Rudi Fuchs Dead at 84; V&A to Cut Academy Staff Amid Claims It Grew

Rudi Fuchs, the art historian who directed Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum from 1993 to 2004, has died at 84. The Art Newspaper France reports that Fuchs passed away in Amsterdam on October 25.

Fuchs ranks among the Netherlands' most influential critics and museum leaders. He ran Documenta 7 in 1982 and served as artistic director of the Castello di Rivoli from 1984 to 1990, among other top institutional posts. "Throughout his working life, he devoted himself to the visual arts," his family told the Dutch newspaper Het Parool.

Why is the V&A cutting a program that grew?

The Victoria and Albert Museum plans to downsize its adult-learning arm, the V&A Academy, amid broader threats of staff cuts, The Art Newspaper reports. Management told staff the program, which has offered expert-led courses for decades, did not generate enough income.

The numbers complicate that claim. The Art Newspaper notes the Academy recorded a sales increase of more than 22 percent in 2024-25 over the previous year, lifting its contribution to the museum by over 60 percent, to £365,000 ($486,600).

Staff say the V&A intends to shut much of the in-person program by the end of the year and may lay off 50 percent of the Academy's staff. Other departments have reportedly been asked to plan cuts too, following strikes over working conditions that are currently suspended. "Nobody had any inkling this was going to happen," one staff member said.

The museum's statement emphasizes process rather than outcomes: "We are currently reviewing the V&A Academy offer and the way in which this is delivered as part of wider efforts to streamline activity and identify efficiencies across our operations to ensure they are financially sustainable and deliver maximum impact." It added that officials "are still in the consultation phase."

What does this change for the public? Potentially, the loss of a decades-old education program that — on the museum's own revenue trajectory — was becoming more, not less, viable.

The Digest

• A recently attributed 16th-century painting by Giorgio Vasari, Transport of Christ to the Tomb, goes up for sale tomorrow at the Il Ponte auction house in Milan, estimated at €200,000 to €250,000 (about $223,000 to $279,000). Finestre sull'Arte reports.
• Hillary Clinton visited Naoshima, Japan's best-known art island, and posed with two of Yayoi Kusama's pumpkin sculptures. "In a sometimes dark and chaotic world, art is an antidote to numbness and incuriosity that reminds us the work of creation is an act of resistance," she said.
• The Israeli government has intervened to stop a Norwegian auction of a looted Torah scroll fragment believed to have been used by Nazi officers, the JTA reports.
• Art Basel Qatar returns for its second edition, January 28-30 in Doha, with 82 galleries from 37 countries, aiming to "deepen collector relationship, support galleries, and sustain momentum between editions."
• Three Turin institutions — the Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, the Fondazione Merz and the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea — mark 100 years since the birth of Marisa Merz (1926-2019), the only woman artist of the Arte Povera movement.

Are art fairs the next casualty?

Social unrest cut Art Basel Paris short by two days and forced museums to close, and the Financial Times reports that some observers now see escalating global tensions straining older fair structures. Youth-led protests over economic inequality and poor school conditions continue in France.

Doubts are already circulating about Frieze Abu Dhabi, opening November 19. One collector said he would be "astonished" if the fair goes ahead "in any meaningful way." Fair director Dyala Nusseibeh said organizers are "liaising with the appropriate authorities" on security. The Financial Times adds that with President Trump expected to attack Iran again after the November 3 midterm elections, the outlook is grim — and Art Basel Qatar is still slated to open January 28, 2027.