Launches Appeal to Acquire Early View of the Villa
Johann Heinrich Müntz, South-East View of Strawberry Hill House, ca. 1755–58,
oil on canvas, 25 × 30 inches.
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From the press release:
Strawberry Hill House & Garden has launched an appeal to raise £85,000 to acquire South East View of Strawberry Hill House by Johann Heinrich Müntz (c.1755–58), a rare contemporary painting that captures Horace Walpole’s Gothic villa at the very moment the Gothic Revival was being born. Commissioned by Walpole himself, the painting offers an extraordinary glimpse of Strawberry Hill before its dramatic transformation of 1759, when the Gallery and Round Tower were added to create the iconic silhouette we recognise today. It is one of only two known oil paintings of the house by Müntz, whose companion view is now held at the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.
More than a record, the painting reveals Strawberry Hill in the process of invention. At the time it was made, the Swiss artist Johann Heinrich Müntz (1727–1798) was living and working at the house as Walpole’s artist in residence, contributing directly to its evolving architectural vision. What he depicts is not a finished monument, but a creative experiment taking shape—house and garden emerging together as a new kind of Gothic design.
The painting is currently on short-term loan and will be on display in the Red Bedchamber at Strawberry Hill House from 30 March 2026, where it can be viewed free with general admission.
Painted for Walpole and long kept at his London residence on Berkeley Street, this view of Strawberry Hill has never hung in the house it was created to record. Acquiring it now would bring the painting home for the first time, reuniting a formative moment in Strawberry Hill’s history with the place that inspired it.
Two generous supporters have pledged to match donations to the appeal pound-for-pound, meaning every contribution will go twice as far until the £85,000 target is reached.
Dr Silvia Davoli, Senior Curator, said: “Strawberry Hill was conceived as a complete work of art, where architecture, interiors, landscape and collections were designed to speak to one another. This painting is central to that vision. It is not simply a depiction of the house, but part of the creative process that shaped it. Bringing it back would restore a missing piece of that story—returning it, for the first time, to the place it was made to record.”
More information about the painting is available from Thomas Coulborn & Sons.
Strawberry Hill Launches Appeal to Recreate Shell Seat
Jean-Henri Müntz, View of the Shell Seat and Bridge at Strawberry Hill, 1755, ink drawing
(Yale University, Lewis Walpole Library)
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From the press release (March 2026) . . .
Strawberry Hill House & Garden is launching an appeal to raise £30,000 to recreate the Shell Seat, one of the most visually arresting and evocative features of Horace Walpole’s eighteenth-century garden. Designed as a place for rest, conversation and delight, the Shell Seat formed part of Walpole’s celebrated ‘land of beauties’—a landscape shaped by imagination, sociability and theatrical effect. This ambitious project will employ cutting-edge digital mapping technology from Factum Arte to design and create a faithful, weather-resistant replica based on the original eighteenth-century drawings, ensuring the seat endures for future generations.
The Shell Seat was designed in 1754 by Richard Bentley, Horace Walpole’s close collaborator and later a member of his celebrated ‘Committee of Taste’. Constructed under the direction of architect William Robinson, it took the form of a monumental half-clam shell—a striking example of eighteenth-century fascination with natural forms transformed into architectural ornament. Positioned on Walpole’s ‘sweet walk’ in the south-west corner of the garden, the bench was carefully oriented to frame a breathtaking view of the River Thames. It was both a visual spectacle and a place of sociable retreat, designed to contrast the house’s Gothic ‘gloomth’ with an enlivening garden experience. Its impact was immediate. Writing to George Montagu in 1759, Walpole delighted in the sight of the Duchesses of Hamilton and Richmond and Lady Ailesbury seated together: “There never was so pretty a sight as to see all three of them sitting in the shell.”
The current bench, photographed in December 2025.
The original Shell Seat was lost, likely long before the dispersal of Walpole’s collection in the great sale of 1842. A full-scale replica, constructed in oak using laminated techniques, was installed during the major restoration of Strawberry Hill between 2007 and 2010. After fifteen years exposed to the elements, this replica is now in a serious state of disrepair. Without intervention, the Shell Seat—once a centrepiece of Walpole’s garden design—risks being lost once again.
To secure the future of the Shell Seat, we are working with Factum Arte, internationally renowned specialists in digital heritage documentation and historically informed reconstruction. Using advanced 3D digital mapping, they will create an exact digital record of Bentley’s original eighteenth-century design. This will allow us to produce a new seat that is: faithful to the original, constructed using durable, weather-resistant materials, and designed to endure in the garden for generations to come.
