Edward Hopper, Chop Suey (1929), Final Price: $95,937,500, via Christie’s

Following an unsteady outing this past Sunday, Christie’s has turned on a dime with this evening’s special sale of works from the collection of Barney Ebsworth, capping off a 42-lot sale with a strong final result of $317,801,250, leaving only a few works unsold (5 of 42 lots) and a number of major world auction records left broken (at least 10 records in total before the sale reached its conclusion). (more…)

The New York Times has a piece on Andy Warhol’s entourage at The Factory, and the artist’s engagement with the figures in his inner circle. “When I first went to the Factory, there was an interesting group of young people. Andy always had some rich kids around him but also people who were incredibly flamboyant, incredibly transgressive,” says Fran Leibowitz. “They were there for his amusement. Later, Andy could not distinguish between an interesting young person and just a young person.” (more…)

Penske Media Corporation, which owns Rolling Stone, Variety, WWD, and Deadline, has acquired Art Media Holdings, LLC, the parent company of ARTnews, Art in America, The Magazine ANTIQUES, and MODERN Magazine. “For more than a century ARTnews and Art in America have been leaders in breaking news and commentary on the art world,” PMC’s chairman and CEO, Jay Penske, said in a statement. “To welcome these fine publications, whose editorial heritage I have long admired, is not only a remarkable opportunity but also a great honor.” (more…)

Mary Ceruti, current director and chief curator of SculptureCenter, will take over as head of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Art News reports. “The Walker has been a trailblazer in identifying the experimental and influential art and artists of its time, continually demonstrating the power of art to help us understand, navigate and shape the contemporary world,” Ceruti said in a statement. “It is uniquely positioned to create new models for how museums work with artists and diverse constituencies.” (more…)

Rene Magritte, The Pleasure Principle (1937) Final Price: $26,830,500, via Sotheby’s

The first batch of sales for New York’s bustling auction week have come to a close, as Christie’s and Sotheby’s capped their Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales in New York.  Both sales seemed to rock back and forth between major milestones and less impressive results, as buyers seemed tentative to pursue large trophy works or pieces boasting higher estimates.   (more…)

Julian Schnabel is interviewed in New York Magazine this week, as he prepares to roll out his new film on Vincent Van Gogh, and offers his takes on the artist’s singular personality. “I don’t think he was crazy at all, and these myths that have been propagated are a disservice,” he says. “[People] think artists have to be nuts to be good. If you really look at [van Gogh’s] paintings, they’re not the works of a madman.” (more…)

New research has uncovered the collaboration between Nazi art thieves and Dirk Hannema, director of the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam to create a clearinghouse for the sale of paintings looted from Jewish owners. “He collaborated with the Germans and he knew what he was doing,” says Sjarel Ex, the current director of the museum. “His decision was that it was worthwhile to work with them because he knew that he could have more influence and power with the people who were reigning instead of being a refugee or going into hiding or living on the outskirts.” (more…)

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles has added Adrian Cheng, Marina Kellen French, Simon Mordant, Sean Parker, and Julia Stoschek, marking Klaus Biesenbach’s first action as director.  Cheng, Mordant, and Stoschek all served on MOMAPS1‘s board during Biesenbach’s tenure.  (more…)

Parisian auctioneers Tajan will offer a double-sided Da Vinci drawing next year, testing a market for the artist who smashed world records with his work Salvator Mundi last year. Tajan is hoping to achieve a price between 30 million euros and 60 million for the 1492 drawing.  (more…)

The Tate Liverpool will open a major exhibition dedicated to Keith Haring, The Guardian reports. “We are really aiming to bring to life the cultural energy and edginess of 1980s New York City,” says curator Darren Pih. (more…)

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has drawn over a million visitors in its first year, the NYT reports. The figure puts it head and shoulders over other institutions in the region, with further planned exhibitions sure to continue its impressive figures. (more…)

Christie’s sale of David Hockney’s iconic 1972 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), set for sale this week in New York, will be sold without a reserve. “By removing the reserve we have also removed any perceived barrier to entry and opened up bidding to broader participation including institutions and major donors as well as private collectors,” a spokesperson said. (more…)

