
Museum openings: V&A East and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plus, William Blake in Dublin
From The Week in Art by The Art Newspaper
April 16, 2026 · 1h 1m
About this episode
This episode discusses the openings of V&A East and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, along with a feature on William Blake's work in Dublin.
Two museum openings feature on this week’s podcast—V&A East in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In our 300th episode in 2024, Gus Casely Hayford, the director of the V&A East, told us about the community-driven programming at the museum and its connection with its local environment in East London. Now, as the museum opens, he takes Ben Luke on a tour of its commissions, displays and its first exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story. In California, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) has just opened its new building by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which cost more than $700m, and has generated some controversy. Ben speaks to our correspondent in Los Angeles, Jori Finkel, about the new building and the debate about its scale, its cost, its suitability for LA and whether Angelinos and tourists will take to Zumthor’s building. And this episode’s Work of the Week is Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils (around 1826) by the great 18th-century artist and poet, William Blake. The work is part of a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland, called William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, which opened this week. Ben speaks to the…
People in this episode
Host: Ben Luke
Guest: Gus Casely Hayford
Topics covered
- museum openings
- V&A East
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- William Blake
- art exhibitions
- community programming
Keywords
- museum openings
- V&A East
- LACMA
- William Blake
- art exhibitions
- community programming
- Satan Smiting Job
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: V&A East, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Gallery of Ireland
Books & works: Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils
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