The Institut Giacometti, the foundation museum dedicated to the life and work of Alberto Giacometti, is set to open next year in Paris, featuring a meticulous recreation of the artist’s small, 270 square-foot studio.  The opening of the museum is the result of settled disputes over the estate of the artist, as brokered by Institut head Catherine Grenier, former deputy director of the Centre Pompidou.  “When I got here a year ago,” Grenier says, “this foundation was not at all well known, for one essential reason: It was closed to the public. My priority is to make its activities and its extraordinary collection accessible.” (more…)

The Telegraph looks at the growing competition among the world’s wealthiest for high-priced art trophies as status symbols, and notes the growing trend towards the establishment of non-profit foundations and museums as an even more appealing demonstration of wealth.  “Making your collection available to the public, understanding the journey you have been on, your taste,” says Celine Fressart, head of special projects at 1858 Ltd.  “That, really, is the ultimate in bragging rights.” (more…)

Hauser and Wirth has announced that it will serve globally as the representative for the Mike Kelley Foundation.  Established by the artist in 2007, the organization issues grants to artists working on challenging projects among Kelley’s preferred mediums.   (more…)

The New York Times notes the attractive benefits for wealthy collectors founding their own private, tax-exempt museums to house their art collections, allowing the collectors to deduct full market value for their donations even when the museum may be housed on the same property as their home.  “I’m not against it being done, but it’s got to be done well,” says Robert Storr, dean of the Yale School of Art. “If there’s to be a public forgiveness for taxes there should be a clear public benefit, and it should not be entirely at the discretion of the person running the museum or foundation.” (more…)

The New York Times notes an upcoming wave of exhibitions focusing on the work of Andy Warhol, over 40 in total around the US and abroad, led by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, which has also announced a series of grants and donations for various art institutions.  “When I say that Andy is going to be as well known for his philanthropy as he is for his art, it’s really true,” says Foundation president Joel Wachs. (more…)

Over the past year, Catherine Grenier, the former deputy director of the Musée national d’art moderne at the Centre Pompidou, has been streamlining the Giacometti Foundation, working to repair years of scandal and controversy over the artist’s legacy.  “I’m not interested in archaeology, in digging up the past,” she says. “I’m only interested in progress, in moving forward in a positive way.”  (more…)

Prince Albert of Monaco is inaugurating a new Francis Bacon Foundation in the small European country, combining over 2,000 artworks, photographs, works on paper, and working documents, as well as the artist’s furniture and rug designs.  Bacon lived in Monaco for several years in the 1940’s, before moving several years later.  “We’ve discovered that Bacon started painting on the unprimed side of the canvas after losing all of his money in the Monaco Casino,” said collector and foundation founder Majid Boustany, “and as you know, this became one of the trademarks of his style!” (more…)

Gagosian Gallery has announced that it will represent the estate of artist Walter de Maria, continuing a relationship the artist had with the gallery during his life, showing there several times.  The gallery’s first step is assisting in establishing a Foundation to oversee his estate and work.  “Walter so wished to establish his own foundation, but sadly, he did not accomplish this during his lifetime,” says Elizabeth Childress, former director of the artist’s studio. “It is an important step to have as a protection and a promotion of his legacy.” (more…)

Collectors Karlheinz and Agnes Essl, heads of the renowned Essl Collection of contemporary art, are selling off a large portion of their works this week in London, a group of works that includes a number of lesser known German and Austrian artists due to Mr. Essl’s unorthodox collecting techniques.  “So many collectors buy only the ‘greatest hits’ of an artist, but I created a collection that reflected the diversity of artists’ careers and went deeper than just the trophies,” he says.  (more…)

The Guggenheim Museum has announced plans to open a new location in New York City, which will house the institution’s archives and library, with possible new space for public engagement.   (more…)

The Wall Street Journal interviews Jessica Morgan this week, the newly appointed director of New York’s Dia Foundation.  Morgan, who takes over for Philippe Vergne, recounts her earliest memories of art in her home, and some of her first ambitious projects, including a 2003 show at the Tate Modern.  “It was a bit of a grand failure, but we tried valiantly to make an exhibition that responded to the particular circumstances of Tate Modern and the notion of the museum as a public space.” (more…)

The Rauschenberg Foundation has announced a series of grants for artists-activists, interested in making work that engages social practice and change.  Grants range from smaller travel grants (anticipated to be from $2,500 to $10,000) up to $100,000.  The foundation is planning on announcing its next grant proposal series in November, focusing on climate change. (more…)

