Artist Sam Durant has installed a predator drone on the High Line, an attempt to make visible the United States’ secret drone bombing policies. “I was very concerned with using unmanned aircraft to essentially assassinate people,” he says. “It was seen as popular in the United States because U.S. soldiers didn’t have to go to the battlefield. But what about the casualties in the countries that were attacked by our drones? The idea was to bring this conversation home to America.” (more…)

Marking its 13th gallery worldwide, Hauser & Wirth have opened in Monaco. “In former times, Monaco was a destination for artists, writers, and filmmakers who were as captivated as we have been by the Côte d’Azur,” says Iwan Wirth. (more…)

A new studies shows that 43% of museum workers have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we recover and rebuild, we must focus on equity, empathetic leadership and actions that support the people who make museums possible,” Laura Lott, president and chief executive of the American Alliance of Museums says. “The resiliency and future vitality of our field relies on them.” (more…)

A piece in the Wall Street Journal notes that da Vinci‘s Salvator Mundi was stored on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s 439-foot yacht Serene until late last year, following a dispute that kept it out of The Louvre’s landmark show. A source who saw the work was “very surprised it was not in Switzerland as others believe.”  (more…)

A string of American fairs have been cancelled this week, with Expo Chicago joining the list of events postponed for the near future. “We gauged the global re-emergence of fairs, gatherings, and exhibitions and felt strongly that our commitment to April of 2022 allows us a strong chance to open where we left off after the 2019 exposition, respecting the impact and numerous considerations that dealers and collectors are making in 2021,” says founder and director Tony Karman. (more…)

Cairo’s Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum has reopened after a ten year closure, which followed the theft of a Van Gogh from the museum. (more…)

Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas is planning a major expansion that will add almost 100,000 square feet to its footprint. “With the number of visitors we welcome annually, it’s timely to enlarge our building and make sure more people can access these offerings,” says founder Alice Walton. (more…)

Pace Gallery is expanding its footprint in South Korea, as it moves to a larger space in the Hannam-dong neighborhood of Seoul. “We’re growing, but I like to think we grow very carefully and thoughtfully,” says Marc Glimcher. “We start really small in a city and see if it’s successful. It’s about the people first, not the space. We are really interested in going to cities where we really add to the equation and that city can have an interesting impact on us.” (more…)

Art Basel Hong Kong will return next month, and has just announced its exhibitor list for the next edition of the fair, welcoming 104 exhibitors to the space.  (more…)

The Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI has received $30 million by Jennifer and Dan Gilbert to promote diversity in students and faculty. “Our ultimate goal is to drive lasting financial stability while creating a more diverse and equitable community,” Jennifer Gilbert said in a statement. “We know it’s not a silver bullet, but a step in the right direction. Dan and I hope that the gift grants the Academy space to develop long-term solutions, and that it encourages others to join us in giving.”

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Alex Da Corte gives the NYT a tour of his studio this week, as he prepares to complete a large-scale sculpture of Big Bird for his coming Met Rooftop Installation. “There’s something beautiful about wondering what Big Bird is looking for,” Da Corte says. “Maybe the sunset.” (more…)

A new rule in Venice will block temporary and pop-up exhibitions from running the full length of the Venice Biennale, Art Newspaper reports. (more…)

A Boston man has admitted to stealing several Andy Warhol works and selling fake versions online. “The buyer removed the paintings’ frames and found no Warhol Foundation authentication stamps and noticed that the canvasses and staples looked new,” prosecutors said. (more…)

The NYT visits The Met’s Alice Neel exhibition this week with Jeff Neal, who the artist painted as a child for a work now on view in the show. “I always thought it was going to come back to me,” Mr. Neal said. “I would dream about it, and then I would ask Allen about it. He said, ‘No, hadn’t heard anything.’ I would see her on the news and say, ‘Wow, I wonder what happened to my painting.’” (more…)

The New Museum has announced the latest iteration of its Triennial, postponed until October due to the pandemic. Organized by Margot Norton, the Allen and Lola Goldring curator at the New Museum, and Jamilah James, the senior curator of The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the show is titled Soft Water Hard Stone, borrowed from a Brazilian proverb about perseverance: “soft water on hard stone hits until it bores a hole.” (more…)

After years of complaints and critiques, the city of Venice has finally banned cruise ships from docking in the lagoon. “It’s a fair decision that has been awaited for years: the Council of Ministers approves a decree that establishes that the final landing of big ships in Venice must be outside the lagoon, as requested by Unesco,” says culture minister Dario Franceschini. (more…)

The NYT visits the Canal Street Research Association this week, a project on Canal Street that has served as a home for a series of exhibitions and performances during its short run. “When we first walked past, we were like, oh my God, there’s a Relational art project,” said Tom Finkelpearl, the city’s former commissioner of cultural affairs. (more…)

A piece in the NYT this week asks if the current fascination with NFTs is actually a bubble ready to burst. “We’re in a frenzy of speculation. I don’t know how long these prices will be sustainable,” says Robert Norton, head of blockchain art company Verisart. “We’re living in a moment of collective hysteria.” (more…)

The Getty Museum announced that it has acquired a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi from an undisclosed seller. The work will go on view when The Getty reopens to the public. (more…)

Showing the stark drop in attendance caused by Covid, the annual Art Newspaper museum attendance report shows a 77% drop in attendance at the world’s 100 most- visited art museums. (more…)

The US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that Andy Warhol did not make fair use of a Lynn Goldsmith’s portrait of Prince when he produced his own series of images of the musician. “The Prince Series retains the essential elements of its source material, and Warhol’s modifications serve chiefly to magnify some elements of that material and minimize others,” wrote Judge Gerald Lynch. “While the cumulative effect of those alterations may change the Goldsmith Photograph in ways that give a different impression of its subject, the Goldsmith Photograph remains the recognizable foundation upon which the Prince Series is built.” (more…)

The sale of a Banksy work depicting a child playing with a superhero nurse has raised £16.7m for UK health services. “As a charitable gift it ensures our staff have a say in how money is spent to benefit them, our patients and our community and is a fantastic way to thank and reward them for the sacrifices they’ve made,” says David French, interim chief executive officer of University Hospital Southampton Trust. (more…)

San Francisco is weighing the possibility of a $1000 monthly grant for artists in the city. “The arts are truly critical to our local economy and are an essential part of our long-term recovery. If we help the arts recover, the arts will help San Francisco recover,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “This new program is an innovative effort to help our creative sector get through this challenging time, and come back even stronger and more resilient than before.” (more…)

A piece in the New York Times this week documents the rarely seen photographic work of Ray Johnson. “I felt it was a hidden treasure, and at some point it would be revealed,” says dealer and estate manager Frances Beatty. “If you know Ray Johnson, you know that he never did anything casually and without intention. It was all of a piece.” (more…)