The Tate is receiving an additional £6 million in funding from the British Government this year, earmarked to help fund the operations at the Tate Modern. “Late last year the government in principle committed to an uplift in grant-in-aid to support the running of the new Tate Modern,” a Museum spokesman confirms. (more…)
The Telegraph looks at the record-breaking sales last week at Christie’s in the context of the auction house’s penchant for pre-sale guarantees, noting that over $250 million of the Looking Forward to the Past sale’s monumental $706 million final tally was guaranteed. They are effectively buying market share,” says one unnamed art advisor. (more…)
For the first time, Italy has launched an international search for directors to some of its most important museums, among them the Uffizi in Florence, the Galleria Borghese in Rome and the Accademia in Venice. The move is seen as an attempt for major Italian institutions to get closer in line to international counterparts like The Louvre. “It’s a giant leap ahead,” Dario Franceschini, Italy’s culture minister. “Italian museums should be more dynamic. They should have more bookshops, more restaurants. They should be attractive and have more multimedia.” (more…)
The upcoming vote on an artist resale royalty in the United States has major auction houses sending high-powered lobbyists to Washington, in an attempt to prevent the bill from passing. The bill, which would pay artists a percentage of any auction sale, has many resellers nervous over the ostensible impact the additional charges would have on growing sale prices, while advocates are pushing the bill’s inclusion of artists in the creation of new wealth. “To me, the bill is a question of fundamental fairness,” says Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who introduced the bill. (more…)
U.S. Lawmakers have put forth a proposal that would pay 5% of any auction proceeds to the creator of the work on sale. The royalty proposal looks to bring U.S. art auction procedures in line with those of the European Union, and would cap royalties at $35,000 for a work. “Just as our copyright laws extend to musicians and authors to encourage their artistic creativity, they should also apply to our visual artists,” sponsoring Senator Tammy Baldwin says. “The ART Act is a common-sense measure that helps protect the intellectual property of our artists.” (more…)
The German government has announced plans to search its public museums through an independent center, the Wall Street Journal reports. The news follows the ongoing outcry over the seized collection of Cornelius Gurlitt, and the attempted claims laid by families from whom the art was looted during WWII. “These are delicate matters to articulate,” says German Culture Minister Monika Grütters. “It’s a matter of earning back trust.” (more…)
Former curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Sir Roy Strong has called British art galleries and museums to task for presenting exhibitions avoiding criticism of British policy. The harsh words come as the V&A gears up for an exhibition on David Bowie. He says: “I always saw the role of director as primarily to lift people to paradise and to give them information and delight – and then, at another moment, claw them, so they were absolutely shocked and they were made to think about what was going on around them.”