Strawberry Hill House has worked closely with Factum Arte and its sister organisation, the Factum Foundation, a not-for-profit dedicated to digital preservation, for over a decade. Over this time, they have created numerous facsimiles for Strawberry Hill, helping to restore Horace Walpole’s dispersed collection to the house. These include major works such as Joshua Reynolds’s The Ladies Waldegrave, portraits of Horace Walpole and his family, and a wide range of miniatures, drawings, and decorative objects recorded from collections including the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University, the Scottish National Gallery, and the British Museum. The Shell Seat restoration builds naturally on this long-standing collaboration and shared commitment to research-led, imaginative reconstruction.
This restoration will also stand as a lasting memorial to Derek Purnell, who served as Director of Strawberry Hill House from 2020 to 2024, and tragically died last year. Derek believed deeply that Strawberry Hill was not a static monument, but a living, imaginative place where house and garden work together to tell a story. He spoke often of the Shell Seat, recognising it as one of those rare objects that instantly captures the imagination and opens a doorway into Horace Walpole’s creative genius. Restoring the Shell Seat is a fitting tribute to Derek’s vision: not a plaque or a monument, but a living, functional part of Strawberry Hill’s continuing story.
The Prado Launches New Online Platform
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From the press release for the new platform Canal Prado. The social media clip with Michael Yonan is a perfect example of content that will now be easier to find!
The Museo Nacional del Prado has unveiled Canal Prado, a new online platform designed to gather and organize the institution’s growing library of audiovisual content. Accessible through the museum’s website, the channel brings together everything from interviews and lectures to educational videos and documentary-style features, offering visitors a new way to explore the Prado beyond the gallery walls. The launch represents a significant step in the museum’s digital strategy. For years, the Prado has produced a wide range of videos tied to exhibitions, research, and public programs. Canal Prado now places all of that material in one curated space, making it easier for audiences around the world to discover, revisit, and explore the museum’s knowledge resources. The platform emphasizes content that remains relevant over time—conversations about art, scholarship, and the enduring questions that paintings and artists continue to raise.
One of the highlights of the launch is “Thinking the Prado,” a new series created and presented by art historian Alejandro Vergara, who invites viewers to consider some of the fundamental questions that surround works of art. Why do we value certain paintings? What kind of knowledge can art offer us? How have artistic judgments changed over the centuries? And, in practical terms, how long does it actually take to paint a masterpiece? Rather than presenting quick answers, the series takes a reflective approach, encouraging viewers to think about art as historians and curators do. The goal is not to promote the museum’s latest exhibition, but to create a thoughtful, lasting resource for anyone curious about art history. Vergara, who has worked at the Prado since 1999, has played a key role in shaping the museum’s understanding of Flemish painting and Northern European schools, and has curated numerous exhibitions during his career. He holds a doctorate in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and has taught at institutions including Columbia University and Universidad Carlos III in Madrid.
The new platform also integrates “Stories of Art,” the extensive audiovisual archive created by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado. The archive includes more than 1,300 videos and audio recordings, documenting decades of lectures, courses, and cultural programming dedicated to the study of art. Many of these materials were originally produced for members and participants in the foundation’s educational initiatives.
Now, through Canal Prado, the public can explore collections such as:
• Courses on art history
• “Sundays at the Prado” lecture programs
• Educational series like “Art Lessons”
Together, these recordings represent more than forty years of intellectual life connected to the Prado, turning the platform into an evolving archive of art scholarship. To make such a large body of material easier to explore, Canal Prado organizes videos into clear thematic categories. Visitors can browse content based on their interests—whether that means restoration projects, exhibition insights, behind-the-scenes stories, or expert conversations. The platform will also highlight special thematic selections throughout the year. In March, for example, the focus is on material related to women connected to the Prado, from artists to scholars and historical figures. The museum plans to continue expanding the channel with new episodes, interviews, and original series, gradually building a rich audiovisual archive.
