The New York Times profiles recent work in art research and conservation using X-Rays, citing the discovery of an underlying painting in a Picasso Blue Period piece. “It was clear there was something else going on underneath,” researcher Sandra Webster-Cook said. (more…)

Plans have been unveiled for the Grand Palais’s €466m, three-year renovation, Art Newspaper reports.  “At the end of 2020, just over a century after its creation, the Grand Palais will turn a page in its history and begin a transformation that will allow it to finally enter the 21st century,” culture secretary Françoise Nyssen says. (more…)

Marina Abramovic is interviewed in The Guardian this month, as she prepares to exhibit a series of photos documenting her early performances. “I lived in cars and trucks, I’m amazed the negatives survived,” Abramović says. “To appreciate the present, we should really look to the past.” (more…)

The Art Institute of Chicago has unveiled its recent acquisition, a rare Duchamp Bottle Rack from the collection of Robert Rauschenberg.  The artist’s foundation sold the piece to the museum in order to fund an endowment. “We always are making these kind of transformative acquisitions a priority,” says Art Institute president and director James Rondeau. “There are documents going back to the late ’80s and early ’90s expressing a desire for an object like this.” (more…)

Former Queens Musuem head Laura Raicovich has left the museum following a dispute over a privately hosted event at the museum, sponsored by the State of Israel.  Raicovich’s opposition to the event led to fierce protest, and an investigation that ultimately saw her resign, as did her inclusion in a book supporting the B.D.S. (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement.  (more…)

A lost Gustav Klimt drawing of two reclining women has been found in a former secretary’s home in the Austrian city of Linz, after details in the woman’s will gave hints at the work’s location.  “We were very surprised at this discovery,” said Julius Stieber, the director of culture and education for the City of Linz. “We’d received a letter, but no one expected the drawing to be returned.” (more…)

SculptureCenter has named Sohrab Mohebbi, the associate curator of REDCAT in Los Angeles, as its new curator. “I also really like the idea of having a mandate, looking at art through the lens of sculpture,” he says. “We’re experiencing this moment of complete dematerialization. Everything is going to the cloud. So it’s interesting to have an encounter with an object.” (more…)

Agnes Gund is interviewed in the Art Newspaper this week, as she reflects on the sale of a Roy Lichtenstein work from her collection to fund efforts towards prison reform. “I didn’t used to sell anything, but then I was interested in doing philanthropic things,” she says. (more…)

Bloomberg Philanthropies has initiated a 2018 Public Art Challenge for proposals of temporary projects that address civic issues and demonstrate an ability to “generate public-private collaborations, celebrate creativity and urban identity, and strengthen local economies,” according to a statement. “There’s a virtuous cycle that public art tends to trigger,” says Kate D. Levin, head of the arts program for Bloomberg Philanthropies. “It’s not always acknowledged, because people tend to focus on the art—which is appropriate—but part of the reason Michael Bloomberg is funding this initiative is because he wants to help catalyze a greater appreciation of the impact that art can have in cities and the ways in which projects, however different they may be, tend to spark beneficial cross-sector dialogue and work that wouldn’t happen in other ways.” (more…)

Investor Aaron Fleischman has endowed The Met with resources for a new Curatorship in Modern and Contemporary Art, which will be taken up by Ian Alteveer.  “We are immensely grateful for the funding of this vital position in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art,” said Met President Daniel Weiss. “The endowment of curatorial positions is one of the Museum’s top priorities. With this gift, Mr. Fleischman will enable The Met to continue our momentum on presenting and studying art of the 20th and 21st centuries, and, importantly, he joins a group of donors who are ensuring the future of the institution through their thoughtful philanthropy.” (more…)

Former Interscope Records CEO and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine has donated a massive Mark Bradford painting, 150 Portrait Tone, to LACMA. The work features text sourced from the Facebook video depicting the police shooting of Philando Castile in 2016.   “It’s Mark Bradford’s Guernica. I don’t think it’s crazy to compare it to a work like that,” Iovine says. “There’s a frustration and intensity about Guernica, which is about a war and an unfair bombing and you feel the screams of pain. In Mark’s painting, you also feel the screams of pain.” (more…)

