The OG No Kings At The NY Historical

Johannes Adam Simon Oertel, Pulling Down The Statue of King George III, New York City, 1852-53, oil on canvas, 32 x 41 in., collection NYHistorical I have a piece in the Summer 2026 issue of Art in America, buy it wherever print magazines are sold! I’d say I’m psyched, but it was lowkey depressing as hell. Though it’s in the reviews section, it’s more a preview, of what US museums are showing for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, at a moment when the country’s facing an ongoing fascist existential attack. tl;dr, museums are not going to save us. But one museum is doing the most, and it’s honestly not who I’d have expected. The NY Historical has had Johannes Adam Simon Oertel’s 1852-53 painting of New Yorkers pulling down the gilded lead statue of King George III after a public reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776, since 1925. And the online text goes deep on the symbolism of the Native American family turned away on the…