Documenta 14 is at the center of more political conflict this week, after a far-right German politician attacked a pro-refugee sculpture by Nigerian-born, US-based artist Olu Oguibe. Kassel city council member Thomas Materner, a member of Germany’s far-right AfD party, called the work “ideologically polarizing, disfigured art,” over its message. Curator Adam Szymczyk was reportedly “appalled” by the comments.
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Bulgari is aligning itself with Rome’s Maxxi museum to present a new prize for Italian contemporary arts, WWD reports. “The Premio Maxxi sees Italy at the center of the work of the artists involved,” says Jean Christophe Babin, Bulgari’s chief executive officer. “Supporting a prize that valorizes Italy but with significant international scope is in perfect harmony with the identity and values of a company such as Bulgari,” said Babin. “I am sure that this partnership will give new impetus to the prize.”
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London’s National Gallery has bought Bernardo Bellotto’s The Fortress of Königstein from the North (1756-58) for £11,670,000 following the deferment of an export bar on the work, the Art Newspaper reports. The piece “shows Bellotto as one of the greatest view painters of his time,” according to director Gabriele Finaldi.
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