NADA has added a group of 16 new galleries to its roster, including 56 Henry and Denny Gallery in New York, as well as Ghebaly and AA|LA Gallery in Los Angeles.    (more…)

Frida Escobedo for the Serpentine, via Serpentine

As February rolls along, thoughts turn to spring, and to the annual string of special projects, installations and architectural projects across the globe.  This week, art and architecture lovers got one peak at the year’s entries of projects, as the Serpentine Galleries announced it had tapped Mexican architect Frida Escobedo to design its annual pavilion project.

Frida Escobedo, via Serpentine

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The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. has unveiled its commissioned paintings of Barack and Michelle Obama by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, Art News reports.   (more…)

Germany is setting up resources to help professionals in creative fields with reporting and dealing with sexual harassment and assault. “Those affected need a protected space where they can speak openly and seek advice anonymously, without needing to worry about negative consequences,”German Culture Minister Monika Grütters says. “An initiative like this shouldn’t fail because of a lack of funds.”  (more…)

Christie’s is selling a Jackson Pollock drip painting in its London sale of Contemporary art, estimated to sell for around $18.2m. “With its opulent, marbled galaxy of dripped, splashed and spattered paint, Number 21, 1950 is a beautiful and important work from the peak of Jackson Pollock’s iconic ‘drip period’,” the company said in a statement. (more…)

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is funding the replacement of all 309 incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs in Chris Burden’s iconic Urban Light at LACMA, retrofitting it to make the installation more energy efficient.  “The switch from incandescent light bulbs to LED bulbs in Urban Light will save approximately 3,173,047 kilowatt hours of electricity over the next 10 years, which is enough to power about 295 average American homes in a year,” the foundation says. (more…)

A new study by Amy Whitaker, an assistant professor in visual arts management at New York University, states that artists should begin investing in their own work, and fighting for equity in their pieces. “Our analysis shows that the people most rewarded by a system like this one are those who are the earliest to take a bet on the art,” Whitaker says. “What’s exciting is that this is an idea which arises from within the arts, as opposed to being imposed on the arts by financial actors.” (more…)

Robert Irwin is profiled in the LA Times this week, as the 89 year-old artist reflects on his career and describes his worldview. “Beauty is all around you,” he says. “You open your eyes in the morning, the world is totally formed. You haven’t done anything other than be. It’s all around you. The whole idea is being able to recognize it, and pay attention to it, articulate it.” (more…)

A piece in Barron’s this week looks at the current global economy, and speculates that the art market could continue to boom in 2018, especially following the new tax laws passed by the Trump administration. “The wealth effect is a huge driver” says Evan Beard, National Art Services Executive at U.S. Trust. (more…)

Developer Aby Rosen is featuring a series of new “skyscraper lofts” in his 100 East Third Street location, which will be targeted towards art collectors. The building features open-plan layouts and customizable lighting structures to show work in each home. (more…)

Picasso’s stepdaughter Catherine Hutin-Blay is planning to a museum dedicated to the artist and his second wife, her mother Jacqueline. “Most of the works have been neither previously exhibited nor published,” saysJanie Cohen, a Picasso expert and the director of the Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont of the pieces in Hutin-Blay’s collection. “These are works that remained with the artist throughout his life.”  (more…)

Leonardo DiCaprio has invested in Magnus, the art app start-up billing itself as “Shazam for Art.” “I am proud to partner with Magnus as the app continues to educate people everywhere about the art around them,” he said in a statement. (more…)

Art News has the transcript from a lengthy discussion with Larry Gagosian that took place this week at the 92nd Street Y, including the gallerist’s favorite artists, and his vision for his personal collection of works.  “I don’t have the means to do that or really the ambition to do that [found a private museum,” he says. “But I would like it to be—I would like it to live on as a collection.” (more…)