The Al-Thani family of Qatar is reportedly eyeing an exhibition space for its art in Paris, Art Market Monitor reports. Reports note that the family is in negotiations with a private developer representing the French state which has plans to re-develop L’hôtel de la Marine on the Place de la Concorde. (more…)
The Tate has reportedly turned to Wikipedia to fill in gaps in artist biographies for works held in its collection, Art Newspaper reports. A Tate spokesperson said it is “working on a partnership with Wikipedia to ensure the biographies for artists in our collection are as accurate as possible.” (more…)
Greenspon Gallery has cancelled a show featuring the work of the alleged Ne0-Nazi Boyd Rice, following stark criticism from across the art world. “Given the issues this show and these artists raise, we will try to use this episode to consider the various meanings and histories of provocation and dissent in art. As contexts, boundaries and political realities continue to transform, so do the the codes of what can and cannot be accepted,” said gallerist Amy Greenspon. “I deeply regret my lack of oversight when I planned this exhibition, and I apologize to anyone the gallery may have offended when we sent out our email announcement.” (more…)
Moritz Wesseler previously director of the Kölnischer Kunstverein in Germany will lead the Fridericianum museum in Kassel, Germany, Art News reports. “My goal is to offer a platform for key players in the realm of contemporary art still largely unknown in Germany,” he said in a statement to press. “In addition, I intend to strengthen the institution’s connection within the city and the local region.” (more…)
The Städel Museum in Frankfurt will publish a series of discussions with leading figures of the West German postwar art scene, looking to create a broader perspective on the era’s art scene. “By publishing both online and in print, we want to enable access for as many people as possible to this unique primary source, and we hope that both interested amateurs and expert readers will make rich discoveries,” says Franziska Leuthäußer, the leader of the project. (more…)
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac will host an installation by artist Tom Sachs during Frieze Week, Sachs’s studio issuing its own version of Swiss passports to anyone who is willing to pay €20. “With this project we break down the borders and eliminate the concept of nationality,” Sachs says. “This comes at a time where our liberal democracies are being threatened, and oppressed people all over the world live in danger and without refuge. Borders are artificial. They are artificially created by governments and the corporations who control them.” (more…)
The estate of Barney Ebsworth, the founder of Royal Cruise Lines, will go to Christie’s in the coming months, estimated at over $300 million, including Edward Hopper’s famed Chop Suey, which is estimated at $70 million. “This is the greatest collection of American modernism ever to come to market,” Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas.
Johannes Vogt Gallery will relocate to the Upper East Side, Art News reports. “If you told me five years ago that I’d be setting up shop on the Upper East Side, I’d have called you crazy,” Vogt said. “What I show is not as well-represented [on the Upper East Side], and that’s very exciting, to me. I can create a new framework for the work I’m showing.” (more…)
Dealer Mary Boone has plead guilty to filing false federal income tax returns, the New York Times reports. “This is the worst day of my life,” she says. “I have learned from my mistake and I am working very hard to put it behind me.” (more…)
The Guardian interviews Ilya and Emilia Kabakov this week as the pair prepare for a retrospective at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and looks back at the artists’ move out of the Sovient Union. “He took all his baggage with him, the cultural stuff that rooted him in the country,” Emilia says. “What saves Ilya is his magnificent imagination. All of his work is based on fantasy, whether he’s in America, France or Russia.” (more…)
Collectors Aaron and Barbara Levine are donating their collection of Marcel Duchamp works to the Hirshhorn Museum, a major acquisition that bolsters the institution’s holdings. “This is the art world equivalent of the Wizards getting LeBron James,” says Hirshhorn board chairman Daniel Sallick. “Any museum in the world would want this collection.” (more…)
A second round of cultural organizations in Baltimore and Denver have been announced as recipients of funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Art News reports. “We’re thrilled that Bloomberg Philanthropies has selected Baltimore for this significant funding that will serve to equip a new generation of artistic leaders with the support and professional training in the essential areas that constitute thriving arts organizations,” says Catherine E. Pugh, mayor of Baltimore. (more…)
