The Week’s Muse: 27 September

A round-up of recent news and comment from the Muse Room

Turner mania

Our October issue is out soon! In the Editor’s Letter, Thomas Marks discusses the public enthusiasm for J.M.W. Turner. With Tate’s major exhibition already open and a biopic coming soon, will the UK let one of his great works be sold off?

A reprieve for Bantry House?

Speaking of unwelcome sales: Robert O’Byrne calls attention to the likely auction of the collection at Bantry House, Co Cork. It was recently postponed: is there enough time and public support to save the contents for the nation?

‘A conspiracy of classicists’

Fleur Macdonald on Mary Beard’s upbeat birthday speech and why, despite all the gloomy predictions about the future of humanities subjects in the UK, classics still enjoys high-profile support: ‘forget PPE, this is the humanity that rules’.

Art and protest in Latin America

Two exhibitions in Buenos Aires this summer looked at the ways in which artists use their work to challenge social and political injustices. Catherine Spencer discusses the work in ‘Acción Urgente’ and ‘Perder la Forma Humana’.

In defence of the plaster cast

The practice of making plaster-cast reproductions of famous artworks has fallen out of fashion. But can these secondary artworks ever be more authentic than the originals? Ruth Allen explores the Brussels Plaster Cast Workshop and argues for the value of the humble copy.

National Gallery gets a membership scheme

Seemingly on a roll after introducing Wi-Fi and permitting photography earlier this year, the UK National Gallery has just launched a membership scheme – the first in its 190-year history. What can you expect from the new package?