The New York Times has a feature on Dylan Brant, the son of collector and publishing magnate Peter Brant in its Style section this week, noting 25 year-old’s passion for curating and dealing, including a recent show, Rawhide, at Venus Over Manhattan.  “As a young man, I’m really aware of the standards for being a man in America, and you see a lot of that represented in cowboys,” he says. “So they’re interesting figures in relation to the disintegration of the American landscape.” (more…)

The Art Newspaper reports that a 38-piece private collection of works by German artist Anselm Kiefer will be given to the Kunsthalle Mannheim on extended loan. The collection is owned by Hans Grothe, a German art collector who made his fortune in construction, and will be on loan to the museum for more than a decade. The article also reports on the statement released by the museum, which highlights the it’s high expectations for the collection. (more…)

An article in the Wall Street Journal takes a closer look at how auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s vigorously recruit new collectors. Seeking fortunes large enough to sustain multi-million dollar sales, these auction houses keep a close eye on a new crop of billionaires that has been springing up over the past few years in areas like the Balkans and Central Asia. The courting ritual employed by the houses includes children’s parties, personalized tours, VIP passes, and, in one case, a hand-crafted needle-point pillow. (more…)

The Financial Times has published a series of articles on collecting, gallery operations and the contemporary art world, running in its June 7th issue, as well as online.  Taking a look at the global market for contemporary art, the special section of the paper includes interviews with Bill Viola and Maurizio Cattelan, a history of the upcoming Art Basel fair, a recap of the newly reopened Berggruen Museum in Berlin, a spotlight on the rising popularity of sculpture in the British market, and a feature on the high-profile Russian art dealer Stella Kesaeva. (more…)