New York’s Kasmin gallery has hired Tianyue Jiang, previously of Christie’s as its new director. “It is wonderful to welcome someone of Tianyue’s immense experience to the gallery to lead our ambitions both in Asia and at home here in New York,” the gallery said in a statement. “Her specialized knowledge of the region will be of tremendous importance as we continue to develop our client base and introduce more Asian artists to the gallery program.” (more…)
Beijing’s Ullens Center for Contemporary Art has announced plans for a second museum, UCCA Dune, in Hebei Province’s Beidaihe District, Art Newspaper reports. “The space is nearly Guggenheimian in its specificity. It would also work spectacularly for a one artist show,” says director Philip Tinari. (more…)
A major fire broke at the National Museum of Brazil has claimed an estimated 90% of the museum’s collection, the Guardian reports. Protests over the fire have blamed austerity measures and budget cuts to fund the Olympic Games and World Cup for depleting government funds to fireproof and protect the museum. “Look at the irony. The money is now there, but we ran out of time,” the museum’s director, Alexander Kellner, told reporters at the scene. (more…)
Richard Hamilton has announced that he is leaving his post as the director of the Tate Americas Foundation, Art News reports. He is now planning “a consultancy to help develop philanthropic strategies for private individuals, foundations, and nonprofit institutions.” (more…)
Photographer Deana Lawson has photographed Rihanna for the 15th Anniversary Issue of Garage Magazine. “Every image maker who picked up a camera for Issue 15 is a woman, and those women took us to Nigeria, Sweden, California, Tokyo, and Harlem, among other locations. Rihanna is perhaps our most human of pop idols—unguarded, miraculously vital, perfect in her imperfections—making her the consummate subject for Deana,” says Mark Guiducci, the magazine’s editor in chief. (more…)
Art Basel has reworked its fees for gallery booths at its fair, lowering prices for its smaller booths while increasing the price of its higher priced booths, a response to recent critiques of the current fair economy. “Given the current financial pressures faced by many galleries, especially smaller and mid-sized galleries today, we believe that this model is fairer, and will provide some relief to smaller galleries, while not overburdening galleries that have a larger stand,” the fair said. (more…)
Wolfgang Tillmans is interviewed in The New Yorker this week, taking the magazine on a tour of his studio and outlining his vision as an artist. “I can’t know, I can only hope that they last,” he says of his images. “You can’t be too sure about something, because otherwise you’re too full of yourself or you can’t see if there is a weakness in the work.” (more…)
Christie’s will offer a significant Gerhard Richter from 1983 for its London Sale October 4th, estimated at £12 million. “Richter’s Schädel (Skull) stands among his most poignant, intimate and technically refined works,” says Francis Outred, Chairman and Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at the auction house. “Its subject matter places it in conversation with the memento mori tradition that was cultivated by the Old Masters and extrapolated during the twentieth century by artists such as Picasso and Cézanne.” (more…)
A gallery at the Royal Academy of Arts in London will be flooded with water and mud for a major solo exhibition of work by Antony Gormley, the Guardian reports. “We’ve started to engineer some of the main galleries, so that they can take some of the installations we’re looking at,” says artistic director Tim Marlow. (more…)
Works from late American collector David Teiger, a New Jersey management consultant who amassed a trove of late 20th and early 21st century art, will go on sale at Sotheby’s. “A true visionary, David Teiger collected with an avant-garde spirit, often rejecting art world consensus to forge his own path,” says Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s European head of contemporary art. “This is one of those rare groups of works that perfectly capture the essence of the art and the spirit of collecting of its time.” (more…)
The Washington Post has a piece on outgoing National Gallery Director Earl Powell III and the challenges for his replacement. “Poor management across multiple departments has caused high turnover and low staff morale, resulting in missed deadlines and budgets that waste taxpayer dollars, according to staff,” the piece reports. (more…)