David Zwirner tops this year’s ArtReview Power 100, followed by Kerry James Marshall and the #metoo movement, marking another year in the publication’s documentation of the movers and shakers of the art world. (more…)

David Zwirner will now represent artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on its roster, sharing representation with Victoria Miro. Crosby has received considerable attention in the past years following her inclusion in the 2015 New Museum Triennial. (more…)

The Met has announced Andrea Bayer, current Jayne Wrightsman curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s department of European paintings, as the new deputy director for collections and administration. “As curator in the department of European paintings, often working on projects that went across multiple departments, I know how rewarding it is to work alongside colleagues throughout the museum,” Bayer said in a statement. “I am thrilled to take on this new role, one which will allow me both to support the director and continue to collaborate with these colleagues on an institutional level.” (more…)

Jeff Koons has lost his court case regarding plagiarism of an add for French clothing brand Naf-Naf for his sculpture Fait d’Hiver. Koons must pay creative director Franck Davidovici a total of €135,000 for the work. (more…)

The LA Times has a piece on newly minted MOCA Director Klaus Biesenbach’s vision for his leadership at the museum, and the efforts he plans to spearhead while working at the museum. “As a museum, you have a civic responsibility, you have a role in society, you have to be courageous, you have to open up your doors to allow for dialogue,” he says. (more…)

Chris Dercon, who recently left his position at the Volksbühne Theatre in Berlin, will take a new position as president of the French government cultural body, Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais (Rmn-GP), the orgaization that manages the Grand Palais and Musée du Luxembourg. “The ministry has opted for a new type of leader, an art historian who has always championed artists,” said Philippe Régnier, editor of Art Newspaper France. (more…)

The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston has reattributed a work in its collection to Diego Velázquez, citing recent research after a cleaning in San Antonio. “The first moment I saw it, I believed,” Katherine Luber, the San Antonio museum’s director, says. (more…)

Magazzino Italian Art Foundation in Cold Spring is establishing a new Research Center with some 4,000 publications accessible for study, as well as a new annual fellowship program, Art News reports. The first scholar-in-residence is Francesco Guzzetti, who recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University. “It is a true privilege to expand my research on Arte Povera and work directly with the art installed in the museum and the new Research Center library,” Guzzetti says. (more…)

Edward Hopper, Chop Suey (1929), via Christie’s

This next week, New York City will see a string of Modern and Contemporary Auctions take place at the major auction houses, following up a tense season of political uncertainty in the U.S. with a series of sales that may offer a referendum on the nation’s current economic climate.  With a number of special sales joining the traditional major evening sales, the week should offer an intriguing picture of just how healthy the market is, or perhaps how daring its collectors are feeling. (more…)

Tania Bruguera at Tate Modern (Installation View), via Art Observed

Cuban artist and activist Tania Bruguera has been tapped for the most recent commission project at Tate Modern, which opened this past October during Frieze Week. The piece, which unifies disparate social threads under the museum roof, is a striking moment for the artist under the shadow of the nation’s Brexit negotiations. (more…)

Collectors Beverly and Donald S. Freeman have donated $4 million to the Dallas Museum of Art to fund the Freeman Family Exhibition Endowment, which will help fund one show a year. “This is an exciting moment in the museum’s history, and the Dallas Museum of Art deeply appreciates this generous gift from Don and Beverly Freeman,” says Agustín Arteaga, the DMA’s director. “They are longstanding patrons of the museum, including Beverly’s remarkable four decades as a valued DMA docent. We are grateful for this significant new gift and for their continued passion in support of our celebrated education programs.” (more…)

LA’s David Kordansky Gallery now represents Huma Bhabha, Art News reports. In a statement, Kordansky said he was “fascinated by her synthesis of artificial and organic materials, modernism and monsters, notions of the universal and the alien. Both topical and transcendent, her forms give unexpected—and unflinching—life to the figurative tradition.” (more…)