Collectors Aaron and Barbara Levine are donating their collection of Marcel Duchamp works to the Hirshhorn Museum, a major acquisition that bolsters the institution’s holdings. “This is the art world equivalent of the Wizards getting LeBron James,” says Hirshhorn board chairman Daniel Sallick. “Any museum in the world would want this collection.” (more…)
A second round of cultural organizations in Baltimore and Denver have been announced as recipients of funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Art News reports. “We’re thrilled that Bloomberg Philanthropies has selected Baltimore for this significant funding that will serve to equip a new generation of artistic leaders with the support and professional training in the essential areas that constitute thriving arts organizations,” says Catherine E. Pugh, mayor of Baltimore. (more…)
New York’s Kasmin gallery has hired Tianyue Jiang, previously of Christie’s as its new director. “It is wonderful to welcome someone of Tianyue’s immense experience to the gallery to lead our ambitions both in Asia and at home here in New York,” the gallery said in a statement. “Her specialized knowledge of the region will be of tremendous importance as we continue to develop our client base and introduce more Asian artists to the gallery program.” (more…)
Beijing’s Ullens Center for Contemporary Art has announced plans for a second museum, UCCA Dune, in Hebei Province’s Beidaihe District, Art Newspaper reports. “The space is nearly Guggenheimian in its specificity. It would also work spectacularly for a one artist show,” says director Philip Tinari. (more…)
A major fire broke at the National Museum of Brazil has claimed an estimated 90% of the museum’s collection, the Guardian reports. Protests over the fire have blamed austerity measures and budget cuts to fund the Olympic Games and World Cup for depleting government funds to fireproof and protect the museum. “Look at the irony. The money is now there, but we ran out of time,” the museum’s director, Alexander Kellner, told reporters at the scene. (more…)
Richard Hamilton has announced that he is leaving his post as the director of the Tate Americas Foundation, Art News reports. He is now planning “a consultancy to help develop philanthropic strategies for private individuals, foundations, and nonprofit institutions.” (more…)
Photographer Deana Lawson has photographed Rihanna for the 15th Anniversary Issue of Garage Magazine. “Every image maker who picked up a camera for Issue 15 is a woman, and those women took us to Nigeria, Sweden, California, Tokyo, and Harlem, among other locations. Rihanna is perhaps our most human of pop idols—unguarded, miraculously vital, perfect in her imperfections—making her the consummate subject for Deana,” says Mark Guiducci, the magazine’s editor in chief. (more…)
Art Basel has reworked its fees for gallery booths at its fair, lowering prices for its smaller booths while increasing the price of its higher priced booths, a response to recent critiques of the current fair economy. “Given the current financial pressures faced by many galleries, especially smaller and mid-sized galleries today, we believe that this model is fairer, and will provide some relief to smaller galleries, while not overburdening galleries that have a larger stand,” the fair said. (more…)
Wolfgang Tillmans is interviewed in The New Yorker this week, taking the magazine on a tour of his studio and outlining his vision as an artist. “I can’t know, I can only hope that they last,” he says of his images. “You can’t be too sure about something, because otherwise you’re too full of yourself or you can’t see if there is a weakness in the work.” (more…)
Christie’s will offer a significant Gerhard Richter from 1983 for its London Sale October 4th, estimated at £12 million. “Richter’s Schädel (Skull) stands among his most poignant, intimate and technically refined works,” says Francis Outred, Chairman and Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at the auction house. “Its subject matter places it in conversation with the memento mori tradition that was cultivated by the Old Masters and extrapolated during the twentieth century by artists such as Picasso and Cézanne.” (more…)
A gallery at the Royal Academy of Arts in London will be flooded with water and mud for a major solo exhibition of work by Antony Gormley, the Guardian reports. “We’ve started to engineer some of the main galleries, so that they can take some of the installations we’re looking at,” says artistic director Tim Marlow. (more…)