French artist Bernar Venet has launched a new non-profit organization, The Venet Foundation will exhibit a collection of works the artist collected from close friends like Donald Judd, Yves Klein and Sol LeWitt under conditions that Vernet felt were ideal for exhibiting their works, including a subjective element to the foundation that fits quite well alongside the artist’s conceptual practice. (more…)

The court case over payment to three trustees of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust has been settled this week by a Florida judge, who approved a payment of $24.6 million for “extraordinary services” in preserving the artist’s legacy, much to the disappointment of Rauschenberg’s estate, which is considering its options in the face of the ruling.  “We are reviewing our legal options and will pursue the course of action that is in the best interest of the foundation,” says Christopher Rauschenberg, the artist’s son and president of the foundation. (more…)

Vienna’s Generali Foundation is closing after 19 years in the Austrian capital.  The space has hosted shows by Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Martha Rosler over its lifespan, and boasts one of the nation’s most prominent art collections, which will be placed on loan to Salzburg’s Museum der Moderne Kunst.

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Hy-Fi, the winning project in MoMA PS1‘s Young Architects Program, is set to open at the museum’s Queens campus this Friday, June 27th.  Created by design firm The Living, the installation uses biodegradable materials, and once set, actually grows over the course of its installation.   (more…)

Court proceedings regarding the lawsuit filed by members of the Robert Rauschenberg Trust, demanding they receive up to $60 million in compensation for their work maintaining the foundation, are nearing their conclusion.  The plaintiffs claim that their work has grown the value of the Rauschenberg estate, and they should be paid accordingly. (more…)

Over £50 million worth of works by Cy Twombly have been donated to the Tate by the Cy Twombly foundation, ranking as one of the most valuable gifts the museum has ever received.  “It ranks alongside Rothko’s gift of the Seagram mural paintings in 1970 and together with Twombly’s cycle of paintings The Four Seasons 1993-5, acquired in 2002,” Tate Director Sir Nicholas Serota said of the acquisition. “His gives an enduring place in London to the work of one of the great painters of the second half of the 20th century.” (more…)

Artist Jim Dine has donated his collection of fine art prints to Washington State University’s Museum of Art, consisting of more than 200 works prints valued at nearly $2 million.  “This is a complete career overview in printmaking by one of the most significant artists of our time, all from the artist himself,” says Chris Bruce, director for the Museum of Art/WSU. “It is unprecedented for our museum and we are breathless over the scope of this gift.” (more…)

The Guggenheim Foundation has responded to the lawsuit filed by descendants of Peggy Guggenheim, calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and contradictory.  The original suit criticized the Foundation of using Peggy Guggenheim’s Venice home, donated to house her collection, as the site of numerous outside exhibitions, a charge the Foudation dismisses wholehandedly.  “They insist that no works other than Peggy Guggenheim’s be exhibited in the palazzo or the garden,” the statement says. “Yet between 1999 and 2013, they were instrumental in organising 14 exhibitions of works entirely foreign to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.” (more…)

The plans seem to be moving forward for the Helsinki branch of the Guggenheim Museum, as the institution is reportedly launching an open competition to design the new space, co-organized with the Finnish Association of Architects. (more…)

The Rauschenberg Foundation is profiled in ArtNews this week, following the institution’s ambitious Marfa Dialogues event last fall, and its ongoing commitment to ambitious commissions and artist projects.  ““We look at our grant making through the lens of the values that defined Bob,” says Executive Director  Christy MacLear.  “So you don’t only say, ‘What would Bob do?’ Instead, you set up a framework so that a hundred years from now you can ask: Is it collaborative? Is it boundary-breaking? Is it risk-taking?”  (more…)

The heirs of Peggy Guggenheim have filed a lawsuit against the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, alleging that the foundation has failed to comply with the conditions of her gifts, and has placed her collection in storage to make room for various exhibitions in her Venice estate.   “They are totally disrespecting my great grandmother’s legacy… it’s appalling; it’s a big disappointment,” says Sindbad Rumney, the great grandson of Peggy Guggenheim.  “Basically… what we’ve [discovered] is that if you have the right amount of money and you have a collection, you can show it at the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice.” (more…)

Delays have caused the Broad Museum (currently under-construction in Los Angeles) to push back its scheduled opening date from late this year to early 2015, the New York Times reports.  A honeycomb-style “veil” wrapping around the museum has caused some complications in construction, but also enables the museum to continue working on its downtown campus.  “We expect to announce the opening date later this year,” said Broad Foundation Spokesperson Karen Denne. (more…)