The Detroit News has a story on Geoff George this week, the owner of the building Shepard Fairey’s offending artwork appeared on earlier this year, noting the problems of fines and unwanted public attention that the art has brought to his real estate.  “The artist in me was just thrilled. But, almost immediately the building owner side of me kicked in,” George says. “I started to worry … is the city going to hit me with a blight violation? How badly is my building going to be targeted?” (more…)

An article in the New York Times this week looks at the benefits of the thriving, community-focused art scene in Detroit, as well as the challenges artists in the city face.  “The thing I love about Detroit — if you want it done here, you have to do it,” says choreographer Marcus White. “You have to work.” (more…)

Shepard Fairey’s warrant in Detroit resulted in the artist’s arrest at the Los Angeles International Airport this past Monday, where he was held overnight on charges of vandalism.  The artist has since been released, and has not made a statement on the event. (more…)

Alfred Taubman, via Detroit Free Press

Alfred Taubman, the shopping mall developer and business mastermind who turned Sotheby’s from a private auction house to the publicly traded art market power it is today, has passed away at the age of 91.

Taubman earned his fortune during the years following World War II, re-engineering the American retail experience through his design and development of the modern shopping mall, and used his earnings to purchase Sotheby Parke Bernet for $130 million in 1983.  Within five years, Taubman had retooled its customer experience and sales strategies before taking the company public in 1988.   (more…)

The Detroit Free Press reports on the $100 million sale of Paul Cézanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue du bosquet du Château Noir by the The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in 2013, which would make it one of the 15 most expensive works ever sold.  “This was really a once-in-a-lifetime offer,” says Ford House president Kathleen Mullins. “The family thought it was a way to guarantee the estate would be taken care of the way Eleanor would have wanted.” (more…)

The Detroit Bankruptcy hearings begin this week, and while some alarmists wring their hands over the fate of the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection, the Art Market Monitor notes a series of indications that the museum collection will likely not find itself on the auction block.  Citing a New York Times article, the site notes the “scorched earth” approach taken by debt holders Syncora, and the chances that it may only alienate the courts in attempts to collect whatever it can on the final rulings. (more…)

As Detroit’s “grand bargain” draws nearer to realization, The New York Times notes that parts of the deal for the city’s exit from bankruptcy may in fact be illegal.  This news comes as a lending company, Art Capital, has offered the city $3 billion in aid using the city’s art collection as collateral, an offer that the city has yet to respond to.  “The museum is owned by the city, and the city is, in fact, in bankruptcy. That asset lawfully should be available to assist in the plan of exit,” said Ian Peck, Art Capital’s chief executive. “But we also believe that this art is a national treasure and should be preserved as such.” (more…)

Liz Cohen, Hood (2006), via Marianne Boesky

The city of Detroit seems to be popping up frequently on the art world radar as of late.  While the ongoing bankruptcy crisis in the Motor City threatens to place the Detroit Institute of Arts’s vast collection on the auction block, a new generation of young artists has swarmed to the midwestern metropolis, lured by cheap rents and a the freedom to explore their work in earnest.  Taking this renewed interest in Detroit as its starting point, Marianne Boesky and Marlborough Chelsea have teamed up on a summer show of works and artifacts exploring the creative and economic history of the embattled powerhouse of American industry.

Another Look at Detroit at Marlborough Chelsea (Installation View), via Marlborough Chelsea (more…)

The New York Times reports that a Detroit creditor has ordered an appraisal of the Detroit Institute of Art‘s collection in hopes that the Institute’s works, which includes pieces by Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, and Vincent Van Gogh, might be sold to cover the city’s debts. Although this appraisal valued the collection at up to $8.5 billion, an earlier appraisal placed the value between $2.7 billion and $4.6 billion, with the additional caution that, because of external factors like donor lawsuits and lack of demand for certain periods, actual sales will probably be around $800 million.

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Detroit retirees have passed a vote resolving to allow the Detroit Institute of Arts to spin-off as its own institution, and to accept pension cuts, reflecting what many believe to be the popular opinion towards the city’s art collection and its ability to recover.  “The voting shows strong support for the city’s plan to adjust its debts and for the investment necessary to provide essential services and put Detroit on secure financial footing,” said Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr.

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The final valuation of the Detroit Institute of Arts has topped $4.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports, a figure that could create notable complications for the city in bankruptcy court.  The report also notes that the immediate sales of these works does not appear to be a feasible method of raising funds.  “The report makes it abundantly clear that selling art to settle debt will not generate the kind of revenue the City’s creditors claim it will,” says Bill Nowling, spokesman for Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. (more…)

A Detroit Judge has issued a decision preventing city creditors from removing art from the walls of the Detroit Institute of Arts for valuation outside the museum.  “The record fails to justify this extraordinary relief,” stated Judge Steven Rhodes after hearing arguments.

