Josef Helfenstein, the Director of Houston’s Menil Collection for the past 12 years, is leaving his position to head the Kunstmuseum Basel, the New York Times reports. “It’s a very hard decision for me to leave the Menil – I love this institution enormously,” Helfenstein says. “I think we have accomplished a lot, so it was kind of a natural moment.” (more…)
A crane crashed onto the roof of the Dallas Museum of Art this week, just missing a Mark Di Suvero sculpture atop the institution. The south end of the space are currently closed for repairs, while the rest of the building remains open. (more…)
The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas has announced a major new art prize, to be awarded to “a living artist in recognition of a significant body of work that has had an extraordinary impact on the understanding of the art form.” The winner receives a $100,000 prize, and will be selected by an impressive jury that includes Phyllida Barlow, Okwui Enwezor, and Nicholas Serota, among others. (more…)
Artist Tom Sachs has announced the release of A Space Program, a narrative film made in conjunction with his 2012 Space Program: Mars project at the Park Avenue Armory. The film will premiere next month at SXSW in Austin. (more…)
A 1986 Ellsworth Kelly design for a free-standing building has been acquired by the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, and will be constructed on the museum grounds this spring. The building has some ties to the contemplative, spiritual air of the Rothko Chapel, as well as Matisse’s design for the Chapelle du Rosaire. “I think people need some kind of spiritual thing because, as you can see, there are spots around the world that are blowing up and we don’t want that,” the artist says. “No one wants that.” (more…)
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston is embarking on an ambitious $450 million expansion project that will seek to place it as one of the city’s cultural hubs. “It’s all about shaping space,” says , architect Steven Holl. “The collection of buildings there is already outstanding. It’s very delicate, not a site that calls for over-exuberance.” (more…)
ArtPrize, the Grand Rapids-based art contest that has made the city an unexpected stop on the global art circuit, has announced plans to expand its event to Dallas in 2016. “We want to make sure there’s an appetite for this sort of thing, and we think there is and we’ll go wherever the appetite is,” says Executive Director Christian Gaines. (more…)
The Texas Department of Transportation has reached a decision to classify the Prada Marfa installation by Elmgreen and Dragset as a museum, thus saving it from a possible removal. “TxDOT appreciates and values the cultural significance of Prada Marfa, and we are happy to have found a win-win solution that keeps it in its current location,” said department deputy executive John Barton. (more…)
A researcher at Texas State University, San Marcos claims to have pinpointed the exact time frame and date at which Claude Monet painted his foundational work Impression, Soleil Levant. Physicist Donald Olson compared numerous astrological charts, historical records, and photographs of the Normandy town of Le Havre (where the painting was made), before calculating a model that points to an extremely precise date of Nov. 13, 1872, around 7:35 a.m. (more…)