The launch of Canal Prado coincides with a broader update to the museum’s website through the Plataforma Prado digital initiative. Among the most notable improvements is a new semantic search engine that allows users to explore the museum’s information system more intuitively. Instead of searching only by titles or keywords, visitors can now navigate by connections such as:
• artists
• techniques
• themes
• places
• historical figures depicted in artworks
The redesign also includes improved mobile navigation, updated menus, and newly structured pages that make the site easier to use on smartphones and tablets. Another new feature allows visitors to revisit exhibition itineraries even after exhibitions have closed, preserving the educational value of past shows. With Canal Prado, the Prado continues expanding its presence beyond Madrid, transforming decades of lectures, scholarship, and research into a resource accessible worldwide. For art lovers, students, and researchers alike, the platform offers something rare: direct access to the voices and ideas that shape one of the world’s great museums.
Installation | Tradition and Celebration across the Jewish Calendar
Fish-form Spice Container (Besamim), 1813, Vienna, silver, foil-backed glass, 8 × 34 × 7.6 cm, 450g
(New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2025.104)
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Riva Arnold describes the seven works in this installation from The Met’s Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts:
Tradition and Celebration across the Jewish Calendar
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on view until 3 March 2026
Tucked within the galleries of the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (ESDA) is a special display of new acquisitions and objects that have never been on view before. The seven works in this temporary installation are part of a rotating exhibit of case studies organized by the department’s curators, fellows, and researchers. The current selection—on view until March 3, 2026—highlights craftsmanship, materials, and community celebrations from the Jewish populations of Austria, Italy, France, and the Netherlands between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Johannes van der Lely, Hanukkah Lamp, 1706, Leeuwarden, silver, 31 × 26 cm (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025.585).
For over a decade, ESDA has been acquiring Judaica objects connected to Jewish life, culture, and religion. The selected items represent universal themes related to special days in the Jewish calendar, which follows a lunisolar cycle. This means that the days and months are based on the cycles of the moon, with each day beginning at sunset;[1] a leap month is added every few years to ensure that holidays are observed in their correct season. For example, Rosh Hashanah, associated with the new year, is celebrated in the fall, and Passover, associated with renewal, is in the spring.
Joyful holiday traditions and domestic milestones, such as the birth of a new baby or a wedding, kept communities together despite societal upheaval and economic fluctuations. Judaica produced in the Rococo or Baroque periods displayed extravagant decorative motifs typical of that era, with outstanding craftsmanship that evidences a material culture spanning metalwork, porcelain, leather, and enamel. . .
The full essay is available here»
The Frick Appoints Aaron Wile as John Updike Curator
From the press release:
The Frick Collection announces the appointment of Dr. Aaron Wile as its new John Updike Curator. He will take up the post on 6 April 2026. In this senior curatorial role, Wile succeeds Dr. Aimee Ng, who became the museum’s Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator last fall. Wile returns to the Frick having held a formative position as Anne L. Poulet Curatorial Fellow from 2014–16, during which he organized the acclaimed exhibition Watteau’s Soldiers: Scenes of Military Life in Eighteenth-Century France. For his work on the show’s catalogue, he received the 2017 Award for Outstanding Article, Essay, or Extended Catalogue Entry from the Association of Art Museum Curators—an appropriate accolade for his new position, which is named in memory of the American novelist, poet, and critic John Updike.
Since 2019, Wile has served as Associate Curator of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In this position, he has co-curated innovative installations such as Back and Forth: Rozeal., Titian, Cezanne (2025). He also helped design the Department of French Painting’s first comprehensive collection plan; spearheaded acquisitions, particularly of works by women artists; cultivated donor and collector relationships; and contributed to cross-departmental initiatives related to reinstallations and the presentation of scholarship on digital platforms.
Commented Axel Rüger, the Frick’s Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director, “We are excited for Aaron to contribute his expertise and experience in support of the Curatorial Department as its next chapter unfolds. He joins us at a remarkable time, as this April we celebrate one year since the museum’s historic reopening following the renovation and enhancement of our buildings.”
Added Aimee Ng, “Aaron brings a fresh perspective to the Frick’s collection, especially to its foundational holdings of French paintings. Since he served as a fellow over a decade ago, his curatorial and academic experiences have enhanced his considerable talents, and he returns to the museum with exceptional scholarly rigor, expert communication and interpretive skills, and seasoned and versatile professionalism. We could not be more thrilled to welcome Aaron back to the Frick as John Updike Curator.”
Prior to the National Gallery, Wile held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Society of Fellows in the Humanities at the University of Southern California (2017–19) and a Chester Dale Fellowship at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2016–17). He earned a BA in History from Haverford College and an MA and PhD in the History of Art and Architecture from Harvard University, specializing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French art.
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