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A coalition of Detroit Automakers (GM, Ford, Chrysler) has announced plans to donate about $10 million each over the next decades in order to aid the city’s bankruptcy exit while protecting its art collection at Detroit Institute of Arts.  The museum will also be soliciting donations from other corporations.  “For this to work, the Legislature has to be in and part of it,” says an unnamed CEO considering a donation. “Business groups are encouraging the Legislature to make it happen.” (more…)

Bond insurer Syncora, one of the creditors in Detroit’s bankruptcy case, has filed a massive subpoena against the Detroit Intitute of Arts, calling for a selection of documents including ownership records, documents regarding donations, and tax records, among other records.  The move is the latest in an increasingly fraught debate over whether credtiors will push DIA to sell off its works for Detroit’s debts. (more…)

In what may be the final piece of the puzzle to rescue the Detroit Institute of Arts collection from a potential auction by the city, the museum has made the commitment to raise $100 million in additional funds over the next 20 years.  The donation would secure city pension funds, and in turn, hold the city to an agreement to transfer the legal title of ownership to the museum, effectively preserving it from any future sale.  “Clearly this is going to be a challenge,” COO Annmarie Erickson said. “It’s an enormous amount of money, but we’ve proven over and over again that we are good at raising money. We’ll have to balance this effort with our need to raise endowment dollars and operational funding. But given that this will help move the bankruptcy along quickly, that it will help the pensioners (and) ensure that the DIA collection is safeguarded for the public, we have compelling arguments to take to donors.” (more…)

A coalition of 9 national and local foundations has agreed to pay $330 million to help stabilize the city of Detroit’s pension plans, taking a major step in preventing the sale of the Detroit Institute of Arts‘ collection.  Even so, the city has several hurdles to get past before the deal to get the Institute’s collection off the table.  “There are many things that could still go wrong,” says Alberto Ibargüen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. “The devil is always in the details in these things.” (more…)

The long-disputed valuation of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection has finally been completed, with a final valuation that falls somewhere between $454 million to $867 million.  This valuation factors in a Van Gogh self-portrait valued at $150 million on its own, as well as a Bruegel the Elder painting that could sell for anywhere between $100 and $200 million.  (more…)

A coalition of the largest creditors in Detroit’s current bankruptcy has made the initial movements in court to push Detroit to sell works from the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.  The motion formally brings the dispute into court, which has been hinted at for several months.  “We recognize that this is a very sensitive issue,” says Derek Donnelly, managing director of Financial Guaranty Insurance Co.. “Whatever process we undertake here, we would hope would create a win-win situation — that ultimately there will be a viable DIA that will survive this process and possibly even thrive. But at the same time there needs to be a construct that addresses the fact that the DIA, or art, is not an essential asset and especially not one that is essential to the delivery of services in the city.” (more…)

A group of Detroit’s creditors are pushed for an independent valuation of the Detroit Institute of Arts collection, marking a tense escalation between the city and its debt collectors, with the embattled museum caught in the middle.  “This motion doesn’t compel a sale,” said Derek Donnelly of Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. “It just establishes a communal framework for addressing value maximization of the artwork.” (more…)

The ongoing dispute over the future of the Detroit Institute of Arts has the museum considering a transfer to state ownership.  As DIA’s collection is appraised at the behest of emergency manager Kevyn Orr, the museum is weighing options that would allow it to accept state funding while providing needed monetary support to the city, including through long-term leases of art works.  “I’m deferring to them to save themselves,” Orr said. (more…)

The sense of alarm surrounding the Detroit Institute of Arts is taking its toll on the museum, the New York Times reports.  Concerned about the future of the museum’s collection, some wealthy patrons are less likely to donate works to the institution, and museum staff are dealing with consistently low morale.  “We can take the threat. It’s the uncertainty we can’t stand. It’s the uncertainty that is clouding everything we do.”  Says Director Graham W.J. Beal. (more…)

Emphasizing the recent vote by Michigan’s Oakland County to withdraw support for the museum if any works were to be sold, DIA Director Graham W. J. Beal has stated in the September museum newsletter that “selling any art would be tantamount to closing the museum.”  Beal continues by questioning the valuation of the museum’s assets, particularly the Tintoretto ceiling painting in its lobby.  “You may have read in the Detroit Free Pressthat an expert valued the painting at $100 million. This came as a surprise to us as, a couple of years ago, for insurance purposes, a different expert assessed the painting at $2 to $3 million.”  He writes.
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The Michigan county of Oakland, one of three that approved property tax increases to help bankroll the Detroit Institute of the Arts operating budget last year, has unanimously approved a resolution stating that any attempt to sell works from the DIA Collection to benefit the city’s creditors would “terminate any obligation” of the county to continue support.  Oakland, along with Wayne and Macomb counties, is projected to contribute $250 million to the museum over 10years, and stated that it “continues to believe that the museum and its collections are important, irreplaceable and indivisible parts of the cultural fiber of the state and region.” (more…)

In an unprecedented move, the final tally of Christie’s Detroit Institute of Arts appraisal later this fall will offer a rare look into the true market value of a major museum’s art collection.  Expected to reach into the billions, the valuation of the museum’s collection will add a new sense of urgency to the current budgetary crisis in Detroit, and its effects on DIA.  “This is like the weighing of souls,” says Maxwell Anderson, director of the Dallas Museum of Art. “This is biblical stuff, not the approximations that insurance companies look for. It’s extremely problematic for all museums, because it alters the public’s perception of artworks from being ciphers of public heritage of transcendent value, to objects for sale to pay other people’s debts.” (more…)