Works from late American collector David Teiger, a New Jersey management consultant who amassed a trove of late 20th and early 21st century art, will go on sale at Sotheby’s. “A true visionary, David Teiger collected with an avant-garde spirit, often rejecting art world consensus to forge his own path,” says Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s European head of contemporary art. “This is one of those rare groups of works that perfectly capture the essence of the art and the spirit of collecting of its time.” (more…)
The Washington Post has a piece on outgoing National Gallery Director Earl Powell III and the challenges for his replacement. “Poor management across multiple departments has caused high turnover and low staff morale, resulting in missed deadlines and budgets that waste taxpayer dollars, according to staff,” the piece reports. (more…)
A drastic drop in visitors at London’s National Portrait Gallery is being attributed to major counting errors by Ipsos Retail Performance. “The issue has been reviewed internally as a matter of urgency and a course of remedial action has been agreed with the gallery,” the company said in a statement.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has named 50-plus organizations in Austin and New Orleans participating in the foundation’s Arts Innovation and Management Program. “The arts inspire people, provide jobs, and strengthen communities. This program is aimed at helping some of the country’s most exciting cultural organizations reach new audiences and expand their impact,” Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. (more…)
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles has added Andrea Fraser, Berry Stein, and Joel Lubin to its board of directors, Art News reports. “This is a great milestone for the ICA L.A. as we celebrate our inaugural year in downtown,” the museum’s board president, Laura Donnelley, said in a statement. (more…)
The overwhelming demand for the New York Public Library’s Culture Pass Program has led to many museums doubling their stock of free tickets, with the Met even raising its number from 400 to 1,000. “Usually we have four to five people apply a day. Now it’s 16 or 17,” says Hwai-Min Wood, the manager of the Forest Hills branch of the Queens Public Library. (more…)
Simone Leigh gets a profile in the New York Times this week, as she prepares for a show of a new work on The High Line. “She’s driving a cultural shift at large where black women are being acknowledged as aesthetic leaders,” says curator Rashida Bumbray. “It feels like a moment, but it is really just that the wool has been lifted from everyone’s eyes.” (more…)
The Van Gogh Museum and Mauritshuis have ended their relationships with Shell during a time of increased protests over fossil fuels. A spokesperson said that the institutions “would like to think that the museums made ethical decisions”. (more…)
Okwui Enwezor’s recent interview with Der Spiegel is reprinted in e-flux this week, as he reflects on his departure from the Munich Haus der Kunst, and the conflicts over his health that caused the separation. “I cannot talk about all the details of this separation. As early as 2016, when my contract renewal was due, I was wondering if I should stop,” he says. “I got the impression that I was no longer wanted. You know, as the director of such an institution, you need not only financial but also moral support.” (more…)
The New York Times makes its analysis on President Trump’s escalating trade war with China, examining how the current political climate may harm the art world. “It will have a chilling impact,” says dealer James Lally. “It will quickly reduce the market for Chinese art in America to a backwater.” (more…)
The ancient city of Palmyra in Homs, Syria will be restored by 2019, the Art Newspaper reports. “The authorities now have a project to repair all the damage caused to Palmyra’s Old City,” says Homs’ provincial governor Talal. “There are also good offers from the world powers to restore the artefacts and historical value of Palmyra. I suppose that Palmyra will be completely ready for receiving tourists by summer 2019.” (more…)
Former Curator and Director of MOCA Los Angeles, Richard Koshalek, is interviewed in the Art Newspaper this week, as he reflects on the vision Klaus Biesenbach will bring to the museum as its new director, as well as the challenges he will face. “I think he is a dynamic, accomplished individual with experience in Europe and also New York. I’m not sure how he familiar he is with Los Angeles or what’s happening in the Pacific Basin or Latin America, but I think he has the potential to bring the different constituencies together in Los Angeles,” he says. “I think he’s challenge-driven and he’s a problem solver, but he also has to be an opportunity seeker.” (more…)